The British Mandatory forces brutally crushed the Arab Revolt in Palestine (1936-1939) with martial law, the destruction of Arab villages and neighborhoods, air strikes, collective punishment, more than 100 executions, and several thousand Arab dead.
Anti-White Paper demonstration outside of Jerusalem's
Yeshurun Synagogue. Also see here. Procession led by
Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog (in top hat). At least 9 Torah
scrolls are in the procession. May 18, 1939
The Arab militias had succeeded in killing hundreds of Jews and destroying Jewish villages, farms and businesses, but their biggest success was political.
Another demonstration held outside
of Jerusalem's Edsen cinema
The Arab terrorist militias succeeded in forcing a change in British policy toward Jewish immigration to Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish State as promised in the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and the British Peel Commission Report of 1937 which called for the partitioning of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.
In 1939, the British government headed by Neville Chamberlain issued the "MacDonald White Paper," a policy paper which called for the establishment of a single Palestine state governed by Arabs and Jews based on their respective populations. [The Arabs greatly outnumbered the Jews.] Moreover, a limit of only 75,000 Jews would be permitted into Palestine over a five year period, and the transfer of land from Arabs to Jews would be prohibited. Here are excerpts: 
Another Jerusalem protest held at the
corner of King George and
Agrippas Streets, May 18, 1939His Majesty's Government therefore now declare unequivocally that it is not part of their policy that Palestine should become a Jewish State.... Although it is not difficult to contend that the large number of Jewish immigrants who have been admitted so far have been absorbed economically, the fear of the Arabs that this influx will continue indefinitely until the Jewish population is in a position to dominate them has produced consequences which are extremely grave for Jews and Arabs alike and for the peace and prosperity of Palestine. ... [If] immigration is continued up to the economic absorptive capacity of the country, regardless of all other considerations, a fatal enmity between the two peoples will be perpetuated.
Young women outside of a "recruiting
office" during the protests against the
White Paper. The women on the right
are identified as "revisionists."
The White Paper was approved by the British Parliament in May 1939, thus signing the death sentences of millions of Jews precisely when the Nazi tide was threatening to engulf Europe.
Demonstration of women in Jerusalem
on May 22, 1939 as they confront
a cordon of British police near the
King David HotelThe Jews of Palestine protested and demonstrated, as evidenced in the dozens of pictures taken by the American Colony photographers and archived at the Library of Congress.
As noted previously in these pages, World War I was not only waged in the trenches of Europe.
Captured German officers leading other prisoners captured
near Jericho, July 1918. Guarded by Australian cavalrymen
See also here
Major military campaigns took place in the Middle East between 1915 and 1918, and large-scale battles raged from the Suez Canal, through Gaza and Beer Sheva, up the mountain slopes to Jerusalem, down to Jericho and the Dead Sea, and north to Damascus.
British soldiers captured in Gaza 1917
See also hereThe Turkish forces were led by German officers and reinforced with Austrian troops. The British forces also included troops from Australia, New Zealand and India.Classic 19th century battle tactics such as cavalry charges were still used, but new forms of warfare were also deployed, including aerial bombardment and the use of tanks.
Australian soldiers captured in Sinai Incredibly, the photographers of the American Colony had access to both sides of the battles.
After failed British attacks on Turkish positions in Gaza in early 1917, a newly reinforced British force, now under the newly appointed Gen. Edmund Allenby, consisted of some 88,000 troops.
Turkish solders captured in the battle
for Jerusalem December 1917
Wounded British soldiers in a Turkish
hospital in Be'er Sheva 1917The battles in the Middle East resulted in an estimated 500,000 casualties on each side.Thousands of prisoners were taken by each side, and their plight was recorded in the Library of Congress collection.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the original photographs.0Add a comment
As soon as the Yom Kippur fast day is over many Jews start preparations for the Sukkot (Tabernacles) holiday. It usually involves building a sukka, a temporary structure -- sometimes just a hut -- with a thatched roof, in which Jews eat and often sleep during the seven day holiday.r> 
Bukharan family in their sukka (circa 1900). Note the man
on the right holding the citron and palm branch
Ashkenazi family (circa 1900)
in the sukka beneath the
chandelier
The photographers of the American Colony Photographic Department took photos of sukkot structures over a 40 year period, preserving pictures of Bukharan, Yemenite and Ashkenazi sukkot.
