Publicising the Cause of Al Quds Al Sharif

in the West and Through Media Channels

Case Study : Al Quds 5000 Model

            By : Mr. Farouq Anis Jarrar

The paper I am presenting today at the 2nd International Conference on the Protection of Islamic and Christian Holy Sites in Palestine, organised in Amman, capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, from 23 to 25 November 2004, by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in Palestine, in co-operation with the International Islamic Charitable Organization based in Kuwait (Palestine Charity Committee), and the National Jordanian Commission for Education, Sciences and Culture, falls within the framework of the axis titled “Broad Lines of the Draft Media Plan for Publicising the Issue of Al Quds in the West and the Mechanisms for its Implementation”. The paper’s aim is to present the project dubbed “Al Quds 5000”.

Planning the Project

In a bid to preserve the civilisational heritage of the Arab and Islamic Ummah, which heritage has become today part of humanity’s cherished universal legacy on par with any authentic cultural heritage in any other part of the world, Al Bayt Islamic Thought Institution has decided to compile and publish a scientific reference tool on Al Quds over a period of 5000 years. The study researches the roots of this blessed city and cleanses the subject from the Torah influence in the interpretation of its history, reviews the significance of the archaeological finds and, at a first stage, records the history of Al Quds from ancient times to 635 AD. Other sequels will follow to trace the history of Al Quds until modern times.

The Institution has entrusted a commission of experts with the task of devising the outline of the studies and research to be conducted and which will tackle ancient times as well as modern history in the area. The commission has begun its activities and prepared detailed plans for each historical era. However, the supervising team has deemed it more advantageous to publish the volume dedicated to the era between the early beginnings and the rise of Islam, and to choose the majority of contributing authors from among non-Arab writers.

The compilation of scientific material for this first part has started, and the call for papers for the propjet has been completed. The contents as related to the targeted era were limited to 19 studies, in addition to a corpus for inscriptions and etchings in Al Quds. The preparation of the corpus has been entrusted to a specialised academic, Dr. Umar Al Ghul, lecturer at the Yarmuke University whose task was to identify and catalogue all documented inscriptions, particularly those related to curses as found in the Amarna Scrolls.

The nineteen studies have been completed and their revision and editing started in preparation for their publication in co-operation with the Royal Committee for Al Quds Affairs. The Institution is awaiting the completion of the inscriptions corpus before looking into the means of publication.

The volume dedicated to Al Quds before Islam is made up of four parts, an introduction and a conclusion :

Part One : addresses the land and the people of Al Quds.

Part Two : tackles Al Quds as treated in historical reference sources.

Part Three : catalogues monuments in Al Quds.

Part Four : deals with specific issues related to Al Quds.

Following are the studies that have been completed :

1- The Geography of Al Quds - Qasem Dweikat

2- The Demography of Jerusalem before Islam - E. Lipinski

3- The Names of Jerusalem before Islam - Gerrit van der Kooij.

4- Jerusalem and the Jebusites - Ulrich Hubner

5- Jerusalem in Ancient Egyptian Documentation - K.A. Kitchen

6- Jerusalem in the Amarna Letters - George E. Mendenhall

7- Jerusalem in the Neo-Assyrian Period - Wolfgang Roling

8- A History of Excavation in Jerusalem - H.J. Franken

9- The Problem of Terminology and Periodisation in the Archaeology of Jerusalem- Helga Weippert

10- Jerusalem in the Third and Second Millennia BC - Kay Prag

11- Jerusalem in the late Bronze and Iron Ages. Archaeology versus Literary Sources- Margaret Steiner

12- Jerusalem in the Iron Age - Larry G. Herr

13- Jerusalem in the 10th Century BC - Ernst Axel Knauf

14- Jerusalem in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods - David Graf

15- The City of Jerusalem in the Herodian Period (37BC - 70AD) - Achim Lichtenberger

16- Aelia Capitolina - Klaus Bieberstein

17- Jerusalem  in the Byzantine Period - Robert Schick

18- Early Christianity in Jerusalem - Michelle Piccirillo

19- The Jebusite Burial Place in Jerusalem : Chocolate on White ware and Chronology - Peter M. Fischer

The editor and scientific supervisor of the book, Mr. Zeidan Kafafi, archaeology lecturer at the Yarmuke University, prepared a synthesis of the book titled : Synthesis : Al Quds before Islam - Zeidan Kafafi.

The book is currently in the final stages of editing. The publication and distribution of this book in the Western world, as an objective academic exercise of outstanding quality in terms of content and orientation, will be looked into at a subsequent stage.

May Allah grant us success.

(*) Deputy director of the Al Bayt Institute for Islamic thought