British army's "urban renewal" in Jaffa, near the shore, 1936 The widespread Arab attacks in Palestine in 1936 threatened British rule. British and Jewish institutions were attacked, travelers on the roads were held up and killed, land mines derailed locomotives, and snipers killed Jewish civilians and British officers.
Families searching through rubble of a
house destroyed in Lydda (Lod), 1936,
after a derailment and an attack on the
nearby airport
A tally of the hostilities and political activities in Palestine in 1936 can be found in the British Mandate's annual report for 1936.
Arab houses blown up in Halhul Within days the British Mandate authorities imposed emergency regulations that permitted detention without charges for up to a year, censorship, the right of entry into homes, widespread confiscation of property and goods, and capital punishment.
Army reinforcements were rushed to Palestine. Travel along the roads of Palestine was conducted in convoys with armed escorts. Roaming Arab gangs and militias were engaged by the British army, and the Royal Air Force took to the air to strafe and bomb the terrorists.
"Cutting a new road" through Jaffa
In Jaffa, the British demolition crews cut wide swaths through the Arab neighborhoods of Jaffa. More than 200 homes were destroyed in Jaffa.
Homes were destroyed in Halhul and Lydda (Lod) in response to terror attacks in the area.
Royal Air Force pilot and machine gunner
In the six months of Arab attacks and British "police action" in 1936, some 80 Jews, 37 British soldiers and policemen, and as many as 1,000 Arabs were killed. 
Skies over Jaffa after dynamiting
"slum sections"
British buglers warn of another blast in
Jaffa, 1936
Two destroyed cars owned by Jews, 1936 The Arab revolt in Palestine (1936-1939) was a frequent subject for the American Colony photographers. They recorded on film the Arab attacks on Jews, British soldiers, and strategic targets such as the railroad network in Palestine. They also photographed the sometimes draconian British response.
Jews evacuating Jaffa, 1936. Click here
to see Jews evacuating Jerusalem's
Old City
Fawzi al-Kauwakji salutes his volunteers
as they cross into Palestine. (Listen
Vanessa) The Arab general strike in April 1936 was called by the Arab Higher Committee, headed by the Mufti Haj Amin al Husseini. The strike escalated into widespread attacks by gangs and militias.By August, "volunteer" Arab guerrilla forces from Syria had invaded. The annual British Mandate report for 1936 revealed that one of the guerrilla leaders "was Fawzi ed Din el Kauwakji, a Syrian who had achieved notoriety in Syria in the Druze revolt of 1925-26. This person subsequently proclaimed himself generalissimo of the rebel forces, and 'communiqués' and 'proclamations' purporting to have emanated from him were circulated in the country." [The photo of Kauwakji is the only photo not from the Library of Congress collection.]
Derailed train, 1936. Click here to
see more pictures of the Arab war
against the rail systemThe consequences of the Arab revolt, labor strikes and attackswere numerous: - The British instituted the White Paper in 1939 limiting Jewish immigration into Palestine -- precisely when hundreds of thousands of Jews were trying to flee Nazi Europe.
- It forced the Jews of Palestine to establish their own militias, the precursors of the Israel Defense Forces.
- The revolt actually fractured Palestine's Arab society, and many of the Arab casualties were caused by competing Arab gangs and clans.
Jewish lumberyard in Jaffa burned down - With strategic facilities subject to the Arab strike, the Jews of Palestine established their own port, key industries, and airfields.
- The British struck back against the Arab militias and gangs with force and sometimes brutality. Aircraft were used to bomb and strafe Arab forces.
"Palestinian disturbances 1936, Fire in
the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem"
Today's feature shows examples of the Arab attacks in 1936.
Tomorrow's posting will include the British response, including widescale destruction of Arab homes.
The American Colony photographers clearly enjoyed taking portraits of Jerusalem's citizens, particularly the poor, new immigrant and ultra-Orthodox Jews of Mea Shearim, the Old City, and the Bukharin Quarter.
Yemenite fruit vendor in Jerusalem
Bukharan Jewish washwoman We present a gallery of the Library of Congress photos taken in the 1930s.
Click on photos to enlarge. Click on the caption to see the original.
Jewish milkman in Jerusalem 
"Jewish scribe" 
"Young Jewish jeweler using the
blow pipe"
Money Changer. The signs behind him say "room for rent, store
for rent, and apartment for rent." The name of the money
changer appears on the sign: Leib Goldberger, along with "Geld
Wexler" -- money changer in Yiddish. [thanks to readers who
caught our earlier mistake on the translation!]
Fruit store in Mea Shearim
3View comments
- The young women of Nahalal's "Girls' Agricultural Training School" thank you for not letting them be forgotten. These pictures were taken approximately 90 years ago.
And thank you for visiting Israel Daily Picture. Please encourage your friends to subscribe.
0Add a comment
- DEC12
Why Is the Israeli Philharmonic Performing at the Tel Aviv Port this Week? Because They're Both Celebrating 75th Birthdays
The renovated Tel Aviv Port is a beautiful location for a romantic dinner or a stroll along the boardwalk. But as the site for a series of classical concerts by the world-renowned Israel Philharmonic Orchestra? With performances with singer Ahinoam Nini and famous cantors?
The new Tel Aviv port breakwater
Yes, the Port and the IPO will be celebrating together their 75th birthdays.
Arturo Toscanini visiting the Dead Sea resort. Pictures of the
first concert are not in the Library of Congress collection
Both were created because of the adversity Jews faced in Palestine and in Europe.
The Arab Revolt of 1936-1939 shut down the Jaffa Port, and the Jewish population of Palestine, centered around Tel Aviv, required a port.
Meanwhile, as anti-Jewish sentiments and laws were endangering the Jews of Europe, Jewish musicians found themselves out of work. Seventy-five instrumentalists were recruited and immigrated to Palestine to form the new orchestra. The Symphony's first concert was conducted by the world-famous Arturo Toscanini in Tel Aviv on Dec. 26, 1936.
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday!
