'Palestinians': 'Israel tricked us'
You might recall that back in December, the 'Palestinians' submitted a heritage site to UNESCO for the '
ancient Roman irrigation network of Battir.' Of course, that 'ancient Roman irrigation network had nothing to do with the 'Palestinians.' As Giulio Meotti wrote:
Battir, however, is not “a
Palestinian village” with an old irrigation system, it’s the holy site
of the ancient Jewish fortress of Betar, the site of the last organized
resistance of the Jews to Roman rule in 135 C.E. during the historically
documenteed Bar Kochba rebellion.
But in the UNESCO protocols there is no mention of Betar.
Two months ago, the United States brokered a deal between Israel and the 'Palestinians' pursuant to which the 'Palestinians' would
drop five items from their 'condemn Israel' agenda at UNESCO, and in return, Israel would do the following (as reported by JPost):
As part of the agreement brokered by the US between the PA, Jordan and
Israel, Israel has in return agreed to allow UNESCO experts to survey a
number of sites in Jerusalem. Israel has also agreed to take part in
UNESCO meetings about the Mugrabi Bridge, which runs from the Western
Wall plaza to the Temple Mount and which has been a source of conflict
between Israel and the Waqf Muslim religious trust.
The 'Palestinians' are now claiming that they dropped their application to have the 'ancient Roman irrigation system' at Battir declared a world heritage site as a result of that deal.
But that's a lie.
Battir was never supposed to be part of the deal.
The five resolutions that the Palestinians
temporarily shelved in UNESCO dealt with the Temple Mount, the Mughrabi Bridge
leading to the Temple Mount from the Western Wall Plaza, Bethlehem, Hebron and
Gaza.
The 'Palestinians' are also now claiming that the entire deal was a '
trick' by Israel.
Experts in Battir and Bethlehem who helped draft the application told
Ma’an that the Palestinian delegation in Paris received a completed file
in January. It should have submitted it by a February deadline but did
not, the officials said. This is because in early 2013, Palestinian and
Israeli officials worked out an informal agreement to freeze the
nomination, a PLO official with knowledge of the decision said.
In
return, the Israeli government indicated it would permit the UN agency
to send an investigative team to Jerusalem, the official said, speaking
on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss
the sensitive negotiations with Israel.
“All the paperwork was
ready for the Battir application ... It was stopped in exchange for the
delegation to Jerusalem,” the official explained.
Israel ended up reneging on the deal weeks after the deadline to submit Battir had passed.
“What
we did was bad. It was a really big mistake ... They were never going
to allow UN investigators into their ‘undivided, eternal capital,’” the
official added, referring to Israel's vision for Jerusalem.
But Israel says Battir was never part of the deal, and Israeli officials don't understand why the 'Palestinians' dropped it.
Israeli officials say they were unaware of the change of plans and
denied that delaying or canceling the vote at UNESCO was part of the
deal to bring the delegation to Jerusalem.
“This comes as a
surprise,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor. “I really can’t
think about why they would do that. They did seem very keen on pushing
that forward.”
Palmor told Ma'an late Saturday that the informal
deal to bring the UNESCO delegation to Jerusalem included shelving five
pro-Palestinian resolutions at the UN, but not Battir’s UNESCO
application. “As far as I know, the concrete measure was (only) to
freeze a number of resolutions.”
And the Maan piece
tells a big lie:
Israel ended up reneging on the deal weeks after the deadline to submit Battir had passed.
That's not true. First of all, the application had to be submitted in February as Maan itself admits.
Experts in Battir and Bethlehem who helped draft the application told
Ma’an that the Palestinian delegation in Paris received a completed file
in January. It should have submitted it by a February deadline but did
not, the officials said. This is because in early 2013, Palestinian and
Israeli officials worked out an informal agreement to freeze the
nomination, a PLO official with knowledge of the decision said.
The deal that allowed the inspection in Jerusalem to take place was
reached in April. It therefore had nothing to do with Battir.
Second, Israel did intend to host the UNESCO delegation in May. It was to have been
hosted by Israel's Foreign Ministry.
