The Israeli flag was hoisted atop Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus at special ceremonies. This marked the return of Hadassah to Mt. Scopus after an absence of 19 years, during which the area was under United Nations jurisdiction, sealed off from Hadassah medical personnel.
Professor Kalman J. Mann, director-general of the Hadassah Medical Organization, said at the ceremonies, “We here vow that we will revive this hospital. A vital stream will imbue with life these buildings that have been dead for so many years. Our activities in medicine will bring healing, teaching and research throughout the Middle East through the gateway opened by Israel’s defense forces.”
The proceedings of the Mt. Scopus ceremonies were radioed to the Hadassah-Hebrew University medical center in Jerusalem’s Judean Hills and were listened to by the patients — including Arab Legionnaires — being treated at Hadassah Hospital there. The Hadassah-Hebrew University medical center was erected to replace Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus. The new Hadassah hospital was hit by three Jordanian shells within 36 hours after Jordan entered the war, knocking out a wall of the gynecology clinic and causing slight damage to one of the Mare Chagall stained glass windows.
A beehive of activity, Hadassah Hospital has been functioning on an emergency basis since the outbreak of hostilities. Arab Legionnaires are being given the same care and treatment as the Israelis. They are kept in the same wards as Israeli fighters, who express “healthy respect” for the fighting qualities of the Legionnaires.
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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.
