Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Haaretz: Jerusalem approves controversial Mughrabi bridge project
Jerusalem's district planning and construction committee has approved a controversial plan to restore the Mughrabi bridge leading to one of the entrances to the Temple Mount, construction that caused an outcry among Muslims and generated protest from the Jordanian and Turkish governments in June.
The plan, approved two weeks ago, also includes expansion of the women's section of the Western Wall plaza.
A ministerial committee established after the summer's protests and headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided two months ago to approve the construction, pending approval by the district planning and construction committee. The cabinet approved the ministerial committee decision after Science and Culture Minister Raleb Majadele withdrew his objection in response to Olmert's request.
Representatives from the Jerusalem municipality, Israel Antiquities Authority, Waqf (Muslim religious trust) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization met Sunday to discuss the Mughrabi bridge.
The Jordanian information minister announced progress in talks on restoring the bridge, but a Jordanian official told Haaretz Tuesday that Jordanian authorities are not aware of any change to the status quo, including expansion of the Western Wall plaza...
Radar indicates heavy seething and whining ahead, followed by flashes of demagoguery and rabble-rousing, led in the USA by CAIR. Remember the last time this came up: CAIR Brings Temple Mount Conspiracy Westward. Also remember that op-ed in the San Fransisco Chronicle by Omar Ahmad claiming that the dig was threatening the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock: On Old Jerusalem - Chipping at foundations of belief - Excavations threaten mosque. Apparently neither Ahmad nor the editors at the SF Chronicle can read a map or view a photo or a web cam (the authorities actually had to install a 24 hour web cam so people could see nothing untoward was happening)...nor do they care that historically, such claims have been made in order to incite murder. I doubt Ahmad cares, but one might occasionally expect more from the editors of Western newspapers.
