How Jerusalem Jews collected charity in the mid-19th century

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

We continue our look at Jewish life in Jerusalem in the mid-1800s, from James Finn's "Stirring Times: Or, Records from Jerusalem Consular Chronicles of 1853 to 1856".

The section on how Jerusalem Jews collected money worldwide - and the disadvantages of that system - sound very familiar!

Not that I approved of the system called ' Shilichuth,' but that notwithstanding all its abuses, there seemed to be at that time no other means for alleviating the abounding misery among the Jews.

This system of ' Schilichuth ' deserves to be explained. A ' Shiliach' is a messenger. The committee in Jerusalem for collection of charity, namely, the Chief Rabbi ('First in Zion '), and his Council, partition the world into districts over which they send ' Shilichim ' to collect funds on their behalf by visitation, by Synagogue preaching, by sale of objects having religious value, or by any other means that may suggest themselves to the intelligence of these messengers. They are furnished with magnificent documents in beautiful handwriting in the Holy Language, and of fine oriental composition, to which ore appended numerous large seals giving to such documents due authority.

A Deed of Agreement is likewise drawn up between the bearer (the Shiliach), and the committee of congregational officers by whom he is sent, allowing him, besides travelling expenses, a large percentage upon all that he can collect. That percentage varies according to the countries to which he is commissioned, generally in proportion to the expected difficulties or dangers that he may have to encounter, or the distance to be traversed. Thus the allowance for a journey to India or Barbary would mount higher than that for repairing to France or Germany, and if the business be methodically managed, the bearer has to bring back with him a book in which each Synagogue that contributes has specified its own amount of contribution in detail, and has attested that statement by its own official seal. In some instances the Shiliach will be absent for two or three years, and sometimes, fresh fields are visited, as, for instance, California, or Australia, with New Zealand.

The deputed messenger is usually, or was formerly, entertained wherever he goes, with honours considered only due to one who has breathed the air of the Holy Land, who has prayed at the remnant of the Western wall of the Temple enclosure, or has been in Hebron, in the same city with the Sepulchres of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Leah, and Rebekah. His benediction is eagerly sought for and is repaid by hospitality and high place in the Synagogue. These honours have, however, been much diminished since the facilities for travelling, afforded by steamboats and railways, have altered the condition of things, and have done away with not only the actual hardships to be endured by the way, but also have tended to diminish the marvels and the wonders which in former days gathered round the facts which the Shiluchim had to report.

Who are the persons benefited by the funds raised as thus described, and brought to Jerusalem by the Shilichim ? The money is contributed chiefly with the idea of supporting perpetually a pious and learned population in the holy cities, and the donors believe that, inasmuch as all these are poor, the proceeds are divided impartially among all ; that the numbers being counted, the distribution is made accordingly to every head of a family. But as has been shown above, interest on loans, has first to be paid to the public creditors (not Jews). Then come next the official administrators for the large share allotted to them. These dues are known by the name of Kadeemah. Next come those persons who, for some reason or other previously existing, have a right of priority as to a settled pension or annuity (these last have mostly deposited monies in the fund and draw the interest). After all these deductions the residue forms the fund for division, which is then under its Hebrew name of Chaluka (apportioning) distributed among heads of houses, including those who have already received a share under the preceding classes.

And so it comes to pass that there are some rich men who receive their Chaluka, unshamed by others and unblushing for themselves. At the period to which the history refers there were but very few rich men among the thousands of Jerusalem Jews : but it was felt by enlightened Jews from Europe to be a scandal that men of comparative wealth, and even one or two successful traders, should be receiving any share of the alms needed for the relief of the poor, at a time when there was so great an amount of distress that both Jews and Christians were seeking aid from Europe for the succour of the starving multitude.

This method of procuring alms for the support of the Jews in Jerusalem is liable to abuses, and some of these have been partly exposed in such books as Dr. Frankel's ' Nach Jerusalem,' and the London ' Jewish Chronicle ; ' but not to the extent of dealing with all the evils that have come under my observation. Sometimes the Shiliach Licence was sold by the bearer to another man for profit, without the former having left Jerusalem at all.

Sometimes the Colel (i.e. the Corporation for management of the common fund) granted licences, with attestations that the bearer was well known for learning and sanctity of life, to persons of immoral character. Occasionally, members of the Colel (which is always a close corporation of a few Rabbis, sometimes related by marriage) themselves become Shilichim, bearing attestations of piety, etc., etc. Sometimes the messengers, on their return from abroad, rendered but small proceeds of money, refusing to give any account to the congregation, on the ground that their sacred office of Rabbi placed them above suspicion. It is grievous to go back in memory, and to review transactions such as these ; but the very foundation on which the system rests is pernicious, and other and better measures for obtaining revenue should be substituted. The system of collecting alms for the Holy Land is very ancient — we read of it in Roman history, and I am told it is referred to in the Talmud. Nay, even the primitive Christians, in times of temporary pressure, sent contributions to the poor saints which were in Jerusalem, and St. Paul himself was once a bearer of such benevolence. The custom is derived from good instincts of religious conscience ; but the practical benefit of it, even where properly applied, must depend upon righteous administration to those in need.

