The Gates of Jerusalem -- The New Gate Part 7 of a Series on the Gates of Jerusalem's Old City

The New Gate (circa 1900), still unpaved

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 gates serve as points of entry into the Old City, but the New Gate is just that -- relatively new.   Unlike the other ancient gates, the New Gate was opened in 1889 by the Ottomans, giving direct access to the Christian Quarter of the Old City.

Benefiting the most were the Christian residents of the nearby Russian Compound and the French Notre Dame hospice across the street.  The New Gate is located between the Jaffa Gate and the Damascus Gate.

"Arab demonstration at the New Gate. Police
cordon stopping the procession, Oct. 13, 1933"
View the Jaffa Gate clash here

In 1933 Arab riots broke out in Jerusalem and clashes with British police erupted at the New Gate and the Jaffa Gate of the Old City.


The riot at Jaffa Gate.  "Demonstrators
 facing police baton charge"



What triggered the 1933 riots? 

According to the British Mandate Annual Report for 1933,

Arab discontent on account of Jewish immigration and the sale of lands to Jews, which has been a permanent feature of political opinion in Palestine for the past ten years, began to show signs of renewed activity from the beginning of 1933, developing in intensity until it reached a climax in the riots of October and November. [Editor's note: 15 years before Israel's creation.] ... This [immigration] increase found its origin mainly in the favourable economic conditions of the country, due to a large extent to influx of Jewish capital and to consequent creation of new openings for employment.

The British report also provided the casualty count as a result of the terrorists:

[T]he collision of Arab demonstrators with the Police resulted in five constables and eleven civilians being slightly injured. The total casualties in the subsequent rioting in Jaffa, Jerusalem, Haifa and Nablus were one constable and twenty-four civilians killed or died of wounds, twenty-eight constables and two hundred and four civilians wounded.

Iron gates restricted passage
through the New Gate in 1937

In 1938 the British sealed the
New Gate

During the Arab Revolt (1936-1939) British authorities were quick to close the New Gate to prevent free movement of rioters and marauding gangs.

In 1948, Jewish fighters failed to break through the gates of the Old City to relieve the fighters in the Jewish Quarter and to conquer the Old City.

The Israeli Defense Forces captured the Old City in June 1967 and opened the New Gate for traffic and pedestrians.



The New Gate today. (photo
by Daniel Baranek, published
with permission)

See previous photo essays on the Zion Gate, Damascus Gate, Golden Gate, Dung Gate, Jaffa Gate and Lions Gate.

 The next gate: Herod's Gate.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Click on the captions to see the originals.

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A Tribute to the Besieged Syrians in Homs and Hama Reprinted from an earlier posting

Ancient noria (water wheel) in Hama on the
Orontes River

The American Colony photographers were based in Jerusalem for the 60 years of their photographic enterprise.  But they traveled throughout the Middle East, and their photographs of Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria are also located in the Library of Congress today.

Hama, note the camel
caravan at the bottom of
the picture

Homs, circa 1900

We present today several photographs taken 100 years ago in Homs, Syria's third largest city, and in Hama, Syria's fourth largest.


Homs, Khalid ibn Al-Walid Mosque

Hama was the site of the infamous Hama massacre in 1982 where an estimated 34,000 Syrians were killed by forces commanded by President Hafez Assad and his brother Rifaat -- the brother and uncle of today's leader of Syria, Bashar Assad.

Today, the cities of Homs and Hama are bearing the brunt of the vicious repression taking place in Syria.

The Mount of Olives' 3,000 Year Old Cemetery, Desecrated between 1948 and 1967, Is Still in Danger



Funeral procession to Mt of Olives (circa 1900).  See another
view of the procession here

An estimated 150,000 Jews have been buried on the Mount of Olives over the last 3,000 years, opposite the Golden Gate of the city and the Temple Mount. 

The ancient cemetery was favored by the devout as their burial site because of its proximity to the holy site in anticipation of the eschatological resurrection of the dead.


Mt of Olives funeral with view of the Old City wall  (circa 1900)


The American Colony collection contains many pictures of the Kidron Valley between the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives, particularly around the picturesque shrine called "Absalom's Pillar."  And the photographers captured pictures of mourners from various vantage points. 

Note the large number of intact ancient tombs.

"Jewish tombs on the Kidron slopes"
note the tip of Absalom's tomb in the
center (circa 1900) and this picture
from the 1940s












"Valleys of Jehoshaphat and Hinnom. Jewish
cemetery on slopes of Mt of Olives" (circa
1900) and another view




Until 1917, Palestine was ruled by the Ottoman Turks; from 1917 until 1948 it was under British control.  The Turks often discriminated against the Jews (one governor ordered the burial of dogs in a Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem-- "with the other dogs") and expelled thousands of Jews from Jaffa.  The "Tyrant" Hassan Bek used Jewish gravestones to build a mosque between Jaffa and the new Tel Aviv, shown in photos from 1917.

