Jerusalem - Hamas Warning: Temple Mount Bridge Closure a Declaration of Religious War'

Jerusalem - Hamas warned Monday that the Israeli closure of the Mugrabi Bridge is tantamount to a "declaration of war" on Muslim holy sites. “This is a serious step that shows the Zionist scheme of aggression against the al-Aqsa mosque,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum in an interview with AFP. “This is a violent act that amounts to a declaration of religious war on the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem.”

Israeli officials closed the Mugrabi Bridge on Sunday for safety reasons, three days before the municipality deadline to close the ramp leading from the Western Wall plaza to the Temple Mount.

Barhum's comments followed remarks made by chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat last week, when he said that the Israeli move “shows their determination to judaize Jerusalem and to take over the city’s Muslim holy places.”

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin on Monday met with Andreas Michaelis, the German ambassador to Israel, and expressed Israel's commitment to re-opening the Mugrabi Bridge. "Four days after the Six-Day War we decided to allow Muslims to remain in control over the Temple Mount, even though this drew the ire of many Jews and was viewed as an abandonment of the holy site to Muslims," Rivlin said. "The Mugrabi Bridge was built with unanimous consent. At this point in time the bridge is dangerous and there is a need to build a new one."

The Jerusalem municipality originally set November 28 as the deadline to destroy the bridge, but Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intervened to stop the demolition, worried about triggering riots across the Arab world. In the most recent letter, sent last week, the municipality insisted the entrance must be closed to the public until a new bridge is built.

The bridge has been the subject of contention because it is the only entrance for non-Muslims who want to visit the Dome of the Rock. The original earthen ramp collapsed during a snowstorm in 2004, and the temporary bridge was built in its stead, meant to serve for a few months at most until a permanent bridge was built. Repair work on the bridge in 2007 touched off widespread Muslim rioting in Jordan and Jerusalem and calls for a third intifada.

Most people agree that the bridge is indeed dangerous to use, and that closing it is not a political move.

The issue of a replacement bridge and coordination with Muslim authorities was set to be discussed by the High Court of Justice in June, but the case was pushed off until December 28. Another case involving the Western Wall plaza and the bridge will be heard by the Jerusalem District Court in January.

Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post

Bridge for Jews to Temple Mount May Disappear

Jerusalem’s engineer demands that the ”Mughrabi” bridge for Jews to the Temple Mount be repaired or closed because of dangers.
The complaint of its stability could not come at a worse time for Israel. The bridge, also known as the Rambam Gate, has been a potential explosive subject involving Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan.
Jerusalem engineer Shlomo Eshkol wrote a letter to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and demanded that the safety hazard in the temporary structure be fixed within 30 days. Although “temporary,” the structure has existed for several years after the collapse of the old permanent bridge.
Eshkol said authorization for a new bridge was granted last May, but action has been stalled because all parties involved disagree over who has the authority to tear down the current bridge and finance a new one.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the Western Wall rabbi's office told Arutz Sheva it received Eshkol’s letter Monday evening and still its implications.
Jordan claims authority over the bridge and wants to have responsible for tearing down the “temporary” bridge, building a new one and/or financing a new structure.
The last thing Israel wants is Jordanian and Palestinian Authority workers entering the Western Wall plaza.
The Arab world objects to any Jewish presence in the Old City and previously has warned that a “Third Intifada” will break out if Israel tears down the current structure and builds a new one.
The same site has been the focal point for arguments following an archaeological dig under the bridge. Muslim clerics and the Palestinian Authority have alleged that all Israeli activity in the Temple Mount area is aimed at undermining the foundations of the Al Aqsa mosque so that it will collapse.

The Mughrabi Gate to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The Urgent Need for a Permanent Access Bridge

Mughrabi Gate (under the blue awning) and the temporary bridge leading to it. Scaffolding is covered with white sheeting.		The only access to the Mughrabi Gate (under the blue awning on right) is by way of a flimsy temporary covered bridge.

• During the winter of 2004, the sand embankment in Jerusalem’s Old City known as the Mughrabi Ascent – which provides access to the Mughrabi Gate of the Temple Mount from the area of the Western Wall – collapsed due to rainstorms, snow, and a minor earthquake. Since the Mughrabi Gate is the only entranceway for non-Muslim visitors to the mount, and it also provides access for Israeli security forces in time of emergency, a temporary wooden bridge was erected.

• The Jerusalem District Court has determined that the temporary bridge is no longer a suitable solution and has upheld the legality of the plan to replace it with a permanent bridge. The plan to establish a permanent bridge, and the archaeological excavations performed prior to constructing the new bridge, did not endanger and do not endanger the mosques on the Temple Mount which are located hundreds of meters from it.