A Yemenite Jew named Yehia
holding the 4 species in
the sukka (1939)
Several photographs include the Jewish celebrants holding four species of plants traditionally held during prayers on the Sukkot holiday -- a citron fruit and willow, myrtle and palm branches.
Even though the sukka is a temporary structure, some families moved their furniture and finery into the sukka, as is evident in some of the pictures.
Portrait of the Bukhari family
in the Sukka (1900)
A Sephardi Jew named Avram relaxing in
his Sukka with a friend (1939)Bukhari Jews, shown in pictures from around 1900, were part of an ancient community from what is today the Central Asian country Uzbekistan. They started moving to the Holy Land in the mid-1800s.
The Bassam family sukka in Rehavia
neighborhood (1939)
Yehia, the Yemenite Jew pictured, was almost certainly part of a large migration of Jews who arrived in Jerusalem in the 1880s, well before the famous "Magic Carpet" operation that brought tens of thousands to the new state of Israel during 1949 and 1950.
A more elaborate sukka in the Goldsmidt
house (1934). Note the tapestry on the
walls with Arabic script
The last picture on the right, taken in a very large Jerusalem sukka belonging to the Goldsmidt family, shows the tapestries and fabrics on the wall of the sukka. Close examination shows that the fabric contains Arabic words, even some hung upside down. Several experts were asked this week to comment on the Arabic. One senior Israeli Arab affairs correspondent wrote, "It is apparently some quotes that I can read but do not amount to anything coherent, written in Kufi style of Arabic... [I] would not be surprised if these are Kuranic verses."
Exterior of the Goldsmidt sukka in
Jerusalem (1934)Presumably the Goldsmidts and their guests didn't know about the Arabic phrases either.We invite readers to unravel the mystery of the tapestries, translate the phrases, and provide a contemporary picture of the Goldsmidts' building.Click on the photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to see the originals.
A reader helped identify the Goldsmidts' building. "The Goldsmidts were friends of ours who lived on Ben-Maimon Street [in Jerusalem]. They had a restaurant [and that explains the diners in the sukka]. Our wedding reception was there. There's a plaque on 54 King George Street that says "Goldsmidt Building."1View comments
In honor of Yom Kippur, we break away from our normal presentation of Library of Congress still photos. Attached is a rare eight minute filmfound in the collection of an Amsterdam Jewish family and posted on YouTube by Ya'akov Gross of Israel.
A screen capture from the 1918 film (YouTube)
The film, consisting of many clips, was taken after the British capture of Jerusalem in late 1917. It shows the Jewish and Arab markets, the Dome of the Rock, worshippers at the Western Wall, Rachel's Tomb, Jews on their way to the Western Wall (covering their faces lest they be filmed on Shabbat), and much more.
The YouTube contributor, Ya'akov Gross, points out in his comment on YouTube that the British soldier in the film -- note the soldier's leggings, cap and sidearm -- (at 0:50) indicates that the photo was after 1917. Mr. Gross adds that the film shows the Ottoman clock tower at Jaffa Gate that was taken down by the British in 1920.
Appears to be a British
soldier. Screen capture
from the YouTube clip
Here is Mr. Gross' comment in Hebrew:כיצד תיארכתי את 1918? בארכיון זה רשום: ?- 191 ויש שסוברים כי הסרט צולם בתקופת התורכים. מגדל השעון המופיע בסרט הוסר ב1920 - כלומר זה לא צולם אחרי. בסרט חולפים חיילים בודדים במדים בריטים בדקה 0:50ליד שער שכם וכ"כ ליד הכותל. לעומתם יש גם שוטר במדי המשטרה העות'מנית בדקה 4:08 (בתחילת השלטון הצבאי ב1918 עוד הסתובבו במדי התורכים). יש גם הרבה תיירים בבגדים אירופאים, שבאו לבקר אחרי הכיבוש. בשווקים יש גם מזון וסחורה . מצרכים היו חסרים מאוד בימי התורכים. הסרט צולם כנראה לעידוד תיירות יהודית לא"י.2View comments
- OCT5
Jews Pray on their Holiest Day of the Year at their Holiest Site in their Holiest City of the World
This week Jews around the world will turn their attention to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For many Jews in the Land of Israel over the centuries the day meant praying at the Western Wall, the remnant of King Herod's retaining wall of the Temple complex destroyed in 70 AD.
