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JERUSALEM: JEWS AND ARABS IN THE 19th CENTURY Jerusalem has represented, for hundreds of generations, not only the focus of hopes and prayers of Jews throughout the world; it is also one of the cities of Israel the Jews have held to stubbornly through these thousands of years. As one of the four "holy cities", with Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed, Jerusalem has contained a Jewish community, larger or smaller, throughout the vicissitudes of conquest and exile. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the depressed economic condition of Jerusalem and the attenuation of its population reflected the condition of all of Palestine under Ottoman rule, and the city was thus described by historians, scholars, and writers from that period and the one immediately following it. The population of Jerusalem at that time numbered approximately nine thousand: four thousand Moslems, three thousand Christians, and two thousand Jews, all of whom lived in the Old City. During the nine years of Egyptian conquest (1831-1840), when a liberal attitude toward Christians and Jews prevailed, there began a rallying of the local Jewish community which by 1840 had reached five thousand, as opposed to 4,500 Moslems and 3,500 Christians. Beginning in the mid-1840s, there was a considerable yearly increase in the stream of immigrants to the Land, many of whom settled in Jerusalem. Thanks to this development, as well as to the improved sanitation which led to an accelerated rate of natural increase, the Jewish population in the city rose by 1860 to eight thousand people, all still residing within the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. By 1870 the Jewish population had reached eleven thousand, which constituted an absolute majority within the Old City walls. With the growth of the population, life within the crowded area of the Jewish Quarter became more difficult. Nevertheless, fear of wild animals and bandits that roamed the area prevented the community from spreading out beyond the walls. In 1860 Sir Moses Montefiore, an English Jew of monetary means wide diplomatic connections, imagination, initiative and devotion to the Jewish land and people, arrived in the country. Sir Montefiore initiated the building of "Mishkenot Sha'ananim", the first Jewish neighborhood outside the Old City walls. In order to dispel fear of attack, the neighborhood was enclosed by a stone wall and its gates were locked at night. Nevertheless, few dared to move to the new neighborhood, and most who did were the wretchedly poor who paid low rental or none at all. Montefiore built a windmill nearby and some of the residents were able to earn a living from it. The Jews of Jerusalem realized that it was possible to live in security and even dignity outside the walls, and began to organize the construction of additional neighborhoods, some with Montefiore's assistance. Many Jerusalem neighborhoods bear his name to this day: Yemin Moshe, Mazkeret Moshe, Zichron Moshe, Ohel Moshe, Kiryat Moshe,' and others. Some were built with the assistance of other philanthropists, or funded by the residents themselves. The first Jerusalem neighborhood built after "Mishkenot' Sha'ananim" was established by the "Mograbim", immigrants from North Africa, and called "Mahane Yisrael" (1867); the second, "Nahalat Shiv'ah,", was built by Ashkenazi entrepreneurs in 1869. By the First World War, sixty-nine neighborhoods, which provided dwellings for over 20,000 people, had been established. In 1914, with the outbreak of the war, the population of the new city numbered 35,000, including 30,000 Jews. Eighteen thousand Jews lived at that time in the Old City, making a total Jewish population of some 489,000, with approximately 17,000 Christians and 10,000 Moslems. This numerical proportion - approximately two-thirds of the entire population - has remained constant to this day. In 1983, among a total population of 425,000, there were 305,000 Jews, 109,000 Moslems, and I1,000 Christians. Growth and development, albeit at a slower rate and in smaller scope, took place among the Moslem and Christian populations of Jerusalem as well. Notable among the Moslems were wealthy families who built large dwellings both inside and outside the walls. The various Christian groups, who concerned themselves chiefly with pilgrims, built structures impressive in both size and beauty - hostels for pilgrims, churches, and institutions of health, education, and welfare. Particularly active in this area were the Russians, the French and the English, all of whom received encouragement and support from the European powers. The Jews had begun to build health and welfare institutions by the middle of the nineteenth century: Rothschild Hospital (1854), Bikur Cholim Hospital (I857), and later Sha'arei Zedek Hospital (I890). And in every Jewish neighborhood, large or small, were synagogues and yeshivas, among which the "Hurva" and "Nissan Bak" synagogues were noteworthy. Overcrowding in the Jewish Quarter generated, in addition to expansion outside the Old City walls, a parallel movement into the Muslim and Armenian Quarter, where the Jews purchased land for dwellings and communal institutions. Most Jewish buildings in the Moslem Quarter were owned by Jews, whereas the residents of the Jewish Quarter lived there by right of occupation. Most of the Jews of the Moslem Quarter were concentrated in Hebron Street, called today "Ma'ale Haladiyah" (part of it HaKirmi Street and part HaGal Street), and in "Bab Hata" north of the Temple Mount. Numerous institutions of education, welfare and charity, as well as printing houses and newspapers, were established and developed in these areas. By the end of the nineteenth century the Jews of the Moslem Quarter (some one thousand large families) outnumbered the Moslems, and twenty synagogues and six yeshivas were in operation there. The Jewish population in the Muslim Quarter began to dwindle as a result of the bloody riots of 1920, 1929, and 1936-39. After the 1936 riots the last Jews left this quarter. During the period of the British Mandate (1922-1948) the rate of building and development in new Jerusalem was accelerated, and by 1948 the Jewish population was close to one hundred thousand. The Jewish Quarter, on the other hand, saw a continual dwindling of population because of repeated bloody riots. After the 1948 War of Independence, some of the residents moved to the new city and some were taken captive. During the nineteen years of Jordanian control of East Jerusalem, all the synagogues in the Jewish Quarter were destroyed and the cemetery on the Mount of Olives was desecrated. Gravestones were dug out and used for the building of fortifications and for the paving of paths leading to the latrines in a nearby army camp. In the cease-fire agreements of April 1949 the Jordanian authorities promised to allow Israeli citizens - Jews, Christians, and Moslems - free access to their holy places in the conquered territories, but this promise was not kept. Because of restrictions placed on the Christian population during the period of Jordanian rule, that population dwindled from 15% to 4% of the entire population of the Old City. In the new, Jewish area of Jerusalem, building began with momentum unprecedented in the city's history, and the capital began to expand to the south and west. In contrast to this flourishing, the Old City returned to its inferior status of Turkish times, especially in contrast to Amman, capital of the Hashemite kingdom, where the Jordanians invested special development efforts in order to raise the city above Jerusalem. On 5 June 1967, with the outbreak of the Six Day War, the Jordanians opened rifle and cannon fire along the cease-fire lines, particularly in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and army units crossed the border toward the Jewish part of the city. In an IDF counter-attack, which lasted three days, the eastern part of the city, including the entire Old City, was conquered. The city, in the words of the Psalm, was "joined together". Now, for the first time in almost two thousand years, every Jew was able to visit the location of the Temple on Mount Moriah and its single remaining structure, the Western Wall. All other religious groups throughout the country and the world were given free access to their holy places. This policy found immediate official expression in the law for preservation of the holy places enacted by the Knesset on 27 June 1967. Two days after the war the roadblocks between the two parts of the city were removed and a great population flow began: Arabs to "Jewish Jerusalem", Jews to "Arab Jerusalem", both groups renewing old friendships, or, alternatively, opening up new horizons. (This did not last too long…)
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