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| A Yemenite Jew looks at his village in Silwan (circa 1901) |
The caption on this Library of Congress photograph reads, "The village of Siloam [i.e. Siloan, Shiloah, Silwan] and Valley of Kedron, Palestine." But whoever wrote the caption, perhaps 110 years ago, missed an important fact. The man standing above his village is a Jew from Yemen.
The most famous Jewish Yemenite migration to the Land of Israel took place in 1949 and 1950 when almost 50,000 Jews were airlifted to Israel in "Operation On Eagles Wings -- על כנפי נשרים" also known as "Operation Magic Carpet."
But another migration took place 70 years earlier in 1881-1882 when a group of Jews of Yemen arrived by foot to Jerusalem. They belonged to no "Zionist movement." They returned out of an age-old religious fervor to return to Zion.
The new immigrants settled on Jewish-owned property in the Shiloah Village outside of the Old City walls of Jerusalem.
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| A Jewish Yemenite family (circa 1914) |
The gentleman in the photograph above wears the distinctive Jewish Yemenite clothing of the time, according to a Yemenite expert today.
The photo collection also contains portraits of Yemenite Jews, such as this family portrait from the early 1900s. Look at the picture, presumably of three generations. And realize that if that baby were still alive today, 100 years later, he would be the family elder of another three or four generations of Jews in the Holy Land.
The Jews of Shiloah were the targets of anti-Jewish pogroms during the anti-Jewish riots in 1921 and again during the 1936-39 Arab revolt when they were evacuated by the British authorities.
Jewish families returned to Silwan/Shiloah after Israel reunited the city of Jerusalem in 1967.
PS. I have already had an interesting response from a descendent of a resident from the Shiloah village:
לעניות דעתי התמונה של הגבר על רקע הכפר היא של יהודי חבאני ( יהודי חבאן היו גבוהי קומה) ושל המשפחה נראה שהיא משפחה שעלתה מצנעא
In my humble opinion, the man in the picture with the [Shiloach] village in the background is a Jew fom Habani (the Jews of Hamani were tall) and the family looks like a family that made aliya from Saana.
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Visitors to Jerusalem today pass the skeletal remains of vehicles that fought to bring food and supplies to besieged Jewish Jerusalem during the 1948 war. The brave convoys were described by a young correspondent from Boston, namedRobert F. Kennedy:
1948 convoy ambushed (not from the Library of
Congress collection)The City of Jerusalem has more Jews than Arabs but the immediate surrounding territory is predominately Arab. Through part of that hilly territory winds the narrow road that leads from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It is by this road that the Jewish population within Jerusalem must be supplied, but it is fantastically easy for the Arabs to ambush a convoy as it crawls along the difficult pass. On my trip from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem I saw grim realities of the fact.
The Arab ambushes of Jewish and British vehicles was a tactic already well-practiced in the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt in Palestine. The British troops in Palestine provided armored escorts for the British and Jewish residents.
Long line of Jewish buses
returning from funeral under
police escort in Jerusalem. 1936.
The picture is taken east of the
Old City walls. Note Absalom's
tomb in the center, Church of All
Nations on the left
Jewish convoy on Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road
escorted by police 1936
Group of (Jewish) Palestine
Supernumerary Police with convoy
on Tel Aviv- Jerusalem road 1936
American Colony members' car blocked by an
Arab roadblock near Huwara (1938)
The April 1948 convoy that was left
unprotected. The remains of the convoy
to Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus.
79 people were massacred. (not from
Library of Congress collection)
At the height of the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt in Palestine, rural Jewish communities were under attack from local Arab militias. Ambushes were constant threats on the roads. TheYishuv (the Jews of Eretz Yisrael prior to Israel's formation) was in danger of losing lands purchased and farmed, in some cases, for decades.
Ein Gev: Inside the settlement showing look-out tower
with mounted searchlight (circa 1937). The Golan
Heights are the hills above.
In order to circumvent the British Mandate's restrictions on new Jewish construction and to challenge the Arab aggression, the Zionist pioneers devised Tower and Stockade - חומה ומגדל fortified settlement projects, which were built overnight as defensive posts. The 52 projects developed into agricultural communities. Most of the villages were kibbutzim or moshavim communal settlements.