Jews at the Kotel on Yom Kippur (circa 1904)
See analysis of the grafitti on the wall for
dating this picture.
Women at the Kotel
The Turkish and British rulers of Jerusalem imposed restrictions on the Jewish worshippers, such as prohibiting chairs, forbidding screens to divide the men and women, and even banning the blowing of the shofar at the end of the Yom Kippur service.
For the 19 years that Jordan administered the Old City, 1948-1967, no Jews were permitted to pray at the Kotel.
Jews at the Kotel (circa 1900). Note the
Yemenite Jew at the right, probably an
immigrant from the 1880s
The Library of Congress collection contains many pictures of Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall over the last 150 years.
"Jews wailing place" (1860)
Some of the old pictures indicate that the worshippers on the left side of the Wall were women wearing shawls Today, women pray on the right side.
After the 1967 war, the Western Wall plaza was enlarged and large areas of King Herod's wall have been exposed. Archeologists have also uncovered major subterranean tunnels -- hundreds of meters long -- that will be opened for visitors to Jerusalem in the next few weeks.
Jews at the Kotel (circa 1917). Men
are praying on the right side, past the
womenReceive a Daily Picture by subscribing in the right sidebar and clicking "submit."Click on the photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to see the originals.0Add a comment
This pastoral picture from the Library of Congress collection bears the date 1925 and the caption, "Jewish colony of Tell Pioth on the Plain of Rephaim."
Tell Pioth (1925) is known as the Jerusalem
neighborhood of Talpiot today
Where's Tell Pioth?
It may take a few seconds for anyone who knows Jerusalem to realize that the picture is of the Talpiot neighborhood in southern Jerusalem. The "Plain of Rephaim" is the continuation of the "Emek Refaim" Road in Jerusalem's German Colony.
The land for Talpiot was purchased in 1911 from German Templers of the German Colony of Jerusalem. Standing on the land and looking northeast toward Jerusalem's Old City and the Tower of David, the Jewish founders saw themselves as guardians of the Holy City, specifically the "talpiyot (turrets)" as expressed in the Bible's Song of Songs, 4:4 "Thy neck is like the tower of David, built with turrets."
By 1924 the first 40 homes were built, but the community suffered from deadly Arab attacks in 1929 and again in 1936.
Among the early settlers in Talpiot was the writer S.Y. Agnon who wrote about the neighborhood in his book, The Fire and the Trees. "I stood among the small trees that surround gardens... and on the path that I love the small houses and the refreshing gardens..."
Trees, gardens and small houses such as those in this picture.1View comments
The Golden Gate (Sha'ar Harachamim,Gate of Mercy) of Jerusalem's Old City wall has special significance on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. If the gate were opened, it would lead directly onto the Temple Plaza. The outside of the gate would open to the Kidron Valley and the Mount of Olives beyond. In Talmudic literature the gate was also known as the Shushan Gate because of its eastern direction (toward the Persian city of Shushan) and perhaps because of the role played by the Persian leader Cyrus in the Jews' return to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. 
Exterior of the sealed Golden Gate. (circa 1860)
According to Jewish tradition, on Yom Kippur a messenger (usually a priest) took the sacrificial lamb from the Temple through the gate to the desert. The Red Heifer purification ceremony also involved taking the sacrifice through the eastern gate to the Mount of Olives.
