151-712: The Western Wall Heritage Foundation , often mentioned as the Western Wall Foundation , is the body responsible for administration for all matters concerning the Western Wall in Jerusalem . The group is made up of mostly ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews and operates under the auspices of the office of the Prime Minister of Israel and the Government Companies Authority. Rabbi Ilan Cohen previously served as
302-482: A Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence . This showed that determined economic and political pressure could challenge a fragile imperial administration. On 16 October 1935 a large arms shipment camouflaged in cement bins , comprising 25 Lewis guns and their bipods, 800 rifles and 400,000 rounds of ammunition destined for the Haganah , was discovered during unloading at the port of Jaffa . The news sparked Arab fears of
453-402: A charitable trust ( waqf ). The largest part of it was named after an important mystic, Abu Madyan Shu'aib . The Abu Madyan waqf was dedicated to Maghrebian pilgrims and scholars who had taken up residence there, and houses were built only metres away from the wall, from which they were thus separated by just a narrow passageway, some 4 metres (13 ft) wide. The first likely mention of
604-711: A District Commander who had armed platoons of 150–200 fighters, each commanded by a platoon leader. A Statement of Policy issued by the Colonial Office in London on 7 September declared the situation a "direct challenge to the authority of the British Government in Palestine" and announced the appointment of Lieutenant-General John Dill as supreme military commander. By the end of September 20,000 British troops in Palestine were deployed to "round up Arab bands". In June 1936
755-538: A Jewish military takeover of Palestine. A little over two weeks later, on 2 November 1935, al-Qassam gave a speech in the port of Haifa denouncing the Balfour declaration on its 18th anniversary. In a proclamation to that effect, together with Jamal al-Husayni , he alluded to the Haganah weapons smuggling operation. Questioned at the time by a confidant about his preparations, he stated that he had 15 men, each furnished with
906-628: A Status Quo agreement issued by the mandatory authority forbade the placing of benches or chairs near the Wall. The last occurrence of such a ban was in 1915, but the Ottoman decree was soon retracted after intervention of the Chacham Bashi . In 1928 the District Commissioner of Jerusalem, Edward Keith-Roach , acceded to an Arab request to implement the ban. This led to a British officer being stationed at
1057-691: A boiling point. The most contentious event occurred in 1967. After the Six-Day War , the Ministry of Religious Affairs initiated a project which allowed Jews unhindered and uninterrupted access to the Western Wall. Today the project is authorized, developed and maintained by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. The Generation Center, formally the Chain of Generations Center , is a museum located near
1208-502: A contributory factor to the preceding 1929 disturbances , and the problem of these 'landless' Arabs grew particularly grave after 1931, causing High Commissioner Wauchope to warn that this 'social peril ... would serve as a focus of discontent and might even result in serious disorders.' Economic factors played a major role in the outbreak of the Arab revolt. Palestine's fellahin , the country's peasant farmers, made up over two-thirds of
1359-585: A degree of autonomous control over the Jewish settlement and the Supreme Muslim Council performed a comparable role for Muslims. Thus, well before Lord Peel arrived in Palestine on 11 November 1936, the groundwork for territorial partition as proposed by the Royal Commission in its report on 7 July 1937 had already been done. The commission, which concluded that 1,000 Arab rebels had been killed during
1510-692: A failed effort to purchase the Western Wall and lost all his assets. The attempts of the Palestine Land Development Company to purchase the environs of the Western Wall for the Jews just before the outbreak of World War I also never came to fruition. In the first two months following the Ottoman Empire's entry into the First World War, the Turkish governor of Jerusalem, Zakey Bey, offered to sell
1661-475: A farming population of 590,000 whereas the 102,000 dunums of such land in Jewish possession supported a farming population of only 50,000. The late 1920s witnessed poor harvests, and the consequent immiseration grew even harsher with the onset of the Great Depression and the collapse of commodity prices. The Shaw Commission in 1930 had identified the existence of a class of 'embittered landless people' as
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#17328549890701812-613: A general strike in July 1931, accompanied by organised demonstrations in the streets, led to independence for the former British mandate territory under Prime Minister Nuri as-Said , and full membership of the League of Nations in October 1932. The Syrian national movement had used a general strike from 20 January to 6 March in 1936 which, despite harsh reprisals, brought about negotiations in Paris that led to
1963-470: A house near the Wall and paid men to stand guard there and at various other gateways around the mount. However, this set-up lasted only for a short time due to lack of funds or because of Arab resentment. In 1874, Mordechai Rosanes paid for the repaving of the alleyway adjacent to the wall. In 1887 Baron Rothschild conceived a plan to purchase and demolish the Moroccan Quarter as "a merit and honor to
2114-501: A hut in a banana plantation beside the highway between Petah Tikva and Yarkona were assassinated in retaliation by members of the Haganah-Bet . Jews and Palestinians attacked each other in and around Tel Aviv. Palestinians in Jaffa rampaged through a Jewish residential area , resulting in several Jewish deaths. After four days, by 19 April, the deteriorating situation erupted into
2265-470: A judge ruled that a 2003 Israeli Supreme Court ruling prohibiting women from carrying a Torah or wearing prayer shawls had been misinterpreted and that Women of the Wall prayer gatherings at the wall should not be deemed illegal. In 2023, the Foundation came under criticism after an employee told German Catholic clergyman Nikodemus Schnabel [ de ] , a high-ranking Benedictine monk and abbot of
2416-559: A lack of financial self-sufficiency of the proposed Arab State. The British Government accompanied the publication of the Woodhead Report by a statement of policy rejecting partition as impracticable due to "political, administrative and financial difficulties". With the failure of the Peel Commission's proposals the revolt resumed during the autumn of 1937 marked by the assassination on 26 September of Acting District Commissioner of
2567-646: A paramilitary arm with the Haganah and Irgun . In 1930 Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam organised and established the Black Hand , a small anti-Zionist and anti-British militia. He recruited and arranged military training for impoverished but pious peasants but also for ex-criminals he had persuaded to take Islam seriously and they engaged in a campaign of vandalizing tree plantations and British-constructed rail lines, destroying phone lines and disrupting transportation. Three minor mujāhīdūn and jihadist groups had also been formed that advocated armed struggle; these were
2718-416: A place of Jewish worship is from the 10th century. The Western Wall, in the narrow sense, i.e. referring to the section used for Jewish prayer, is also known as the "Wailing Wall", in reference to the practice of Jews weeping at the site. During the period of Christian Roman rule over Jerusalem (ca. 324–638), Jews were completely barred from Jerusalem except on Tisha B'Av , the day of national mourning for
2869-439: A provocation by the Jews who prayed at the Wall. The Jews protested and tensions increased. A British inquiry into the disturbances and investigation regarding the principal issue in the Western Wall dispute, namely the rights of the Jewish worshipers to bring appurtenances to the wall, was convened. The Supreme Muslim Council provided documents dating from the Turkish regime supporting their claims. However, repeated reminders to
3020-419: A rifle and one cartridge. Soon after, perhaps fearing a pending preemptive arrest, he disappeared with his group into the hills, not to start a revolution, premature at that point, but to impress upon people that he was a man ready to do what he said should be done. Some weeks later, a Jewish policeman was shot dead in a citrus grove while investigating the theft of grapefruit, after he happened to come close to