Girls of the settlement
mending fishing nets
Ein Gev pioneers, including Teddy Kollek (2nd from
the right), later mayor of Jerusalem
Ein Gev settlers at the armory
inspecting rifles
Pictured here is the community of Ein Gev, established in July 1937 on the eastern banks of the Sea of Galilee. Ein Gev was a frontline community, facing Arab attacks in the 1930s and 1948 war. Until the 1967 war, Ein Gev was constantly in the gunsights of the Syrian army located on the Golan Heights above the kibbutz.0Add a comment
In July, we published "Nablus Road, Where History Marched." We recently uncovered another photo, this one with the photographer's handwritten caption, "The [German] Kaiser passing our house [in the American Colony]."
Original caption - 1898
Compare this photo to the one published last month. It shows a Jewish man on the left watching the procession.0Add a comment
Our first photo essays were actually an experiment to test the public's interest in these historic photographs. We will periodically republish the first essays for our growing audience.
Joseph's Tomb, (circa 1900) Joseph's traditional burial site is in the city of Schem (Nablus). Below are pictures taken in 1900. The originals are here andhere on the Library of Congress collection. View another picturehere.The Ottoman Empire ruled the land of Palestine in 1900. Ostensibly, the guard pictured at the tomb is an Ottoman policeman.
Note how the tomb was located in an empty field. Indeed, Jewish visitors to the tomb after the 1967 war remember it as a solidarity structure in a large field.
Today, it is surrounded by Palestinian buildings.
Ottoman guard at the Tomb (circa 1900)
According to the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority is obligated to safeguard holy sites and ensure free access to them. (Annex III, Appendix I, Article 32 of the Oslo 2 accord, signed on September 28, 1995.) The Oslo 2 accord (Article V of Annex I) also spells out specific arrangements concerning particular sites such as the Tomb of Joseph in Nablus, the Shalom al Yisrael Synagogue in Jericho, and the Tomb of Rachel near Bethlehem.During the 2000 Intifada, Palestinians razed the site. It has subsequently been rebuilt, but Jewish visits to the tomb are irregular and must be conducted with IDF escort.
Joseph's tomb surrounded by Palestinian buildings today
The razing of the Tomb in the 2000 Intifada 0Add a comment
- AUG26
1936: The Start of the "Arab Revolt in Palestine" and the Assault on Jews in Eretz Yisrael -- Part 1
There are many reasons given for the start of the 1936 "Arab Revolt," an uprising of the Arabs of Palestine that would last for three years. Among the reasons:
Palestine disturbances 1936. Palestine Arabs at Abu
Ghosh taking the oath of allegiance to the Arab cause,
to fight Jewish immigration, etc. (Library of Congress caption)- Nationalist movements were active in surrounding countries of Iraq, Jordan and Syria and were influenced the Arabs of Palestine. In their midst, another nationalist movement, Zionism, was thriving.
- Anti-colonial fervor was directed against the British. The British often responded with a brutality that fanned the radical flames.
- The immigration of Jews in the 1930s and their purchase of land in Palestine alarmed the Arab nationalists. They feared a demographic shift and sought to reverse the Balfour Declaration's goal of a Jewish national home in Palestine.
- The Jewish manufacturing, farming, and social enterprises were seen as threatening to traditional Arab societies.
- The Mufti, Haj Amin el Husseini, sought to ride a wave of fanatacism and anti-Semitism that would also sweep away his moderate Arab foes.
- Many Arabs were caught up in the Fascist movements developing in Europe and the Middle East.
Attacks against Jewish vehicles in 1936:
Palestine disturbances. 1936. Jaffa. Jewish carburnt, occupant killed, April 19, 1936
Remains of a burnt Jewish passenger
bus outside Haifa, July 1936
Future features:
The Convoys of 1936
The British Counterattack0Add a comment
The photographers of the American Colony were a peripatetic bunch, traveling not only the length and breadth of the land of Palestine, but also to neighboring areas of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. The American Colony photographers took pictures of Jewish communities as they traveled throughout the Middle East, including Alexandria, Damascus, Constantinople (Istanbul), and the Kifl (Iraq), the site of Ezekiel's tomb.
Poor Jewish family of Aleppo
(circa 1900)
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Aleppo Jews, another pose, with another
baby on the lap, and sister (far left)
still scratching her headThe Jewish community of Aleppo may date back to Biblical days, with some claiming that it was Aram Tzobamentioned in the book of Samuel. The classic Aleppo Codex was an ancient and complete text of the Bible cited by Maimonides as the most authoritative text.Aleppo was the destination of many Jews expelled from Spain in the 15th century. But Aleppo was no safe haven. Pogroms and blood libels plagued the Jewish community.