One
Foreign Ministry official characterized the visit as “professional” and not
political, and said the delegation would neither go to the Temple Mount nor deal
with the issue of the Mughrabi Bridge.
...
According to a UNESCO
statement, the mission’s goals are to “examine the state of conservation of the
Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, a World Heritage site.” The mission is made
up of experts from UNESCO’s World Heritage Center, the International Council on
Monuments and Sites, and the International Center for the Study of the
Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. It is to present its report
and recommendations before the beginning of the World Heritage Committee’s
annual meeting on June 1.
The Foreign Ministry is hosting the delegation,
a ministry official said, since Israel is “the responsible party for maintaining
and preserving” the site.
...
Under the deal, Israel agreed to attend a UNESCO meeting to be held
in June in Paris to discuss the Mughrabi Bridge.
But at the last minute, the '
inspection' was canceled. This is from the
JPost at the time.
The spokesman said that contrary to an
agreement brokered in April at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, the PA
was now insisting on taking the delegation to the Temple Mount, and
meeting with Palestinian political personalities, not just "engineers,
architects and professional people".
"We have said this was unacceptable" the spokesman said. "Hopefully the delegation is postponed, and not cancelled."
It was not immediately clear whether some of the delegation participants had already arrived in the country.
So the inspection was canceled because the 'Palestinians' violated the agreement, and Battir was never supposed to be part of the UNESCO deal in the first place. Maan is telling more 'Palestinian' lies.
Labels: Beitar Ilit, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Mughrabi gate, Temple Mount, UNESCO
A deal at UNESCO
It's been a crazy day with business meetings... in fact, it's been a crazy week....
The United States has brokered a deal between Israel and the 'Palestinian Authority' at UNESCO, which saw the 'Palestinian Authority'
stop the UN agency from condemning Israel for construction at the Mughrabi bridge to the Temple Mount (pictured).
Following US intervention, the Palestinian Authority has agreed to
postpone five resolutions condemning Israel that they were to present to
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) executive board in Paris, Israel Radio reported Wednesday.
The
resolutions would have condemned Israel's activity in the West Bank as
well as its endangerment of Jerusalem's "Arab character", the radio
said.
As part of the agreement brokered by the US between the PA, Jordan and
Israel, Israel has in return agreed to allow UNESCO experts to survey a
number of sites in Jerusalem. Israel has also agreed to take part in
UNESCO meetings about the Mugrabi Bridge, which runs from the Western
Wall plaza to the Temple Mount and which has been a source of conflict
between Israel and the Waqf Muslim religious trust.
Citing
safety concerns of Jerusalem city engineer Shlomo Eshkol the
municipality closed the Mugrabi Bridge in December, 2011. The closure elicited harsh reactions
from both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, with Hamas warning that
the closure was tantamount to a “declaration of war” on Muslim holy
sites.
I wonder what other sites in Jerusalem they are going to survey and how that information will be used against us.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Judaization, Mughrabi gate, Palestinian Authority, Temple Mount, UNESCO
Damned if we do and damned if we don't
For now, at least, Israel is leaving the treacherous bridge over the Western Wall plaza to the Mughrabi Gate to the Temple Mount. The wood is being treated in the hope that it will not collapse and emergency services are being stationed at the Western Wall when the gate is open in case the bridge does collapse. I'm sure that those who use the bridge will find that (not very) reassuring.
Some of you may be wondering why the Muslims seem so anxious to take the risk of the bridge collapsing. It's really quite simple. Since Mughrabi Gate is the only gate that is used by non-Muslims, it's a win-win situation for them. If the bridge doesn't collapse, they use it as a club against Israel for not repairing it. And if the bridge does collapse, it's only 'infidels' that will be killed anyway, and then there won't be any non-Muslims on the Temple Mount for a while - maybe a long while - anyway. Of course, there's
more to the story than that....
The ancient Jewish character of the area is not in question by serious people, and therein lies part of the Muslim concern over the bridge. The closure of the temporary bridge allows Muslim authorities to proclaim threats to holy places and mobilize worldwide anti-semitism. But a replacement and re-opening of the bridge would be worse require additional archaeological excavations, which would undoubtedly demonstrate still further, if such evidence were necessary, the antiquity of Jews and the reality of the Temple. Such investigations and likely results are a part of what Muslim authorities describe as Israeli efforts to "Judaize" Jerusalem, documented an erased Jewish past.