3171-565: A series of measures to demonstrate the Arabs' exclusive claims to the Temple Mount and its environs. He ordered new construction next to and above the Western Wall. The British granted the Arabs permission to convert a building adjoining the Wall into a mosque and to add a minaret. A muezzin was appointed to perform the Islamic call to prayer and Sufi rites directly next to the Wall. These were seen as
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#17328549890703322-520: A set of countrywide disturbances. An Arab general strike and revolt ensued that lasted until October 1936. The strike began on 19 April in Nablus, where an Arab National Committee was formed, and by the end of the month National Committees had been formed in all of the towns and some of the larger villages. On the same day, the High Commissioner Wauchope issued Emergency Regulations that laid
3473-409: A significant deterioration in relations between Palestinian Arabs and Jews. In 1936 alone, some 60,000 Jews immigrated that year – the Jewish population having grown under British auspices from 57,000 to 320,000 in 1935 The advent of Zionism and British colonial administration crystallised Palestinian nationalism and the desire to defend indigenous traditions and institutions. Palestinian society
3624-497: A statement that "We herewith declare emphatically and sincerely that no Jew has ever thought of encroaching upon the rights of Moslems over their own Holy places, but our Arab brethren should also recognise the rights of Jews in regard to the places in Palestine which are holy to them." The committee also demanded that the British administration expropriate the wall for the Jews. From October 1928 onward, Mufti Amin al-Husayni organised
3775-450: Is a particularly significant custom is the communal blessing at the Western Wall, introduced in 1970 by Rabbi Mendel Geffner. It is held twice a year, during the intermediate days of Sukkot and Passover under the auspices of the Foundation. The Foundation provides a range of services for families wishing to hold bar mitzvah ceremonies at the Western Wall. These services include information and support, and assisting families. The service
3926-564: Is a synagogue situated at the southern border of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. It was built in 1904 at a distance of fewer than 20 meters from an alley leading to the Western Wall. It was abandoned in the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine and was destroyed by the Jordanians in the 1947–1949 Palestine war . The synagogue was reconstructed in 2008 and a year later was connected by a tunnel to
4077-712: Is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem . Its most famous section, known by the same name, often shortened by Jews to the Kotel or Kosel , is known in the West as the Wailing Wall , and in Islam as the Buraq Wall ( Arabic : حَائِط ٱلْبُرَاق, Ḥā'iṭ al-Burāq ['ħaːʔɪtˤ albʊ'raːq] ). In a Jewish religious context,
4228-614: Is believed to have been begun by Herod the Great . The very large stone blocks of the lower courses are Herodian, the courses of medium-sized stones above them were added during the Umayyad period , while the small stones of the uppermost courses are of more recent date, especially from the Ottoman period . The Western Wall plays an important role in Judaism due to it being part of the man-made "Temple Mount", an artificially expanded hilltop best known as
4379-524: Is called the Gate of Mercy, and hither come all the Jews to pray before the Wall in the open court." The account gave rise to confusion about the actual location of Jewish worship, and some suggest that Benjamin in fact referred to the Eastern Wall along with its Gate of Mercy . While Nahmanides (d. 1270) did not mention a synagogue near the Western Wall in his detailed account of the temple site, shortly before
4530-505: Is framed by fine-chiseled borders. The margins themselves measure between 5 and 20 centimetres (2 and 8 in) wide, with their depth measuring 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in). In the Herodian period, the upper 10 metres (33 ft) of wall were 1 metre (39 in) thick and served as the outer wall of the double colonnade of the Temple platform. This upper section was decorated with pilasters ,
4681-525: Is known as the Temple Mount in the 10th century BCE and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and the Second Temple completed and dedicated in 516 BCE. Around 19 BCE Herod the Great began a massive expansion project on the Temple Mount. In addition to fully rebuilding and enlarging the Temple, he artificially expanded the platform on which it stood, doubling it in size. Today's Western Wall formed part of
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4832-517: Is provided free of charge by the Foundation and includes providing a guide who assists the family with all technical aspects connected with the event as well as with information concerning the content. The practices of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation have been challenged by the Women of the Wall ( Hebrew : נשות הכותל, Neshot HaKotel ), a multi-denominational feminist organization based in Israel whose goal
4983-514: Is separated from the prayer area by just a narrow stretch of archaeological remains; and another, much shorter section, known as the Little Western Wall , which is located close to the Iron Gate . The entire western wall functions as a retaining wall, supporting and enclosing the ample substructures built by Herod the Great around 19 BCE. Herod's project was to create an artificial extension to
5134-557: Is that the Rabbi of the Western Wall has enforced gender segregation and limitations on religious garb worn by women. When the "Women of the Wall" hold monthly prayer services for women on Rosh Hodesh , they observe gender segregation so that Orthodox members may fully participate. But their use of religious garb, singing and reading from a Torah have upset some members of the Orthodox Jewish community, sparking protests and arrests. In May 2013
5285-451: Is to secure the rights of women to pray at the Western Wall in a fashion that includes singing, reading aloud from the Torah and wearing religious garments ( tallit , tefillin and kippah ). The Pew Forum has identified Israel as one of the countries that places "high" restrictions on religion, and there have been limits placed on non-Orthodox streams of Judaism. One of those restrictions
5436-458: The 1948 Arab–Israeli War the eastern portion of Jerusalem was occupied by Jordan. Under Jordanian control Jews were completely expelled from the Old City including the Jewish Quarter , and Jews were barred from entering the Old City for 19 years, effectively banning Jewish prayer at the site of the Western Wall. This period ended on June 10, 1967, when Israel gained control of the site following
5587-783: The Abbey of the Dormition in Jerusalem, to hide his cross necklace while at the Western Wall, with an official saying the cross was "really big and inappropriate for this place. It's a Jewish place, you need to respect that" and that the prohibition was a new regulation, according to Christoph Schult of Der Spiegel . This came amid a rise in anti-Christian sentiment among Haredi Jews and religious Zionists in Jerusalem, including spitting at Christian clergymen and tourists, desecration of Christian burial grounds, as well as attacks on priests and vandalism of Christian religious sites. In response to criticism,
5738-506: The Crusader period a synagogue existed at the site. Obadiah of Bertinoro (1488) states "the Western Wall, part of which is still standing, is made of great, thick stones, larger than any I have seen in buildings of antiquity in Rome or in other lands." Shortly after Saladin 's 1187 siege of the city , in 1193, the sultan's son and successor al-Afdal established the land adjacent to the wall as
5889-587: The Haganah , whereas on the Palestinian Arab side, the revolt forced the flight into exile of the main Palestinian Arab leader of the period, al-Husseini. World War I left Palestine, especially the countryside, deeply impoverished. The Ottoman and then the Mandate authorities levied high taxes on farming and agricultural produce and during the 1920s and 1930s this together with a fall in prices, cheap imports, natural disasters and paltry harvests all contributed to
