9,000 Photos from 1800’s British Mandate of Palestine – with no trace of Muslims or mosques

Pamela Geller ^ | 5/1/16 | Pamela Geller

[ml/nj]

Al aqsa is NOT the Dome of the Rock. It is a completely separate structure, not far from the Dome.

ML/NJ

[DollyCali]

great post.. thanks SJ

[JeffChrz]

I noted that when I read what Twain wrote in “Innocents Abroad.” (It’s a free ebook that you can find online.)

The way he described it in the late 1860s was that the Middle East then was a poor, neglected province of the Ottoman Empire.

[Verginius Rufus]

I have a 1911 Baedeker handbook, The Mediterranean (translation of the 1909 German edition)), which includes information on Jerusalem and other places in the Holy Land that a traveler might want to visit.

For Jerusalem it says that the population is estimated at about 70,000, of which 45,000 are Jews, 15,000 Christians (nearly half Syrians of the Greek Orthodox faith), and about 10,000 Moslems.

For Bethlehem it says the population is about 11,000, almost all Christians.

For Er-Ramleh, it has the population "exceeding 7,000, including 2500 Christians." It says the mosque in that town was built in 1318 in a style resembling the Romanesque transition buildings of the Crusaders.

There was a separate volume, Palestine and Syria, which I don't have, which would have given fuller information.

[kaehurowing]

And of course the Ottoman Empire was MUSLIM, although I understand fairly tolerant to minorities such as Christians and Jews by the 1800s (although historically they liked to kidnap boys from Christian areas and turn them into janissaries—the Sultan’s personal soldiers).

[kaehurowing]

Remember also that Lebanon, although Arabic, was heavily Christian (mostly Catholic). Most left, starting in the early 1900s.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Nachum.

• Preface
• United Nations Omens · November 25, 1947
• Atom and Oil · February 17, 1948
• Ex-Mufti, Criminal Ally · February 23, 1948
• We Lose to Great Britain · February 29, 1948
• Homeland for Heroes · March 21, 1948
• Munich at Lake Success · March 26, 1948
• The General Surrenders · March 28, 1948
• False Issue: Communism · April 14, 1948
• Lake Success—or Lake Failure? · April 16, 1948
• Partition: An Old Custom · April 18, 1948
• Great Britain Bets On The Wrong Horse · April 23, 1948
• Sportsmanship Lacking, Too · April 27, 1948
• Ibn Saud’s Star Wanes · April 30, 1948
• Two Down, One Up · May 4, 1948
• President Needs Advice · May 7, 1948
• A Stamp for Artzenu · May 11, 1948
• A Jewish State Is Reborn · May 14, 1948
• No Buck-Passing · May 18, 1948
• The Throne of David · May 25, 1948
• Against Russia—or Us? · May 26, 1948
• Lion—or Jackal? · May 28, 1948
• The Security Council Vote on Palestine · May 30, 1948
• Wedgwood’s Curse · June 1, 1948
• Message to Lady Astor · June 4, 1948
• Home of the Brave · June 8, 1948
• Son Supports Father · June 9, 1948
• The Spirit of Israel · June 21, 1948
• Oil—the Dictator · June 30, 1948
• Bevin Mucks It Up · July 2, 1948
• Now is the Hour · July 8, 1948
• Britain’s Bitter Fruit · July 12, 1948
• Outrageous ‘Peace’ Plan · July 14, 1948
• Oil and Camels · July 19, 1948
• The Unholy War Backfires · July 30, 1948
• The Modern Amalekites · August 5, 1948
• United You Stand · August 11, 1948
• If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem · August 16, 1948
• Iraq’s Decay and Its Remedy · August 24, 1948
• From Disraeli to Bevin · August 26, 1948
• Everything’s Going Your Way · September 16, 1948
• The Amputation of the Negev · September 24, 1948
• A Mountain Was in Travail · September 28, 1948
• Barter of Votes · October 12, 1948
• Rift in the Arab Front · October 14, 1948
• Two Letters · October 17, 1948
• Truce of Attrition · October 26, 1948
• The Seven-Day War · October 31, 1948
• A Magician’s Trick · November 15, 1948
• Genocide at Cyprus · November 26, 1948
• The Arab Refugees · November 30, 1948
• The Promised Land Fulfills Its Promise · December 10, 1948
• One Against Seven · December 28, 1948
• If You Prefer Arms Be Ready for Defeat · January 2, 1949
• The Flying Carpet · May 16, 1949
• Tangier and Jerusalem · May 19, 1949
• The Gilded Carriage of Queen Victoria · June 15, 1949
• Dean Acheson’s Promise · June 23, 1949

[SunkenCiv]

[Lurking Libertarian]

There was no “British mandate of Palestine” in the 1800s. Palestine was a province of Turkey in the 1800s. It did not become a British Mandate until after World War I.