The Golden Gate viewed from within the Temple Plaza (1860) 
Interior chamber of the
Golden Gate (1900)
Unlike most of Jerusalem's other gates, the Golden Gate was originally built at least a millennium before Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 1540. Indeed, some archeologists believe that the original gate, dating back to Herod's construction or even Nehemiah's period (440 BCE), still exists beneath the current gate. Perhaps because of the great religious significance of the gate to Jews and Christians as the Messiah's route into Jerusalem, it is believed Suleiman sealed the gate and permitted the construction of a Muslim cemetery in front of the gate.
Hebrew writing on the internal walls of the gate's chamber is believed to have been left by Jewish pilgrims at least 1,000 years ago. (See study by Shulamit Gera, Catedra, in Hebrew.)
Diagram of the two levels of the
Golden Gate (with permission of the
Biblical Archaeology Review)
The theory of an ancient gate received support in 1969 when an archeological student namedJames Fleming was inspecting the current gate. Suddenly the rain-soaked ground beneath him opened and he found himself in a pit of bones looking at the top of another gate eight feet beneath the surface. Fleming photographed his discovery. When he returned the next day, the tomb had been sealed with a cement slab by the Islamic custodians of the cemetery.
The ancient subterranean arch and the pit
of bones. (James Fleming)
See previous photo essays on the Zion Gate, Damascus Gate, and Lions Gate.0Add a comment
The Library of Congress photograph collection includes another unusual 100-year-old photo of the Zion Gate of Jerusalem's Old City which was missed in earlier research. The photo had been captioned "Portal of David."
Camels leaving "David's Portal"
See previous photo essays on Zion Gate,Damascus Gate, and Lions Gate.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the originals.0Add a comment
A Tribute to the Churva's Builder, Avraham Shlomo Zalman HaTsoref, on the 200th Anniversary of His Arrival in Eretz Yisrael
Al Aqsa dome (left), Churva (right)
circa 1864
For 100 years, the dome of the Churva synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City prominently shared the skyscape with the domes of the al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Note the enlargement from the 150-year-old title page photo above.
In 1700, Rabbi Yehuda HaHasid acquired land called "the Ashkenzi compound" in the Old City for an Ashkenazi synagogue and institutions. Part of the funds for the purchase were borrowed from local Arab sources. When the rabbi died soon thereafter, the Jews were unable to repay the debt. The Ashkenazi community fled, and the synagogue was destroyed by the Arabs in 1721. The site became known as "Churvat Rabbi Yehuda" -- Rabbi Yehuda's ruins.
For 100 years Ashkenazi Jews avoided the Old City, only entering disguised in Sephardi garb.
Avraham Shlomo Zalman HaTzoref
In 1811 -- almost exactly 200 years ago -- a man arrived in the Land of Israel, and he changed the landscape and humanscape of Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael to this day.
The Churva interior (circa 1935)
Avraham Shlomo Zalman HaTzoref, born in Lithuania and a student of the "Gaon of Vilna," moved to Jerusalem where he was determined to reverse the fortunes of the Jews of Jerusalem. He traveled to Europe to raise funds for the community, and in 1836 lobbied the ruler of Egypt and Palestine, Muhammad Ali Pasha, to cancel the Jewish community's century-old debt and to permit new Jewish construction.
Local Arabs were angered by the cancellation of the debt and the restored Jewish life in the Old City, and they attempted to assassinate HaTzoref. In 1851 he was hit in the head in a sword attack and died months later, almost exactly 160 years ago. HaTzoref is listed in the modern annals of Israel's history as the first victim of Arab terrorism.
His son Mordechai and grandson Yoel Moshe took on the family name of "Solomon." They were pioneers in establishing Jewish communities outside of the Old City such as Meah Sha'arim and Petah Tikva. Yoel Moshe established the first Hebrew printing press and newspaper in the Holy Land in 1863.
Jordanian soldier displaying Torah scroll
in the Churva ruins
The Churva today (Chesdovi)
The Churva Synagogue was completed in 1864 and was considered the most beautiful synagogue in Eretz Yisrael.