When Jordanian troops captured eastern Jerusalem in 1948, they followed Hassan Bek's example and used the Jewish gravestones for their construction needs.

Desecration of the Jewish cemetery on Mt of Olives photographed
in 1967 (Israel National Photo Collection, Ilan Bruner)



Staircase in Jordanian army
camp in east Jerusalem built
from gravestones (Israel
National Photos, Moshe
Milner, 1967)


After the recapture of eastern Jerusalem in 1967, Jews were shocked at the widespread descration of the ancient cemetery. Some 38,000 stones and graves were smashed. 

Since then great efforts were made to restore the graves and tombstones. 

Graves on the Mt of Olives recently vandalized

Today, Jews are once again burying their dead in the Mount of Olives cemetery, but they are shocked to find gravestones being vandalized and destroyed once again by Arabs who live nearby.  Visitors to the cemetery have also found themselves under a hail of stones. 

Here is a video clip of the desecration actually taking place.

Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the originals.

Preview: The Sabbath Walk in Jerusalem's Old City -- 80 Years Ago

"Orthodox Jews on their usual walk to the Wailing Wall"
(circa 1935) 

Here are two photographs of the forthcoming feature on worshippers on their way to the Western Wall on a Sabbath 80 years ago.






Orthodox Jews on the way to the Western Wall who object
to their photos being taken on the Sabbath (circa 1935)



In 1948, the Jordanian Legion captured the Old City, imprisoned or expelled all of the Jews, and destroyed the Jewish Quarter.  Jews were not permitted to visit the Western Wall until 1967 when the Israel Defense Forces reunited the city.




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Jerusalemites Prepare for Snow and Some Dream of Warm Tel Aviv Beaches. View Those Beaches 80 Years Ago

Leveling the dunes of Tel Aviv (circa 1920)

Jews moved north from Jaffa 100 years ago, leveled the sand dunes, and established the city of Tel Aviv. 

Few suspected that they were also laying the foundation for a Jewish version of the Riviera, but within two decades, the beaches were a very popular destination, as the American Colony photographers recorded.

Aerial view of Tel Aviv casino and beach (1932)

Tel Aviv beach (circa 1935)

Close-up of Tel Aviv bathers (circa 1935)

Tel Aviv beach (1935)

Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the originals.

Chaim Nachman Bialik, Israel's National Poet His Funeral Photographed by the American Colony Photographers

Tens of thousands attended Bialik's funeral in Tel Aviv,
outside of the synagogue, July 16, 1934

 The poems of Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934) are still memorized in Israel.  His poem In the City of Slaughter about the 1903 Kishinev pogrom was as much an indictment of Jewish passivity as it was a condemnation of the perpetrators of the massacre.  The poem stirred Jewish and Zionist activists to establish self-defense groups such as the Haganah. 



Bialik's funeral. Note the synagogue
where the procession began
in the far distance



Streets and schools are named for Bialik throughout Israel.  His reputation as one of the great modern Hebrew writers and scholars is unchallenged and earned him the title of "Israel's national poet."  He was truly a wordsmith, taking ancient Hebrew words and devising new constructs to produce new Hebrew words for modern objects such as jetplane, import, export, camera, etc.  

 Eliezer Ben-Yehuda is called the "father of modern Hebrew."  Bialik was at least its uncle, a man who lovingly played with the language and produced poems, books, word games and even children's rhymes.

But today many are surprised to learn that most of Bialik's life was spent in Europe.  He was born in the Ukraine, attended the famous Volozhin yeshiva in Lithuania, and worked and taught in Warsaw, Berlin and Odessa before moving to Israel in 1924.  Bialik's Hebrew scholarship and writing were already appreciated throughout Jewish Palestine, and in 1927 he was chosen as the head of the Hebrew Writers Union.

Bialik died in Austria in 1934 during a medical procedure.  His funeral took place in Tel Aviv, and among the masses of mourners were the Christian photographers of the American Colony.

Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, Is Celebrated this Wednesday, as It Was 110 Years Ago

Reforested hills along the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, near Bab
el-Wad, or Sha'ar HaGuy (circa 1930)

The Jewish National Fund was established 110 years ago to purchase and develop land in the Holy Land. 


Planting trees on the barren hills on the
way to Jerusalem (circa 1930)





A government tree nursery on Mt.
Scopus, Jerusalem (circa 1930)



One major activity of the JNF, or in Hebrew the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael, was the planting of trees on Jewish-owned land in Palestine. Many a Jewish home had the iconic JNF blue charity box, or pushke, in order to buy trees.  In its history, the JNF is responsible for planting almost a quarter of a billion trees. 

The photographers of the American Colony recorded the JNF's efforts.