[Tallguy]

British mandate in Palestine in the 1800’s???

[BlackVeil]

Yes, of course you are correct, Al Aqsa is a separate structure. But, if you look closely at the French photographer’s work, the building he has recorded is the Dome of the Rock. In the B&W photos, it looks different, because it does not have the characteristic copper/gold top.

It would appear that both Al Aksa and the Dome are mosques. What would they be, if not mosques?

Like you, indeed I noticed the weeds growing on the pavement. It evidently was not trodden by heaps of people at that time.

[BlackVeil]

Thank you for that link. The antique photos are wonderful.

[ml/nj]

It would appear that both Al Aksa and the Dome are mosques. What would they be, if not mosques?

Wikipedia is your friend, sometimes.

Note that the Dome does not have an accompanying missile silo, traditional of all mosques I know of.

ML/NJ

[wildbill]

i was gonna post that quote from Twain if I could find it. g;ad you had it at hand.

[BlackVeil]

Wiki is not always a good source. I find this claim - also written elsewhere on the internet - that the Dome of the Rock is not a mosque but a shrine. That is an odd claim. It is obviously a shrine - to that rock which is deemed sacred - but it has all the facilities of a mosque, and people pray there. It seems like saying that Notre-Dame cathedral is a shrine to the Virgin Mary - and therefore not a church.

In the past, it was always called a mosque. St John Philby, and all those types of Arabists, often called it the mosque of Omar.

People hostile to the presence of the Dome of the Rock often call for "that mosque" to be taken down. One doesn't hear any calls for the destruction of "that shrine".

We find, in Crossovers: Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism by Shlomo Sharan, Dāwid Bûqay: "Abd al-Malik ... in 691 he built the mosque called the Dome of the Rock" (p 143)

And it has been called a mosque for centuries:

There is an often quoted statement of Muslim historian al-Muqaddasi on the reason for the building of Dome of the Rock. ...

O my little son, thou has no understanding. Verily al-Walid was right, and he was prompted to a worthy work. For he beheld Syria to be a country that had long been occupied by the Christians, and he noted there are beautiful churches still belonging to them ... So he sought to build for the Muslims a mosque that should be unique and a wonder to the world.

[CyberAnt]

Palestine was and IDEA .. NOT A COUNTRY. It was a place to dump undesirables .. and a place to hide the terrorists who would attack Israel.

[the scotsman]

And you wonder why some of us aren’t part of the Geller fan club?.

[ml/nj]

I find this claim - also written elsewhere on the internet - that the Dome of the Rock is not a mosque but a shrine.

I have a 1979 Encyclopedia Britannica on my shelf. I'll quote from their entry on the Dome of the Rock:

The Dome of the Rock was built between AD 685 and 691 by the caliph 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, not aas a mosque for public worship but as a mashhad, a shrine for pilgrims.

ML/NJ

[bert]

to be current, we have Wikipedia...... The Dome of the Rock (Arabic: قبة الصخرة‎, translit.: Qubbat al-Sakhrah, Hebrew: כיפת הסלע‎, translit.: Kippat ha-Sela) is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was initially completed in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik during the Second Fitna. The Dome of the Rock is now one of the oldest works of Islamic architecture.[2] It has been called "Jerusalem's most recognizable landmark,"[3] and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with two nearby Temple Mount structures, the Western Wall, and the "Resurrection Rotunda" in the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[4] Its architecture and mosaics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces.[5] The octagonal plan of the structure may also have been influenced by the Byzantine Church of the Seat of Mary (also known as Kathisma in Greek and al-Qadismu in Arabic) built between 451 and 458 on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.[6] The site's significance stems in part from religious traditions regarding the rock, known as the Foundation Stone, at its heart, which bears great significance for Jews and Muslims. It is recognized by all three Abrahamic religions as the site of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac.

[ml/nj]

to be current, we have Wikipedia..

I'm not sure what you mean by that remark. The 1979 EB is generally a much more accurate source for historical information than things written today, as it was published before Political Correctness and revisionist history set in. So for example it speaks of TWO cities holy to Islam, Mecca and Medina, not three as the revisionist Muslims and their Amen Corner pretend there to have been.

BTW, I would note that the Dome having been built for Pilgrims indicates that it wasn't built for the local population.

ML/NJ