The present system involves, as has been explained, the doubtful advantage of the employment of the ' Shelichim ' (messengers). Of late this agency is prohibited in Russia, and a Shiliach practising there becomes amenable by law to imprisonment or other penalties — the object of the law being to retain the property of the Empire within its own bounds — and other nations have formerly objected to wealth being drained away from themselves for the benefit of foreigners, who produce nothing in return, not even in the way of trade. For my own part, without attempting to check the stream of charity, I took every opportunity that was convenient of recommending that contributions for the Holy Land should be transmitted by means of the usual professional bankers. This, if generally done, would obviate any waste of the funds between giver and receiver, as well as dishonesty.

Of late years the Austrian synagogues send their remittances, together with a public notification of the amount, to their Consulate in Jerusalem. The Consul receives a commission on the same for his trouble ; but even this method of transmission has disadvantages.

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1849: England grants protection to Russian Jews in Palestine

(Part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here.)

We continue our look at excerpts from James Finn's "Stirring Times: Or, Records from Jerusalem Consular Chronicles of 1853 to 1856".

In consequence of this and some other circumstances taking place in Jerusalem [referring to the persecution of Jews by Muslims and Christians described in parts 1 and 2 - EoZ], another instruction was issued by the Foreign Office, to the effect that whenever any Austrian, French, or other European Jew should be suffering under persecution or injustice, and should be repudiated by his own Consul, the English Consul might take up his case, unless the repudiating Consul, when applied to, should assign some strong and sufficient reason for objecting to that action. The spirit herein contained, notwithstanding the establishment since of other Consulates, was in conformity with the rule in 1839 'to afford protection to Jews generally.' The Russian Jews had of late increased considerably in number among us — notwithstanding the stringent laws of that empire for keeping its population at home. Even for leaving the country for brief periods, vexatious formalities and fees had to be submitted to by all classes of Russian subjects, and sureties were required to answer for the reappearance of the travellers in order to satisfy the requisitions of taxes and military conscription, at the date written on the passport ; and besides all these conditions when fulfilled, the license to travel abroad was discountenanced rather than encouraged.

All this was felt more keenly by Jews than by other classes of the Russian population, for they entertained a peculiar horror of the Russian conscription, which entailed violations of their laws for Sabbath and diet, with compulsory attendance at church image-worship. Still, when the wit and determination of a Jew have only to grapple with the venality or obtuseness of Russian officials, obstacles often displace themselves. Jews were smuggled over the frontier, and the numbers repairing to Jerusalem for the inestimable privilege of being buried there became alarming. At length the Imperial Government resolved upon assuming fresh vigour of action within its dominions, and to get rid of the troublesome responsibility involved in looking after people who never meant to return, and whose sureties had no sufficient means for paying up the arrears of the home-taxes ; this trouble was all the greater since there was no Russian Consul at Jerusalem.

It was, therefore, determined to set adrift all the Russian Jews then found in Palestine, furnishing them with papers of dismissal, which also allowed them to resort for protection to any European representatives they might think proper to select, but recommending the English Consulate. These papers were written in French and Arabic, and delivered by the Russian Vice-Consul in Jaffa. This was in 1848, at a period of ' entente cordiale ' between England and Russia, and when no cloud had appeared in the sky intimating peril to Turkey.

Only those who have ever known the sentiments of Jews within the Russian dominions can adequately imagine the joy of these emancipated people — they were 'As those that dream,' and they flocked in large numbers to the English Consulate for protection, though some, on account of family connections or transactions of business, took Austrian or other protection. A register of names, dates, etc., of these prottgis was duly kept in the consulate, the business of which was consequently much augmented.

As one of the many tokens of gratitude, from the people so benefited, will be found in the Appendix the translation of an address in Hebrew to Her Majesty the Queen, received in Jerusalem in July, 1849. It was a beautiful specimen of penmanship on parchment. The translation, although exact, affords but a feeble idea of the gracefulness of the composition with its Oriental peculiarities.

Translated Extract from an Address of Russian Jews in Safed on their coming under English protection, 1849, After compliments to the Consul in Jerusalem to the people of Israel and to succour them with every kind of aid, for great and small, and to defend them from those who rise up against them:

With a perfect heart
Of mercy and loving kindness ;
And with the tips of the wings of Mercy
And the grace of her Righteousness
She has extended and caused to shine upon us,
Who dwell in our own land,
The holy (be it established in our days),
Us, who are burdened with troubles —
Sinking into distress,
Poverty and calamity,
But loving the land of our Fathers,
The place of our honour.
We here are those
Who are the sons of the provinces of Russia,
And this is the day we have looked for :
We have found it, we have seen it —
For she has bent down her pity to receive us
Under the shade of her wings of compassion,
And to comfort us with shade of her mighty rule,
For a name, for a praise, and for glory !
Yea, our souls within us are bound
To implore Him, who is fearful in mighty acts,
With praises and prayers,
That He may prolong her days
In rest and satisfaction ;
That the Lord may hedge her in,
And all that are hers :
The princes around her,
With her nobles,
And all those comforted in her shadow.
May they rise on wings of elevation, of prosperity,
In fulness of joy ;
And may her kingdom be established
Until the coming of Messiah !
May the Lord bless their lives and their substance,
And increase their honour,
And crown their praise !
Amen, so be Thy will !