Ferry brings passengers from a larger
ship to the Tel Aviv port
Driving piles during Tel Aviv
port construction
Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog dedicating the
new port of Tel Aviv0Add a comment
Here is the original caption on this picture we found online a few months ago:
The original link "Britaininpalestine" link is no longer active* Arab demonstration, Jerusalem, 1919/1920. The banner on the left reads "We resist Jewish immigration", the banner on the right reads "Palestine is part of Syria". (Emphasis added) In the post-WWI Peace Settlement the League of Nations divided Syria and Palestine into French and British mandates. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, which pledged Britain's support for a Jewish National Home in Palestine, was included in the British mandate for Palestine.The picture reflects the political tensions in Palestine after the British captured the area from the Ottoman Empire. The region was being divided up by the Great Powers with France taking over Syria and Lebanon, and Great Britain assuming the mandate of Palestine (both sides of the Jordan River) and Iraq. And in accordance with the 1917 Balfour Declaration, Palestine was to house the national Jewish home. By 1922, the British had lopped off the eastern bank of the Jordan (some 70 percent of Palestine) to establish the Kingdom of Transjordan for Emir Abdullah.
"Anti-Zionist" demonstration in
Jerusalem, March 1920Some Arabs in Palestine objected, particularly to the division of the single former Ottoman region of Syria and southern Syria (Palestine).
The Library of Congress photos were taken on March 8, 1920, the same week that the Syrian Congress proclaimed independence for Syria and Palestine. The demonstrations by Arabs in Palestine were echoing the sentiment expressed in Syria.
This historical period is discussed by Stanford University scholar Daniel Pipes: "No Arabic-speaking Muslims identified themselves as "Palestinian" until 1920, when, in rapid order this appellation and identity was adopted by the Muslim Arabs living in the British mandate of Palestine."
"Muslim distaste for the very notion of Palestine was confirmed in April 1920, when the British authorities carved out a Palestinian entity," Pipes wrote in 1989. "The Muslims' response was one of extreme suspicion. They saw the delineation of this territory as a victory for the Zionists; in their more paranoid moments, they even thought it reflected lingering Crusader impulses among the British...."
"By the end of World War I in November 1918," Pipes continued, "the notion of a Syrian nation had made considerable headway among the Arabs of Palestine. They agreed almost unanimously on the existence of a Syrian nation. With few exceptions, they identified with the Syrian Arab government in Damascus, headed by Prince Faysal, a member of the Hashemite family. Palestinian enthusiasm for Pan-Syrian unity steadily increased through mid-1920."
Demonstration in Jerusalem, March 1920. Note the same
signs declaring Palestine is part of Syria and denouncing
Jewish immigration. The Arabs of Palestine were strongly
anti-Jewish decades before Israel's founding
"Four major events occurred in 1920. In March, Faysal was crowned king of Syria, raising expectations that Palestine would join his independent state. In April, the British put Palestine on the map, dashing those hopes. In July, French forces captured Damascus, ending the Palestinian tie with Syria. And in December, responding to these events, the Palestinian leadership adopted the goal of an independent Palestinian state," Pipes concludes.
* The photograph appeared on a site called "Britain in Palestine," but the site has subsequently been dismantled. We suspect it is part of the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum's collection currently undergoing a refurbishing.0Add a comment
- DEC10
That German General not only saved the Jews of Eretz Yisrael, but also saved the city of Jerusalem
German General Erich von Falkenhayn, featured in ourprevious posting, was cited by German, Vatican, Jewish and Turkish sources as preventing the expulsion of the Jews of Palestine in 1917.
Gaza City in ruins, April 1917, after two battles between the
British and the Turks. The spike in the background are the remains
of the Gaza mosque. The picture was taken eight months
before British forces approached the city of Jerusalem
But pay attention to the Turkish sources who complained about Falkenhayn failure to rush reinforcements to Jerusalem as the British forces approached in November and December 1917. Falkenhayn's actions -- or inactionin this case -- may have saved the city of Jerusalem from destruction.
The Great Mosque of Gaza (c 1880)
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Nebi Samuel, a high point
outside of Jerusalem, before
the war
Click on the captions to see the originals.
"The British attack on Jerusalem began on 8 December." according to documents in Turkey in the First World War. "The city was defended by the XX Corps, commanded by Ali Fuad Pasha. Falkenhayn did not send reinforcements to Jerusalem because he did not want the relics and the holy places damaged because of severe fighting. [emphasis added.]"
Nebi Samuel, after
the war"After withdrawing from Jerusalem, Ali Fuad Pasha sent a cable to Jamal Pasha: "Since my first day as the commander of the defense of Jerusalem, I did not receive any support except one single cavalry regiment.... The British, who benefited from the fatigue of my poor soldiers..., invaded the beautiful town of Jerusalem. I believe that the responsibility of this disaster belongs completely to Falkenhayn!"
Heavy British artillery being
towed on Jerusalem's Nablus
Road, 1917
Turkish gun hidden in Gaza grove,
1917The destructive power of the British and Turkish armies can clearly be seen in the pictures of the aftermath of battles in Gaza (March and April 1917) and Nebi Samuel on the outskirts of Jerusalem (November 17-24, 1917). Both armies consisted of tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of heavy artillery pieces.Perhaps not since Sennacharib, the Assyrian King (8th century BCE) who laid siege to Jerusalem and whose troops mysteriously died (II Kings 19), has the city of Jerusalem avoided devastation of Biblical proportions.
The city of Jerusalem would be spared. Aerial picture taken by a German pilot, circa 1917 3View comments
A version of this article was published in print edition of The Jerusalem Post Magazine on Friday, December 9, 2011, and appears in the Jerusalem Post's online Premium Zone.
German General Falkenhayn on the Temple Mt with Jamal
Pasha, Turkish governor of Syria and Palestine, 1916
(Library of Congress collection)
Please note the important comments below by the historian Michael Hesemann about the role played by the Vatican in the saving of the Jews of Palestine.
The Ottoman war effort in Palestine in World War I was led by German officers, and their involvement was recorded by the American Colony photographers. German General Erich von Falkenhayn, an able Prussian officer who served as the Chief of Staff of the German Army, was the commander of the Turkish and German troops during the critical 1917-1918 period.
