January 2026 ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Thursday, January 01, 2026

Jews have been a majority in Jerusalem for over 200 years

I found an account of a visit to Jerusalem from a January 1826 newspaper (quoting the Missionary Herald) that estimated its population:

This was the earliest such estimate I've seen that gives Jews not only the plurality but effectively the majority population of Jerusalem.

It was written by a Dr. Robert Richardson, a Scottish physician who traveled as part of the entourage of the Earl of Belmore. His visit to the region was in 1816-1818, and he wrote a book about it, where he says the same thing:

In the article, Richardson describes the Jews:

Many of the Jews are rich, and in comfortable circumstances, and possess a good deal of property in Jerusalem; but they are careful to conceal their wealth, and even their comfort, from the jealous eye of their rulers, lest, by awakening their cupidity, some vile and feasible plot should be devised to their prejudice. In going to visit a respectable Jew in the Holy City, it is a common thing to pass to his house over a ruined and squalid and apparently very humble stair, constructed of rough, unpolished stones, that totter under the foot; but it improves as you ascend, and, at the top, has a respectable appearance, as it ends in an agreeable platform in front of the house. On entering the house itself, it is found to be clean and well furnished, the sofas are covered with Persian carpets, and the people seem happy to receive you; the master is entertained with coffee and tobacco, as is the custom in the houses of the Turks and Christians.The ladies presented themselves with an ease and address that surprised me, and recalled to my memory the pleasing society of Europe. The difference of manners arises from many of the Jewish families in Jerusalem having resided in Spain & Portugal, where the females had full license for the true domestic virtues of the east; and, on returning to their beloved land, had very properly maintained their justly acquired freedom & rank in society. They almost all speak a broken Italian, so that conversion goes on without the clumsy aid of an interpreter.

It was the Feast of the Passover, and they were all eating unleavened bread; some of which was presented to me as a curiosity, and I partook of it merely that I might have the gratification of eating unleavened bread, with the sons and daughters of Jacob in Jerusalem; it is very insipid fare, and no one would eat it from choice.....

The Jewesses speak in a decided and fine tone, unlike the hesitating and timid voice of the Arab and Turkish females; and claim the European privilege of differing from their husbands, and maintaining their own opinions. They are fair and good looking, red and auburn hair are by no means uncommon in either of the sexes. I never saw any of them with veils, and was informed that it is the general practice of the Jewesses in Jerusalem to go with their faces uncovered. They are the only females there that do so.

The idea that the Jews would be harassed and stolen from is a given in a Muslim ruled country.

And Jewish women in Jerusalem were treated more respectfully by their husbands in the early 19th century than those in Muslim countries are - today.