Finn noticed, outside of this poem, the feelings that Jews had to the Land of Israel:

The intense attachment of a believing Israelite to the Holy Land can be but faintly appreciated by others. In proportion to the bitterness of soul and to the sufferings attendant on the exile, so is the affection, the yearning of heart towards the beautiful Land of Promise where sleep the fathers of the people. ' I long to return there as a child to its mother,' are literally the words used by a Jew who had visited Jerusalem. The miracles which attended the deliverance from Egypt, the giving of the law, the forty years in the desert, the entrance into and possession of the Land ; the splendour of David's kingdom, and the culminating glory of the Divine Presence in the Holy House : all these are for ever present to the mind of a pious Israelite, kept fresh and vivid by the constant recital of their Liturgies, by the never-ceasing study of the sacred writings, the law, the prophets, the psalms. What wonder that in far distant lands the living messengers from the ruins cf the Holy City and Temple should be looked upon with veneration, that willing hearts are moved to give liberally for the support of brethren who, for love of God and their nation, have been ready to go and suffer among ' the heathen,' in order that they may offer supplications where alone they believe they can be completely effectual — at the Sanctuary itself — for the termination of the long tribulation, for the fulfilment of all the glorious promises of restoration that have during centuries past nerved the people of Israel to eudure, and to look forward through present agonies — undespairing, uncrushed — to the coming glory, the final bliss that are to outshine all the past by a splendour scarcely to be conceived!

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Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews in Palestine in the 1850s

(Part 1 here, part 2 here.)

Some other fascinating details are uncovered in James Finn's "Stirring Times: Or, Records from Jerusalem Consular Chronicles of 1853 to 1856".

Here is an overview of the Sephardic and Ashkenanic Jews, and their relations:

At the period of this history (1853-6), there were about 10,000 Jews in Jerusalem. The modern Jews within their ancient land cannot fail to present an interesting field for contemplation.

In 1853 the Hebrew population was, as now, almost entirely congregated within their four holy cities : — Jerusalem, sacred to them on account of the Temple and its sacrifices ; Hebron, on account of Machpelah, in which are laid the three Patriarchs and their wives, excepting Rachel ; Tiberias and Safed, as cradles of the Talmud and homes of venerated Rabbis of ancient generations.

The people are to be classed as :

1. The Orientals, called ' Sephardim,' who are almost exclusively subjects of Turkey, and speak Spanish in their family intercourse, being mainly descendants of the refugees from Spain and Portugal, when banished thence in the fifteenth century : their very dialect of the Spanish language is antique in its peculiarities. These people are but few in Safed and Tiberias ; but in Jerusalem and Hebron are more numerous. In Jerusalem they more than double the number of other Jews, and are regarded by the Turkish authorities as the Jews par excellence. Their representative to the government is styled the ' Chacham Bashi ' in Turkish, but among his own people he enjoys the honoured appellation of ' First in Zion.' His secretary is also recognised as a public officer, having a seat in the Common Council of the city. This Chief Rabbi administered civil and religious law under penalties of fine, imprisonment, and bastinado, to the extent allowed by the Pentateuch. He is assisted by a council of seven Rabbis, called the ' Seven Seals,' each of whom is a judge in an inferior court of his own. Besides these, there are officials in sufficient variety among themselves, superintending different departments of administration.

The Chief Rabbi and his council affect the outward forms of supremacy in dealing with Rabbis or synagogues of foreign countries, based on the text of Isaiah ii. 3 : ' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem ; ' but in the present state of the Hebrew nation, the Rabbis of other lands concede to him no pre-eminence in authority. The chief at Amsterdam or Wilna considers himself no more bound to submit to the chief at Jerusalem than he would be to the chief of Paris or London, notwithstanding that a certain degree of sanctity and deference would anywhere be attributed to the ruler of the people in the Holy City — at least such was the case till of late years.

In times gone by these native Jews had their full share of suffering from the general tyrannical conduct of the Moslems, and, having no resources for maintenance in the Holy Land, they were sustained, though barely, by contributions from synagogues all over the world. This mode of supply being understood by the Moslems, they were subjected to exactions and plunder on its account from generation to generation (individuals among them, however, holding occasionally lucrative offices for a tune). This oppression proved one of the causes which have entailed on the community a frightful incubus of debt, the payment of interest on which is a heavy charge upon the income derived from abroad.

In Jerusalem their synagogues are four, and all collected under one roof, so that they may pass from each into the others, and they are but meanly furnished. They are named— 1. The Great; 2. The Medium; 3. The Talmud Torah ; 4. The Stambouli. The people believe the first of these to have remained undisturbed since the fall of the second Temple.

Such is the outward framework of their society. The small community of Arabic-speaking Morocco Jews of similar origin with these are subject to the Sultan.

2. There is a distinct community of Jews called the 'Ashkenazim,' who are an aggregate of various religious sections. They are mostly natives of Germany, Bussia, and the Danubian principalities ; their common language is in substance German, but modified by Russiau, Polish, or Wallachian, according to their native places. As subjects of European Powers, they are, equally with Christians from the same respective countries, placed uuder consular protection and magistrature, according to the capitulations with the Porte. Their children, though born in Palestine, retain the nationality of the parents. These, however, are not numerous, and the Ashkenaz population is kept up by fresh arrivals from abroad of persons in old age, who come for the privilege of dying and being buried in holy ground. Each sect of the Ashkcuazira ( Perushim, Ghabad, Anshe Hod, &c.) is independent of the rest, and has its separate ' House of Judgment ' and synagogue. The Chorbah synagogue of the Perushim, recently restored from a ruin of ancient date, is believed to have existed from the days of Rabbi Judah han-Nasi, the compiler of the Talmud Mishnah.