A German photographic collection contains a picture of Falkenhayn leaving Palestine in 1918 and bears an amazing caption which claims that Falkenhayn prevented a Turkish massacre of the Jews of Palestine [Unfortunately, permission was not granted to use the photo, but it can be viewed here]:"Falkenhayn and the German Staff need to be credited with have [sic] prevented an Ottoman genocide towards Christians and Jews in Palestine similar to the Armenian suffering. Wikipedia: 'His positive legacy is his conduct during the war in Palestine in 1917. As his biographer Afflerbach claims, "An inhuman excess against the Jews in Palestine was only prevented by Falkenhayn's conduct, which against the background of the German history of the 20th century has a special meaning, and one that distinguishes Falkenhayn."'" (1994, 485)
Is it true? Did a German general protect the Jewish population of Palestine from massacre? My first impulse was to find proof otherwise.
General Erich Von
Falkenhayn
(Bundesarchiv)
A Falkenhayn family genealogy, posted on the Internet, elaborates further: "While he was in command in Palestine, he was able to prevent Turkish plans to evict all Jews from Palestine, especially Jerusalem. As this was meant to occur along the lines of the genocide of the Armenians, it is fair to say that Falkenhayn prevented the eradication of Jewish settlements in Palestine."
Again, is this true, or is this self-serving German testimony to balance the stain of Nazism two decades later?
The German general is pictured here in a car with the Turkish ruler of Syria and Palestine, Jamal (also written as Cemal) Pasha, a ruthless ruler and one of the "Young Turks" leadership accused of carrying out the expulsion and massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians across the Ottoman-controlled region during World War I.
Falkenhayn and Jamal Pasha in the
backseat of a car in Jerusalem (The
New Zealanders in Sinai and
Palestine, 1922)
Another leader was Enver Pasha who led the Ottoman Empire during World War I and on occasion visited Palestine where he was photographed with Jamal on the Temple Mount and in Be'er Sheva.
Two of the "Young Turks" - Enver Pasha
(center) and Jamal Pasha (right). Were they
responsible for the Armenian massacre?
What were they planning for the Jews?
Jamal Pasha suspected the loyalties of the Jews of Palestine. The explosion of nationalistic movements across the Empire was eroding Turkish control, and Arab and Jewish nationalism had to be crushed.
Zionists were particularly suspected of leading opposition to Ottoman rule, and leaders -- such as David Ben-Gurion -- were frequently arrested, harassed or exiled. Many were relative newcomers from Russia, an enemy state. Meanwhile, over the horizon, 1,000 Jewish volunteers for the British army, including some from Palestine, formed in 1915 the Zion Mule Corps, later known as the Jewish Legion, and they fought with valor against the Turks at Gallipoli.
The Jews of Palestine feared that after the Armenians, the Jews would be next. The fear motivated some to form the NILI spy network to assist the British war effort.
The two Pashas ride into Be'er Sheva
where the British army later broke
through and continued to Jerusalem
Eitan Belkind, who infiltrated the Turkish army and served on Jamal Pasha's staff, witnessed the killing of 5,000 Armenians. Later his brother was hung by the Turks as a NILI spy. Sarah Aaronsohn of Zichron Yaakov was traveling by train and wagon from Turkey to Palestine in November 1915. On the way she witnessed atrocities committed against Armenians.
Sarah Aaronsohn, NILI founder
In 1916 she joined her brother Aharon Aaronsohn, a well-known agronomist, in forming the NILI ring. Caught by the Turks in October 1917 in Zichron Ya'akov and tortured, Sarah committed suicide before surrendering information.
At the time, the British were moving north out of Sinai and pressing along the Gaza-Be'er Sheva front.
Sarah's brother Aharon wrote in his memoirs, "The Turkish order to confiscate our weapons was a bad sign. Similar measures were taken before the massacre of the Armenians, and we feared that our people would meet the same kind of fate."
One Zionist activist described the cruelty of the Jaffa Commandant, Hassan Bey, already in 1914:
"Tyrant" Hassan Bey "It would suddenly come into his head to summon respectable householders to him after midnight...with an order to bring him some object from their homes which had caught his fancy. Groundless arrests, insults, tortures, bastinadoes [clubs] -- these were things every householder had to fear."
The most egregious act undertaken by the Turks was the sudden expulsion of the Jews of Jaffa-Tel Aviv on Passover eve in April 1917. Between 5,000 and 10,000 Jews were expelled. The Yishuv in the Galilee and Jerusalem sheltered many Jewish refugees, but with foreign Jewish financial aid blocked by the Turks and the land suffering from a locust plague, many of the expelled Jews died of hunger and disease. By one account, 20 percent of Jaffa's population perished.
A German historian, Michael Hesemann, described the horrible situation:"Jamal Pasha, the Turkish Commander who was responsible for the Armenian genocide... threatened the Jewish-Zionist settlers. In Jaffa, more than 8,000 Jews were forced to leave their homes, which were sacked by the Turks. Two Jews were hanged in front of the town gate, dozens were found dead on the beach. In March, Reuters news agency reported a 'massive expulsion of Jews who could face a similar fate as the Armenians.'"
In 1921, a representative from Palestine reported to the 12th Zionist Congress on "Palestine during the War."“In Jerusalem [apparently in 1917] …dozens of children lay starving in the streets without anyone noticing them. Typhus and cholera carried off hundreds every week, and yet no proper medical aid was organized. … Through this lack of organization a considerable portion of the Jerusalem population perished. The number of orphans at the time of the capture of Jerusalem by the English Army was 2,700. “ He continued, “In Safed conditions were similar to what they were in Jerusalem; if anything, worse.… The death-rate here also was appallingly high; towards the end of the war the number of orphans was 500.”
What saved the Jewish community before the British completed their capture of Palestine in late 1917 and 1918?
Several accounts confirm that German officers and diplomats protected the Jews.
The Zionist Congress report credited foreign consular officials who "during the whole period of their stay in the country showed themselves always ready to help, and performed valuable services for the Jewish Yishuv [the Jewish community]. Especially deserving of mention are the German vice-consul Schabiner in Haifa... The Jewish population also benefited by the presence of the head of the German military mission, Colonel Kress van Kressenstein, who on several occasions exerted his influence on behalf of the Jews."
Col. Kress van
Kressenstein
Last month, Falkenhayn's biographer, Prof. Holger Afflerbach of Leeds University told me, "Falkenhayn had to supervise Turkish measures against Jewish settlers who were accused of high treason and collaboration with the English. He prevented harsh Turkish measures -- Jamal Pasha was speaking about evacuation of all Jewish settlers in Palestine."
