What Is the Issue with the Tourist Complex Soon to Be Built Beneath the Western Wall Plaza?

When paratroopers stood excitedly by the Western Wall in 1967, few imagined the rich historical past buried beneath their feet, waiting to be uncovered by careful hands.

In the archaeological excavations currently underway at the Western Wall Plaza, ancient structures are being discovered. These are structures built by nations that conquered Jerusalem and oppressed the people of Israel, such as the Romans and Crusaders. For example, next to the stones of the Wall, a Roman theater was discovered, along with a street called "The Cardo," named after its Roman builders.

Jewish structures are discovered pitifully few, and it's not hard to understand why — these nations crushed the Jewish people with an iron fist, destroyed their cities, and exiled them from their land.

(Photo: Rivka Leveren)

The new plan is to open a massive tourist complex below the prayer plaza, which will include these structures, reaching the very stones of the Wall. The complex will be connected, physically and informatively, to the surroundings: the Western Wall tunnels, the archaeological garden, and likely beyond the city walls to the excavations in the "City of David."

It will be an extremely impressive complex at a historical focal point that the world's eyes are upon. The site will gain a lot of attention and attract many more tourists, far exceeding the current ten million annual visitors to the Wall from around the globe.

It is not an exaggeration to say this is a revolution regarding historical sites in the country because the Western Wall already attracts and fascinates the masses, even more so when the new complex opens, astounding with its scope and the power of new discoveries within.

But therein lies a snag.

We welcome the exposure of past remnants. But what about the Jewish aspect?

(Courtesy of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation)

The new complex might primarily showcase the endeavors of the Roman and Crusader conquerors, not the Jewish existence in Jerusalem. Such a concept, at the religious center of the entire Jewish people, is intolerable and will be a regret for generations.

Jerusalem is the capital of the people of Israel from the days of King David. Our nation has suffered terribly from foreign conquerors — Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, the Inquisition, pogroms, and more. Exiled cruelly, suffering many persecutions and a Holocaust. There hasn’t been a nation that's suffered and been persecuted as much, yet survived. Despite being a peace-seeking people, a people of the book, who imparted to the world the timeless values of human culture. We were trampled under the conquerors' boots simply because we are Jews. The remaining remnant fought to return to their homeland, and even here, many try to obliterate us.

There is only one country in the world whose purpose is to protect and nurture the ongoing Jewish existence: Israel. Its capital is Jerusalem, with the Wall at its heart, the remnant of our glorious past. It is not only a most sacred place but also a symbol of Jewish existence in this land. Even the nations of the world recognize the centrality of the site from a Jewish-national perspective. Every person, regardless of faith, feels upon reaching the Wall and its surroundings, that monumental historical events occurred here.

Around this holy symbol, there should be a Jewish character.

Isn't it justified that the organizers of the new complex emphasize the Jewish past at the site, rather than the Roman and Crusader past?

Beneath the Roman structures lie Jewish buildings, of our forefathers, who sacrificed their lives for the existence of the Torah and Jewish faith. Are we not entitled to see what remains of them, not what remains of the conquerors who ruthlessly killed our ancestors?

(Photo: Moshe Milner for L.A.M.)

For example: The Roman Emperor Hadrian killed hundreds of thousands of Jews. On the ruins of Jewish Jerusalem, he established a pagan city, "Aelia Capitolina," and banned Jews from entering its gates, to erase all traces of Jewish existence. Any rational person would agree that the Israeli descendants of his victims should not lend a hand to his desires and commemorate his culture and endeavors.

Some will say we shouldn't interfere in archaeological-scientific considerations. The answer is clear: the Wall and its surroundings are not like any other site. We have no other land and no other Wall.

Furthermore, in archaeology, it is recognized as a legitimate possibility to carefully dismantle an upper layer when wanting to explore a lower, more ancient layer. What is dismantled is transferred for preservation elsewhere. This was done in Egypt, where colossal statues from the pharaonic period were disassembled and moved to other locations.

Another solution is to emphasize through signage and guidance the Jewish aspect of the complex, and the general emphasis will be on Jewish findings.

This does not ignore the truth, as all findings are documented in the detailed scientific reports published by archaeologists, accessible to anyone interested.

We have a golden opportunity to preserve and emphasize the ancient, glorious Jewish past in Jerusalem, at the most central and important place. On the contrary, let us invest in the Jewish-educational aspect of the complex. Let schoolchildren come and every Jew, wherever he is, to know more about their nation's history. And foreigners interested in it will come too. Of course, it is essential to ensure that increased tourist activity does not harm the Wall's character as a holy site, and the order of prayer there.

I call upon those responsible to recognize that there is an intergenerational responsibility here. The Israeli soldiers who sacrificed their lives to liberate Jerusalem did not do so for a Roman theater to be presented at the Wall.