6040-587: The Middle Ages exist side by side with modern buildings. A pedestrian path connects the underground spaces and tunnels which give the visitor the experience of traveling through different periods of time, and is considered one of the most popular tourist attractions in Israel. The site has sometimes been a source of friction due to the religious sensitivities of the Muslim and Jewish communities, and more than once has erupted to
6191-465: The Six-Day War . Three days after establishing control over the Western Wall site, the Moroccan Quarter was bulldozed by Israeli authorities to create space for what is now the Western Wall plaza. Early Jewish texts referred to a "western wall of the Temple", but there is doubt whether the texts were referring to the outer, retaining wall called today "the Western Wall", or to the western wall of
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6342-686: The Tel Hai settlement. Huge crowds gathered for the occasion of his obsequies in Haifa and later burial in Balad al-Shaykh . The actual uprising was triggered some five months later, on 15 April 1936, by the Anabta shooting where remnants of a Qassamite band stopped a convoy on the road from Nablus to Tulkarm , robbed its passengers and, stating that they were acting to revenge al-Qassam's death, shot 3 Jewish passengers, two fatally, after ascertaining their identity. One of
6493-473: The Yishuv , described Arab causes as fear of growing Jewish economic power, opposition to mass Jewish immigration and fear of the British identification with Zionism . The general strike lasted from April to October 1936. The revolt is often analysed in terms of two distinct phases. The first phase began as spontaneous popular resistance, which was seized on by the urban and elitist Arab Higher Committee, giving
6644-623: The minyan which he led there for years. He also formulated a plan whereby some of the courtyards facing the Wall would be acquired, with the intention of establishing three synagogues—one each for the Sephardim , the Hasidim and the Perushim . He also endeavoured to re-establish an ancient practice of "guards of honour", which according to the mishnah in Middot , were positioned around the Temple Mount. He rented
6795-455: The monumental staircase leading up to it could not have been completed during Herod's lifetime. Also surprising was the fact that the usually very thorough Herodian builders had cut corners by filling in the ritual bath, rather than placing the foundation course directly onto the much firmer bedrock. Some scholars are doubtful of the interpretation and have offered alternative explanations, such as, for example, later repair work. Herod's Temple
6946-602: The religious Zionists , some of the General Zionists , and sections of the Labour Zionist movement also opposed the recommendations. Ben-Gurion was delighted by the Peel Commission's support for transfer, which he viewed as the foundation of "national consolidation in a free homeland." Subsequently, the two main Jewish leaders, Chaim Weizmann and Ben Gurion had convinced the Zionist Congress to approve equivocally
7097-582: The southern wall . In 1517, the Turkish Ottomans under Selim I conquered Jerusalem from the Mamluks who had held it since 1250. Selim's son, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent , ordered the construction of an imposing wall to be built around the entire city, which still stands today. Various folktales relate Suleiman's quest to locate the Temple site and his order to have the area "swept and sprinkled, and
7248-407: The status quo and instructed that Jews could only bring "those accessories which had been permitted in Turkish times." A few months later, Haj Amin complained to Chancellor that "Jews were bringing benches and tables in increased numbers to the wall and driving nails into the wall and hanging lamps on them." In the summer of 1929, the Mufti Haj Amin Al Husseinni ordered an opening be made at
7399-475: The underground Warren's Gate , which has been out of reach for Jews from the 12th century till its partial excavation in the 20th century. The entire Western Wall constitutes the western border of al-Haram al-Sharif ("the Noble Sanctuary"), or the Al-Aqsa compound. It is believed to be the site where the Islamic Prophet Muhammad tied his winged steed, the Burāq , on his Night Journey , which tradition connects to Jerusalem, before ascending to heaven. While
7550-444: The 1930s wrought several changes, giving rise to new political organizations and a broader activism that spurred a far wider cross-section of the population in rural areas, strongly nationalist, to join actively in the Palestinian cause. Among new political parties formed in this period were the Independence Party which called for an Indian Congress Party -style boycott of the British, the pro- Nashashibi National Defence Party ,
7701-409: The British administration, later known as the Great Revolt , the Great Palestinian Revolt , or the Palestinian Revolution , lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought independence from British colonial rule and the end of the British authorities' support for Zionism , which sought the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, whose concomitant effect was to marginalize and displace
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#17328549890707852-428: The British formed armed Jewish units equipped with armoured vehicles to serve as auxiliary police. The British government in Palestine was convinced that the strike had the full support of the Palestinian Arabs and they could see "no weakening in the will and spirit of the Arab people." Air Vice-Marshall Richard Peirse , commander of British forces in Palestine and Transjordan from 1933 to 1936, reported that because
8003-504: The British involved their clients in Transjordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in an attempt to pacify the Palestinian Arabs and on 9 October the rulers made an appeal for the strike to be ended. A more pressing concern may have been the approaching citrus harvest and the attractive, soaring prices on the international markets caused by the disruption to the Spanish citrus harvest due to the Spanish Civil War . On 22 August 1936, Anglo-Jewish Arabist scholar Levi Billig of Hebrew University
8154-405: The Chief Rabbinate to verify which apparatus had been permitted failed to elicit any response. They refused to do so, arguing that Jews had the right to pray at the Wall without restrictions. Subsequently, in November 1928, the Government issued a White Paper entitled "The Western or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem: Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies", which emphasised the maintenance of
8305-406: The Commission did not arrive in Palestine until 11 November. In the early 1920s the first High Commissioner of Palestine, Herbert Samuel , had failed to create a unified political structure embracing both Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian Jews in constitutional government with joint political institutions. This failure facilitated internal institutional partition in which the Jewish Agency exercised
8456-1994: The Defense of Palestine [REDACTED] General Arthur Grenfell Wauchope High Commissioner and Commander-in-chief (1932–1938) [REDACTED] Sir Harold MacMichael , High Commissioner (1938–1944) [REDACTED] Lt.-General John Dill , GOC (1936–1937) [REDACTED] Lt.-General Archibald Wavell , GOC (1937–1938) [REDACTED] Lt.-General Robert Haining , GOC (1938–1939) [REDACTED] Major-General Bernard Montgomery ; Commander, 8th Infantry Div. (1938–1939) [REDACTED] Air Commodore Roderic Hill ; AOC , Palestine and Transjordan (1936–1938) [REDACTED] Air Commodore Arthur Harris ; AOC, Palestine and Transjordan (1938–1939) [REDACTED] Admiral Dudley Pound ; Commander-in-Chief, British Mediterranean Fleet (1936–1939) Political leadership: Raghib al-Nashashibi (from 1937) Political leadership: [REDACTED] Mohammed Amin al-Husayni (exiled) [REDACTED] Raghib al-Nashashibi (defected) [REDACTED] Izzat Darwaza (exiled) Local rebel commanders : [REDACTED] Abd al-Rahim al-Hajj Muhammad (General Commander) † [REDACTED] Arif Abd al-Raziq Regional Commander (exiled) Abu Ibrahim al-Kabir (Regional Commander) Yusuf Abu Durra (Regional Commander) [REDACTED] Fakhri 'Abd al-Hadi (defected) Abdallah al-Asbah † Issa Battat † Mohammed Saleh al-Hamad † Yusuf Hamdan † Ahmad Mohamad Hasan † Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni (exiled) Wasif Kamal Abdul Khallik † Hamid Suleiman Mardawi † Ibrahim Nassar Mustafa Osta † Mohammad Mahmoud Rana'an Farhan al-Sa'di [REDACTED] Hasan Salama A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against
