There are 51,300 Jews in Jerusalem, out of the total population of 80,526, and 19,850 Moslems and 19,000 Christians, according to reliable, though as yet unofficial figures obtained by the J.T.A. here to-day, on the basis of the recent Palestine census.
The Jewish population of the Holy City thus shows an increase of nearly 17,500 in the nine years since the previous census taken in 1922, when the Jewish population was 33,971, an increase almost equal to the entire Moslem or the entire Christian population, while the number of Moslems has increased by less than 6,500, and the Christian population by under 4,500.
The Christian population which came second in point of numbers in the 1922 census, with a total of 14,699, as compared with 13,413 Moslems is now third, the Moslems in addition to making good the previous difference of 1,286 having added a majority of 980 over the Christians.
The Jews of Jerusalem thus have a clear majority over both Moslems and Christians of 12,450. In 1922, too, they had a clear majority over both other sections, but only by 5,859.
The total Jewish figure does not include certain quarters of Jerusalem, which, if they were counted in, would give the Jews a total of 60,000.
Although the Jews are in a majority in Jerusalem, the Mayor, Ragheb Bey Nashashibi, is a Moslem, and there was a great deal of resentment among the Jews when after the Palestine massacres of 1929 he joined the Palestine Arab Delegation to London. Ragheb Bey’s acceptance of a place in the Delegation, the Palestine Hebrew Labour daily “Davar” wrote at the time, teaches us an unforgettable lesson. He does not realise to what an extent he is degrading his title and good name in Jerusalem. Let him go to London, but he will not again occupy the Mayoral chair in Jerusalem. The Jews of Jerusalem generously refrained from using their numerical strength in the elections and did not elect a Jew as Mayor, although we are entitled to do so, and this is our reward.
There was much resentment also at the fact that when the Deputy Mayor had to be appointed to act during the Mayor’s absence, the Jewish Vice-Mayor, Mr. Chaim Solomon, was passed over, and the Christian Vice-Mayor, Mr. Jacob Faradj, was appointed.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