So, Muslim authorities and their UNESCO allies criticize both Israeli action and Israeli inaction on Jerusalem and its holy sites. Needless to say, Israel is not allowed to criticize Muslims in this area—even when they attempt expropriation through outright fraud, such as the planting of false graves at the site of the future "Museum of Tolerance," or when they engage in horrific vandalism at the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives, or other Jewish sites. World organizations like UNESCO do not take notice of such things, except when Jews are the alleged perpetrators.
This is an old pattern; the Mughrabi Bridge agitation is merely the latest iteration. But the uproar is also an example of something altogether unsavory about Jerusalem: the way in which the mundane is imbued with what might be called anti-holiness. Evidence, logic, and civility do not apply in Jerusalem.
I'm not going to vouch for the rest of that piece - which is way too even-handed for my tastes. But this part is correct.
Labels: Mughrabi gate, Temple Mount, UNESCO
Netanyahu decides to repair Mughrabi bridge, Barkat furious
I am sitting in an unidentified airport in Europe as I write this. I am on my way home.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided to repair the Mughrabi Gate access ramp to the Temple Mount, and
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat (pictured) is furious.
The Jerusalem Municipality on Tuesday published a statement criticizing the government, this after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided that the Mughrabi Bridge will be renovated rather than demolished.
"The government's helplessness in dealing with this hazardous and dilapidated nuisance at the heart of the Western Wall and entrance to Temple Mount is regrettable," the statement read.
...
Officials at the Jerusalem Municipality, who were in favor of demolishing the bridge and building a new one in its place, were not happy with Netanyahu's decision. Mayor Nir Barkat expressed concern that "Netanyahu's conduct will delay the completion of a new bridge and will prevent the restoration of the status quo, which was violated by its closure.
"A correct process of decision making would have produced the right solution of placing a permanent and safe walkway in place of the old one," the statement read.
Indeed.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Mughrabi gate, Nir Barkat, Temple Mount
It's official: Mughrabi Bridge is closed
Jerusalem's city engineer has ordered the
closure of the wooden walkway above the Western Wall Plaza due to safety issues.
The closure, which came earlier than expected, touched off a stormy reaction in the Knesset and among right-wing activists.
“Israel doesn’t know how to express its own independence in its own capital,” said Yehudah Glick, the founder and chairman of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation, which advocates for Jewish access to the site. He said that in the past, when construction caused the closure of the Mugrabi Gate, non-Muslim tourists and pilgrims were allowed to use the Chain Gate, one of the 12 entrances to the Temple Mount. Similar access was not granted on Sunday.
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) called for the immediate demolition of the bridge so construction of a safer alternative could begin.
“But even with this, it would be inconceivable if during construction Jews are hindered from going to the Temple Mount for even one minute, and the construction work should never be an excuse for this,” he said.
Glick and Ariel both called for the prime minister to work to find alternate routes for Jewish worshipers and tourists while the bridge’s fate is decided.
Hmmm.
Labels: Mughrabi gate, Temple Mount
Jerusalem city engineer to order Mughrabi bridge closed
Prime Minister Netanyahu may have asked for a postponement in the construction on the Mughrabi gate, but the result may mean the end to all non-Muslims on the Temple Mount. Jerusalem's city engineer announced on Thursday that he intends to
close down the Mughrabi ramp altogether until it is replaced.
The Jerusalem municipal engineer Shlomo Eshkol said he intends to order the Mughrabi Bridge linking the Western Wall Plaza to the Temple Mount closed immediately, citing the danger it poses to the public.
In a letter to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, the city engineer said the temporary wooden bridge poses an immediate danger to the public and surrounding property due to the danger of fire and collapse. "Therefore I intend to issue and order closing the structure immediately and not to allow any use of it," the letter said, adding that the foundation would be given one week to submit any objections to the order.
The statement noted that the closure would allow limited exceptions for security forces to use the bridge in urgent cases after consulting with the municipal engineer.