Upon the internal government of both divisions of Judaism, in the Holy Land, with all its abuses of irresponsible Rabbinical domination, the observations that might be made do not seem to belong to the character of this work. They are well understood — alas ! too well — in the country itself; and the Israelites of Europe, who are aware of the same, while despairing of a remedy, have little desire to see the evils divulged, as they are fearful of the foundations of Rabbinism itself becoming consequently undermined.

Until the English Consulate was established in Jerusalem, there was, of course, no other jurisprudence in the country than that of the old-fashioned corruption and self-will of the Mohammedans, and for many ages but • very few (often none) of the European Jews ventured to make an abode in Palestine. A man is now l living, who, as a child, was brought there by his father on a venture, as there was then no Ashkenaz congregation in Jerusalem — the father just made up the minyan, or number of ten, required by Jewish canon law to form a congregation for public worship. According to our ideas it is scarcely praiseworthy, in the ' Sephardim,' that they have always placed obstacles in the way of European Jews forming settlements together with them in the Holy Land, declaring to the Turkish authorities that there are difficulties in the way of recognising these people as genuine Israelites, and much of that feeling still remains, as I have reason to know ; indeed, it is upon this ground that the ' Sephardim ' hold their monopoly from the government for legal slaughtering of animals for food to be used by all the Jews in Jerusalem.

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Jewish relations with Christians in Palestine in the 1840s - 50s

(Part 1 here.)

Many Christians in Palestine were at least as hostile to Jews as the Muslims were, as we see from these extracts from "Stirring Times: Or, Records from Jerusalem Consular Chronicles of 1853 to 1856" , which include blood libels:

In 1839, Lord Palmerston's direction to his first Consul in Jerusalem was ' to afford protection to the Jews generally.' The words were simply those, broad and liberal as under the circumstances they ought to be, leaving after events to work out their own modifications. The instruction, however, seemed to bear on its face a recognition that the Jews are a nation by themselves, and that contingencies might possibly arise in which their relations to Mohammedans should become different, though it was impossible to foresee the shape that future transactions might assume on the impending expulsion of the Egyptians from Syria.

Then came the atrocities of Passover, 1840, in Damascus, inflicted on the Jews there for the alleged crime of eating or drinking the blood of the Capuchin Friar, Thomas — cruelties and murders that were hounded on by the French Consul, Eugene Bore — and this was during the Egyptian regime. In the summer of that year the Jewish deputation from Europe, consisting of Moutefiore, Cremieux, and Luwe, arrived in Syria for investigation of those deplorable occurrences. A few months later came the bombardment of Acre and restitution of Syria to the Turks. Then our Government at once brought before the consideration of the Porte the condition of Jews already settled, or who might afterwards settle themselves in Palestine.

In April 1841, Lord Palmerston forwarded a circular to his agents in the Levant and Syria, which began by stating that, as far as documents could avail, the law of Turkey had by that time become all that might reasonably be expected for toleration of the Jews, but that the difEculty remained as to enforcing an honest administration of that law. The Porte, however, had declared its determination that the law should be righteously administered, and had even promised Her Majesty's Ambassador that ' It will attend to any representation which may be made to it by the Embassy, of any act of oppression practised against the Jews.'

The Consul was, therefore, to investigate diligently all cases of oppression exercised upon Jews that might come to his knowledge, and report to the Embassy, and although he might only act officially in behalf of persons actually as of right under British protection (by this time there was a French Consul in Jerusalem), the Consul was on every, suit able occasion to make known, to the local authorities, that the British Government felt an interest in the welfare of Jews in general, and was anxious that they should be protected from oppression. He was also to make known the ofler of the Porte to attend to cases of persecution that might be reported to the Embassy. Accordingly, in 1842 a bad case was thus represented as occurring at Hebron, on the part of Shaikh Baddo and others.

In 1847 it seemed probable that the Christian pilgrims, instigated by the Greek ecclesiastics, were about to reproduce the horrors enacted at Rhodes and Damascus in 1840.

A Greek pilgrim boy, in a retured street, had thrown a stone at a poor little Jew boy, and, strange to say, the latter bad the courage to retaliate by throwing one in return, which unfortunately hit its mark, and a bleeding aukle was the consequence. It being the season of the year when Jerusalem is always thronged with pilgrims ( March), a tumult soon arose, and the direst vengeance was denounced against all Jews indiscriminately, for having stabbed (as they said) an innocent Christian child, with a knife, in order to get his blood, for mixing in their Passover biscuits. The police came up and both parties were taken down to the Seraglio for judgment ; there the case was at once discharged as too trivial for notice.

