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The Mughrabi Bridge: Much Ado About Nothing!

Rabbi Dr. Daniel M. Zucker - 2/12/2007

The recent spate of articles condemning Israel for the construction of a new covered bridge to the Haram es-Sharif’s Mughrabi (Western) Gate is truly a case of much ado about nothing! From the tone of the various condemnations of Israel, be it The Jerusalem Post’s Palestinian commentator Daoud Kuttab, director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University in Ramallah, to King Abdullah of Jordan or Imran Khan of Pakistan, the naïve would think that Israel had engaged in a major plot to change the political geography of Jerusalem, and—God forbid—to undermine the structure of the Haram es-Sharif and al-Aqsa Mosque.

Those who know the geography of the area, as well as the archaeological history, both recent and ancient, realize that what Israel is doing has no affect upon the structure of the Haram or al-Aqsa. The new bridge is simply a replacement for the old ramp that led to the Mughrabi Gate. The ramp was formed out of nineteen and a half centuries of debris and garbage that accumulated up against the walls of the Haram es-Sharif. Both sides of the ramp have been excavated without causing any damage to either the mosque or the platform. (Unauthorized excavations on the Haram es-Sharif in the area of “Solomon’s Stables” by the Palestinian Waqf within the last decade however possibly did cause damage to the substructure of the mosque.)

The accusation that the involvement of the Israeli Department of Antiquities is proof of a sinister intent to destroy the mosque is absurd in the least and is a politically-motivated distortion of the facts. As the debris being removed contains materials up to nearly two millennia in age, of course the Department of Antiquities needs to be involved. Much of the surrounding area contained both Mamluk and Abbasid items. I myself was involved with excavating the area south of the ramp as a student in 1969-1970. As these sections all are outside of the Haram, they are part of the territory that has been recognized as Israeli controlled since 1967. Even the 2000 Camp David Accord discussions recognized these as part of Israeli jurisdiction in a future parceling of Jerusalem, the Haram to remain in Moslem hands.

Imran Khan’s recent Global Politician article “Al-Aqsa and the Temple Mount: Building a Deadly Bridge” gives the wrong impression when he writes: “On 21st August 1969 a fire destroyed a portion of Al-Aqsa mosque which was set by an extremist who wished to destroy the mosque completely so that Jews could build the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount. Many extreme elements in Israel share the same ambition.” Mr. Khan neglects to add the fact that the fire was started by a mentally-deranged Australian Protestant fundamentalist. As a resident of Israel at the time, I recall very well the fact that Israelis universally were horrified by this crazy man’s actions. That there exists a fringe extremist element that would like to see the Haram es-Sharif destroyed is undoubtedly true; however to say that they number “many” is indeed a distortion of the truth. Most Israelis, indeed most Jews have no desire to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple, viewing a return to the Temple’s sacrificial cult as a definite regression in Jewish religious and spiritual values.

However, none should think for a moment that either Jews or Israelis have any intention to forego their sovereign right to excavate or repair areas that are in their jurisdiction. The ramp to the Mughrabi Gate is and has been in sole Israeli jurisdiction for almost forty years. Just as Italy and the City of Rome don’t consult with the Vatican concerning repairing the sewers beneath the Italian approach roads to the Vatican, neither does Israel have reason to consult with the Moslem world about that which lies outside the Haram es-Sharif when it has no impact on the Haram itself. It is time for the Moslem world to act more responsibly and avoid the politicization of what are non-political events.