The professor continued, "The parallels to the beginning of the Armenian genocide are obvious and striking: It started with Turkish accusations of Armenian collaboration with the Russians, and the Ottomans decided to transport all Armenians away from the border to another part of the Empire. This ended in death and annihilation of the Armenians. Given the fact that Palestine was frontline in late 1917, something very similar could have happened there to the Jewish settlers."
Kressenstein reviewing troops with
Jamal Pasha
"Falkenhayn's role was crucial, " Afflerbach explained. "His judgment in November 1917 was as follows: He said that there were single cases of cooperation between the English and a few Jewish radicals, but that it would be unfair to punish entire Jewish communities who had nothing to do with that. Therefore nothing happened to the Jewish settlements. Only Jaffa had been evacuated -- by Jamal Pasha."
Hesemann, the German historian, cites Dr. Jacob Thon, head of the Zionist Office in Jerusalem, who wrote in 1917, "It was special stroke of good fortune that in the last critical days General von Falkenhayn had the command. Jamal Pasha in this case -- as he announced often enough -- would have expelled the whole population and turned the country into ruins...."
Falkenhayn had no particular love for Jews, according to his biographer, Afflerbach. "He was in many aspects a typical Wilhelmine officer and not even free from some prejudices against Jews, but what counts is that he saved thousands of Jewish lives."
Why has no one heard about Falkenhayn and his role in protecting the Jews of Palestine? Afflerbach responded, "The action was forgotten, because Falkenhayn prevented Ottoman actions which could have resulted in genocide... The incident was not discussed for decades. It restarted only in the 1960s when scholars started to remember it."
Post Script:
Turkish sources indicate considerable tension between Jamal Pasha and Falkenhayn. The following account appears in the English-languageTurkey in the First World War:
Turkish troops evacuate Jerusalem
"The British attack on Jerusalem began on 8 December. The city was defended by the XX Corps, commanded by Ali Fuad Pasha. Falkenhayn did not send reinforcements to Jerusalem because he did not want the relics and the holy places damaged because of severe fighting. [emphasis added.]"
"After withdrawing from Jerusalem, Ali Fuad Pasha sent a cable to Jamal Pasha: "Since my first day as the commander of the defense of Jerusalem, I did not receive any support except one single cavalry regiment.... The British, who benefited from the fatigue of my poor soldiers..., invaded the beautiful town of Jerusalem. I believe that the responsibility of this disaster belongs completely to Falkenhayn!"
"Falkenhayn put the blame on Von Kressenstein and his chief of staff...Dissatisfaction with the advice and command of General Falkenhayn was growing. His inability had resulted in the loss of the Gaza-Beersheba line. His refusal to send reinforcements had resulted in the loss of Jerusalem.... Enver Pasha was losing patience too. On 24 February 1918, he replaced Falkenhayn."Irony of ironies. The Jews of Palestine owed their survival during World War I to a German army officer, and, by extension, the State of Israel's foundations were established thanks to Falkenhayn. Some 25 years later the German army would assist in the genocide of the Jews of Europe. Ultimately, survivors of the Nazi genocide would find shelter in Falkenhayn’s legacy.The writer served as a senior Israeli diplomat in Washington. Today he serves as a public affairs consultant.11View comments
- DEC7
Are these Photographs of Mark Twain's Companions from The Innocents Abroad? 'The Pilgrims and the Sinners' in the Holy Land
Mark Twain was a relatively unknown writer in 1867 when he visited Palestine in the company of 64 "pilgrims and sinners" and wrote these words:
"Tourists" outside of Jerusalem's walls (1860-1890)
Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies....Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and is become a pauper village; the riches of Solomon are no longer there to compel the admiration of visiting Oriental queens; the wonderful temple which was the pride and the glory of Israel, is gone, and the Ottoman crescent is lifted above the spot where, on that most memorable day in the annals of the world, they reared the Holy Cross. -- The Innocents Abroad
The "tourists in a cemetery outside of Jerusalem's walls,"
apparently outside of the Golden Gate. See Twain's
description of the Golden Gate below
The book, The Innocents Abroad, based on his travels, became a best seller and established Twain as the great American writer. His vivid, iconoclastic, satiric and often depressing descriptions of the Holy Land are important historical testimony.
Does the Library of Congress collection of pictures also includephotographic testimony of Twain's visit? It does contains two pictures of pilgrims around the time of Twain's visit. We are exploring the possibility that these pictures are of Twain's ship mates and traveling companions from the side-wheel steamerQuaker City.
In a private letter, Twain described his travel mates as "the d--dest, rustiest, [most] ignorant, vulgar, slimy, psalm-singing cattle that could be scraped up in 17 States." The group included Charles Langdon, Twain's future brother-in-law, who introduced Twain to his sister Olivia.
Twain in 1867
One of Twain's companions was Col. William Denny, a religious man who viewed Twain as a "worlding [one who is absorbed by worldly pursuits and pleasures] and swearer." Denny kept a journal and a photo album of the journey through Palestine, a collection that was recently given by Denny's descendents to the Mark Twain Project at the University of California in Berkeley.
With the Denny pictures in mind, we sent the Library of Congress pictures to the general editor of the Mark Twain Project who responded, "I don't recognize any of the faces. But of course we don't have all of the 'pilgrims' in carte-de-visites [A small photographic portrait in style then]. The Denny photographs should soon be available on our website."
The tourist in Jerusalem
Why do we suspect these photos, identified as being taken between 1860 and 1890, may be related to Twain or his era? Partly because of the clothing style, particularly that of two women. Olivia Langdon, Twain's future wife, was not on the voyage. But please compare the dresses worn by Olivia in this 1867 portrait and the dress worn by one of the "pilgrims."
Twain's wife, Olivia (1867)
Quotations from The Innocents Abroad
On Jerusalem
It seems to me that all the races and colors and tongues of the earth must be represented among the fourteen thousand souls that dwell in Jerusalem. Rags, wretchedness, poverty and dirt, those signs and symbols that indicate the presence of Moslem rule more surely than the crescent-flag itself, abound.