"Afforestation sponsored by Keren
Kayemeth" (circa 1935)

Reforested hillside along the road to
Jerusalem. "Demonstrating reforestation
possibilities" (circa 1930)

The day chosen for school children and volunteers to go out to the fields and barren hilltops to plant trees was Tu B'Shvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, a date assigned thousands of years ago in the Mishna for the purposes of determining the age of a tree and its tithing requirements. 

Indeed, the date usually coincides with the first blossoms on the almond trees in Israel. 

Today, Tu B'Shvat is commemorated as a combination of Arbor Day, environment-protection day, a kibbutz agricultural holiday, and, of course, a day for school outings and plantings.

Postscript

Ceremony of planting the King's tree (1935)

In 1935, the Jews of Britain and the JNF established a "Jubilee Forest" near Nazareth.  According to the Jewish Telegraph Agency's account at the time, an "oriental cypress tree presented by King George V of England to the Jubilee Forest in the hills of Nazareth will be formally planted by High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope on December 19."

"The Jubilee Forest is British Jewry's mark of loyalty and devotion to the throne, expressed on the occasion of the royal couple's twenty-fifth jubilee. It will cover a large area of desolate and barren land on the hills of Nazareth which in ancient times were famed for their forest beauty. The forest constitutes the most important effort in reforestation of the Holy Land."

"The tree shipped by King George was removed from Windsor Great Park in London, where it was the only one of its kind. It is the first ever to have been shipped from England to Palestine."

These Kibbutzim of the Jezreel Valley Were Dedicated 90 Years Ago

The children of Geva (circa 1930)

Kibbutz Geva and Kibbutz Ein Harod were established in the early 1920s in the Gilboa region of the Jezreel Valley on land purchased by the Jewish National Fund.

Ein Harod's communal dining room











Ein Harod cattle





Ein Harod housing

Geva coops

Plowing in the Jezreel Valley

Founded by Polish and Russian Jews from the Second and Third Aliya movements in the early 20th century, the kibbutzim are thriving communities today.  (Ein Harod split into two separate kibbutzim in 1952.)


Ein Harod children (circa 1930)

During the Arab Revolt (1936-1939), Ein Harod served as the base for the British officer Orde Wingate and his commando forces, the "Special Night Squads."

Israel's president Shimon Peres was a resident of Geva for several years as a young man.

Geva's singing troupe, the Gevatron, was founded in 1948 and remains one of Israel's favorite folk music groups.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It ... Rain

"Snowballing on Jaffa Road" in Jerusalem (1942)

Israelis love to see snow.

The ski slopes on Mt. Hermon in the Golan Heights are clogged today with Israeli skiers after several heavy snowfalls in recent weeks. 

The children from the American
Colony, 1921 (the picture was
hand-colored)

Snow covers Jerusalem's Old City, looking toward
Mt. of Olives (circa 1920)

Elsewhere in Israel rains have fallen steadily over the last month, and the Sea of Galilee is slowly rising.  But the "national resevoir of Israel" has a long way to go after years of drought in the Middle East.



British soldiers at the
Western Wall (1921)

Children pulling sled in Jerusalem
(1921)

Snow in the hills of Jerusalem occurs once every year or two. Roads from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem are clogged when there are predictions of snow in the capital.  Residents of Israel's warmer coastline have even been seen in Jerusalem loading snow into the trunks of their cars after a snow storm to take back "down the hill."

Children playing in the snow
(1921)

A snowman in Jerusalem, probably surrounded by
members of the American Colony (1921)



The photographers of the American Colony recorded pictures of some of the snow storms, particularly the heavy accumulation during the winter of 1921. 

Today, It's Called "Forex." Then It Was Called "Money Changing"

Jewish money changer (1930s)

For millennia the commerce of the world has had to deal with different currencies. The Bible refers to various coins, often a name referring to a specific weight.  Every country, province, king or governor minted a local coin.  Travelers had to exchange one currency for another to do business.

Jewish pilgrims to the Temples in Jerusalem had to convert their coins to local currency to pay for their sacrifices or lodgings.  Agricultural tithes were converted to coins which were brought to Jerusalem. The Talmud refers to a money changer as  a shulchani (literally a "person at the table").

According to the New Testament, the money changers were driven from the Temple by Jesus.  The allegedly unsavory character of money changers continued into the Middle Ages as seen by Shakespeare's depiction of Shylock.

Over the centuries, the Forex (foreign exchange) professionals also served as bankers and loan officers.

Jewish money changer (1930s)

When Jews were dispersed throughout Europe and Asia, the profession was an easily portable trade.  Jewish ties between communities facilitated letters of credit. The Rothschild banking dynasty, for instance, begun in the 16th century, had family branches in Austria, Germany, France, Italy and England.

As recorded by the American Colony photographers, Jewish money changers set up their shulchan on the street. The signs behind the men are rental notices.