8607-543: The Foundation said there were no regulations, but that "the usher [...] politely asked if it would be possible to cover the cross to prevent any discomfort, as has recently occurred in the Old City, out of a desire to respect both the visitor and the site. When he refused, entry was obviously not denied, and the usher respected the decision and continued on her way". Western Wall The Western Wall ( Hebrew : הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי , romanized : HaKotel HaMa'aravi , lit. 'the western wall',
8758-409: The Foundation's Chairman, and the position is currently held by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch . The Western Wall Heritage Foundation was established in October 1988 , for the purpose of general maintenance, development, supervision, excavation in the Western Wall Tunnels , maintaining the infrastructure of the Wall, exhibitions, and publicity. At a Cabinet meeting (19 December 2004) , it was decided that
8909-487: The Galilee Lewis Andrews by Quassemite gunmen in Nazareth. Andrews was widely hated by Palestinians for supporting Jewish settlement in the Galilee, and he openly advised Jews to create their own defense force. On 30 September, regulations were issued allowing the Government to detain political deportees in any part of the British Empire, and authorising the High Commissioner to outlaw associations whose objectives he regarded as contrary to public policy. Haj Amin al-Husseini
9060-461: The Grands Moulins flour mills and the Nesher cement factory, could take advantage of cheap Arab labour pouring in from the countryside. After 1935 the slump in the construction boom and further concentration by the Yishuv on an exclusivist Hebrew labour programme removed most of the sources of employment for rural migrants. By 1935 only 12,000 Arabs (5% of the workforce) worked in the Jewish sector, half of these in agriculture, whereas 32,000 worked for
9211-446: The Green Hand ( al-Kaff al-Khaḍrā ) -active in the area of Acre - Safed - Nazareth from 1929 until 1930 when they were dispersed; the Organization for Holy Struggle ( al-Jihād al-Muqaddas ), led by Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni and operative in the areas of Jerusalem (1931–1934); and the Rebel Youth ( al-Shabāb al-Thā'ir ), active in the Tulkarm and Qalqilyah area from 1935, and composed mainly of local boy scouts.) The pressures of
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#17328549890709362-679: The Herodian period . This section of wall is built from enormous meleke limestone blocks , possibly quarried at either Zedekiah's Cave situated under the Muslim Quarter of the Old City , or at Ramat Shlomo 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest of the Old City. Most of them weigh between 2 and 8 short tons (1.8 and 7.3 tonnes ) each, but others weigh even more, with one extraordinary stone located slightly north of Wilson's Arch measuring 13.55 metres (44.5 ft) long, 3.3 metres (11 ft) high, approximately 1.8 to 2.5 metres (5.9 to 8.2 ft) deep, and weighing between 250 and 300 tonnes (280 and 330 short tons). Each of these ashlars
9513-412: The Islamic tradition that Buraq was tethered at the site is from the 14th century. A manuscript by Ibrahim b. Ishaq al-Ansari (known as Ibn Furkah, d. 1328) refers to Bab al-Nabi (lit. "Gate of the Prophet"), an old name for Barclay's Gate below the Maghrebi Gate. Charles D. Matthews however, who edited al-Firkah's work, notes that other statements of al-Firkah might seem to point to the Double Gate in
9664-467: The Jewish People." The proposed purchase was considered and approved by the Ottoman Governor of Jerusalem, Rauf Pasha, and by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Tahir Husseini . Even after permission was obtained from the highest secular and Muslim religious authority to proceed, the transaction was shelved after the authorities insisted that after demolishing the quarter no construction of any type could take place there, only trees could be planted to beautify
9815-744: The Jewish commercial area of town, and was followed a few days later by the Hebron massacre . One hundred and thirty-three Jews were killed and 339 injured in the Arab riots, and in the subsequent process of quelling the riots 110 Arabs were killed by British police. This was by far the deadliest attack on Jews during the period of British Rule over Palestine. 1936%E2%80%9339 Arab revolt in Palestine Revolt suppressed [REDACTED] United Kingdom [REDACTED] NDF (from 1937) [REDACTED] Jewish National Council [REDACTED] Arab Higher Committee (1936–October 1937) Central Committee of National Jihad in Palestine (October 1937 – 1939) [REDACTED] Society for
9966-444: The Jewish practice of coming to the site to mourn and bemoan the destruction of the Temple and the loss of national freedom it symbolized. Jews may often be seen sitting for hours at the Wailing-place bent in sorrowful meditation over the history of their race, and repeating oftentimes the words of the Seventy-ninth Psalm. On Fridays especially, Jews of both sexes, of all ages, and from all countries, assemble in large numbers to kiss
10117-423: The Jews encountered great difficulty in buying the right to pray near the Western Wall, at least on the 9th of Av. In 425 CE, the Jews of the Galilee wrote to Byzantine empress Aelia Eudocia seeking permission to pray by the ruins of the Temple. Permission was granted and they were officially permitted to resettle in Jerusalem. Discovery of underground rooms that could have been used as food storage carved out of
10268-525: The Maghrebi waqf , which included the wall, with the plan of eventually buying it. Negotiations were begun in secret by the Jewish judge Gad Frumkin , with financial backing from American millionaire Nathan Straus . The chairman of the Palestine Zionist Executive, Colonel F. H. Kisch , explained that the aim was "quietly to evacuate the Moroccan occupants of those houses which it would later be necessary to demolish" to create an open space with seats for aged worshippers to sit on. However, Straus withdrew when
10419-416: The Mandate authorities and 211,000 were either self-employed or worked for Arab employers. The ongoing disruption of agrarian life in Palestine, which had been continuing since Ottoman times, thus created a large population of landless peasant farmers who subsequently became mobile wage workers who were increasingly marginalised and impoverished; these became willing participants in nationalist rebellion. At
10570-491: The Moroccan Quarter, which consisted of about 25 houses, to the Jews in order to enlarge the area available to them for prayer. He requested a sum of £20,000 which would be used to both rehouse the Muslim families and to create a public garden in front of the Wall. However, the Jews of the city lacked the necessary funds. A few months later, under Muslim Arab pressure on the Turkish authorities in Jerusalem, Jews became forbidden by official decree to place benches and light candles at
10721-468: The Peel recommendations as a basis for further negotiation, and to negotiate a modified Peel proposal with the British. The British government initially accepted the Peel report in principle. However, with war clouds looming over Europe, they realized that to attempt to implement it against the will of the Palestinian Arab majority would rouse up the entire Arab world against Britain. The Woodhead Commission considered three different plans, one of which
10872-592: The Qassamites' encampment. Following the incident, the Palestine police launched a massive manhunt and surrounded al-Qassam in a cave just north of Ya'bad . In the ensuing battle, on 20 November, al-Qassam was killed. The death of al-Qassam generated widespread outrage among Palestinian Arabs, galvanizing public sentiments with an impact similar to the effect on the Yishuv of news of the death of Joseph Trumpeldor in 1920 at
11023-532: The Sultan of Constantinople that the approach shall not be denied to us, though the Porte obtains for this privilege a special tax, which is, however, quite insignificant. Over time the increased numbers of people gathering at the site resulted in tensions between the Jewish visitors who wanted easier access and more space, and the residents, who complained of the noise. This gave rise to Jewish attempts at gaining ownership of
11174-557: The Temple Mount itself. When the empire started becoming Christian under Constantine I , they were given permission to enter the city once a year, on the Tisha B'Av , to lament the loss of the Temple at the wall. The Bordeaux Pilgrim , who wrote in 333 CE, suggests that it was probably to the perforated stone or the Rock of Moriah, "to which the Jews come every year and anoint it, bewail themselves with groans, rend their garments, and so depart".This