• Israel has acted with total transparency, allowing international supervision over the excavations at the location (by UNESCO and Turkey), and even positioned cameras that provided live transmission of the archaeological activities there. A UNESCO delegation report on 12 March 2007 determined that “no work is being conducted inside the Haram es-Sharif [Temple Mount], nor is there anything in the nature of the works being performed at this stage that could constitute a threat to the stability of the Western Wall and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

• When the Mughrabi Ascent collapsed, Israel established almost immediate contact with Jordan and throughout the years the Jordanians have been partners in the planning of the new Mughrabi Bridge. After negotiations lasting years, an understanding was signed on 21 June 2011 between Israel and Jordan concerning the new bridge, but a surprise reversal in the Jordanian position led to a governmental order to freeze the project.  

• On 22 May 2011, Jerusalem Municipal Engineer Shlomo Eshkol demanded that the temporary bridge be dismantled quickly and the permanent bridge be built as soon as possible. Concerns include the potential collapse of the wooden bridge (currently supported by iron scaffolding) while it is being used by security forces or tourists, resulting in scores of fatalities if it fell into  the women’s prayer area at the Western Wall below.

• The erection of a new bridge is legal from the perspective of both Israeli law and international law. It is time to put an end to the Mughrabi Gate affair, which has been blown up beyond all proportion, and to speedily replace the temporary bridge with a permanent one.
  

Israel furious with Jordan over condemnation of Jerusalem's Old City renovation Ambassador Barkan says Israel is upset over the Jordanian about-face concerning the Mughrabi renovations near the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

ATHENS - Israel is furious with Jordan, Israel's ambassador to UNESCO said yesterday.

Nimrod Barkan said Israel is shocked that Amman had led a successful effort within the international body to condemn Israel over the renovations planned for the Mughrabi Gate Bridge - after signing an agreement with Israel to allow the work to go ahead.

	The temporary bridge leading from the Western Wall plaza to the Mughrabi Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City.
	Photo by: Daniel Bar-On

The plans for razing and rebuilding the old Mughrabi Gate bridge, which leads from the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem to the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Temple Mount, have been public for a while and are intended to begin next week - and Israel and Jordan had reached a clear agreement about the work, Barkan said."The Jordanians lied in a way that cannot be believed, both to us and to the Americans," Barkan said in a phone call from Paris. "They lied all along the way. They wanted to get it both ways."

But despite the understanding, Israel - and the U.S. - were stunned last week to learn that Jordan, along with Egypt, Iraq, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Cambodia and Mali had filed a complaint against Israel in UNESCO's World Heritage Committee over the planned renovations.

"The most astonishing thing is they don't even mention the agreement between Israel and Jordan!" said Barkan, who added that Jordanian and Palestinian representatives also handed out pamphlets to members of the committee saying that Israel was also planning to carry out work at the Damascus Gate.

Israel delayed the Jordan-led petition last Wednesday with the support of 11 committee members, but it was adopted without a vote by the 21-member body on Monday.

Amman stressed that it was "concerned over a decision by the Jerusalem Planning and Construction Committee concerning the Mughrabi Gate," and demanded UNESCO order Israel to stop the archaeological excavations in the Old City.

The petition states that the World Heritage Committee "regrets the persistence of the Israeli archaeological excavations and works in the Old City of Jerusalem and on both sides of its walls, and the failure of Israel to provide the World Heritage Center with adequate and comprehensive information about its archaeological activities thereon, and asks the Israeli authorities to cease such excavations and works in conformity with the UNESCO conventions for the protection of cultural heritage."

It goes on to "reaffirm ... that no measures, unilateral or otherwise, should be taken, including those which may affect the authenticity and integrity of the site," and also "acknowledges receipt of the Jordanian design for the restoration and preservation of the Mughrabi Ascent ... and thanks Jordan for its cooperation."

Although the petition was adopted by the committee, and no committee member objected to its passage, four countries - Australia, Switzerland, Mexico and Brazil - verbally expressed their reservations, meaning it was not considered to have passed with complete consensus.

Why those countries with reservations did not vote against it seems to have to do with their "concern" with their own relations with the Arab countries in the committee, Barkan said.

Barkan said that it is not clear what will happen with this resolution in practice, but that he believed UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova would not do anything with it. Earlier this year, she said she would not act on decisions that were not passed by consensus.

Meanwhile, Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mahmoud Al Kayed welcomed the developments and the "unified position of the Arab group" in the petition's adoption, but told the Jordanian news service Petra that he regretted the failure to reach a consensus with some concerned parties due "to the Israeli intransigence on items of the resolution related to unilateral Israeli measures on the ground and at the UNESCO."