Police arrested 14 American yeshiva students today, and released all without charges, after a clash between them and students at the Christian American Institute of Holy Land Studies. The yeshiva students were attending the “Diaspora Yeshiva,” which neighbors the American Institute on Mount Zion. The squabbling, in the tradition of Jerusalem’s inter-denominational squabbling, was over a building on Mount Zion claimed by both sides.
The American Institute apparently took possession of the building Sunday night. The yeshiva students moved in to regain possession. At that point, the police were called. The building apparently belongs to the Anglican Church which has leased it for years to the government-controlled Mount Zion Commission headed by Dr. S.Z. Kahane, former Religious Affairs Ministry director-general. When the lease apparently expired, the church handed the building over to the American Institute.
A “Diaspora Yeshiva” student told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the American Institute, directed by the Rev. G. Douglas Young, was “most definitely a missionary organization.” But the Rev. Young is considered here to be a solid friend of Israel and his frequent letters to local newspapers bear out that assessment.
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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.