The Western Wall Rabbi's office issued a response to Jerusalem's municipal engineer, ordering the immediate closure of the Mughrabi Bridge connecting the Western Wall Plaza and the Temple Mount.
The office of Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich's office said it is studying the municipal engineer's order and its significance. The statement added that "any decision will be taken with the safety of bridge pedestrians and worshipers at the Kotel in mind."
Unmentioned here is the fact that the Mughrabi Bridge provides the only access to the Temple Mount for non-Muslims.
Labels: Mughrabi gate, Temple Mount
The real obstacle to peace
Jonathan Tobin has got it right about
why there's no peace in this region. Unfortunately, no one in the halls of government outside of Israel is likely to listen.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that plans to demolish a temporary structure that allowed access to the Temple Mount would be indefinitely postponed due to the threats of violence not only from Palestinians but also from Egypt and Jordan. As with the case of previous efforts to either modernize or create better access for this historic and sacred area, any actions by Israel have been regarded by denizens of the so-called “Arab street” as a conspiratorial plot to destroy the mosques on the Temple Mount or otherwise offend Muslim sensibilities. The fact that even an anti-Israel institution like UNESCO — which has routinely denounced archeological digs in the city by Israelis — regards the ramp demolition as in no way compromising Muslim rights or shrines is meaningless to Israel’s Arab foes. While frustrating for Israel, these threats ought to clearly illustrate to the world the irrational aspect of Arab and Islamic critique of Israel. The resentment the Temple Mount project has generated is rooted in a belief that Jews have no right to be in Jerusalem. It has nothing to do with anything Netanyahu or his government might do.
Renovation of the ramp, which is a temporary structure put up in 2003 after an earthquake and a severe winter storm caused the old access ramp to collapse, in no way harms the mosques on the Temple Mount or interferes with Muslim rights to worship there. Indeed, the carrying on about anything Israel does with the adjoining Western Wall or the tunnels leading to it have never been about any harm to Arabs or Muslims. After all, in an act of magnanimity that has never been equaled in the annals of war, Israel handed over control of the Temple Mount — which is the most sacred spot in Judaism — to the Muslim Wakf almost immediately after the city was unified in 1967. For the first time in history, one of the contestants for control of the city did not destroy the shrines of other faiths or convert them to other uses as Christian and Muslim conquerors had done. But Israel got no credit for Moshe Dayan’s attempt to appease Islamic sensibilities. In the decades since this gesture, the Wakf has redoubled its efforts to foment violence. Even more to the point, it has conducted excavations on the historic site that resulted in the trashing of antiquities.
The only period when all religions were allowed free access to their holy sites in the city’s history has been the last 44 years of Jewish sovereignty. Yet Muslims still react to any Jewish presence in the Old City much as they did in 1929 when extremists fomented rumors of a Jewish plot to destroy the Temple Mount mosques that resulted in riots that took the lives of many Jews, including the massacre of the ancient Jewish community of Hebron.
Indeed.
So is Netanyahu going to remove his 'temporary' hold on the project before the ramp collapses and we are blamed for that? Or is he going to continue to kotow to the Egyptians and the Obama administration? What could go wrong?
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Mughrabi gate, Temple Mount, Wakf
Mughrabi Gate construction delayed by Prime Minister
Those of you who have been reading for a while can probably guess - more or less - what happened last night. I took Mrs. Carl out to dinner, came home, sat down in front of the computer to post some more... and promptly fell asleep. Eventually, I dragged myself out of my chair into bed. That's what I get for having a meal cooked with wine for dinner on a weeknight.... (For those in Israel wondering how we can afford to go out to dinner, I buy vouchers once in a while on a site called eluna.com at a substantial discount. Anyone who wants more details can send me an email).
Fearful of causing riots in the Arab world on the date of the Egyptian elections, Prime Minister Netanyahu asked the city of Jerusalem to postpone the beginning of the demolition of the bridge to Mughrabi Gate (pictured), which was scheduled to take place on Sunday. The bridge - which is unsafe - is to be destroyed and a
new access to the Temple Mount via Mughrabi Gate is to be constructed.