During the 1948 war, it was the epicenter of the fighting between the Jewish Haganah forces and the Jordanian Legion in the Old City. The Churva was captured and blown up.
Israel recaptured the Old City in 1967. The Churva, with all its previous splendor, was rebuilt and rededicated in March 2010.
View Part One of the ancient synagogue series. View Part Two here.1View comments
According to Jewish tradition, when the Bible describes the Land of Israel as the "land of milk and honey" it meant the sweet honey extract of dates and not the produce of honey bees.
Borochov Girls Farm, bee culture.
(circa 1925)
Nonetheless, Jews have adopted bees' honey for the Rosh Hashana custom of dipping apples in honey and wishing loved ones, "May you have a good and sweet year."
Six agricultural training schools were established for young Jewish women in the Eretz Yisrael in the 1920s, and the American Colony photographers were frequent visitors. Here is a "sweet" photo taken at the Borochov girls school more than 80 years ago.0Add a comment
- SEP25
"Blow the Shofar at the New Moon...Because It Is a Decree for Israel, a Judgment Day for the God of Jacob" - Psalms 81
Jews around the world prepare for Rosh Hashana later this week, the festive New Year holiday when the shofar ram's horn is blown in synagogues.
Yemenite Jew blowing the shofar (circa 1935)
The American Colony photographers recorded a dozen pictures of Jewish elders blowing the shofar in Jerusalem some 80 years ago. The horn was also blown in Jerusalem to announce the commencement of the Sabbath. During the month prior to Rosh Hashana, the shofar was blown at daily morning prayers to encourage piety before the High Holidays.
Ashkenazi Jew blowing the shofar to announce the Sabbath 
Yemenite Rabbi Avram, donning tfillin for his
daily prayers, blowing the shofar
View the American Colony Photographers' collection of shofar blowing here.0Add a comment
-
The Library of Congress' American Colony photo collection is full of mysterious pictures, some of which have been presented on these pages. Here's another one, captioned "Khudera, Russian Proselytes," with the date listed as "between 1898 and 1934." Who or what is "Khudera?"
Who are these "Russian Proselytes of Khudera?"
In the 19th century, a Christian sect in Russia kept Saturday as their day of Sabbath, thus earning the name "Subbotniks." They read the Old Testament and had a loose identification with Judaism.
In the late 1800s, two emissaries from Eretz Yisrael (one, Meir Dizengoff, would become mayor of Tel Aviv) traveled to Europe to encourage Jews to move to the land of Israel. In Kovno they encountered a successful Subbotnik farmer named Dubrovin who peppered them with questions about the Bible and about farming and weather conditions in the Galilee. The respected sage of Kovno, Rabbi Yitzhak Elchanan Spektor, had befriended Dubrovin and after several years converted Dubrovin, now named Yoav, and his family to Judaism.Yoav Dubrovin (Dubrovin Farm
Museum)
In 1903, Dubrovin moved to the land of Israel with his family of 13. In 1909, he established a very successful farm in Yesod HaMa'aleh in the upper Galilee.
So who are the "Russian Proselytes of Khudera?" According to Yoav Dubrovin's biography, the family lived in Hadera before purchasing their farm in Yesod HaMa'aleh. Elsewhere in the Library of Congress collection there is reference to Jewish towns "Jewish coastal colonies: Herzlia, Ranana, Nathania, Khudeira. Herzlia" -- apparently what we call and spell as "Hadera."
The mystery photo is likely a Dubrovin family portrait (minus Yoav who was in his 70s at this time) and was probably taken around 1906. Yoav Dubrovin lived to the age of 104.
Yoav Dubrovin's son donated the farm to the Jewish National Fund in 1968, and today the farm house has been restored and is the centerpiece of the Dubrovin Farm Museum.1View comments
- Tragically, there is a long list of massacres of Jews over the last 100 years in Eretz Yisrael: 1929 in Hebron, 1929 in Safad, 1948 the Hadassah Hospital convoy, 1948 Kfar Etzion, 1972 Lod Airport, 1978 Coastal Road, Passover 2002 Park Hotel in Netanya, to list just a few.
