WESTERN WALL DISTURBANCES

The Western (Wailing) Wall, or Kotel, in Jerusalem is a site sacred to both Muslims and Jews. It is a wall on the west side of a hill (the Temple Mount), on top of which is the Haram al-Sharif. Its original purpose is unknown; it may have been a retaining wall or a part of a Romanera building. For Muslims, the entire hill, including the wall, is part of the Haram; for Jews, the wall is a remnant of the Second Temple. In the 1920s, use of the site was governed by an arrangement that had been enforced by Ottoman authorities and continued by the British Mandatory government. It was owned by the Muslim community and although Jews were permitted access to it they were not allowed to adapt it in any way for religious ceremonies.

In 1928 Zionist institutions were rapidly growing stronger after several years of stagnation; Jewish immigration was up, the economy of the Jewish community was expanding, and Jewish political militancy was increasing. Efforts were even made to purchase the wall. On 23 September of that year, on the eve of Yom Kippur, the highest Jewish holy day, Jews gathered at the wall to pray placed a screen to separate the men from the women in the traditional way. Muslims asserted that this was a forbidden "innovation" and complained to the British authorities, who removed the screen. The authorities attempted to find a compromise, but the situation was too charged and became a political issue for both sides over the next few months; for the Zionists it became part of a campaign for expanded rights. On 15 August 1929 a group of right-wing Zionists from the Revisionist faction, raising the Zionist Star of David flag, staged a demonstration at the wall; Muslims staged a counterdemonstration the next day, destroying slips of paper containing prayers, which had been put into the crevices in the wall by the Jews.

Over the next few weeks violence broke out. Palestinians attacked Jews—mainly religious and non-Zionist—in Jerusalem, Hebron (killing 64) and Safad; Jews attacked and killed Palestinians in several cities. In all 116 Palestinians and 133 Jews died in the riots, although many of the Palestinian deaths were caused by shots fired into crowds by British troops and police. The disturbances inspired fresh political organizing among the relatively unorganized Palestinians.

The Arab Executive demanded an end to Jewish immigration and land purchases and the creation of a democratic government. The British government, while refusing on principle, established commissions to study the matter. The Shaw Commission studied the causes of the violence; the Hope-Simpson Commission studied the land situation and its effect on the Palestinians. The findings of these commissions led to the Passfield White Paper of 1930, which called for limiting immigration and land purchases and for changing Britain's policy toward the Palestinians—90 percent of the population—who had until then been considered merely "non-Jewish communities" by a government whose policies were based on establishing a "Jewish National Home." The recommendations of the White Paper were never implemented.

SEE ALSO Arab Executive;British Mandate;Haram al-Sharif;Hebron;Ottomans;White Papers on Palestine.