The Convent Clergy, however, three days afterwards, stirred up the matter afresh, exaggerated the state of the wound inflicted, and engaged to prove to the Pashk from their ancient books that Jews are addicted to the above cannibal practice, either for purposes of necromancy, or out of hatred of Christians, on which His Excellency unwisely Buffered the charge of assault to be diverted into this different channel, which was one that did not concern him ; and he commanded the Jews to answer for themselves on the second day afterwards. In the interval, both Greeks and Armenians went about the streets insulting and menacing the Jews, both men and women, sometimes drawing their hands across the throat, sometimes showing the knives which they generally earn» about with them, and, among other instances brought to my notice, was that of a party of six catching hold of the son of the late Chief Rabbi of London (Herschell) and shaking him, elderly man as he was, by the collar, crying out, ' Ah! Jew, have you got the knives ready for our blood ! '

On the day of the Seraglio-hearing, the scene in the Mejlis was a most painful one. The Greek ecclesiastical party came down in great force, and read out of Church historians and controversial writings of old time the direct and frequent accusations levelled against the Jews for using Christian blood in Passover ceremonies. The Moslem dignitaries, being appealed to, stated that in their sacred books such charges against the Jews are to be found indirectly mentioned, and therefore the crime may be inferred as true : it was possible to be true. The Rabbis deputed from the Chief Rabbi, pale and trembling argued from the Old Testament, and all their legal authorities, the utter impossibility of the perpetration of such acts by their people, concluding with an appeal to the Sultan's Firman of 1841, which declares that thorough search having been made into this matter, both as to Jewish doctrine and practice, the people of Israel were entirely innocent of that crime advanced against them.

On this the Pasha required them to produce the Firman on the second day afterwards, the intervening day being Friday, the Moslem Sabbath. I then arranged with the Pasha, that I should be present at the meeting, and early on Saturday went down to the Seraglio ; but earlier still His Excellency was happy (he said) to acquaint me that the Firman had been produced, and on his asking the accusers and the Effendis in council if they could venture to fly in the face of that document, they had, with all loyalty, pronounced it impossible ; he therefore had disposed of the case by awarding a trifling fine for medical treatment of the wounded ankle.

No other Consul took part in the business, except that the Sardinian assured me in private conversation that there could be no doubt of Jews using Christian blood in the Passover rites whenever they could get it ; or at any rate that they did so in the Middle Ages.

On the other hand, the Protestant missionaries to the Jews, during the time of the dispute, offered to the Chief Rabbi their aid by testifying that, whereas they were all learned in Jewish matters, and some of them Jews by birth and education, the charges respecting the use of blood were entirely false. It did not, however, seem necessary to accept their friendly offer. The Pasha doubtless by this time perceived that the case was likely to prove more troublesome than was expected. (The Pasha perceived that the case was being carefully watched by the British Consul, who would report any injustice done to the Jews - ED.)

...About this time a Jew was set upon by the crowd of fanatic Christian pilgrims, and nearly killed, for having crossed the farthest side of the open square which is in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; he, being newly arrived from Europe, was unaware of the city custom which restricts that passage to Christians, who, however, admit the Moslems because they dare not shut them out. Redress was sought through the English Consulate, although the man was a Russian or an Austrian subject, because he had no Consul of his own. I appealed to the Pasha. The Greek ecclesiastics pleaded before him that the passage was not a public thoroughfare, but part of the Sanctuary of Christianity, and only used for transit upon sufferance. They even dared to send me word that they were in possession of an ancient Firman which fixed the ' Deeyeh,' or blood-fine, to be paid by them if in beating a Jew in that vicinity for trespass they happened to kill him, at the sum of ten paras, about one half-penny English. However ridiculous or wicked such a message might be, it was nevertheless a duty to report it at Constantinople, with a view to an authoritative contradiction of the statement. As might have been expected, the official reply was that no such document ever existed. Thus that mischievous untruth was silenced, but the incident shows the disposition of the high convent authorities towards the Jews. It may be that they themselves believed there was such a Firman: if so, what degree of pity or liberality could one expect from the multitude of brutal pilgrims ? The Pasha said that he knew of no such Firman as that referred to, but that Greeks, Latins, and Armenians, all believed a Jew might be killed with impunity under such circumstances.

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Jewish relations with Muslims in Palestine in the 1850s

I just found an intriguing book called "Stirring Times: Or, Records from Jerusalem Consular Chronicles of 1853 to 1856" written by the British consul to Jerusalem at the time. While there are many travelogues from that time period, all of those are necessarily dependent on information from guides and others. This book, however, is really source material on how things were at that time.

The author, James Finn, devoted a chapter on the Jews of Jerusalem and other towns, and it is fascinating in its detail and uncovering facts that are little known today. This post will focus on what Finn has to say about Jewish/Muslim relations at the time.

It is hardly the harmonious pre-Zionist existence that Muslims will have you believe.

In times gone by these native Jews had their full share of suffering from the general tyrannical conduct of the Moslems, and, having no resources for maintenance in the Holy Land, they were sustained, though barely, by contributions from synagogues all over the world. This mode of supply being understood by the Moslems, they were subjected to exactions and plunder on its account from generation to generation (individuals among them, however, holding occasionally lucrative offices for a tune). This oppression proved one of the causes which have entailed on the community a frightful incubus of debt, the payment of interest on which is a heavy charge upon the income derived from abroad.