Close by is the Golden Gate, in the Temple wall--a gate that was an elegant piece of sculpture in the time of the Temple, and is even so yet. From it, in ancient times, the Jewish High Priest turned loose the scapegoat and let him flee to the wilderness and bear away his twelve-month load of the sins of the people. If they were to turn one loose now, he would not get as far as the Garden of Gethsemane, till these miserable vagabonds here would gobble him up,--[Favorite pilgrim expression.]--sins and all. They wouldn't care. Mutton-chops and sin is good enough living for them. The Moslems watch the Golden Gate with a jealous eye, and an anxious one, for they have an honored tradition that when it falls, Islamism will fall and with it the Ottoman Empire. It did not grieve me any to notice that the old gate was getting a little shaky.
A fast walker could go outside the walls of Jerusalem and walk entirely around the city in an hour. I do not know how else to make one understand how small it is. The appearance of the city is peculiar. It is as knobby with countless little domes as a prison door is with bolt-heads. Every house has from one to half a dozen of these white plastered domes of stone, broad and low, sitting in the centre of, or in a cluster upon, the flat .
The population of Jerusalem is composed of Moslems, Jews, Greeks, Latins, Armenians, Syrians, Copts, Abyssinians, Greek Catholics, and a handful of Protestants. One hundred of the latter sect are all that dwell now in this birthplace of Christianity. The nice shades of nationality comprised in the above list, and the languages spoken by them, are altogether too numerous to mention. It seems to me that all the races and colors and tongues of the earth must be represented among the fourteen thousand souls.
On the land of Palestine
Of all the lands there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine must be the prince. The hills are barren, they are dull of color, they are unpicturesque in shape. The valleys are unsightly deserts fringed with a feeble vegetation that has an expression about it of being sorrowful and despondent. The Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee sleep in the midst of a vast stretch of hill and plain wherein the eye rests upon no pleasant tint, no striking object, no soft picture dreaming in a purple haze or mottled with the shadows of the clouds. Every outline is harsh, every feature is distinct, there is no perspective--distance works no enchantment here. It is a hopeless, dreary, heart-broken land.
Small shreds and patches of it must be very beautiful in the full flush of spring, however, and all the more beautiful by contrast with the far-reaching desolation that surrounds them on every side. I would like much to see the fringes of the Jordan in spring-time, and Shechem, Esdraelon, Ajalon and the borders of Galilee--but even then these spots would seem mere toy gardens set at wide intervals in the waste of a limitless desolation.
Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies. Where Sodom and Gomorrah reared their domes and towers, that solemn sea now floods the plain, in whose bitter waters no living thing exists--over whose waveless surface the blistering air hangs motionless and dead-- about whose borders nothing grows but weeds, and scattering tufts of cane, and that treacherous fruit that promises refreshment to parching lips, but turns to ashes at the touch. Nazareth is forlorn; about that ford of Jordan where the hosts of Israel entered the Promised Land with songs of rejoicing, one finds only a squalid camp of fantastic Bedouins of the desert; Jericho the accursed, lies a moldering ruin, to-day, even as Joshua's miracle left it more than three thousand years ago; Bethlehem and Bethany, in their poverty and their humiliation, have nothing about them now to remind one that they once knew the high honor of the Saviour's presence; the hallowed spot where the shepherds watched their flocks by night, and where the angels sang Peace on earth, good will to men, is untenanted by any living creature, and unblessed by any feature that is pleasant to the eye. .... The noted Sea of Galilee, where Roman fleets once rode at anchor and the disciples of the Saviour sailed in their ships, was long ago deserted by the devotees of war and commerce, and its borders are a silent wilderness; Capernaum is a shapeless ruin; Magdala is the home of beggared Arabs; Bethsaida and Chorazin have vanished from the earth, and the "desert places" round about them where thousands of men once listened to the Saviour's voice and ate the miraculous bread, sleep in the hush of a solitude that is inhabited only by birds of prey and skulking foxes.
Palestine is desolate and unlovely. And why should it be otherwise? Can the curse of the Deity beautify a land?
Palestine is no more of this work-day world. It is sacred to poetry and tradition--it is dream-land.0Add a comment
The Graf Zeppelin, built in 1928, was huge -- 804 feet (245 meters) long. That's more than twice as long as a football field and four times longer than the Goodyear blimps that fly over many American sporting events today.
Graf Zeppelin flying over Jerusalem's David's Tower, 1931
Along with its sister ship, the Hindenburg, the two hydrogen-filled blimps flew between Europe, North America and South America on hundreds of flights.
Two lengthy flights to the Middle East were conducted by theGraf Zeppelin in 1929 and 1931. The ship's flight over Jerusalem in 1929 took place at night, and no pictures of the ship were taken. But the flight in 1931, in daylight, was photographed by the American Colony photographers and by an Armenian photographer in Jerusalem, Elia Kahvedjian.
The airship over the Old City of Jerusalem (1931)
Mail sacks were supposed to have been dropped from the Graf Zeppelin over Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa. The airships did not moor in Palestine but flew from Germany to Cairo, then over Palestine and then back to Germany. The flight took 97 hours and traversed some 9,000 kilometers over 14 countries.
With the spectacular crash of the Hindenburg in New Jersey May 1937, all flights of the two behemoth balloons stopped.1View comments
- DEC5
Re-posting an earlier essay Winston Churchill Visits Palestine in 1921, Voices Support for Jewish State
Churchill (right) and Samuel
on Mt Scopus. Also pictured
with chief rabbisThe great British leader Winston Churchill visited Palestine in 1921, relatively early in his career while serving as Colonial Secretary. He was attending a conference in Cairo, and, according to Churchill, he was invited to Jerusalem by his friend the British Commissioner for Palestine, Herbert Samuel.While in Jerusalem he attended a tree-planting ceremony at Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus with Sir Herbert Samuel.
Churchill's most important meeting -- related to the division and leadership of the post-war Middle East -- was a secret meeting with Emir Abdullah (later King Abdullah of Transjordan) and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). A photograph from the meeting was preserved in the Library of Congress collection.
Fateful meeting. From the left, Churchill,
Lawrence and Abdullah. Lawrence was
also a strong supporter of the Zionist
enterprise, according to historian
Sir Martin Gilbert
He also met with the Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leadership of Jerusalem. In an incredible film clip, Churchill takes leave of the leading rabbis of the time, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Chief Rabbi of the Ashkenazic community; Rabbi Joseph Chaim Zonnenfeld, Chief Rabbi of the ultra-Orthodox Eidah Charedis community; and Rabbi Jacob Meir, chief Rabbi of the Sephardi community.