The merchants of Aleppo and Damascus who traded along the spice and silk routes lost much of their business when the Suez Canal opened in 1869. Jews emigrated to Palestine, South America and Europe. Later, at the start of 20th century, the threat of forced conscription into the army led many families to leave, some to North America
In 1947, after the UN partition vote, a pogrom devastated the Aleppo Jewish community. After Israel's founding, the Syrian Jewish community was severely persecuted. Virtually the entire Jewish community left Syria in recent decades. A large community of Syrian Jews lives today in Brooklyn, NY.0Add a comment
The famous Israeli archeologist Yigal Yadin didn't discover the desert fortress of Masada in his 1963-1965 archeological expedition. It was discovered a century earlier.
Scaling Masada's topmost cliffs.
The climb above the ramp (c 1930)
Yadin role was to unearth Masada's many secrets.
On top of Masada Click on a picture to enlarge. Click on caption to view original.Scholars were familiar with the story of Masada from the works of the first century historian, Josephus Flavius, but only in 1835 did American scholar Eward Robinson look at the mountain with a keen eye: "I could perceive what appeared to be a building and also traces of other buildings... Subsequent research leaves little room to doubt that this was the site of the ancient and renowned fortress of Masada."
Other explorers examined the mountain in the 1850s and 1860s.According to Yadin, "the most profound and pioneering study of Masada was done by the German scholar Adolf Schulten, who was among the first scholars to spend a whole month at Masada in 1932.... His plans laid the foundation for the future study of the ruins."
Roman camps and Dead
Sea below (circa 1900)
The way up to Masada Some of the Library of Congress photographs of Masada that appear here were taken around the same time as Schulten's expedition to Masada.If you want A Picture a Day delivered to your computer, just sign up in the "Subscribe Now" box in the right sidebar and click on "Submit." 2View comments
- AUG18
The Enigmatic Photograph from the Library of Congress:A Jewish Children’s Parade a Long Time Ago
Many questions: Who, Why, Where? This report appeared in The Jerusalem Post Mazine todayAmong the thousands of very old and recently digitalized pictures from a Library of Congress collection of photos from Palestine, there is thiscaptivating picture.All the Library of Congress caption tells us is that the picture was taken between 1910 and 1930 and that it is a “Group of children and adults in procession in street, some holding a banner with a Star of David.”
Click on a picture to enlarge. Click on caption to see the original.Who are the hundreds of children? Why are the boys and girls separated? Where are they marching to? Where is this picture taken? And why is there a tent compound on the left horizon?
Photo analysis and comparison to an aerial photograph from 1931 and contemporary pictures indicate
Enlargement of the army camp. Note the permanent
structure surrounded by tents.
Shimon Hatzadik's tomb today In fact, the day was Tuesday, April 30, 1918. The procession is almost certainly an organized outing of several Jerusalem schools taking place on Lag Ba’Omer, four weeks after Passover. Traditionally, on Lag Ba’Omer Jews flock to the Galilee mountaintop of Meiron to the grave of Shimon Bar Yochai, one of the most famous scholars in the Talmud. But some 100 years ago, travel to Meiron would have taken days. Instead, the children took a hike to Shimon Hatzadik’s grave, a known custom 100 years ago in Jerusalem.
The parade route today (picture taken from the 8th floor
of the Olive Hotel)
Veteran Jerusalemite Shmulik Huminer wrote in his memoirs:“Anyone who could travel to Meiron on Lag Ba’Omer would go, and there take place miracles and wonders. But the residents of Jerusalem who couldn’t afford to travel to Meiron have as compensation the cave of Shimo Hatzadik located at the edge of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood north of the Old City.”
Today, Lag Ba’Omer is a day when Jewish children still go out to parks and forests to celebrate. In Jerusalem, many traditional Jews still visit Shimon’s grave.
Comparison of buildings from 1918 and today. Second stories
were added to the buildings over the years.The houses around the grave where Jews lived 100 years ago were abandoned under threat of Arab pogroms in the 1920s and 1930s. The Hadassah convoy massacre in 1948, in which almost 80 Jews were killed, took place on the road beneath the building with the very prominent arches.In recent years, however, Jewish families have returned to the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood.1View comments
- AUG18
British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel: the First Jew to Rule Eretz Yisrael in 2,000 Years?