...In the same year I was again obliged to interfere on behalf of the Jews. Solomon Aglai, a Jew, was on his way to Jaffa by night, accompanied by a Moslem muleteer, and both were robbed and murdered on the highway ; both were Turkish subjects, and a considerable stir was made in the matter. A report from some malicious quarter reached the Pasha that the Chief Rabbi had instigated the crime for reasons of his own ; in consequence the Jewish official dragoman was seized and imprisoned for some hours till further particulars should come to light. This caused a great panic among the Jews, who implored my help, and considerable excitement among the Moslems. Having satisfied myself that it must be a false accusation, and aware that it was dangerous to let the idea gain ground that the Jews had had a Moslem murdered, I applied to His Excellency, representing my instructions from home. The charge against the Chief Rabbi was then dropped, and no more was heard of it. The excitement subsided as quickly as it had arisen.

...Notwithstanding these glimpses of honorary distinction the Jews are humiliated by the payment, through the Chief Rabbi, of pensions to Moslem local exactors, for instance the sum of 300£. a year to the Effendi whose house adjoins the ' wailing place,' or fragment of the western wall of the Temple enclosure, for permission to pray there; 100£. a year to the villagers of Siloam for not disturbing the graves on the slope of the Mount of Olives ; 50£ a year to the Ta'amra Arabs for not injuring the Sepulchre of Rachel near Bethlehem, and about 10£ a year to Sheikh Abu Gosh for not molesting their people on the high road to Jaffa, although he was highly paid by the Turkish Government as Warden of that road. All these are mere exactions made upon their excessive timidity, which it is disgraceful to the Turkish Government to allow to be practised. The figures are copied from their humble appeals occasionally made to the synagogues in Europe. Other minor impositions were laid upon them which they were afraid to discontinue to pay, such as, to one man (Moslem) for superintending the slaughtering of cattle by themselves for food, to see that it is performed by the Sephardi Eabbi who has purchased his license to do it. Periodical presents likewise of sugar, etc., to the principal Moslems at their festivals.

Besides the Jewish British subjects and proteges already described, there were some of both these classes in Hebron and in the other Holy cities ; there were also in Hebron a few Tuscans and Dutch subjects, who had by permission of their own Consular authorities in Beyroot placed themselves under British protection. Thus the British Consulate was always kept busy in transacting the business brought before it by the Jews ; not only by the Jews in Jerusalem, but by those from Safed, Tiberias, Caifa, Nablus, and Hebron. It was distressing to behold the timidity which long ages of oppression had engendered. Many times a poor Jew would come for redress against a native, and when he had substantiated his case, and it had been brought by the Consulate before the Turkish authorities, he would, in mere terror of future possible vengeance, withdraw from the prosecution, and even deny that any harm had been done him ; or if that was too manifest, declare that he could not identify the criminal, or that the witnesses could not be produced. Still, even then, the bare fact that some notice had been taken had a deterrent effect upon criminals who had hitherto regarded the defenceless Jews as their special prey.

The Hebron Jews were more exposed than even those in Jerusalem to rough usage from the natives, and they had suffered greatly from the tyrannies of the brutal ' Abderrahhman el 'Amer.

Those living in Safed, in Galilee, however, were of a different stamp, and much better able to hold their own. There was, on one occasion, an affair in that town of some rioters breaking for plunder into the houses of some Jews who were British proteges, and we had caused five of the offenders to be imprisoned. They were soon, however, allowed by the Governor to be at liberty again, and my protege's went down at once to demand justice from the Pasha in Acre, at the same time writing to acquaint me with the circumstances. This was not the only occasion in which I had to observe the manly spirit of the Jews in that mountain town, compared with all others of their nation throughout Palestine. Yet, whenever their independence was shown in an unjust cause, as sometimes happened, their behaviour had to be treated accordingly. The Galileans of Josephus's wars were a hardy and a stubborn people.

Not that things were better between Jews and Christians in Palestine, as we shall see.

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New Iranian mortars more deadly than Qassams

From IMRA:

Israel Television Channel Two Correspondent Ronnie Daniel reported lastnight that the mortars fired from Gaza on Tuesday were 120mm Iranian mortars.

They have a range of 8 kilometers and can do considerably more damage than Qassam rockets.

Daniel said that many of the protective reinforcements that have been placed in order to shield Israelis from Qassams do not provide protection from these mortars. In addition, the Iranian made mortars travel at a speed that makes the warning system that gives Israelis a few seconds to duck for cover from the slower Qassams meaningless.

This is a huge escalation, and it proves that the policy of simply fortifying Negev communities is a waste of time.

And perhaps it is far worse, as this YNet op-ed by Uzi Landau states:

A policy calling for fortification poses a risk for Israel's safety. With the exception of strategic facilities the likes of hospitals and schools, townships should not be fortified.

Fortification carries a destructive message, suggesting Israel is willing to stand for its citizens to be living under fire, cementing in world view a reality legitimizing terror organizations targeting civilians as a starting point for any negotiation.

We've brought this predicament on ourselves. From the moment we allowed populated area to be hit without launching an immediate response, making it abundantly clear we will not stand for it, the following has happened: Our enemies have concluded hurting Jews is allowed; our friends – and naturally our foes – around the world have come to the same conclusion; and worst of all – so have we.

