New bulge
develops on wall of Temple Mount
As Jordanian
engineers began tests on a two-year-old bulge on the southern wall of
Jerusalem's Temple Mount this week, a side section of the mount's western wall
that shows signs of dampness has begun to protrude as well.
The latest
swelling of the 2,000-year-old supporting wall is on its western side, to the
right of the area where Jewish worshipers visit.
The 10-meter
bulge, which can be seen just to the right of the Mugrabi Gate and to the left
of Robinson's Arch, in the archeological garden which abuts the Western Wall
prayer area, lies directly underneath a small garden area atop the Temple
Mount.
The area of the
wall in question was visibly damp, even after Israel's long, dry summer.
Informed sources say that the bulge which looks like the one on the southern
wall did two years ago is likely the result of water dripping inside of the
wall from the Wakf's small garden above.
Water drippage
and faulty draining were cited by the Antiquities Authority as probable causes
for the the southern wall bulge last year.
Unlike the
southern wall, which lies just under Solomon's Stables, which has been turned
into the largest mosque in Israel, the area near the western wall is
unoccupied, both above and below where it is cordoned off due to its proximity
to the Mugrabi Gate. As such, a possible collapse there does not pose the
danger that a collapse of the southern wall does.
The Antiquities
Authority declined to comment "at the present time" on the condition
of the western supporting wall.
Fearing renewed
violence, police have barred non-Muslims, including archeologists, from
entering the Mount since then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon's visit to the
site in September 2000, leaving the area without archeological supervision.
Just this week,
the Prime Minister's Office acknowledged that a yearlong dispute between Israel
and the Wakf Islamic Trust over who will fix the bulge in the southern wall has
been resolved, with a decision to involve Jordanian engineers.
It was not
immediately clear whether the Jordanian team would take responsibility for
other portions of the Temple Mount.
The decision to
let the Jordanians work on the Mount, which was made at a top level meeting
presided over by Sharon last week, follows warnings by archeologists that
sections of the wall are in danger of collapse, and comes a month before the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when hundreds of thousands of Muslims are
expected to visit the site.
Over the past
year, in what has been refereed to as "the battle over the bulge,"
intermittent discreet negotiations with the Wakf to fix the bulge in the wall
remained at a standstill over a disagreement as to who will fix the problem
Israel or the Wakf.
The standoff
continued for over a year even though only a few days were needed to carry out
the culmination of engineering tests at the site that the Antiquities Authority
had completed on the outside of the wall, and even though that bulge grew to its
current length of 190 meters, protruding by as much as 70 cm.