Israel Matzav

Mughrabi gate renovation approved

The renovation of the Mughrabi gate to the Temple Mount, which is on the verge of collapse, has finally been approved. Unfortunately, what has been approved is apparently a stop-gap measure that will give the Western Wall plaza an eyesore.

Dr. Mahmoud Masalha, a researcher of Muslim holy sites appealed to the district court against the plan. On September 2010 the court decided that the plan as a whole is illegal and that it should be done at a framework of a thorough plan of the area and with coordination with all of the relevant parties. However, the court did allow the plan to include the construction of a new bridge on pillars, with minimum amount of diggings and change of the ground surface. The limited version of the plan is the plan that was approved last week and is likely to be implemented in the upcoming months. The planning committee appealed to the Supreme Court on the decision of the district court, and the plan might be changed in the future, nonetheless, the plan was approved last week.

This approval, although of the limited plan which is much less destructive than the original one, is yet another provocation of the Netanyahu Government. Instead of coordinating the works and achieving the agreement of all of the relevant parties, the Israeli government is causing another rise in the tensions in East Jerusalem and is putting another obstacle for the progress of the peace process.

If you're wondering about that last sentence, the blogger who wrote it is part of 'Peace Now.' Obviously, if we wait to 'negotiate' the works with the 'Palestinians,' they will just make this another issue on the list, and the gate will collapse before it can be repaired.

Labels: Mughrabi gate, Old City of Jerusalem, Temple Mount, Western Wall

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:37 PM