{"id":44618,"date":"2025-09-08T17:39:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peacenow.org.il\/?p=44618"},"modified":"2025-09-08T17:40:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:40:23","slug":"us-secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-to-attend-inauguration-of-settler-tourist-site-near-haram-al-sharif-temple-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peacenow.org.il\/en\/us-secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-to-attend-inauguration-of-settler-tourist-site-near-haram-al-sharif-temple-mount","title":{"rendered":"US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to attend inauguration of settler tourist site near Haram al-Sharif\/Temple Mount"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to visit the Israeli settlement in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, located in East Jerusalem, next week. Rubio will tour the City of David archaeological park, which is operated by the settler organization Elad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The tunnel is 600 meters long and was excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority on behalf of Elad, with approximately 50 million<\/a> shekels in government funding. It begins at the southern edge of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, runs beneath Palestinian homes<\/a>, passes under the Old City walls, and ends beside the foundations of the Western Wall \u2013 itself part of the retaining structure of the Haram al-Sharif, and is only a few meters from al-Aqsa Mosque.<\/p>\n

The excavation has exposed a Roman-era street from the first century CE, which Elad presents as the \u201cPilgrims Route,\u201d used by Jewish pilgrims traveling to the Temple Mount.<\/p>\n

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Silwan Tunnel route<\/p><\/div>\n

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Peace Now: <\/strong>\u201cRubio’s visit is nothing less than American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the most sensitive part of Jerusalem\u2019s Holy Basin, contradicting Washington\u2019s long-standing position since 1967. The Trump team is choosing to strengthen the grip of the settlement right in the heart of the Haram al-Sharif\/Temple Mount area, instead of advancing a political arrangement. The tunnel, how it was dug and what stands behind its opening is a trampling of Jerusalem as a city sacred to all faiths and belonging to all its residents, just meters away from al-Aqsa Mosque.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Political significance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tunnel was excavated in one of the most sensitive areas of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, located beneath a Palestinian neighborhood and adjacent to the Haram al-Sharif. In recent years, successive Israeli governments have invested over one billion shekels in transforming Silwan into a tourist hub<\/a> led by settlers and reshaping the public space of the Old City Basin, aiming to consolidate\u00a0 Israeli control while diminishing the Palestinian presence. The policy is designed to prevent Palestinian neighborhoods around the Old City from becoming part of a future Palestinian capital, thereby undermining prospects for a two-state agreement.<\/p>\n

Archaeology and controversy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elad and the Israel Antiquities Authority present the excavation as the uncovering of the \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Route,\u201d reinforcing a national-religious narrative that frames the site as a Jewish heritage destination with political overtones. As Jerusalem\u2019s then-mayor Nir Barkat once put it:<\/a> \u201cEveryone who walks through this tunnel knows exactly who is the master of this city.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Yet the excavation methods have been criticized within Israel\u2019s archaeological community. Internal Antiquities Authority documents, revealed by the NGO Emek Shaveh, show senior archaeologists distancing themselves from the project, labeling it \u201cbad archaeology\u201d and warning of technical and safety failures. The Roman Street itself had already been known to scholars since early 20th-century excavations in Silwan. The current excavation focused on exposing the street for visitors, a choice that required removing thousands of tons of soil and dismantling some remains to reveal others. The tunnel excavations have stoked deep fears among Palestinians<\/a> and reinforced suspicions of Israeli attempts to assert control over the al-Aqsa compound \u201cfrom below,\u201d through tunnels. The symbolism is heightened by the fact that the route re-creates the path of Jewish pilgrims to the Temple, on the very ground now occupied by Islam\u2019s holiest sites in Jerusalem. The section that Rubio is set to inaugurate is located just meters from the foundations of al-Aqsa and the remnants of the Umayyad palaces, which date back to the 7th century CE during the Early Islamic period.<\/p>\n

A history of flashpoints<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tunnel excavations in Silwan and around the Haram al-Sharif have repeatedly triggered political crises.<\/p>\n