Black bird + white bird discuss Mughrabi bridge

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You might have to enlarge the first shot to see that a white bird is looking at the black bird.

The birds are sitting on a ledge of an empty old 2nd-storey room over the women's prayer room at the Western Wall.

Here is the Western Wall (once called the Wailing Wall).

Behind and above it, the Temple Mount which is under the administration of the Wakf (Muslim Trust).

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The place the birds were sitting is under the top part of the big ramp.

It leads up to the Mughrabi Gate, the only entrance onto the Temple Mount for non-Muslims (as explained in a previous post).
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After years of legal battles the Jerusalem Municipality has now given final approval to plans for a replacement bridge.

(It turns out that the old ramp never did have approval. )

See the whole strange story here, in the March 8 Jerusalem Post.

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I'm relieved and happy to read that

"The new bridge is a scaled-down version of the original project, which proposed a massive 95-meter bridge leading from an archeological garden. The original plan prompted an outcry from archeologists worried that such a large structure would not only damage archeological findings, but also detract from the aesthetic nature of the site."

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The new bridge is meant to replace the temporary wooden bridge that has been in use since a 2003 earthquake and winter storm caused part of the original bridge to collapse, leading city engineers to deem it unsafe.

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The authorities have not coordinated this with the Wakf, so I imagine the new ramp will not be finished--or even started--any time soon.

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The sweet birds are for Camera-Critters and the "bridge" is for Sunday Bridges.

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Bridge to the Mughrabi Gate

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For the sake of Louis la Vache's Sunday Bridges, I am going to call this weird contraption a bridge.

As a result of the combined effect of an earthquake and heavy snow in 2004, the original earthen ramp collapsed. A new wood and metal "temporary" bridge was put up in 2007.

Enlarge the above photo and you will see both the old and the new, side by side.

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The ramp leads from the Western Wall Plaza up to the Mughrabi Gate.

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This gate is the only opening through which tourists and non-Muslims are allowed by the Muslim Wakf to enter the Temple Mount.

Muslims enter through ten other gates.
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Their gold Dome of the Rock is on the left of the above photo.

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On the right of the Temple Mount is the Al Aksa mosque.

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Just to the left of the ramp is the section of the Western Wall where women are allowed to pray.

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There was an induction ceremony for soldiers the night of this photo, hence all the flags and people.

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This photo from Wikipedia shows the Mughrabi (aka Morocco) Gate from the inside.

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I learn from the BiblePlaces.com blog that Jerusalem District Archaeologist Yochanan Zeligman recently addressed a letter to Israel Antiquities Authority Director-General Shuka Dorfman,

in which he told of several incidents of stones fallling from the Mughrabi Gate and warned that “a danger exists to the crowd in the women’s section of the Western Wall Plaza, as well to those who walk on the temporary bridge, should stones fall from above.”

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That is not good news.

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More:

Good before and after photos of the ramp's collapse

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"The Real Story" of the problems of Mughrabi Gate access by Yuval Baruch, Jerusalem Region Archaeologist, Israel Antiquities Authority
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And also this, the story as written by a rabbi, but his comprehensive photos let us better understand the situation around the problem of the old ramp, the present one, and a possible future bridge.

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Troubles

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The last two weeks have been hard on Jerusalem.

For eights days straight we have had an unseasonable heat wave and several days of bad dust storms (the sand blew over from North Africa).

Then there was the undiplomatic "mishap" when Vice President Biden was here.
And before that, the young Muslim shabab throwing rocks from the Temple Mount down onto Jews praying at the Western Wall.

Trouble is expected tomorrow. If you hear about it on your media, these two photos will help you in your orientation.
The night photo shows the Western Wall on the left.
Behind the wall is the Temple Mount on which is Al Aksa mosque. Its grey dome looks golden at night.
The ramp leads up to the Mughrabi Gate, one of the entrances into the Temple Mount.

Here is a better view of the ramp and Mughrabi Gate.
The golden dome is the Muslim shrine called the Dome of the Rock (on the Temple Mount).

If you enter the Old City wall through the Dung Gate, you pass through the security check at the lower right corner of the photo and enter the Western Wall Plaza.
On the horizon is the Mount of Olives.
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I am worried what tomorrow will bring.
Please friends, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
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