Allenby Bridge#The Allenby border crossing

The bridge is informally called the {{Transliteration|ar|italics=no|Al-Karameh}} Bridge ({{lang|ar|جسر الكرامة}}) or simply {{Transliteration|ar|italics=no|Al-Jisr}} ({{lang|ar|rtl=yes|الجسر}}, {{lit|the bridge}}) by Palestinians.{{Cite web |url=https://jerusalem.24fm.ps/15833.html |title=Al-Karama crossing: A "symbol and witness of humiliation and suffering" |publisher=Jerusalem 24 |date=2022-07-22 |access-date=2023-10-29}}

In 1885 the Ottoman government of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem built a bridge at this site.{{Cite book |last= Büssow |first= Johann |title= Hamidian Palestine: Politics and Society in the District of Jerusalem 1872-1908 |date=11 August 2011 |publisher= BRILL |isbn= 9789004205697|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=crPPX99rjYUC&pg=PA448}}

In 1918 British general Edmund Allenby built a bridge over the remnant of the Ottoman predecessor. The 1922 census lists 12 people (8 Christians and 4 Muslims) living at the bridge.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922|title=Palestine Census ( 1922)|via=Internet Archive}} It was first destroyed by the 1927 Jericho earthquake, when it fell apart and collapsed into the river.{{cite web |author= Palestine Square |title= And the Land Lurched Forth: Remembering the 1927 Jericho Earthquake |date= 11 July 2016 |publisher= Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) |url= https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/232270 |access-date=8 April 2020}} The 1931 census lists 13 people (11 Muslims and 2 Christians) living at the bridge.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/palestine-census-1931|title=Palestine Census 1931|via=Internet Archive}}

It was destroyed again in the Night of the Bridges operation by the Palmach on 16 June 1946, thus severing one of the main overland connections between Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} The next destruction occurred during the 1967 Six-Day War, after which was replaced in 1968 with a temporary truss-type bridge.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} In 1994, subsequent to the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, a new modern paved crossing was constructed adjacent to the older wooden one with the aid of the Japanese government.{{Cite web|title=Embassy of Japan in Jordan (ODA: Middle East Peace & Regional Stability)|url=http://www.jordan.emb-japan.go.jp/eng_page/oda/en_region.htm|url-status=live|website=jordan.emb-japan.go.jp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060709172500/http://www.jordan.emb-japan.go.jp:80/eng_page/oda/en_region.htm |archive-date=2006-07-09 }}

Since the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty, the Allenby Bridge Terminal has been operated by the Israel Airports Authority.[https://www.iaa.gov.il/en/land-border-crossings/alenbi/about/ About: Alleby Bridge], Israel Airports Authority. It serves as a border crossing between the west and east banks of the Jordan River. The Jordanian authorities recognize the bridge as an international border entry point, but neither Jordan nor Israel grant entry visas to foreign passport holders at this crossing, unlike the country's other border crossings with territory under Israeli control,{{cite book |last=Irving |first=Sarah |title=Palestine |date=2012 |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |isbn=978-1-84162-367-2 |page=30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-orIXqXsSUYC&pg=PA30 |access-date=14 September 2015}} nor stamp the passports of departing travelers.{{cite book |last=Walker |first=Jenny |last2=Clammer |first2=Paul |title=Jordan |date=2015 |publisher=Lonely Planet |isbn=978-1-74360-546-2 |page=730 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJe9CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT730 |access-date=15 September 2015}} Palestinians traveling abroad can use the Allenby Bridge to exit the West Bank into Jordan and then use the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman to fly abroad. Travel permits from both Israeli and Jordanian authorities are required, with varied stringency depending on the prevailing political situation.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Israeli citizens are not permitted to use the terminal, except Israeli Muslims making a pilgrimage to Mecca to perform the Hajj and Umrah. Such pilgrims were allowed to use the Allenby Bridge crossing for the first time in 1978, after Jordan and Saudi Arabia permitted Israeli Arabs to join the hajj in 1977.William Claiborne, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/10/26/after-30-years-israeli-moslems-to-see-mecca/9a3fb8d5-1b7c-4ab4-b4c7-413d47924019/ After 30 Years, Israeli Moslems to See Mecca], Washington Post (October 26, 1978).Karin Laub, [https://apnews.com/article/cc0ef7f9485b8dfc1fc538f8eb20cc01 Thousands of Israeli Moslems Leave For Mecca], Associated Press (June 26, 1989). Tourists who wish to travel to Jordan may have to be in possession of a visa from Jordan in advance, depending on their nationality. Tourists and inhabitants of East Jerusalem may travel directly to an Israeli terminal, although Palestinians from the West Bank have to start the departure procedure at the special Palestinian border terminal in Jericho city.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

The Jordanian side of the bridge has a branch of the Bank of Jordan for the exchange of currencies.{{cite news |title=Bank of Jordan פתח סניף בגשר אלנבי |url=http://www.port2port.co.il/Index.asp?ArticleID=63955&CategoryID=95 |publisher=Port2Port |date=2008-07-24 |access-date=2008-07-25 |language=he |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802133951/http://www.port2port.co.il/Index.asp?ArticleID=63955&CategoryID=95|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-08-02}}

File:Opening of the Allenby Bridge (1918).jpg|The opening of the original Allenby Bridge in 1918

File:Allenby Bridge LOC Matson 22904.jpg|Larger bridge built in the 1930s next to the original one visible behind it

File:King Hussein Bridge.jpg|Allenby (King Hussein) Bridge after being blown up by the Palmach in 1946

File:Allenby bridge destroyed after 1967 war.png|The bridge after being destroyed by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War

File:King Hussein Bridge sign - Palestinian side.jpg|King Hussein Bridge inscription (western end), 2013

File:Palestine refugees flee across the Allenby Bridge during the second Arab-Israeli hostilities in 1967.jpg|Palestine refugees flee across the Allenby Bridge during the second Arab-Israeli hostilities in 1967

File:Palestinian refugees crossing the destroyed Allenby Bridge in 1967.jpg|Palestine refugees flee across the Allenby Bridge during the second Arab-Israeli hostilities in 1967

• Death of Raed Zeiter
• Jisr ed-Damiye
• Israel-Jordan border
• 2024 Allenby Bridge shooting

{{Portal bar|Transport|Engineering|Israel|Jordan}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131031135433/http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1149.html US Consular Information Sheet - Jordan]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100924061815/http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1064.html US Consular Information Sheet - Israel, the West Bank and Gaza]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204222708/http://www.jordanriver.jo/articles/pdf.pdf Crossing the River Jordan (Jordan River Foundation)]
• [http://www.iaa.gov.il/Rashat/en-US/Borders/Alenbi/ Allenby Border Terminal info]
• [http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~dhershkowitz/pic288a.jpg Original bridge, circa 1893, burnt by the Turks during WWI]

{{Israel border crossings}}

{{Israel Airports Authority}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Bridges completed in 1968

Category:Bridges in Jordan

Category:Bridges over the Jordan River

Category:Jordan–West Bank border crossings

Category:Toll bridges