Mughrabi Bridge closed

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

Mugrabi Bridge closed due to safety concerns

By MELANIE LIDMAN (Jerusalem Post)
12/12/2011 05:00

J'lem city engineer warns that temporary bridge leading from Western Wall plaza to the Temple Mount is unsafe.

Officials closed the Mugrabi Bridge on Sunday, three days before the municipality deadline to close the ramp leading from the Western Wall plaza to the Temple Mount.

The Jerusalem city engineer, Shlomo Eshkol, has warned over the past year in a series of letters to the prime minister and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation – which oversees the area – that the temporary bridge is unsafe.

The 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 closure, which came earlier than expected, touched off a stormy reaction in the Knesset and among right-wing activists.

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Background on the Mughrabi (Mugrabi, Moghrabi) Bridge story is here and links.