'Who built the pyramids?' - Round Two

Arab news outlet "Elaph" responds to "Jerusalem Post" report on allegations that Jews were fabricating Egypt’s past.

By JOANNA PARASZCZUK
Pyramids in Giza (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Pyramids in Giza
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
An Arab news portal claimed on Monday that Israel had been “angered” by allegations it made in a recent article, which said the Jewish State was attempting to falsify Egyptian history to prove the Jews built the pyramids.
Elaph made its comments in response to a report by the Jerusalem Post last week, which noted that the Arab news outlet had published remarks by an Egyptian researcher claiming Israel was fabricating Egyptian history to show that the Jews built the pyramids.
Amir Gamal of Egypt’s “Non-Stop Robberies” movement told Elaph that the Jewish State was infiltrating foreign archaeological missions in an attempt to prove Jewish influence in the Pharaonic Era.
In its response on Monday, Elaph said Gamal’s comments had sparked “hundreds of angry comments” from readers on the Jerusalem Post’s website. Elaph quoted some comments, noting that some Jerusalem Post readers had said they had “learned in school that the Jews were the builders of the pyramids,” while others said they had read about the Jewish presence in ancient Egypt in the Bible.
Elaph noted that the Jerusalem Post had illustrated its report on Gamal’s remarks with a “picture of the Great Pyramid next to the Sphinx with a blue Star of David on it.”
Elaph added that while Israel contends the Jews built the pyramids, Egyptian archaeologists deny it. The newspaper cited archaeology expert Dr Esam Amin as saying that Israel’s claims were “baseless” since the pyramids were built before the birth of “Allah’s prophet, Musa [the Islamic name for Moses].” According to Amin, there were no Jews in Egypt before 1200 BCE, and that Israel was “trying to discredit Egypt’s cultural identity.”
The Jewish State was employing a “long-term strategy” to shake the confidence of Egyptians in themselves and in ancient history, Amin told Elaph.
According to Amin, in April this year a “Jewish archaeologist” claimed that extraterrestrials had built the pyramids.
Elaph’s original report claiming that Israel was covertly attempting to falsify Egyptian history for its own benefit comes amid a number of similar reports in the Arab press. Last week, Jordanian newspapers claimed that Israel was falsifying the history of the historical city of Petra in southern Jordan, by promoting the tourist attraction as being part of Israel rather than Jordan.