Talk:Allenby Bridge

Nuke claim

I have, for the second time, removed the following information from the article:

In October 2001, a Pakistani operative, with ties to Al Qaeda, was stopped by Israeli soldiers while carrying a device in his car and trying to cross the Allenby Bridge between Jordan and Israel. The device was transported to Dimona and examined at the Negev Nuclear Research Center. The bomb was the most sophisticated of all tactical nuclear weapons, a plutonium-implosion device developed by the KGB. This story failed to capture the attention of major media outlets in the U.S. [2]

I have removed this paragraph because it is obviously deranged, outrageous bullshit.

The "book" that this paragraph cites (which I have, regrettably, read in the course of my graduate work on the Middle East) is paranoid fantasy spun from whole cloth. Paul Williams, its author, has absolutely no background in the study of Islam or the Middle East, or even in any of the social sciences; his graduate degree is in Divinity. His book argued that al-Qaeda--working in conjunction with the President of Brazil, among other scary foreigners and minorities--had already planted half a dozen nuclear bombs in U.S. cities, and that a massive nuclear attack on the United States was imminent. (Recall that this was published in 2005.) He also spun incredible stories of Islamofascist military compounds sprinkled across the U.S. These and other fantasies were based on such impeccable sources as the "forgotten testimony" of the FBI's "confidential source" (suppressed, naturally, by the anti-American commies in the Bureau) and a slew of other anonymous sources that Williams clearly just made up.

Note that a lawsuit has forced the publisher of one of Williams' other books to concede the author made claims "without basis in fact." (Shocking, I know.)

I mean, look: the paragraph in question actually notes that "this story failed to capture the attention of major media outlets in the U.S." In other words, even the text in question admits that it's essentially unverifiable except insofar as Paul Williams says it happened--because it exists only as Paul Williams' ridiculous fantasy. 75.83.17.220 (talk) 00:55, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Infobox dates

The "Beginning date of construction 1918 / Completion date 1968 / Opening date 1994" text is pretty meaningless. The bridge has gone through several rounds of restoration or rebuilding (either rebuilding of the original span or an alternative span), but the current state of the infobox implies that it was 86 years between the time construction was started and the time that the ribbon was cut and the bridge formally opened... AnonMoos (talk) 12:04, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Illegal crossing sentence

I removed the sentence that editorializes on the "illegal" border crossings. It is an unsourced opinion that does not reflect a neutral point of view. Westeast (talk) 06:48, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

The change was reverted, but I have not seen any discussion on this. Can someone enlighten me on why my change was not justified? Westeast (talk) 08:27, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

I've marked the disputed sentence with a {{fact}} tag. Editors who want the sentence to remain are advised they should find a source to support the assertion. PhilKnight (talk) 16:14, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

It appears that Uttanu has declined to respond. I am inclined to revert his change. Any thoughts? Westeast (talk) 13:10, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Jordanian exit stamps, or lack thereof

My personal experience of this crossing is that, in addition to not issuing entry visas here, the Jordanians don't put exit stamps in passports here either (I have an entry stamp from Queen Alia International Airport and a standard Jordanian two-week tourist visa in my passport but no exit stamp, which would look awful suspicious to any Syrian or Lebanese customs official looking for evidence of a visit to Israel. So I just bit the bullet and let the Israelis stamp my passport at the other side, meaning I can't visit Syria or Lebanon on my current passport). Does anyone have anything on this besides personal experience? Daniel Case (talk) 17:39, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

   -Ive crossed from Jordan to Israel here 3 times in the last year or so and have no exit stamps from  Jordan. while you can get past the syria, lebanon problem by returning through the same border wither by obtaining a Jordan visa in Israel or returning before your original Jordan visa expires (as yoy cant get a jordan visa here), this type of stuff belongs on wikitravel.

Palestinian authority

the Palestinian authority is not an independent state, and it does not control the alenby bridge, that bridge is held by Israel. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.196.91.224 (talk) 02:47, 27 February 2010 (UTC)