11325-590: The Temples. The term "Wailing Wall" has historically been used mainly by Christians, with use by Jews becoming marginal. Of the entire retaining wall, the section ritually used by Jews now faces a large plaza in the Jewish Quarter, near the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount, while the rest of the wall is concealed behind structures in the Muslim Quarter , with the small exception of an 8-metre (26 ft) section,
11476-648: The Turks. Allenby pledged "that every sacred building, monument, holy spot, shrine, traditional site, endowment, pious bequest, or customary place of prayer of whatsoever form of the three religions will be maintained and protected according to the existing customs and beliefs of those to whose faith they are sacred". In 1919 Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann approached the British Military Governor of Jerusalem, Colonel Sir Ronald Storrs , and offered between £75,000 and £100,000 (approx. £5m in modern terms) to purchase
11627-489: The Wall making sure that Jews were prevented from sitting. Nor were Jews permitted to separate the sexes with a screen. In practice, a flexible modus vivendi had emerged and such screens had been put up from time to time when large numbers of people gathered to pray. On September 24, 1928, the Day of Atonement , British police resorted to removing by force a screen used to separate men and women at prayer. Women who tried to prevent
11778-505: The Wall, 6,000 Jews demonstrated in Tel Aviv, shouting "The Wall is ours." The next day, the Jewish fast of Tisha B'Av , 300 youths raised the Zionist flag and sang Hatikva at the Wall. The day after, on August 16, an organized mob of 2,000 Muslim Arabs descended on the Western Wall, injuring the beadle and burning prayer books, liturgical fixtures and notes of supplication. The rioting spread to
11929-482: The Wall. This sour turn in relations was taken up by the Chacham Bashi who managed to get the ban overturned. In 1915 it was reported that Djemal Pasha, closed off the wall to visitation as a sanitary measure. Probably meant was the " Great ", rather than the " Small " Djemal Pasha. Decrees ( firman )s issued regarding the Wall: In December 1917, Allied forces under Edmund Allenby captured Jerusalem from
12080-457: The Western Wall area. He informed the Jewish community that the removal had been carried out under his orders after receiving a complaint from the Supreme Muslim Council . The Arabs were concerned that the Jews were trying to extend their rights at the wall and with this move, ultimately intended to take possession of the Masjid Al-Aqsa . The British government issued an announcement explaining
12231-527: The Western Wall tunnels, thus allowing direct access to the Western Wall Plaza . The synagogue was reconstructed and renovated and is administered and maintained by the Foundation. A 14th-century Mamluk khan with adjacent hammam underneath the Ohel Yitzchak Synagogue in the Muslim Quarter was excavated and made into a Jewish educational centre, the "Hall of Ages". The priestly blessing
12382-524: The Western Wall washed with rosewater" upon its discovery. According to a legend cited by Moses Hagiz , Jews received official permission to worship at the site and Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan built an oratory for them there, but, as of Purim 1625, Jews were banned from praying on the Temple Mount and only sometimes dared to pray at the Western Wall, for which purpose a special liturgy had been arranged. Gedaliah of Siemiatycze , who lived in Jerusalem from 1700 to 1706, reports that Jews then had access to
12533-463: The Western Wall), only 57 meters are exposed to view. Throughout the years, most of the wall was covered over by the houses of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. The Western Wall Tunnels consists of underground spaces and tunnels dating from different time periods which stretch along the entire length of the Wall beneath the Muslim Quarter. In the area, structures from the Second Temple period and
12684-589: The Western Wall. The center utilizes some of the underground spaces to highlight the connections between the generations. In one of the rooms there are archaeological remains from the First and Second Temples . Visitors walk through different parts of the 'chain', represented through a range of media, including glass etchings, highlighting, etc., and using audio technology. Located in the Core House ( Hebrew : בית הליבה , romanized : Beit Haliba ), directly across
12835-459: The Zionist policy of ensuring that their investments were directed only to facilitate expansion exclusively of the Yishuv further compounded matters. The government did, however, set the minimum wage for Arab workers below that for Jewish workers, which meant that those making capital investments in the Yishuv's economic infrastructure, such as Haifa's electricity plant, the Shemen oil and soap factory,
12986-645: The actual Temple. The earliest Jewish use of the Hebrew term " ha-kotel ha-ma'aravi ", "the Western Wall", as referring to the wall visible today, was by the 11th-century poet Ahimaaz ben Paltiel . The name "Wailing Wall", and descriptions such as "wailing place", appeared regularly in English literature during the 19th century. The name Mur des Lamentations was used in French and Klagemauer in German. This description stemmed from
13137-527: The adult male Palestinian Arab population between 20 and 60 was killed, wounded, imprisoned or exiled. Estimates of the number of Palestinian Jews killed are up to several hundred. The Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine was unsuccessful, and its consequences affected the outcome of the 1948 Palestine war . It caused the British Mandate to give crucial support to pre-state Zionist militias like
13288-431: The area at the foot of the Wall and rehouse the occupants. Storrs was enthusiastic about the idea because he hoped some of the money would be used to improve Muslim education. Although they appeared promising at first, negotiations broke down after strong Muslim opposition. Storrs wrote two decades later: The acceptance of the proposals, had it been practicable, would have obviated years of wretched humiliations, including
13439-471: The area. Additionally the Jews would not have full control over the area. This meant that they would have no power to stop people from using the plaza for various activities, including the driving of mules, which would cause a disturbance to worshippers. Other reports place the scheme's failure on Jewish infighting as to whether the plan would foster a detrimental Arab reaction. In 1895 Hebrew linguist and publisher Rabbi Chaim Hirschensohn became entangled in
13590-456: The bedrock under the 1,400-year-old mosaic floor of Byzantine structure was announced by Israel Antiquities Authority in May in 2020. "At first we were very disappointed because we found we hit the bedrock, meaning that the material culture, the human activity here in Jerusalem ended. What we found here was a rock-cut system—three rooms, all hewn in the bedrock of ancient Jerusalem" said co-director of
13741-449: The befouling of the Wall and pavement and the unmannerly braying of the tragi-comic Arab band during Jewish prayer, and culminating in the horrible outrages of 1929. In early 1920, the first Jewish-Arab dispute over the Wall occurred when the Muslim authorities were carrying out minor repair works to the Wall's upper courses. The Jews, while agreeing that the works were necessary, appealed to the British that they be made under supervision of
13892-537: The carrying and discharge of firearms, sabotage and intimidation. Despite this, however, the Arab campaign of murder and sabotage continued and Arab gangs in the hills took on the appearance of organised guerrilla fighters. Violence continued throughout 1938. In July 1938, when the Palestine Government seemed to have largely lost control of the situation, the garrison was strengthened from Egypt, and in September it
14043-547: The desecration of the holy site. Various communal leaders called for a general strike. A large rally was held in the Etz Chaim Yeshiva , following which an angry crowd attacked the local police station in which they believed Douglas Valder Duff , the British officer involved, was sheltering. Commissioner Edward Keith-Roach described the screen as violating the Ottoman status quo that forbade Jews from making any construction in