To the left of the door is Emir Abdullah. Note the faint recognition Rabbi Kook gave him and Abdullah's lengthy gaze at the departing rabbi. What does it signify? We will probably never know.
In January 1925, Rabbi Zonnenfeld traveled to Amman to meet with Abdullah, his father King Hussein of the Hijaz and brother King Faisal of Iraq.
Churchill also met with a former mayor of Jerusalem and Arab leader, Musa Kazim el Husseini. Husseini was related to the Jew-hating Mufti Haj Amil el-Husseini and father of the notorious Arab militia fighter, Abdul Khadar el-Husseini. The Husseinis' hatred of Jews was only matched by their hatred for King Abdullah, and Husseini clan members were involved in Abdullah's assassination on the Temple Mount in 1951.
Musa Kazim el Husseini petitioned Churchill to stop the immigration of Jews into Palestine and claimed that life for the Arabs was better under the Ottomans. Churchill responded with his famous rhetorical brilliance, defending the Balfour Declaration and the reestablishment of the Jewish homeland.
Churchill: You have asked me in the first place to repudiate the Balfour Declaration and to veto immigration of Jews into Palestine. It is not in my power to do so, nor, if it were in my power, would it be my wish. The British Government have passed their word, by the mouth of Mr. Balfour, that they will view with favour the establishment of a National Home for Jews in Palestine, and that inevitably involves the immigration of Jews into the country. This declaration of Mr. Balfour and of the British Government has been ratified by the Allied Powers who have been victorious in the Great War; and it was a declaration made while the war was still in progress, while victory and defeat hung in the balance. It must therefore be regarded as one of the facts definitely established by the triumphant conclusion of the Great War. It is upon this basis that the mandate has been undertaken by Great Britain, it is upon this basis that the mandate will be discharged. I have no doubt that it is on this basis that the mandate will be accepted by the Council of the League of Nations, which is to meet again shortly....
Churchill greets Husseini.
Moreover, it is manifestly right that the Jews, who are scattered all over the world, should have a national centre and a National Home where some of them may be reunited. And where else could that be but in this land of Palestine, with which for more than 3,000 years they have been intimately and profoundly associated? We think it will be good for the world, good for the Jews and good for the British Empire. But we also think it will be good for the Arabs who dwell in Palestine, and we intend that it shall be good for them, and that they shall not be sufferers or supplanted in the country in which they dwell or denied their share in all that makes for its progress and prosperity. And here I would draw your attention to the second part of the Balfour Declaration, which solemnly and explicitly promises to the inhabitants of Palestine the fullest protection of their civil and political rights. I was sorry to hear in the paper which you have just read that you do not regard that promise as of value....
If a National Home for the Jews is to be established in Palestine, as we hope to see it established, it can only be by a process which at every stage wins its way on its merits and carries with it increasing benefits and prosperity and happiness to the people of the country as a whole. And why should this not be so? Why should this not be possible?You can see with your own eyes in many parts of this country the work which has already been done by Jewish colonies; how sandy wastes have been reclaimed and thriving farms and orangeries planted in their stead....3View comments
- DEC5
Another Mystery Photo: The Giants of American Zionism in the 1920s -- When and Where Were They Sailing? Actor Douglas Fairbanks Provides the Answer
Ninety years ago, these three men were the most important Zionist leaders in America. They had close relations with Woodrow Wilson's White House, Britain's Lord Balfour, and Chaim Weizmann, the foremost Zionist leader. What brought together Nathan Straus, Louis Brandeis and Stephen Wise, and on a boat no less?
Three Zionist leaders on a boat. From left: Nathan Strauss, Justice
Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Stephen Wise. Where were they
heading? (Bain collection at the Library of Congress)
The photo file from the Library of Congress' Bain Collection does not help very much. We're not even sure of the date. Flipping the photo shows a date of March 7, 1922 and another notation "Wise only December 29, 1925." A picture of Straus and Brandeis has June 14, 1920 scribbled on it.
So we checked if the three were sailing together to a Zionist Congress in Europe or to Palestine, but it appears that the three did not travel together. Brandeis, a U.S. Supreme Court justice since 1916, had been to Palestine in 1919 with Weizmann. Rabbi Wise visited Palestine in 1913, 1922 and 1935. Strauss, the owner of Macy's and Abraham & Straus department stores, was in Palestine in 1912.
[Straus was connected with other boats. He was a major contributor to a 1914 special financial aid package sent to the impoverished Jews of Turkish-controlled Palestine. To guarantee delivery, the money was delivered by the American warship, the USS North Carolina. Straus' brother, Isador, died when the Titanicsank in 1912. Believing that he was saved from being on the ship, Nathan devoted time and resources to Jewish projects in the Holy Land.]
USS North Carolina brought aid
Straus and Brandeis spoke in London in July 1920 to the International Zionist Conference, so perhaps that's why and when they were sailing. According to theNew York Times account, Straus reported at the conference on the health centers and soup kitchens he established in Palestine. [The town of Netanya and Straus Road in Jerusalem are named for the philanthropist.]
Reports about the 1920 meeting stated that Wise refused to attend, although he had been attending Zionist Congresses since 1898 and worked with Herzl. Tensions between the American delegation and the European/Palestinian delegation were taking their toll on Wise.
So when was this picture taken of the three men?
One possibility is that the photo was taken March 7, 1925 during a special cruise off the coast of New Jersey. It was the "shake out" sailing of a new Jewish-owned passenger ship, the American Palestine Line's SS President Arthur. The hundred mile cruise could have drawn the American Zionist leadership. After all, one week later when the ship sailed for Palestine 15,000 people showed up to see it off. Wise delivered a prayer, and a telegram from Straus was read. The President Arthur would sail three round-trip voyages that year before the American Palestine Line went bankrupt.
The American Palestine Line ship
had a song written for its first
voyage to Palestine. This was not
the ship, apparently
Pickford, the new bride Incredibly, actors Douglas Fairbanks and his wife Mary Pickford provide the answer when and why Straus and Brandeis were on board.The Library of Congress collection includes pictures of the famous actors, a movie mogul Hiram Abrams, and presidential advisor E.M. House all on board the same boat in 1920. Ms. Pickford is holding a bouquet of flowers, like a new bride.
