Now, for a little good news......

Israel scraps plan for massive new bridge to Mughrabi Gate

In a dramatic about-face, controversial plans to construct a major new bridge to the Mughrabi Gate adjacent to Jerusalem's Western Wall directly through an archeological garden abutting the Temple Mount have been nixed amid concern about possible damage to artifacts, officials said Monday.

The decision to abort the massive bridge, whose construction had been deeply contested by leading Israeli archeologists, effectively means that a salvage excavation under way in the area, which has drawn the wrath of Islamic officials and led to low-level Arab violence in the region earlier this year, will be coming to a close shortly, the officials said.

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Other alternatives, including a modest bridge along the original route, are now being considered.

It's about time. This has been a considerable burr under the 'saddle of peace' that everyone says they want.

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An obvious solution to the dispute - which was clear from the start but was previously rejected by the Antiquities Authority - would be to build a new bridge on the same route as the old one. Some officials had rejected this proposal as they wanted to separate the flow of visitors to the Temple Mount from those to the Western Wall, officials said.

The archeological tempest over the planned bridge was subsequently overshadowed by violent protests by Islamic officials over the salvage excavation near the Temple Mount that the planned construction prompted.

The dig, which began in February, touched off Arab violence in Jerusalem following assertions by Islamic leaders that the work, which is taking place dozens of meters outside the Temple Mount, could damage the mosque inside the ancient compound. Israeli law requires such an archeological excavation in advance of any construction in the Holy Land.

Israel desperately needs to understand that the Arab Muslims also have a stake and history in the Temple Mount. True peace can only come with mutual understanding and co-existence.

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