14194-531: The end of the 1920s, with an Arab Women's Congress held in Jerusalem in 1929 attracting 200 participants, and an Arab Women's Association (later Arab Women's Union) being established at the same time, both organised by feminist Tarab Abdul Hadi . Myriads of rural women would play an important role in response to faz'a alarm calls for inter-village help by rallying in defence of the rebellion. General strikes had been used in neighbouring Arab countries to place political pressures on Western colonial powers. In Iraq
14345-413: The entire wall by the time of his death in 4 BCE. The find confirms the description by historian Josephus Flavius , which states that construction was finished only during the reign of King Agrippa II , Herod's great-grandson. Given Josephus' information, the surprise mainly regarded the fact that an unfinished retaining wall in this area could also mean that at least parts of the splendid Royal Stoa and
14496-470: The excavation Barak Monnickendam-Givon. Several Jewish authors of the 10th and 11th centuries write about the Jews resorting to the Western Wall for devotional purposes. Ahimaaz relates that Samuel ben Paltiel (980–1010) gave money for oil at "the sanctuary at the Western Wall." Benjamin of Tudela (1170) wrote "In front of this place is the western wall, which is one of the walls of the Holy of Holies. This
14647-484: The excitement of the fellahin ." However, Moshe Shertok of the Jewish Agency even suggested that all villages in the area of an incident should be punished. On 2 June, an attempt by rebels to derail a train bringing the 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment from Egypt led to the railways being put under guard, placing a great strain on the security forces. On 4 June, in response to this situation,
14798-511: The formation on 25 April 1936 of the Arab Higher Committee (AHC). The Committee resolved "to continue the general strike until the British Government changes its present policy in a fundamental manner"; the demands were threefold: (1) the prohibition of Jewish immigration; (2) the prohibition of the transfer of Arab land to Jews; (3) the establishment of a National Government responsible to a representative council. About one month after
14949-621: The general strike started, the leadership group declared a general non-payment of taxes in explicit opposition to Jewish immigration. In the countryside, armed insurrection started sporadically, becoming more organized over time. One particular target of the rebels was the Mosul–Haifa oil pipeline of the Iraq Petroleum Company constructed only a few years earlier to Haifa from a point on the Jordan River south of Lake Tiberias . This
15100-503: The government rounded up a large number of Palestinian leaders and sent them to a detention camp at Auja al-Hafir in the Negev desert. The Battle of Nur Shams on 21 June marked an escalation with the largest engagement of British troops against Arab militants so far in this Revolt. During July, Arab volunteers from Syria and Transjordan , led by Fawzi al-Qawukji , helped the rebels to divide their formations into four fronts, each led by
15251-448: The immediate spark for the uprising was the murder of two Jews by a Qassamite band , and the retaliatory killing by Jewish gunmen of two Arab labourers, incidents which triggered a flare-up of violence across Palestine. A month into the disturbances, Amin al-Husseini , president of the Arab Higher Committee and Mufti of Jerusalem , declared 16 May 1936 as 'Palestine Day' and called for a general strike . David Ben-Gurion , leader of
15402-644: The incident and blaming the Jewish beadle at the Wall. It stressed that the removal of the screen was necessary, but expressed regret over the ensuing events. A widespread Arab campaign to protest against presumed Jewish intentions and designs to take possession of the Al Aqsa Mosque swept the country and a "Society for the Protection of the Muslim Holy Places" was established. The Jewish National Council (Vaad Leumi) responding to these Arab fears declared in
15553-508: The increasing indebtedness of the fellahin. The rents paid by tenant fellah increased sharply, owing to increased population density, and growing transfer of land from Arabs to the Jewish settlement agencies, such as the Jewish National Fund , increased the number of fellahin evicted while also removing the land as a future source of livelihood. By 1931 the 106,400 dunums of low-lying Category A farming land in Arab possession supported
15704-467: The indigenous Arab majority. The uprising occurred during a peak in the influx of European Jewish immigrants, and with the growing plight of the rural fellahin rendered landless, who as they moved to metropolitan centres to escape their abject poverty found themselves socially marginalized. Since the Battle of Tel Hai in 1920, Jews and Arabs had been involved in a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks, and
15855-448: The indigenous Arab population and from the 1920s onwards they were pushed off the land in increasingly large numbers into urban environments where they often encountered only poverty and social marginalisation. Many were crowded into shanty towns in Jaffa and Haifa where some found succour and encouragement in the teachings of the charismatic preacher Izz ad-Din al-Qassam who worked among
16006-417: The land adjacent to the Wall. In the late 1830s a wealthy Jew named Shemarya Luria attempted to purchase houses near the Wall, but was unsuccessful, as was Jewish sage Abdullah of Bombay who tried to purchase the Western Wall in the 1850s. In 1869 Rabbi Hillel Moshe Gelbstein settled in Jerusalem. He arranged that benches and tables be brought to the Wall on a daily basis for the study groups he organised and
16157-421: The legal basis for suppressing the insurgency. On 21 April the leaders of the five main parties accepted the decision at Nablus and called for a general strike of all Arabs engaged in labour, transport and shopkeeping for the following day. While the strike was initially organised by workers and local committees, under pressure from below, political leaders became involved to help with co-ordination. This led to
16308-576: The measures adopted by the Police on the lines of similar Turkish methods, were punitive and effective. In reality the measures created a sense of solidarity between the villagers and the rebels. The pro-Government Mayor of Nablus complained to the High Commissioner that, "During the last searches effected in villages properties were destroyed, jewels stolen, and the Holy Qur'an torn, and this has increased
16459-471: The mid-19th century records: This wall is visited by all our brothers on every feast and festival; and the large space at its foot is often so densely filled up, that all cannot perform their devotions here at the same time. It is also visited, though by less numbers, on every Friday afternoon, and by some nearly every day. No one is molested in these visits by the Mahomedans, as we have a very old firman from
16610-455: The movement an organized shape that was focused mainly on strikes and other forms of political protest, in order to secure a political result. By October 1936, this phase had been defeated by the British civil administration using a combination of political concessions , international diplomacy (involving the rulers of Iraq , Saudi Arabia , Transjordan and Yemen ) and the threat of martial law . The second phase, which began late in 1937,
16761-448: The neighbouring Arab peoples", which had resulted in support for the rebellion in the form of volunteers from Syria and Iraq . Peel's main recommendation was for partition of Palestine into a small Jewish state (based on current Jewish land ownership population and incorporating the country's most productive agricultural land), a residual Mandatory area, and a larger Arab state linked to Transjordan . A second and more radical proposal
16912-452: The newly formed Department of Antiquities, because the Wall was an ancient relic. According to Hillel Halkin, in the 1920s, among rising tensions with the Jews regarding the wall, the Arabs ceased using the more traditional name El-Mabka, "the Place of Weeping", which related to Jewish practices, and replaced it with El-Burak, a name with Muslim connotations. In 1926 an effort was made to lease