From left: Movie mogul Abrams, Mary
Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Pickford's
mother. Abrams and the actors had
created "United Artists" in 1919.
Indeed, Fairbanks and Pickford were embarking on their honeymoon to England. "On June 12 [1920], they left New York on the Red Star cruise liner Lapland for a much-delayed honeymoon in Europe. As reported in the New York Times: 'Arriving in London, the pair were ‘mobbed’ to such an extent that they had to spend one week-end at Lord Northcliffes’ place in the Isle of Thanet.'"
Pres. Wilson's advisor,
E. M. HouseBut what of Wise? According to his biographer, "He declined to join the American delegation to the Zionist conference that summer, and tried to warn Brandeis that Weizmann planned to undermine American influence..."We must conclude that Wise came to the dock to wish bon voyage to his Zionist colleagues and then got off the boat.0Add a comment
The Jaffa Gate of the Old City is unquestionably the busiest gate in the ancient walls. Damascus Gate, bordering the Moslem Quarter, serves a large pedestrian population, and the Dung Gate/Tanners Gate is an important exit for visitors to the Western Wall. But Jaffa Gate, so named because it faces west toward Jaffa, is the main entrance for pedestrians and motor vehicles -- buses, trucks, taxis and cars.
Jaffa Gate circa 1890, before construction of a road into the
city and a clock tower honoring the Ottoman Sultan
It wasn't always so.
Until the late 1800s the narrow angled gate limited wheeled traffic. A moat was an additional barrier. All that changed when the Ottoman authorities rebuilt the gate to allow the German Emperor's carriages to enter the city in 1898. 
Jaffa Gate circa 1860 
Jaffa Gate interior, circa 1870, note the narrow path and moat
Breach in the wall, circa 1900 
Traffic jam inside Jaffa Gate, 1898,
Turkish military escort, possibly part
of the German Emperor's visit.Gen. Allenby entering Jaffa Gate by foot, 1917
The wagons, carriages and Turkish army cavalry in the Jaffa Gate picture taken in 1898 (right) suggest that the scene was part of the reception for the German Emperor. Enlarging the picture reveals the American flag on the building on the left, flying over the American Colony Store. Also revealed are Jewish residents and Christian clerics mixed in the crowd. See other 110-year-old pictures of Jerusalem's Jews here, here, and here.
Another important landmark at the Jaffa Gate to help date antique pictures is the clock tower built in 1908 in honor of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II. After the British captured the city in 1917 the ornate tower was torn down.
In deference to the holiness of the city and in contrast to the German Emperor's carriage-borne ride into the Old City almost 20 years earlier, British General Allenby chose not to ride into the Old City of Jerusalem.
The Old City of Jerusalem is surrounded by four kilometers (2.5 miles) of walls built by the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, in 1540. Seven open gates serve as points of entry into the Old City. Several other gates, some dating back to the days of the Second Temple, are sealed.
See previous photo essays on the Zion Gate,Damascus Gate, Golden Gate, Dung Gate and Lions Gate.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the originals.
Subscribe to Israel Daily Picture by entering your email address in the box in the right column and click on "Submit."1View comments
The "temporary vegetable market" photographed by the American Colony photographer in the 1930s is on Jerusalem's Jaffa Road in the Romema neighborhood. The building in the picture may be boarded up, but the arches, windows and columns are identical.
The building today. (Zoomap.co.il)
The address is 167 Jaffa Road, not far from the main bus station.
View of Jaffa Road looking east toward the Old City.
The building is on the right, (Zoomap.co.il)
The "temporary market," possibly set up
when the Old City was held by terrorists
in 1938.
HT: TBD1View comments
- NOV29
A Strange Picture of a "Temporary" Arab Vegetable Market in a Jewish Neighborhood in Jerusalem in the 1930s More from the Arab Revolt 1936-1939
This picture of a market (right) is something of a mystery. Why would there be a "temporary market" in the middle of the Jewish neighborhood of Romema, particularly when most of the customers are Arabs? Moreover, the time frame of the picture, 1934-1939, was marked by strife between Arabs and Jews, especially after the outbreak of the "Arab Revolt" in 1936.
"Temporary vegetable market" in Romema, Jerusalem (picture
taken between 1934 and 1939)
"British army breaking into the Old City's
Damascus Gate, evacuating and
arresting certain individuals, rebels,"
Oct. 19, 1938
Lifting the siege. Arab residents waiting
to enter Damascus Gate. Oct 22, 1938
We'll take a guess and suggest that the picture was taken in October 1938 when Arab terrorists captured the Old City of Jerusalem and held it for a week. Food and water were cut off. The Arab market in the Old City would have been closed. A temporary solution was found, we suggest.
Distributing bread to residents after the
siege was lifted. Another picture here.
On October 19, the British army broke in and recaptured the Old City, killing 19 terrorists.
Providing water after the siege
The women's clothing in the mystery picture appears to be light, even summer clothes, challenging our hypothesis. Was the clothing appropriate for October? Actually, yes. Viewing the clothing of the soldiers and nurses in the October pictures, the days were apparently warm.
Nurse on duty at Damascus Gate,
October 22, 1938
In its 1938 annual report, the British Mandatory office wrote,
Lifting the siege
"The Old City of Jerusalem, which had become the rallying point of a large number of bandits and from which acts of violence, murder and intimidation were being organized and perpetrated freely and with impunity, was fully re-occupied by the troops on the 19th of the month."
The Library of Congress' American Colony collection contains several dozen pictures of the British retaking the Old City.1View comments
Except for a few historians, does anyone know why the Crimean War (1853-1856) was fought and between whom?
"Russian priestesses" (circa 1900)
It’s a fact that one of the causes of the Crimean War was a dispute over who controlled the Christian holy sites in the Holy Land. The primary combatants were the Russian Empire versus an alliance of the French, Ottoman and British Empires.
In 1851 Napoleon III sent an ambassador to the Ottoman court to convince the Turks to recognize France as the sovereign authority over the holy sites in Palestine, effectively meaning Roman Catholic control over the sites. After Russia protested, the Ottomans reversed the agreement with the French and proclaimed that Russia was the protector of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire (not too much to the liking of the Greek Orthodox).
