Cyrus Adler. Memorandum on the Western Wall. Prepared for the Special Commission of the League of Nations on Behalf of the Jewish Agency for Palestine

The status of the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City during the British Mandate was riddled with controversy with both Jew and Arab claiming rights to the site as a place of worship. Particularly contentious was the status of the desire by the Jews to places objects of worship at the site. A ten-month build up of tension over these disputed rights culminated in an attempted attack by an Arab mob on the Jews in Jerusalem on August 23rd, 1929. The outbreak of violence spread to other parts of the country and on the following day, the Arabs murdered some seventy Jews in Hebron. In the week of bloody violence that ensued, there were attacks in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Safed. Before the week had passed, large detachments of British troops were brought in, many were arrested (both Jew as well as Arab), before order was restored. In the wake of the violence, a Special Commission of Inquiry was set up by the League of Nations to resolve the “Problem of the Wall.” The present Memorandum, prepared by Cyrus Adler on behalf of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, examines the connection of the Jews to the site of the Western Wall from an historical context, demonstrating a Jewish worshipful presence there dating back a great many centuries.