Our own failure to respond has made us accustomed to the targeting of civilian populations, especially away from Tel Aviv. What other way is there to explain our measly response to the hundreds of Qassam rockets fired on the Gaza vicinity communities in the two-and-a-half years since the Gaza pullout?

Ariel Sharon made them a dramatic promise at the time: If even one rocket is fired, he said, Gaza will tremble and the world will understand. The only thing trembling so far, are kindergarten walls.

Olmert was right. We cannot fortify ourselves senseless. But he cannot reiterate that without providing kindergarten children with the proper defense and for the kindergarten walls to stop trembling he cannot avoid the decision to enter Gaza. Not because we want to, but because we have no other choice. We learned that lesson six years ago, when Operation Defensive Shield was forces on us, after months of upholding a "strength in restraint" policy and dozens of bloody terror attacks.

The terror ceased only when we raided its hubs in Jenin and Nablus. The only reason it is still emanating form Gaza is that we were hesitant to go in; and the more hesitant we are, the more resolved Hamas and Hizbullah get. They see Sderot as a test-case and unless crushed there, the next war will see the tens of thousands of missiles they have – and the thousands more they will undoubtedly get – launched at our larger cities right off the bat.

But a mass offence is not enough. Thing must have a conclusive end. Our response must be so disproportional the enemy would realize it's just not worth the effort. A conclusive end is a must simply because anyone firing on Sderot and Ashkelon already knows Ashdod, Rishon Lezion and Tel Aviv are within reach.

Our victory in the Gaza fort must be overwhelming not only for Assaf and his neighbors, for the grocers in Sderot, or for the Dichter family in Ashkelon. They must be defeated so that kindergarten walls in Tel Aviv will never tremble.

The earlier part of the op-ed contrasts Israel's zero-tolerance policy towards attacks on its civilians in the early days of the state with the relative indifference shown now. This acceptance of terror emboldens the jihadists and is ultimately counterproductive.

Israel, due to its tiny size, cannot hope to win any wars of attrition. By allowing the terrorists to dictate the rules of the war, Israel is placing itself at a severe disadvantage.

It is time to change the rules.

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New Zealand sending woman to her possible death in Iran

Stuff (New Zealand) reports:

A last-ditch attempt to stop the deportation of an Iranian Christian has been rejected by Associate Immigration Minister Shane Jones.

Mr Jones will not overrule an Immigration New Zealand decision to deport 25-year-old Birkenhead resident Bahareh Moradi.

His decision writes off the last chance Miss Moradi had to stay in New Zealand.

Her three brothers live in New Zealand. All have refugee status.

The Moradi family had applied for the deportation to be put on hold until after a High Court judicial review of Miss Moradi’s case in July.

That request was turned down by the High Court in March.

As the North Shore Times went to print, Miss Moradi was waiting to be sent to Iran by immigration officials.

It is feared going back to Iran could be dangerous because she has become a Christian.

Under Sharia law, converting from Islam to Christianity is a sin and can be punished by death.

Not only can apostasy be punished by death in Iran, but they are considering making it the mandatory punishment. From the Christian Post last February:

The Iranian parliament is reviewing a new law that would impose a death penalty on citizens who leave Islam, a human rights group alerted recently.

In the past, the death penalty for apostasy was one of many possible punishments, including imprisonment and hard labor, for renouncing Islam, But the new law proposes to make death the sentence for all apostates, according to the Institute on Religion and Public Policy (IRPP).

“This is not something new, they just want to be more harsh towards those who are leaving Islam,” an Iranian pastor told the persecution watchdog Compass.

The death sentence was approved by the Iranian Cabinet a month ago, and appears to have the needed parliamentary support to pass, according to an Iranian Christian.

Many victims of the “apostasy” law are Muslims who convert to Christianity, but victims also include liberal thinkers and members of Iran’s Baha’i religious minority.

It appears that New Zealand questioned the sincerity of her conversion. She can only hope now that Iran is equally skeptical.

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Arabs see through Pali bull

Qatar hosted a formal debate on the motion, "This House believes that Palestinians risk becoming their own worst enemy".

It wasn't even close.

DOHA • A crushing majority of the participants at Qatar Foundation's Doha Debates yesterday expressed the view that the destructive feud between Palestine’s Hamas and Fatah factions has cast a doubt on the Palestinians’ ability to create a unified sovereign state in the West Bank and Gaza.

The motion “This House believes that Palestinians risk becoming their own worst enemy” was carried with a resounding 70.9 per cent votes against 29.1 per cent votes.

Among the panelists, Dr Munther Dajani, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Al Quds University in Jerusalem and Akram Baker, political analyst and co-founder of the Arab Western Summit of Skills (AWS), supported the motion.

"Israeli occupation in Palestine is a fact. The Palestinian movement lost its focus. The enemy is really occupying the land. If we cannot help ourselves no one else can help us. What Palestinians need is a genuine government. The Palestinian Authority should be dissolved today, not tomorrow", Baker said.

Supporting the motion, Dr Dajani said Palestinians must show the guts to grab real freedom from 'the mouth of the lion'. "The leadership is steeped in corruption and nepotism. We failed to build roads, hospitals and other basic infrastructure. We ourselves are our worst enemies" Dr Dajani said.