After defeating the Ottoman army in 1917, Britain sought to replace its military occupation of Palestine with civilian rule. The first civilian High Commissioner of Palestine was a British Jewish politician named Herbert Samuel, appointed in 1920.
New era in Palestine. High Commissioner Samuel
arrives in Jaffa Port, June 30, 1920
Already in 1915 Samuel submitted a proposal to establish a protectorate for Jewish rule in Palestine. The proposal received scant notice at the time, but it served as a basis for the Balfour Declaration in 1917 in which "His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." The appointment of a practicing Jew and Zionist was opposed by some British politicians, the Arabs of Palestine and the British military leadership in Palestine.
Samuel and Colonial
Secretary Winston Churchill
planting tree on Mt Scopus
Hebrew University site
Samuel being received in Rishon Lezion, July 1920 Soon after his arrival, Samuel met with Arab and Jewish leaders of Palestine and toured new Jewish towns and communities. The pictures here are from his visit to Rishon Lezion, founded by Jews in 1882.During his five years in office, Samuel attempted to balance policies between Arab and Jewish demands, but some of his policies to appease the Arabs had disastrous results, such as his appointment of the radical anti-Semite Amin el-Husseini as Mufti of Jerusalem and his limiting of Jewish immigration to, and land purchases in, Palestine.
Samuel's reception in Rishon Lezion 1920 
Samuel leaving Rishon synagogue 1920 0Add a comment
Jew from Jerusalem (1889)
The Library of Congress collection of photos from the Holy Land includes several collections by other photographers.
An Arab Jewess (1889) One such photo-grapher was the Italian-born Tancrede Dumas who opened a studio in Beirut in 1860 and filmed throughout the Middle East until 1890.We present two of his portraits today.Can anyone identify either of the two?2View comments
Part 1 of the King David Citadel feature, showing the Turkish control of the historical site, can be read by clicking here.
King David's Citadel today The structure is one of the most famous landmarks in Jerusalem, standing like a sentry at Jaffa Gate. But "King David's Citadel" as we know it certainly does not date back to King David's time.
The British-led "Gendarmerie" at the Tower of David
When the British Army defeated the Turks in 1917, they acted immediately to restore order in Jerusalem. The tower, stronghold and police barracks (known as the "Kishle") were almost immediately used for the reorganized military police.
Allenby investiture
The next photo depicts the "investiture" of honors and medals on General Edmund Allenby and individual soldiers. The pictures of the investiture ceremony bear the conflicting dates of December 1917 as well as March 1918.During the Arab Revolt (1936-1939), attacks were carried out against British facilities and Jewish communities. The Old City was occasionally "conquered" by Arab gangs who took control of the Old City gates. British military operations had to be launched to "lift the siege."The following pictures show the "war-like scene on the roof of the Tower of David" in 1938.
On the roof of the Tower of David (1938) 
British snipers on David's Tower. Note their view of the
Temple Mount0Add a comment
News reports this week claim that the Waqf, the Muslim authorities of Jerusalem, sent earth-moving equipment and fencing in order to claim the hilltop in northern Jerusalem whereJordan's King Hussein started to build a palace in the 1960s. The frame of the palace was erected, but construction stopped as war drums started to beat. Jordanian military bunkers and trenches were dug, and Jordanian M-47 Patton tanks were dispatched to the hill, called Tel el-Ful ("Hill of Beans"). The deployment of American-supplied tanks by Jordan's army was in violation of the weapons provision that restricted their use only to the east bank of the Jordan River.
Hussein's "palace" on the site of a bloody 1917 battle
between the British and the Turks and on the site
of King Saul's palace 3000 years ago
Turkish dead at Tel el-Ful
Tel el-Ful's location and height have made it a strategic site for 3,000 years.
When the 1967 war broke out and Jordan shelled the Jewish side of Jerusalem, the Israeli Defense Forces flanked the Old City from the north, capturing Tel el-Ful on their way to re-uniting Jerusalem.
British burial party after burying
Turkish dead
But it was not the first time the Hill was drenched with blood. Two weeks after the city of Jerusalem surrendered to the British army on December 9, 1917, the German commander unleashed a Christmas counterattack that was blocked at Tel el-Ful with heavy Turkish casualties, as documented in the Library of Congress photo collection. It was the last gasp of the Turkish campaign in Palestine.