17063-478: The outbreak of the Second World War. In the final fifteen months of the revolt alone there were 936 murders and 351 attempted murders; 2,125 incidents of sniping; 472 bombs thrown and detonated; 364 cases of armed robbery; 1,453 cases of sabotage against government and commercial property; 323 people abducted; 72 cases of intimidation; 236 Jews killed by Arabs and 435 Arabs killed by Jews; 1,200 rebels killed by
17214-487: The plaza from the Western Wall, the heritage center was dedicated 16 November 2021. The center serves as both a headquarters for the foundation and as an educational center for visitors. Constructed atop an excavated area, a number of ruins, including a Roman-period road, are visible on the building's lowest level. The Mughrabi Gate , less often called the Rambam Gate, is an entrance to the Temple Mount platform, located on
17365-462: The poor in Haifa. The revolt was thus a popular uprising that produced its own leaders and developed into a national revolt. Although the Mandatory government introduced measures to limit the transfer of land from Arabs to Jews, these were easily circumvented by willing buyers and sellers. The failure of the authorities to invest in economic growth and healthcare for the general Palestinian public and
17516-624: The price became excessive and the plan came to nothing. The Va'ad Leumi , against the advice of the Palestine Zionist Executive, demanded that the British expropriate the wall and give it to the Jews, but the British refused. In 1928 the World Zionist Organization reported that John Chancellor , High Commissioner of Palestine, believed that the Western Wall should come under Jewish control and wondered "why no great Jewish philanthropist had not bought it yet". In 1922,
17667-609: The pro- Husayni Palestinian Arab Party the pro- Khalidi Arab-Palestinian Reform Party , and the National Bloc , based mainly around Nablus . Youth organisations emerged like Young Men's Muslim Association and the Youth Congress Party , the former anti-Zionist, the latter pan-Arab. The Palestinian Boy Scout Movement , founded early in 1936, became active in the general strike. Women's organisations, which had been active in social matters, became politically involved from
17818-490: The rebel armed bands were supported by villagers, It was quickly evident that the only way to regain the initiative from the rebels was by initiating measures against the villagers from which the rebels and saboteurs came ... I therefore initiated, in co-operation with the Inspector-General of Police R. G. B. Spicer, village searches. Ostensibly, these searches were undertaken to find arms and wanted persons, actually
17969-622: The remainder of which were destroyed when the Byzantines reconquered Jerusalem from the Persians in 628. The next four courses, consisting of smaller plainly dressed stones, are Umayyad work (8th century, Early Muslim period). Above that are 16 to 17 courses of small stones from the Mamluk period (13th–16th centuries) and later. According to the Hebrew Bible , Solomon's Temple was built atop what
18120-453: The responsibilities of the Foundation would be extended to include all activities in the Western Wall Plaza and surrounding areas – building, maintenance (cleaning), development and educational projects. The latter activities include bringing specialized groups such as teenagers or soldiers for guided tours in the Old City and the Western Wall area. Of the entire 488 meters (the full length of
18271-465: The retaining perimeter wall of this platform. In 2011, Israeli archaeologists announced the surprising discovery of Roman coins minted well after Herod's death, found under the foundation stones of the wall. The excavators came upon the coins inside a ritual bath that predates Herod's building project, which was filled in to create an even base for the wall and was located under its southern section. This seems to indicate that Herod did not finish building
18422-566: The revolt. A more dominant role on the Arab side was taken by the Nashashibi clan , whose NDP party quickly withdrew from the rebel Arab Higher Committee , led by the radical faction of Amin al-Husseini, and instead sided with the British – dispatching "Fasail al-Salam" (the "Peace Bands") in coordination with the British Army against nationalist and Jihadist Arab "Fasail" units (literally "bands"). According to official British figures covering
18573-406: The sacred stones and weep outside the precincts they may not enter. Charles Wilson, 1881 Muslims have associated the name Al-Buraq with the wall at least since the 1860s. The term Western Wall commonly refers to a 187-foot (57 m) exposed section of a much longer retaining wall, built by Herod on the western flank of the Temple Mount . Only when used in this sense is it synonymous with
18724-404: The same time, Jewish immigration peaked in 1935, just months before Palestinian Arabs began their full-scale, nationwide revolt. Over the four years between 1933 and 1936 more than 164,000 Jewish immigrants arrived in Palestine, and between 1931 and 1936 the Jewish population more than doubled from 175,000 to 370,000 people, increasing the Jewish population share from 17% to 27%, and bringing about
18875-569: The screen being dismantled were beaten by the police, who used pieces of the broken wooden frame as clubs. Chairs were then pulled out from under elderly worshipers. The episode made international news and Jews the world over objected to the British action. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld , the Chief Rabbi of the ultraorthodox Jews in Jerusalem, issued a protest letter on behalf of his community, the Edah HaChareidis , and Agudas Yisroel strongly condemning
19026-470: The six month strike, later described the disturbances as "an open rebellion of the Palestinian Arabs, assisted by fellow-Arabs from other countries, against Mandatory rule" and noted two unprecedented features of the revolt: the support of all senior Arab officials in the political and technical departments in the Palestine administration (including all of the Arab judges) and the "interest and sympathy of
19177-741: The small quasi-natural plateau on which the First Temple stood, already widened in Hasmonean times during the Second Temple period, by finally transforming it into the almost rectangular, wide expanse of the Temple Mount platform visible today. At the Western Wall Plaza, the total height of the Wall from its foundation is estimated at 105 feet (32 m), with the above-ground section standing approximately 62 feet (19 m) high. The Wall consists of 45 stone courses, 28 of them above ground and 17 underground. The first seven above-ground layers are from
19328-404: The so-called " Little Western Wall " or "Small Wailing Wall". This segment of the western retaining wall derives particular importance from having never been fully obscured by medieval buildings, and displaying much of the original Herodian stonework . In religious terms, the "Little Western Wall" is presumed to be even closer to the Holy of Holies and thus to the "presence of God" ( Shechina ), and
19479-475: The southern end of the alleyway which straddled the Wall. The former cul-de-sac became a thoroughfare which led from the Temple Mount into the prayer area at the Wall. Mules were herded through the narrow alley, often dropping excrement. This, together with other construction projects in the vicinity, and restricted access to the Wall, resulted in Jewish protests to the British, who remained indifferent. On August 14, 1929, after attacks on individual Jews praying at
19630-477: The southern side of the Western Wall. Today this is the only gate by which non-Muslim tourists can access the Temple Mount platform. The gate was named after the Moroccan Quarter that was destroyed after the Six-Day War as part of a project to create the Western Wall Plaza. The Foundation was responsible for restoring the former ramp, now provisional bridge, leading to the Temple Mount. The Ohel Yitzchak Synagogue
19781-475: The strike were harsh from the outset and grew harsher as the revolt deepened. Unable to contain the protests with the two battalions already stationed in the country, Britain inundated Palestine with soldiers from regiments all over the empire, including its Egyptian garrison. The drastic measures taken included house searches without warrants, night raids, preventive detention, caning, flogging, deportation, confiscation of property, and torture. As early as May 1936
19932-521: The term Wailing Wall. This section faces a large plaza and is set aside for prayer. In its entirety, the western retaining wall of the Herodian Temple Mount complex stretches for 1,600 feet (488 m), most of which is hidden behind medieval residential structures built along its length. There are only two other revealed sections: the southern part of the Wall (see Robinson's Arch area ), which measures approximately 80 metres (262 ft), and