But missing from many of the martyrs' lists and the Israeli public consciousness is the massacre of 19 Jews of Tiberias on October 2, 1938, in the height of the "Arab Revolt in Palestine." An organized force of Arab militiamen attacked the neighborhood from several directions.
Torched Tiberias synagogue (Not from the
Library of Congress collection)
Why is the account missing? Perhaps because of the absolute failure of British authorities and Orde Wingate's (Jewish) Special Night Squads to protect the Tiberias community. The Mandate was aflame, but virtually no one was guarding the 6,000 Jews of Tiberias. Just three weeks later, an Arab assassin gunned down the Jewish mayor of Tiberias, Zaki Alchadeff, in broad day light.
Original caption: "A little Jewish boy patient in the
Scots Mission Hospital, Tiberias"
A lengthy annual report of the British Mandate, 1938, included these three sentences:
"On October 2nd there occurred a general raid on the Jewish quarter of Tiberias. It was systematically organized and savagely executed. Of the 19 Jews killed, including women and children, all save four were stabbed to death."
Receive a Daily Picture by subscribing in the right sidebar and clicking "submit." Click on the photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to see the originals.
The photographers from the American Colony photography department visited Hebron soon after the massacre in 1929 and produced the photos published here more than 80 years later.
It is quite possible that the photographers traveled to Tiberias after the massacre. A series of pictures were taken at the Scots Mission Hospital in Tiberias, but the photos are dated as "between 1934 and 1939." One picture shows "a little Jewish boy." Another picture shows two British soldiers. Other pictures show unidentified patients.
Is it possible that these were survivors of the October 1938 attack?
Two British soldiers. Were they
wounded in the Arab attack?
Mother and baby, but no
caption provided in the
collection. A Jewish woman?
Other hospital pictures can be viewed here, here and here.
Common grave in Tiberias for 19 victims
Read the words of The Last Survivor of the 1938 Tiberias Massacre.
Read Ha'aretz' account from October 3, 1938.2View comments
- Sometimes it's hard to tell the Jewish players in Jerusalem today without a scorecard. It was probably even harder 100 or 140 years ago.
Original caption: "Ashkenazim
(German Jews)" 1876. The term "Ashkenazi"
generally refers to Jews from western or
eastern Europe
Original American Colony caption: "Group of
Ashkenazim Jews" 1900. These Jews are most
definitely not from Europe. They are "Sephardi"
Jews from Arab lands, and most likely from Yemen
Which Jew is Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Yemenite, Chassidic, anti-Chassidic misnaged, anti-Zionist Satmar, etc.? Sometimes it's difficult for veteran Jerusalemites to tell today. Imagine how difficult it was for the Christian photographers of the American Colony photographic department 100 years ago. Usually, they got it correct, but not always.
"Arab Jew from Yemen" (1898)
note the term "Arab Jew"
"Moorish Jew" (1900) from
MoroccoThe photographers clearly enjoyed taking pictures of the picturesque and exotic Yemenite community that arrived in Jerusalem in the 1880s. The elderly, bearded pious Jewish rabbis were also a favorite subject.
Note the American Colony's original captions.
From all the photographs one conclusion is certain and elementary: The Jews -- all sorts of Jews --were a part of the Jerusalem landscape 100 years ago and even 150 years ago when photography was in its infancy. 
Elderly Jewish? (sic) man, seated
under tree (1898)
Click on the photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to see the originals.0Add a comment
The Old City of Jerusalem is surrounded by four kilometers (2.5 miles) of walls built by the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, in 1540. Seven open gates serve as points of entry into the Old City. Several other gates, some dating back to the days of the Second Temple, are sealed.
Lions Gate also known as St. Stephen's Gate 1860
The Lions Gate is the only open gate facing east toward the Mt. of Olives. It stands adjacent to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.
British soldiers guarding Lions Gate
during Arab disturbances in April 1920
The "lions" carved on both sides of the gate are actually panthers, the symbol of the Mamluk Sultan Baybars (1223-1277). The panthers were believed to have been part of a Mamluki structure and placed at the gate by Suleiman to commemorate the Ottoman victory over the Mamluks in 1517.