The hill was also known as Gibeah/Givah, a Biblical town responsible for a near civil war in the early stages of the Israelites conquering the land of Israel. King Saul established his court at the location for 38 years, earning the location's name "Givat Shaul." It also served as a Philistine redoubt.1View comments
Women at the Kotel (after 1921) Tonight marks the 15th day of Av in the Hebrew calendar -- Tu B'Av. Traditionally, it's one of the happiest days in the Jewish calendar, commemorating various acts of reconciliation between tribes in the Bible.Today in Israel the day is called Chag HaAhava -- Festival of Love -- a kind of Valentine's Day.In the days of the Temple, the Talmud explained, the day was the first day of the grape harvest, and unmarried girls of Jerusalem would dress in white garments and go out to dance in the vineyards to meet their future husbands.
Women at the Kotel (after 1903) אָמַר רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, לֹא הָיוּ יָמִים טוֹבִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל כַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בְּאָב וּכְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, שֶׁבָּהֶן בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם יוֹצְאוֹת בִּכְלֵי לָבָן שְׁאוּלִין, שֶׁלֹּא לְבַיֵּשׁ אֶת מִי שֶׁאֵין לוֹ. כָּל הַכֵּלִים טְעוּנִין טְבִילָה. וּבְנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם יוֹצְאוֹת וְחוֹלוֹת רוקדות בַּכְּרָמִים...Click on a picture to enlarge. Click on caption to view original.
Women at the Western Wall (circa 1900)
Note the Yemenite Jewish man on the rightIn honor of Tu B'Av we present pictures of women at the Western Wall. A couple of interesting historical points can be seen in the pictures:The women in these pictures were generally on the left side of the Kotel; after the 1967 war and Israel cleared the area in front of the Wall, women prayed on the right side.
Because of restrictions originally imposed by the Ottoman authorities and demands by the Muslim Mufti of Jerusalem there were no physical partitions between the men and the women visible in these pictures. Any attempt to set up screens or bring chairs were met with protests and attacks. The worshippers honored a separation of sexes.The writings on the Wall are memorial notices, often with dates of the subject's death. The picture is obviously taken after the date on the wall and gives us an estimated date of the picture.0Add a comment
"Zionist agricultural zeal...Grandfather helping
granddaughter to plow" circa 1920 in the Yizrael ValleyOne of the Zionist dreams was to take Jews out of the European ghettos and create a "new man" in the fields ofEretz Yisrael. But the dream also meant a "new woman."The photographers of the American Colony clearly enjoyed taking photographs of these women farmers and field workers. Here we present several of the dozens in the Library of Congress collection.
Click on a picture to enlarge. Click on caption to view original.
"Foot of Carmel. Zionist girl farmers" collecting grapes 
Borochov. Girls' farm,
Polish girl immigrant.
Elsewhere named as
"Davora Rushkin"
Picking almonds in Rishon
Lezion (circa 1920)
"Maiden of Rishon Lezion" with basket
of almonds
Borochov. Girls' farm, feeding poultry 
"Nahalal Girls' Agriculturaltraining school. Picking violets. A better class citygirl immigrant turning toagriculture."If you want A Picture a Day delivered to your computer, just sign up in the "Subscribe Now" box in the right sidebar and click on "Submit." 0Add a comment
The American Colony photographers took pictures of Jewish communities as they traveled throughout the Middle East. But they also obtained collections from other photographers in the region. Some of those pictures, also part of the Library of Congress collection, are presented here.
1901, Jewish family in Damascus Damascus: The Jewish community of Damascus dated back to the Days of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Over the centuries, their numbers were supplemented by Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492. In the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Jews of Syria were persecuted by Ottoman and Syrian authorities. Most of Syria's Jews emigrated to Israel or North America, and today the Jewish community is believed to be a tiny number.
1898, Jewish Quarters in Alexandria, Egypt
Alexandria: According to aJerusalem Post article from 2008, Alexandria "is said to have boasted a community of tens of thousands of Jews of both Ashkenazi and Mizrahi descent, but some were expelled as French or British citizens during the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. Others were expelled and/or imprisoned for up to three years during the Six Day War. Some, too, left on their own accord, feeling that there was a brighter future for them as Jews in countries like Israel, America and Australia."