20083-415: The term Western Wall and its variations is used in the narrow sense, for the section used for Jewish prayer; in its broader sense it refers to the entire 488-metre-long (1,601 ft) retaining wall on the western side of the Temple Mount. At the prayer section, just over half the wall's total height, including its 17 courses located below street level, dates from the end of the Second Temple period , and
20234-481: The three, Israel Chazan, was from Thessaloniki . The Salonican community 's request that permission be granted to allow them to conduct a solemn funeral for Chasan was turned down by the district commissioner , who had allowed al-Qassam a ceremonial burial some months earlier. The refusal sparked a demonstration by 30,000 Jews in Tel Aviv who overcame the police and maltreated Arab labourers and damaged property in Jaffa . The following day, two Arab workers sleeping in
20385-640: The traditional site of the Jewish Temple . Because of the Temple Mount entry restrictions , the Wall is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray outside the Temple Mount platform, because the presumed site of the Holy of Holies , the most sacred site in the Jewish faith, presumably lies just above and behind it. The original, natural, and irregular-shaped Temple Mount was gradually extended to allow for an ever-larger Temple compound to be built at its top. The earliest source possibly mentioning this specific site as
20536-528: The wall and would pray there as often as possible. Over the centuries, land close to the Wall became built up. Public access to the Wall was through the Moroccan Quarter , a labyrinth of narrow alleyways. In May 1840 a firman issued by Ibrahim Pasha forbade the Jews to pave the passageway in front of the Wall. It also cautioned them against "raising their voices and displaying their books there." They were, however, allowed "to pay visits to it as of old." Rabbi Joseph Schwarz [ he ] writing in
20687-406: The wall became a source of friction between the Jewish and Muslim communities, the latter being worried that the wall could be used to further Jewish claims to the Temple Mount and thus Jerusalem. During this period outbreaks of violence at the foot of the wall became commonplace, with a particularly deadly riot in 1929 in which 133 Jews and 116 Arabs were killed, with many more people injured. After
20838-554: The wall was considered an integral part of the Haram esh-Sharif and waqf property of the Moroccan Quarter under Muslim rule, a right of Jewish prayer and pilgrimage has long existed as part of the Status Quo regulations. This position was confirmed in a 1930 international commission during the British Mandate period. With the rise of the Zionist movement in the early 20th century,
20989-426: The whole revolt, the army and police killed more than 2,000 Arabs in combat, 108 were hanged , and 961 died because of what they described as "gang and terrorist activities". In an analysis of the British statistics, Walid Khalidi estimates 19,792 casualties for the Arabs, with 5,032 dead: 3,832 killed by the British and 1,200 dead due to intracommunal terrorism, and 14,760 wounded. By one estimate, ten percent of
21140-564: Was a peasant-led resistance movement provoked by British repression in 1936 in which increasingly British forces were targeted as the army itself increasingly targeted the villages it thought supportive of the revolt. During this phase, the rebellion was brutally suppressed by the British Army and the Palestine Police Force using repressive measures that were intended to intimidate the whole population and undermine popular support for
21291-586: Was based on the Peel plan. Reporting in 1938, the Commission rejected the Peel plan primarily on the grounds that it could not be implemented without a massive forced transfer of Arabs (an option that the British government had already ruled out). With dissent from some of its members, the Commission instead recommended a plan that would leave the Galilee under British mandate, but emphasised serious problems with it that included
21442-456: Was because an imperial decree from Rome barred Jews from living in Jerusalem. Just once per year they were permitted to return and bitterly grieve about the fate of their people. Comparable accounts survive, including those by the Church Father, Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329–390) and by Jerome in his commentary to Zephaniah written in 392 CE. In the 4th century, Christian sources reveal that
21593-416: Was celebrated as Palestine Day. The expansion of education, the development of civil society and of transportation, communications, and especially of broadcasting and other media, all facilitated notable changes. The Yishuv itself, at the same time, was steadily building the structures for its own state-building with public organisations like the Jewish Agency and the covert creation and consolidation of
21744-736: Was destroyed by the Romans , along with the rest of Jerusalem, in 70 CE, during the First Jewish–Roman War . During much of the 2nd–5th centuries of the Common Era , after the Roman defeat of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, Jews were banned from Jerusalem. There is some evidence that Roman emperors in the 2nd and 3rd centuries did permit them to visit the city to worship on the Mount of Olives and sometimes on
21895-462: Was for transfer of 225,000 Palestinian Arabs from the proposed Jewish state to a future Arab state and Transjordan. It is likely that Zionist leaders played a role in persuading Peel to accept the notion of transfer, which had been a strand of Zionist ideology from its inception. The Arab Higher Committee rejected the recommendations immediately, as did the Jewish Revisionists . Initially,
22046-423: Was further reinforced from England. The police were placed under the operational control of the army commander, and military officials superseded the civil authorities in the enforcement of order. In October the Old City of Jerusalem, which had become a rebel stronghold, was reoccupied by the troops. By the end of the year a semblance of order had been restored in the towns, but terrorism continued in rural areas until
22197-476: Was introduced and a special concentration camp was opened near Acre. In November 1937, the Irgun formally rejected the policy of Havlagah and embarked on a series of indiscriminate attacks against Arab civilians as a form of what the group called "active defense" against Arab attacks on Jewish civilians. The British authorities set up military courts, which were established for the trial of offenses connected with
22348-495: Was largely clan-based ( hamula ) , with an urban land-holding elite lacking a centralised leadership. Traditional feasts such as Nebi Musa began to acquire a political and nationalist dimension and new national memorial days were introduced or gained new significance; among them Balfour Day (2 November, marking the Balfour Declaration of 1917), the anniversary of the Battle of Hattin (4 July), and beginning in 1930, 16 May
22499-475: Was murdered in his home outside Jerusalem by an Arab assassin, one of three Jews killed by Arabs on 22 August, and one of 73 Jews killed since the beginning of the Arab armed insurrection. The strike was called off on 11 October 1936 and the violence abated for about a year while the Peel Commission deliberated. The Royal Commission was announced on 18 May 1936 and its members were appointed on 29 July, but
22650-635: Was removed from the leadership of the Supreme Moslem Council and the General Waqf Committee, the local National Committees and the Arab Higher Committee were disbanded; five Arab leaders were arrested and deported to the Seychelles ; and in fear of arrest Jamal el-Husseini fled to Syria and Haj Amin el-Husseini to Lebanon; all frontiers with Palestine were closed, telephone connections to neighbouring countries were withdrawn, press censorship
22801-560: Was repeatedly bombed at various points along its length. Other attacks were on railways (including trains) and on civilian targets such as Jewish settlements, secluded Jewish neighbourhoods in the mixed cities, and Jews, both individually and in groups. During the summer of that year, thousands of Jewish-farmed acres and orchards were destroyed, Jewish civilians were attacked and murdered, and some Jewish communities, such as those in Beisan and Acre , fled to safer areas. The measures taken against
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