Archaeology with an agenda

Residents' distrust of Israeli archaeology is rooted in their history with the Ir David Foundation, which funds several digs in the area, including the Silwan tunnel project.

The foundation has created the City of David, an archaeological park built around what it believes to be ruins from the time of the legendary Hebrew king, who ruled in Jerusalem some 3000 years ago.

Ir David provides around $600 000 to the IAA every year for projects in and around the City of David but says it plays no part in the actual digging.

However, the foundation has sought to create a "living testament" to the historic Jewish presence in the mostly Palestinian neighbourhood.

"This is the most important place in the world for the Jewish people. We have been waiting for 2000 years to come back to this area," says Doron Spielman, a senior foundation executive.

A white limestone street of newly built homes secured by heavy doors and cameras and decked with Israeli flags juts into Silwan, an extension of the park built to look like the Jewish quarter of the Old City.

"Building a residential Jewish community is definitely a priority of the organisation," Spielman says, but he insists the foundation enjoys good relations with Arab residents.

Hidden agenda?

Margalit, a spokesperson for the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions, says "the problem is not the archaeological digging, it is the agenda of the people who are behind the digging".

He and other Israeli activists fear that sensitive projects like Silwan, if left in the hands of right-wing groups, could one day be used to detonate the Middle East peace process.

"For a long time this has been a problematic issue, but now it is a dangerous issue," Margalit says.

Yoni Mizrachi, an Israeli archaeologist critical of Ir David, says IAA reliance on it for funding ties them to its agenda.

"They need the money, and they are not just doing this for the benefit of archaeology," Mizrachi says. "It's one of the few sites operated by private organisations and it is the only one run by a right-wing organisation."

Israel occupied and annexed east Jerusalem in 1967, a move not recognised by any other country or by the Palestinians, who have demanded the mostly Arab half of the city as their future capital.

But Silwan's residents say the foundation is slowly tunnelling its way towards control of the entire neighbourhood.

"You start wondering what is happening when they change the names of places," Qarain says. "This is Silwan, but they call it Ir David. We know this street as Wadi Helwa Siyam, but they put up signs calling it Maale David."

In the climate of fear and distrust that prevails in Jerusalem the kind of non-political archaeology that the IAA claims to practice may be impossible, but the secrecy around the project is not dispelling the controversy.

"Nobody knows how long these tunnels are and how far they have excavated so far," Mizrachi says. "Nobody knows anything."