According to the report, work on the bridge – which received approval in March – was to have begun early Sunday morning. The initial work of demolishing the existing structure would have necessitated the deployment of large IDF and security forces in Jerusalem and around the Temple Mount, as well as stepped-up army preparedness in the West Bank.
Channel 2 reported Cairo and Amman warned Jerusalem the work would likely lead to “disruptions” in both Jordan and Egypt.
Officials in both the Prime Minister’s Office and the Jerusalem Municipality refused Sunday night to comment on the reports.
Previous work on the bridge caused widespread rioting in neighborhoods throughout the Jerusalem area and in Jordan.
Jordan’s Awkaf Islamic Affairs and Holy Places Ministry warned that were Israel to begin to take down the Mughrabi Bridge, the move would likely ignite protests throughout Jordan, which could eventually spread to the West Bank, according to the Channel 2 report.
Under the plans, a permanent bridge is to be built to replace the current temporary wooden structure that has been in use since a 2003 earthquake and winter storm caused part of the original bridge to collapse. The bridge is used as the main entry point for non-Muslim tourists and security forces entering the Temple Mount.
Where else in the world does a construction project lead to riots? But like the last time, we will have to set up a web cam so you can all watch what's going on and make sure we're not constructing the Third Temple up there.
Labels: Mughrabi gate, Temple Mount
A primer on the Mughrabi Gate controversy
Nadav Shragai explains what the
Mughrabi Gate controversy is all about.
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.
Read the whole thing. It will also give you a taste for what happened during the Jordanian occupation of the Old City from 1948-67.
Unfortunately, where I see this going is UNESCO and Turkey coming back here and reporting that Israel is damaging the mosques on the Temple Mount (which would be a lie) and demanding that all work be stopped. Then (if Israel listens - and presumably there will be orchestrated riots to 'help' us listen), we can all wait for a tragedy to happen.
Labels: Mughrabi gate, Temple Mount, UNESCO
Arabs stirring up trouble over Mughrabi Gate
In an earlier post, I noted that the City of Jerusalem has condemned the ugly wooden ramp that leads from the Western Wall plaza to the Temple Mount, and has ordered that it be
destroyed within one month. The Arabs are eager to make this an international issue again. This is from the official 'Palestinian'
WAFA service.
The al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage in Jerusalem Wednesday warned of dangerous repercussions if the Israeli municipality proceeds to demolish Magharbe Gate passage to al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City.
If implemented, it said, it would lead to the demolition of a section of the Mosque itself.
The Foundation called in a press release on the Arab and Islamic world to take immediate action to save al-Aqsa mosque from the Israeli occupation plans.
It said the Israeli decision to demolish the passage, which is in the shape of a wooden overpass that connects the yard of the Western Wall below to al-Aqsa compound, clearly shows Israeli determination to demolish a section of the mosque rather than what it claims that it is simply demolishing a temporary wooden bridge.
“We have repeatedly unveiled through maps, documents and pictures the dimension of the Israeli plan to demolish Magharbe Gate and to build another one in its place as it aims to build a fortified bridge for military reasons to facilitate large scale incursions of fully equipped Israeli forces, settlers and Jewish groups into the Mosque area,” it said.
Read the whole thing.
The only party that is digging underneath the mosque is the Waqf, which destabilized it about fifteen years ago by building a massive auxiliary mosque in the area known as
Solomon's stables.
Obviously, there are other ways to access the Temple Mount. The ramp will be replaced by something more solid and the mosque will not be destroyed. But the 'Palestinians' would rather wait for a lot of people to be killed by the ramp's collapse so that they can invent another blood libel.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Mughrabi gate, Solomon's stables, Temple Mount
Here we go again... Mughrabi Gate ramp condemned
The ugly wooden ramp in the picture, which leads up to the Temple Mount and makes a huge portion of the Western Wall plaza unusable, has been
on the verge of collapse for quite a while. But this morning, Israel Radio is reporting that the City of Jerusalem has given an order to demolish the ramp, which was originally built after the stone walkway leading up to the Mount
collapsed in a snowstorm in 2004.
Do you all remember what happened
the last time Israel tried to rebuild the ramp?
Developing....
Labels: Jerusalem Palestinians, Mughrabi gate, Temple Mount, UNESCO
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
