If the Jewish representatives to the Wailing Wall negotiations will sign a protocol disclaiming Jewish ownership to the Wall, waiving their claim to conducting congregational services with appurtenances at the Wall and undertake not to interfere with Moslem services in the Mosque area, the Grand Mufti will sign another protocol recognizing the right of the Jews to make pilgrimages to the Wall either individually or in groups and will guarantee that the Moslems will not disturb the Jewish visitors, while both sides agree to keep the place clean.
The above sums up the protracted pourparlers between Moslem and Jewish representatives initiated by the Palestine government and in which Norman Bentwich, the attorney-general, is playing the most important part, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency is reliably informed. The negotiations have been going on in the hope that a voluntary and mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached, in accordance with the urgent suggestion of the Wailing Wall Commission.
The most difficult point in the negotiations is the Moslems’ refusal to recognize the right of the Jews to organized worship at the Wailing Wall, while the Moslems claim that the Sharia law prohibits such worship on Moslem religious property or on Moslem holy places. The government is most anxious that the Jews and Moslems should reach an agreement on the essential right of Jewish access to the shrine, for the government feels that if the Grand Mufti agrees to this a much greater accommodation will perhaps be possible in the future.
In the event that an agreement is reached the government is prepared to safeguard the access of the Jews to the Wall for devotions, but it is said to be uncertain as to its ability to enforce greater freedom, even if the Wailing Wall commissioners recommend it in the face of Moslem opposition. Both sides are now deadlocked over the question of the right of worship at the Wall but the government has not yet abandoned hope that ultimately a minimum agreement will be reached.
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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.
