The “New Palestine,” organ of the Zionist Organization of America, protests strongly against the action of the Jerusalem police at the Wailing Wall on Yom Kippur in an editorial headed “An Unpardonable Offense,” in its issure which will appear today. The editorial states:
“The interference of the Jerusalem police with the Yom Kippur services at the Western Wall was an act of brutality, and the official responsible for the disturbance should be removed from his post forthwith. It is irrelevant to discuss whether technically the Police Commissioner had the right to order the removal of the screen which separated the women from the men worshippers at the Kotel Ma’aravi. It is irrelevant to adduce an old statute that the Wall should not be used as a synagogue. The roughness which attended the execution of the Police Commissioner’s order on the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, in the capital of the Jewish National Home, was an indecent act which has outraged the sensibilities of every Jew throughout the world.
“The Western Wall has been used by Jews as a place of worship since time immemorial. The most sacred Jewish memories are associated with this historic site. To defile the place on Yom Kippur was an offense not only against the worshippers at the Western Wall, but against the religious and national sensiblities of the Jews of the world Whatever the official explanation may be there is no escape from the fact that an official whose sense of duty is so obtuse as to invade a sacred place while it is being used for a sacred purpose is not fit to occupy a public office. There is no room in the Jewish National Home for such an official.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