1898 Jewish Quarter in "Constantinople," today
called Instanbul
Constantinople: The name of the Turkish city was changed from Constantinople to Istanbul in the 1920s, which explains the caption on this 1898 photo.The Jewish community in Turkey also dates back millennia. Tens of thousands of Jews from Spain found refuge in Turkey in 1492. The Ottoman Empire which ruled the Middle East for 400 years usually provided a safe haven for its Jewish residents, with occasional outbreaks of anti-Semitic episodes.Today, the Jewish community in Turkey numbers approximately 20,000, most in Istanbul. The new Islamic policies of the current Turkish government may result in Jewish emigration, according to some observers.2View comments
Children of Negba, 1946. Two years later they
had to be evacuated. Note the watertower.Cuter kids may be harder to find than these from Kibbutz Negba. The photo is from the Library of Congress American Colony collection taken 65 years ago in 1946.Kibbutz Negba was founded in 1939 in southern Israel. In those days, several settlements were built almost overnight in response to Arab rioting across Palestine and to challenge British mandate restrictions.When the 1948 war broke out, Negba was in the path of the Egyptian army moving north. The children were evacuated prior to furious attacks on the kibbutz by the Egyptians and local Arab militias. Forty-three kibbutz members and soldiers died blocking the onslaught.
Negba after the war. 
Negba's watertower is a memorial today
Today, Negba has 700 residents and is in the process of expansion.0Add a comment
The photographers of the American Colony were a peripatetic bunch, traveling not only the length and breadth of the land of Palestine, but also to neighboring areas of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. They also visited Jewish communities and photographed Jewish sites.
Ezekiel's tomb with rabbi caretakers
Today's photographs from the Library of Congress are from the tomb of the Biblical prophet Ezekiel in the Iraqi town of Kifl, not far from the ancient city of Babylon. Ezekiel prophesized the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE and the exile to Babylon.
The American Colony photographers visited Kifl in 1932 and photographed the Jews of Kifl at the 14th century tomb.
Interior of the shrine. Note
the large Hebrew name of
the Lord behind the pillarAccording to a 2006 account by a former Kifl resident, "Until 1951 about 5,000 Jews used to come to Kifl during Passover week. And people still came after 1951, at least until 1967, after which it grew too dangerous. Then in 1984 a group of 20 Jews had come from Baghdad and in 1989 Sara, her family and another family had come, but no Jews to her knowledge had made the pilgrimage since then."Most of the Jews of Iraq left the country in 1951.
More photographs of other Jewish communities from the American Colony collection will be featured in future "Israel Daily Pictures."
Read an account of three Jews' visit to the tomb in Kifl in 2006, a 2010 article by The New York Times' Steven Lee Myers, and a film clip by The New York Times' Stephen Farrell in 2010.
The tower over the Tomb 
At the entrance to the Shrine 
At the entrance 0Add a comment
It is unclear when this picture was taken. The title on the Library of Congress photo states, "The Temple area. Western wall of Temple area. Distant view of so-called Wailing Wall." The date on the picture is "between 1920 and 1933."
Longing from afar. The Western Wall and Temple Mount
Is it possible that the Jews in the picture couldn't get to the Western Wall? And to go would mean risking their lives? If that's the case then this picture was probably taken in 1929 or 1936.
In those years Arab attackers killed and wounded scores of Jews, and to go to the Kotel was to risk life and limb.
The American Colony photographers found it noteworthy to film the deserted Kotel on both occasions. View pictures of Jews fleeing the Old City of Jerusalem in 1929 and 1936 here.
1936 Riots. Lt. Gen. Dill visits Western Wall 
1929 Riots. Western Wall 2View comments
The caption on this picture from the Library of Congress reads "Jewish beggar at the Wailing Wall reading." He may have been a beggar, but if you show the picture to Jerusalemites, they'll instinctively respond, "It's Tisha B'Av, and he's reading the book of Lamentations (Eicha)."
Mourner in Jerusalem at the Western Wall. Note others
sitting with him. (circa 1920)
Tisha B'Av is the day in the Hebrew calendar when calamities befell the Jewish people, including the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem, the fall of the fortress Beitar in the Jewish rebellion against Rome, and the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. The day is commemorated with fasting, prayers and the reading of Lamentations. In Jerusalem, thousands pray at the Kotel, the Western Wall.