France responded with “gunboat diplomacy.” The Turkish Sultan reversed his ruling again, giving authority over Christian sites to France and the Roman Catholic Church.
Russian pilgrims on the way to Jericho 
Russian pilgrims on the Jordan River
The dispute over the holy sites was part of the general balagan as the Ottoman Empire disintegrated, leading to widespread warfare, predominately in the Crimean Peninsula along the northern coast of the Black Sea.
Hospital in the Russian Compound,
Jerusalem
Russian Pilgrims on the road
between Jerusalem and
the Jordan RiverAfter the war, Russian Czar Alexander II sent agents to purchase properties in Jerusalem and Nazareth. The Russian Palestine Society was established in 1860 to encourage and subsidize pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Russian churches, hostels and even hospitals were built to accommodate thousands of pilgrims. The large “Russian Compound” was established in Jerusalem.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the originals.
Subscribe to Israel Daily Picture by entering your email address in the box in the right column and click on "submit."1View comments
Scene from first movie
Auguste Lumière and Louis Lumière were photographic inventors who began to experiment with motion pictures in the early 1890s.
Railroad Station (1900)
The Frenchmen's first footage was recorded in March 1895. In 1897, they produced the first motion picture made in the Holy Land, a 51-second film from a train leaving Jerusalem station.
Click on the picture to see the film or view an annotated version of the film which answers the question, "Who were the residents of Jerusalem when the film was made?"
[Do not adjust the sound on your computer; this is a silent movie.]
Note in the background the windmill in the Jewish neighborhood of Yemin Moshe built by Moses Montefiore in 1860.1View comments
The British Government's annual reports on Mandatory Palestine make for fascinating -- and often grim -- reading.
"An old Jew peeping out to see what is happening during
the Arab strike" May 14th, 1936
The annual reports detail social and political developments in Palestine, but large segments are also dedicated to detailing the violence between Arabs and Jews. One can also perceive in the reports the increasing pressure to shut the immigration doors to Jews fleeing the monstrous threats in Germany and Poland.
We are fortunate that the thousands of photographs taken by the American Colony photographers during this period provide a visual window into the events of Palestine.
The eyes that have seen it all before
The 1936-1939 British reports are particularly important for understanding the scope and threat of the Arab Revolt and the attacks perpetrated against the Jewish Yishuv. The warfare of the 1930s was a harbinger of the Arab attacks during Israel's War of Independence.
Jerusalem during this whole period was usually at the epicenter of the violent tremors. We present several pictures of Jewish residents of the Old City.
Excerpts from the 1936 report:REPORT BY HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT IN THEThe autumn of 1935 had been marked by considerable political disquiet and by demonstrations of Arab discontent over Jewish immigration and the sales of Arab lands to Jewish buyers....
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN
IRELAND TO THE COUNCIL OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF
PALESTINE AND TRANS-JORDAN FOR THE YEAR 1936
Jews fleeing the Old City, 1936
The year 1936 in Palestine was dominated by the disturbances which lasted throughout the country from the 19th April to the 12th October.
Evacuation of Jews, 1936
In Jerusalem a few assaults were made by Arabs on isolated Jews, while a large number of Jewish shops in the Old City were closed and Jewish residents in the Old City or in Arab quarters began to move.
In Hebron the Jewish community was concentrated in the local Jewish hospital and later transferred to Jerusalem....
During May and June a perceptibly increasing amount of lawlessness and disorder developed throughout the Jerusalem, Northern and Southern Districts in the form of attacks on public and private Jewish property, sabotage on railways, telegraph and telephone communications.
Jews fleeing the Old City
through the Jaffa Gate 1936
During the second fortnight of May three Jews were murdered and two others wounded in a crowd leaving a Jerusalem cinema on the night of the 16th May. Two more Jews were also murdered in the Old City, and one was shot at. As a result there followed a further exodus of Jewish householders to safer quarters in the suburbs, while curfew orders were successively imposed, first on the Old City, then on the mixed quarters, and finally over the whole of the Jerusalem Municipal Area....
View previous postings on the Arab Revolt:
Part 1 The Start of the Revolt;
Part 2 The Convoys;
Part 3 The Railroads0Add a comment
- NOV22
The Start of Aviation in Eretz Yisrael Military Aircraft Became Part of the Palestine Campaign (a re-posting)
Bonnier lands in Jerusalem, 1913. The
man on the far right appears to be the
mayor of Jerusalem, Salim Hussein
el-Husseini. Note the unidentified
Jewish man on the left.
Just 10 years after the first Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk, the first aircraft landed in Jerusalem on December 31, 1913, flown by a Frenchman, Marc Bonnier. The flight was part of a seven-week tour of the Mediterranean that began and ended in France.
Turkish plane in Jerusalem, 1914
On May 1, 1914, Turkish aviators Salim Bey and Kemal Bey landed their aircraft in Jerusalem. And after that flight, it appears that military aircraft began to fill the skies over Palestine.
Aerial photo of Jerusalem taken by German pilot in 1917.
Click here for another view. By the end of 1917, Jerusalem was
in British hands.
German reconnaissance flight over
Ramla, 1915
The early aircrafts' biggest military advantage was its ability to provide reconnaissance data of enemy troops' deployment. In that regard, the plane's advantage was slightly more than the observation balloons used by armies two centuries earlier. But quickly machine guns and bombs were added to the planes, and air combat and ground support changed the nature of modern warfare.
Turkey utilized aircraft to provide intelligence during its 1916 attack on the Suez Canal and to observe British troops' two attempts to capture Gaza in early 1917. By the fall of 1917, German and Turkish aircraft had to be stopped from reporting back on British commanders' plan to unleash a flank attack against Be'er Sheva. The challenge was met by British and Australian planes, and the Turks were caught unprepared.
German and Turkish officers at the
funeral of a German pilot in Nazareth
Turkish anti-aircraft guns, 1917 
Memorial plaque in Jenin for
fallen German pilots
German planes near Gaza
German plane captured by Australian
soldiers, 1917. Pilot is behind
the plane's left wing.
Australian aircraft in Palestine, 1918
The Library of Congress and the Australian War Memorial provide many photographs of the combat aircraft, the men who flew them, and the graves of those who fell.
Click on the photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to see the originals.
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