Israeli excavations are a "desperate attempt" to prove Jewish connection to Jerusalem

"Head of the PLO Department for Jerusalem Affairs, Ahmed Qurei (Abu Alaa), expressed his vehement opposition and condemnation of the repeated violations concerning the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings. [He denounced] the fact that the Israeli Antiquities Authority has loaded trucks with soil from the excavations in the area of the Umayyad palaces south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in a desperate attempt to find some archaeological proof for their biblical story, in addition to their efforts to destroy any archaeological relic proving the Arabness of the holy city."