A story is told of Napoleon passing a synagogue and hearing congregants inside mourning. To his question who they are mourning, he was told they were weeping over the destruction of the Jewish Temple 1,800 years earlier. Napoleon responded, according to the legend, "If the Jews are still crying after so many hundreds of years, then I am certain the Temple will one day be rebuilt."0Add a comment
A version appears in today's Jerusalem Post
The destruction of the Avraham Avinu
Synagogue in Hebron in 1929Among the tragedies that befell the Jewish people during the month of Av was the 1929 massacre in Hebron. Never before seen photographs of the destruction were found in the Library of Congress archives.On the eve of Tisha B’Av, the day of calamities in Jewish history, we present the pictures.Today’s leaders of the Hebron Jewish community told me that they had never seen the photos before. Click on the photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to see the originals.Background to the Hebron massacre. After the British army captured Palestine from the Turks in late 1917, the relationship between the British and the local Arab population was characterized by tension that sporadically erupted into insurrection over the next 30 years.
A destroyed synagogue. Torah scrolls
strewn on the ground
Enlargement of scroll showing
Deuteronomy 1: 17The Arabs of Palestine were led by the powerful Husseini clan who controlled the office of the Mufti as well as the Mayor of Jerusalem. For decades the clan had opposed European colonialism, the growing power of foreign consulates in Jerusalem, Christian and Jewish immigration and land purchases. After the 1917 Balfour Declaration expressed support for “a national home for the Jewish people,” Husseini added “Zionists” to his enemies list. The clan leveraged its power and threats of violence to win over Turkish and British overlords, to challenge the Hashemite King Abdullah, and to hold off competing clans such as the Nashashibi, Abu Ghosh, and Khalidi clans.
Jewish home plundered. Blood-stained floor[Haj Amin el Husseini fled Palestine to escape British jail and eventually found his way to Berlin where he assisted the Nazi war effort. He died of natural causes in Beirut in 1974.]On Yom Kippur 1928, Jews brought chairs and screens to prayers at the Western Wall. This purported change of the status quo was exploited by the Mufti, Haj Amin el Husseini, to launch a jihad against the Jews. Husseini’s campaign continued and escalated after a Jewish demonstration at the Kotel on Tisha B’Av in August 1929. Rumors spread that Jews had attacked Jerusalem mosques and massacred Muslims. The fuse was lit for a major explosion.
Starting on Friday, August 23, 1929 and lasting for a week, enraged Arab mobs attacked Jews in the Old City in Jerusalem, in Jerusalem suburbs Sanhedria, Motza, Bayit Vegan, Ramat Rachel, in outlying Jewish communities, and in the Galilee town of Tzfat. Small Jewish communities in Gaza, Ramla, Jenin, and Nablus were abandoned. The attack in Hebron became a frenzied pogrom with the Arab mob stabbing, axing, decapitating and disemboweling 67 men, women and children. At least 133 Jews were killed across Palestine. In 1931, there was a short-lived attempt to reestablish the Jewish community in Hebron, but within a few years it was abandoned until the IDF recaptured Hebron in 1967.
Synagogue desecrated The British indulged the Arabs and responded by limiting Jewish immigration and land purchases.
Large common grave of Jewish victims. Later the grave
was destroyed
Jewish home plundered
Today in Hebron: A recent service in the rebuilt Avraham
Avinu Synagogue (with permission of photographer)1View comments
A thousand year old Jewish tradition believes that King David is buried in a tomb on Mt. Zion. And that is one of the reasons the belief is questioned by some Jews.
King David's Tomb (circa 1900). The original caption
was "Tabernacle."
The Bible (Kings I, 2:10) states that David and his descendants were buried in the City of David, generally believed to be south of the Temple Mount, not on Mt. Zion to the West.
The Jewish tradition has taken hold over the last millenium, and the tomb is revered by many Jews as evident in the Library of Congress' 100 year old picture.
Tomb exterior (circa 1900) 
The Tomb interior (circa 1900) King David's Tomb was particularly important from 1948 until 1967 when the Western Wall, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb were all under Jordanian control and forbidden to Jews. The Mt. Zion site was the closest Jews could get to the Western Wall.Adjacent to the Hagia Sion Abbey (formerly the Dormition Abbey), the tomb is located beneath the room where, according to Christian belief, Jesus conducted his Last Supper.
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