Previous essays in this series presented the history and pictures of Zion Gate andDamascus Gate. 
1967 War -- IDF troops enter the
Old City of Jerusalem through Lions Gate
The Lions Gate was the point of entry for the Israel Defense Force's capture of the Old City in the June 1967 war. The Paratroop Brigade, commanded by Gen. Motta Gur and Uzi Narkis, led the forces through the Gate.
1967: Entering Jerusalem through the
Lions Gate - from the right IDF Chief
of Staff Yitzhak Rabin, Defense Minister
Moshe Dayan, and Jerusalem Commander
Uzi Narkis. Gen. Rehavam Ze'evi's head
is turned. (Ilan Bruner/GPO)
Over the last four years the walls of the Old City have been repaired, restored and cleaned by the Israeli government in a $5 millionproject.
Lions Gate today (courtesy) 0Add a comment
- SEP15
The Surrender of Jerusalem to British Forces in 1917The American Colony Photographers' Most Famous Picture
This article appears today in the Jerusalem Post Magazine in a shortened version.
Handwritten caption: "The Mayor of Jerusalem Hussein
Effendi El Husseini meeting with Srgts Sedwick and
Hurcomb..., London Regiment, under the White Flag
of Surrender, December 9th at 8 a.m."
The fighting of World War I was not confined to Europe.Simultaneously, a major war was being waged in the Middle East. Fighting in the Sinai and Palestine, beginning in January 1915 and lasting until October 1918, was vicious and took a heavy toll on both sides.
British Empire troops fought the Ottoman army supported by German and Austrian officers and troops from the Suez Canal, through the Sinai, Gaza, Beer Sheva, Jericho and from Jaffa up the steep road to the outskirts of Jerusalem. See earlier photo essay on the critical battle of Nebi Samuel. After capturing Jerusalem, the British Army pressed the Turkish army northward all the way to Damascus.
Visitors to Jerusalem should pause for a few seconds when they pass the 2,500 graves at the British cemetery on Mt. Scopus which include the graves of several dozen Jewish soldiers from the British army.
Mt. Scopus cemetery
The capture of Jerusalem in December 1917 was major success for the British army, commanded by General Edmund Allenby.
The two sergeants with
Jerusalem behind themBut, imagine the surprise of two British scouts, Sergeants James Sedgewick and Frederick Hurcomb on the morning of December 9, 1917 when they were met by a Jerusalem delegation of dignitaries on the western approaches of Jerusalem. Walking beneath a white flag of surrender were the mayor of Jerusalem, Hussein el Husseini (with the walking stick and cigarette), the chief of the Jerusalem police (at the far left, resplendent in his parade uniform), several police officers, and a handful of hangers-on. They bore a letter of surrender from the Ottoman Governor Izzat Pasha. El Husseini also brought a young photographer from the American Colony photographers, Lewis Larsson.
Sergeants Sedgewick and Hurcomb refused to accept the letter, preferring that senior officers take the responsibility. Eventually, the surrender was received by Brigadier-General C.F. Watson, (who was delayed when his car got stuck in the mud) but, according to Palestinian Arab publisher Mohamed Ali Eltaher(1896-1974), the British brass were upset that a photograph of the surrender to sergeants existed. "When Commander in Chief General John Shea learned that young Larsson had captured on film the real moment of surrender, and not the moment when he stood on the steps of David’s Tower to proclaim martial law, he demanded that Larsson destroy the negatives and all copies of the picture. He sent an officer to see that his order was executed," Eltaher wrote.
But copies of the photograph survived, and the picture became one of the icons of the modern history of the Middle East.
World War I memorial
on the site of the surrender
in Jerusalem neighborhood
of Romema (circa 1930)
The memorial today. The Jerusalem Central Bus Station
is in the background3View comments
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Jews Protest the British White Paper of 1939, The Death Sentence for Millions of European Jews - picture a day
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
View comments