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ever, that “in the alley are wooden benches. The Jews, both men and women, go there not only on Fridays, but on all the days of the week.”

TAKES UP MOSLEM CLAIMS

The memorandum then takes up the Moslem claims to the Wailing Wall and indicates that the Moslem claim to the effect that the Wall was called Al Burak and sacred to the Moslems is not directly referred to in the Koran, but is a later tradition. In this connection, numerous Moslem sources are quoted and particularly that of the distinguished Mohammedan scholar, Ibn Hisham, who in his life of Mohammed, considers the entire flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Jerusalem on the legendary horse, Burak, to have been a vision and not an actual flight.

As further indications of the varying statements of Moslem writers over a period of more than five centuries concerning the supposed place of the entering and tethering of the Burak, the memorandum presents extracts from Moslem writers gathered together and translated from the Arabic by Guy le Strange in his “Palestine Under the Moslems.”

SUMMARIZES EVIDENCE

In summarizing the accumulation of evidence compiled in the first 74 pages of the hundred page document, the memorandum holds that the statements from the diverse sources covered make the following points quite clear:

1) “That throughout the ages and under all conditions the Jews regarded the site of the destroyed Temple as a Holy Place and that whenever opportunity offered they gathered in its neighborhood for prayers and lamentation.

2) “That these were actual gatherings for definite and formal services and not sporadic prayers of individuals.

3) “That as early as the 3rd century in literature and as early as the 10th century in definite reports of travelers it appears that of whatever remained of the Temple, the Western Wall, regarded in tradition and accepted by archaeologists as of Solomonic origin, was the particular Holy Place before which the Jews congregated. That aside from any other services which may have been in existence since 1708 a printed form of prayers to be used before the Western Wall, a book of more than forty pages was published at different times and in various countries indicating that the Wall was a place of pilgrimage for Jews outside the Holy Land as well as for the Jewish inhabitants of Palestine, who resorted to the Wall with a regular order of prayers.

4) “As the Jews in the Holy Land increased the practice began of having regular daily services at the Wall with various religious appurtenances and since these services were long, occupying from several hours to the entire day, depending upon the occasion, stones or benches were brought there from time to time for the convenience of the aged.

5) “As among all orthodox Jews there is a separation of men and women at religious services, the women used to stand huddled in one corner of the alleyway and the men distributed themselves among the rest. When these services became long a small screen or flat form of separation was set up to satisfy ritual requirements. Testimony is given from various authoritative sources for this practice, and in addition illustrations furnished from Palestine itself. The practice of separating the sexes at religious worship should not be viewed unsympathetically by the Moslems, as it is also their own custom.

6) “It ought to be said that from the time of the Moslem conquest of Jerusalem and the building of the Mosques on the Temple Area, with only slight interruptions, no objection was made by the Moslem community to prayer before the Wall, although the usage was made the occasion of exactions of money by various authorized and unauthorized persons. No effort was made to keep the alley clean or the pavement in repair, in fact the Moslem attitude was one of tolerant neglect and indifference.

REFER TO SHAW COMMISSION

“For more recent events we respectfully refer your Special Commission to the ‘Report of the Commission on the Palestine Disturbances of August, 1929,’ presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Parliament, March, 1930. A single sentence from this report bears upon the question under discussion: ‘It is our view that the Burak campaign—the term by which for convenience the activities of the several Moslem Societies have been described—had at its origin two objectives. In part it was prompted by the desire to cause annoyance to the Jews; in part it was intended to mobilize Arab opinion in favor of the Moslem claims in connection with the Wailing Wall and its environs. The performance of the Zikr ceremony and the calling by the muezzin in the neighborhood of the Wailing Wall were primarily designed to annoy the Jews. From this origin the campaign developed into something more serious.’

“At the meeting of the Permanent Mandates Commission held October 26, 1928, His Majesty’s Government presented to the Commission certain comments on the memorial presented by the Zionist Organization, dated October 12, 1928. In this document—and similar statements are scattered through many documents—the declaration is definitely made that ‘the Jewish Community have established a right of access to the pavement for the purpose of their devotions, but the Turkish authorities repeatedly ruled whenever protests were made by the Moslem authorities that they would not permit such departures from the established practice as the bringing of screens to the pavement.’

TURKISH AUTHORITIES DID NOT DECIDE

“This statement is vague in the use of the term ‘Turkish authorities.’ Upon the occasion in 1912 the decision on the part of the local religious authorities was against the Jews—the first and only time at which the issue had been definitely joined of which we have been able to attain record. But it should be noted that the decision was rendered by a local religious authority, and perfunctorily confirmed by the local governor. The Sultan of Turkey as the Caliph of the Moslem World, was then head of the Moslem Community throughout the world, and moreover at that time Palestine was within his domains. The appeal to him was never heard and hence the decision never rendered. So that it can hardly be said that the matter was decided by the Turkish authorities.

“It seems quite safe to assert that from the time of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Moslems and thus for thirteen centuries or more, no claim was set up that this wall was a holy place to the Moslems until 1912.

“As a matter of fact such documents as could be examined indicated that the fear was that the placing of chairs and benches and screens might serve the purpose of giving the right of possession or acquisition.

“That this fear was not always present and that the claim of property right over the alleyway was not so insistent as to render it an obligation to the Moslems to keep it in repair or not to use it for purposes of filth is indicated by the following statements:

JEWS PAVED ALLEY NEAR WALL

“Paving of Alley Near the Wailing Wall.

“‘On Sunday, Heshvan 21, 5690 (24/11/29) I received the material given hereunder in respect of the Wailing Wall, from Mr. Yosef ben Akivah Goldschmit, old resident of Jerusalem, known as Yosel Kives.’

“‘Formerly the Alley near the Wailing Wall was paved with thin tiles, red in color and cracked. This was about 43-45 years ago; at that time they were repairing the sewerage. I was accustomed to pray at the Wailing Wall every Sabbath eve (Friday night). There were about 8 to 10 minyanim (80 to 100 persons) Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Once it rained hard and I went down to the Wailing Wall to pray. I saw that they were digging a large aqueduct along the full length of the Wailing Wall for installation of a sewerage. The dirt that they dug up they would throw to the side of the Wall. I was very much provoked over this, that they threw the dirt to the side of the Wall and not to the yard opposite it. Because of the rain there was no one at the Wall. I found nine persons, however, who were praying in the yard at the left, and I completed the Minyan (quorum required for prayer—translator). I roused Reb Zahman Nahum and Reb Itzhak Rokach to give the matter their attention. Reb Itzhak Rokach visited Salim Effendi (father of Muza Kazim) and he agreed to discontinue the digging in the Wail-