JERUSALEM IN THE HOLY LAND

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21416, 7 March 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

JERUSALEM IN THE HOLY LAND

Most of the cities of the Ancient World, the Egyptian Memphis and Thebes, Babylon and Nineveh, Troy and Mycenae, have long been dead, and only the shell of their greatness has been uncovered by the archaeologist's spade. There are,

however, a few cities that have remained important since their earliest foundation, and one of these is Jerusalem. Ancient when Rome was still young, Jerusalem is a holy city for Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans. Time and again it has been destroyed and rebuilt. The 'present city is mediaeval, enclosed within walls built by the Saracens

to withstand the Crusaders. Beneath the bazaars or "sookhs," the little shops, old churches, convents, synagogues and mosques, are great vaults and the remains of roads and viaducts of Roman times. Here in the street you might see a bastion of the great Roman "Tower of Antonia." There stretches an arch that spanned the street where Christ walked some nineteen hun-

(By Sylvia Masterman)

dred years ago. The Roman city was destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D. Beneath it lie the stones of the City of Nehemiah. built by the Jews returning from their captivity in Babylon. Again beneath that there should be traces of the Jerusalem of Solomon and the Kings of Judah. The oldest Jerusalem of all, the City of David, was on a shoulder of the hill on which modern Jerusalem stands. Some years ago a party of the* Palestine Exploration Fund excavated this site, called Mt. Ophel, and uncovered remains of this first Jerusalem.

There is a curious mixture of antagonistic races and religions within the walls of Jerusalem. The Christians include many sects, Greek, Latin, Armenian, Coptic, and Abyssinian, as well as Protestant and Roman Catholic. Each principal religion and sect has its own "quaiter," or part of the city with its churches, synagogues, or mosques. There is a Latin quarter, an Armenian, a Moslem (or Mohammedan), and a Jewish. As there is great hatred between Jews and Moslems, it is not surprising that troubles spring up in this small and crowded city. The Moslems own the great area (145,000 square metres) known as the "Al-Haram al-Sharif" (or, incorrectly, the Mosque of Omar). This huge courtyard is the place where the great temple of Solomon (then of Nehemiah and then of Herod) stood. Now there is in the centre, over the holy rock where by tradition Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac, a great and very beautiful mosque, the Dome of the Rock. The prophet Mahommed is supposed to have slept here and left his footmark on the rock. The Jews have not possessed this holy site since 70 A.D. Nevertheless they still believe that this is in the hands of Gentiles. The Jewish "quarter" abuts into the south-west wall of the Temple area. Here Jews wail day and night over the lost Jerusalem. This famous

"wailing wall" is one of the popular sights of the city. Old Jewish Rabbis with long curls and fur hats, young Jewish or Yemminite women, all sorts of Hebrews, go down to wail at the wall —the women on one half, the men on the other. They kiss the stones and press written prayers into the crevices of the wall. It was here that the riots of 1928 originated.

The wailing wall is not a wall by itself, it is part of a narrow thoroughfare. Consequently the wailing Jews, pai-icularly when they held services there, blocked the traffic. At times they deliberately barricaded the street for the purpose. The Moslems, chiefly to annoy the Jews, pulled these barricades down and tried to stop the Jewish services. Consequently, and not unnaturally, riots broke out and rapidly spread all over Palestine. There were murders of Jews in many places, especially in Hebron, and in Safed in Galilee. This hatred of Jews by Moslems has become more bitter since the war of 1914-18. Before the war Palestine was ruled by the Turks. After 1919 Palestine was made a British mandate. That is, the League of Nations appointed Great Britain to undertake the government of Palestine. One very important policy adopted by the British was the encouragement ol Zionism. Jews from all countries were encouraged to return and settie in Palestine. Zionist societies were formed to raise mouey to enable these returned Jews (or Zionistsi to start farms, or orange groves or factories. So when they came they had great advantages, and with the money supplied tu them they made most prosperous settlements. With modern methods of farming they have become successful, and have ousted the conservative and poverty-stricken Arab with his primitive implements. So besides the religious rivalry, there is also this bad feeling between the successful Jew and the displanted and jealous Arab. The Christians are also at times quarrelsome. The Greek and Latin and Armenian Christians have their own privileges, which they jealously guard. The most holy place of worship for these Eastern churches is the Church of the HolySepulchre. Each sect has certain altars and chapels, where its adherents may worship. The Abyssinians, ousted from their privileges within the church itself, have their place of worship on the roof. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is doubly holy, as it is built over the traditional site of the hill Golgotha, where Christ was crucified, and it also contains the tomb where He lay between His crucifixion and resurrection. Unfortunately for the dignity of such a place, there is some doubt as to whether this is the authentic site. We know, nevertheless, -that this site has been reverenced as the place of Christ's crucifixion and burial since 300 A.D. at least. For the Eastern Churches there is no doubt in the matter, and pilgrims and worshippers flock daily to the church. Probably to most visitors the undercurrents of unrest in Jerusalem are not obvious. Tourists are fascinated by the crowds in their varied costumes, Arab sheiks, black-veiled Moslem women, women from Bethlehem or Rammullah with moneyed headgear and embroidered gown, Armenians with gay scarves, and Greek priests and patriarchs. The tiny shops are brilliant with coloured silks or piles of oranges, melons, figs or grapes. Arches and tunnels fling deep shadows over the sunlit, narrow streets. Everywhere the city is loud with sounds of shouting, and the babel of many languages. No car cain drive through the narrow streets with their flights of steps. In essence their life flows on as it did in Roman times, only the governed are Arabs as well as Jews, and the rulers are not Roman, but British,