Mughrabi Gate dig on hold again. AFP’s description of the renovations ain’t completely accurate:
The renovation project seeks to enlarge and bolster a ramp just inside the Old City’s Dung Gate that connects the Western Wall prayer plaza — which is revered by Jews — to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine.
Actually, the ramp connects Western Wall plaza to a Temple Mount esplanade entrance adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. See this helpful aerial view of the site marked and explained by Lonely Man of Cake.
The green lines delineate the trapezoid-shaped Temple Mount. The yellow line highlights the location of the Western Wall. The curved red line is the access ramp Israel would like to build. I took the liberty of circling the Al-Aqsa Mosque in pink to show there’s some distance from the gate to the mosque.
Imagine the Arab uproar if Israel really tried to connect the ramp to the mosque itself.