"Those who were holding the war responsible for Palestine's poor development must remember that there was no war in the mid '90s. We failed because the leadership was not able to put up institutions and infrastructure. There was no transparency and accountability. Now we are at the end of the tunnel", he said.

Why can Qataris see obvious truths that Western liberals are blind to?

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The hunger artists

From The Independent (UK) comes a familiar-sounding article:

'Gaza is a jail. Nobody is allowed to leave. We are all starving now.'

Gaza is dying. The Israeli siege of the Palestinian enclave is so tight that its people are on the edge of starvation. Here on the shores of the Mediterranean a great tragedy is taking place that is being ignored...

A whole society is being destroyed. There are 1.5 million Palestinians imprisoned in the most heavily populated area in the world. Israel has stopped all trade. It has even forbidden fishermen to go far from the shore so they wade into the surf to try vainly to catch fish with hand-thrown nets....

There are signs of desperation everywhere. Crime is increasing. People do anything to feed their families....

"It is the worst year for us since 1948 [when Palestinian refugees first poured into Gaza]," says Dr Maged Abu-Ramadan, a former ophthalmologist who is mayor of Gaza City. "Gaza is a jail. Neither people nor goods are allowed to leave it. People are already starving. They try to live on bread and falafel and a few tomatoes and cucumbers they grow themselves."

What makes this article interesting is when it was written - in September, 2006.

That's right - the Gazans have been starving to death for at least 19 months, yet no one can point to a single person who has yet died of starvation.

The "starvation" meme is so prevalent that reporters don't even bother to check out the facts, they just mindlessly repeat lies. But this article makes it appear that the reporters are sometimes the people who make up the lies to begin with. In fact, in the two months after this article, many more "starving Palestinian" articles were published, as I showed in November, 2006.

Just as the "most heavily populated area in the world" meme refuses to die, and just like the "humanitarian crisis" soundbite - now at least 15 years old - will forever be with us, so will we have to live with the "starving Gazan" absurdity, thanks to "reporters" like the Independent's Patrick Cockburn.

But in case you have forgotten, here is what a starving person looks like:
And here is what Gazans looked like earlier this week, after years of poverty and starvation:

You can hardly tell the difference!

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Our friends in Dubai

From the NYT (h/t EBoZ, who reads it so I don't have to):

Roadside bombings of American troops in Iraq were occurring with unnerving regularity when military investigators made a disturbing discovery: American-made computer circuits sold to a trading company in the United Arab Emirates had turned up in the bomb detonators.

That finding set off a clash with Washington last year when the Bush administration cited the diversion of the computer circuits to Iran, and eventually Iraq, as proof that the United Arab Emirates were failing to prevent American technology from slipping into the wrong hands. Administration officials said aircraft parts, specialized metals and gas detectors that have a potential military use had also moved through Dubai, one of the emirates, to Iran, Syria or Pakistan.

The diplomatic face-off, which drew little public attention, prompted the United States to threaten tough new controls on exports to the United Arab Emirates, an ally. The nation had invested billions to become a global trading hub and had begun a campaign to burnish its image in the United States after the uproar in 2006 over a proposal to allow a Dubai company manage some American port terminals.

The administration backed down only after the emirates promised to pass their own export control law. But it is unclear that much has changed nearly a year after the confrontation.

...American officials have been increasingly alarmed about trade in the United Arab Emirates since 2002, when the Commerce Department sent an inspector, Mary O’Brien, there. From her spot checks of factories, freight forwarders and other companies that had ordered American products subject to export controls, Commerce officials say, it was clear that dual-use goods, including computer equipment, were being diverted on a grander scale than imagined.

An entity said to be a woodworking shop, for example, had ordered a sophisticated American machine for making metal parts. The device, Ms. O’Brien knew, could also shape components for a missile system. The supposed factory contained almost no sawdust, and the few employees could not explain how they intended to use the machine.

“This is not right,” Ms. O’Brien said she had said to herself, convinced that she had turned up her first “briefcase business”— open for inspection, but closed for good as soon as she walked out.

She pressed a Dubai pistachio wholesaler on why he had bought an American infrared camera, which can detect living objects in the dark, and where it had gone. Later she found he had arranged its return from Iran, where it had apparently been diverted, while stalling a follow-up inspection.

In nearly 40 percent of her inspections in four years, she found that regulated items were missing or that the recipient would not cooperate. Many of those companies were placed on a list, warning American exporters to be careful when selling to them.

“This was a huge sieve,” said Lisa A. Prager, a former top Commerce export control official. “Almost nothing that said it was going to U.A.E. was staying in U.A.E.”

Read the whole thing. It is an increasingly rare example of real reporting, even if it comes a couple of years after the fact.

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More Gallup dishonesty

The authors of "Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think" continue to produce articles with bits and pieces of their worldwide poll of Muslims with furious spinning to make Muslims look as much like Westerners as possible. This is not surprising - co-author John Esposito has written a number of apologetic books for Islam, including "Islam: The Straight Path", and the other author Dalia Mogahed is Muslim herself. The idea that this book would be objective is laughable, and I've already shown some dishonesty in how the authors present their findings.

A new op-ed by the authors in the Los Angeles Times illustrates their dishonesty as well:

For instance, Gallup found that 72% of Americans disagreed with this statement: "The majority of those living in Muslim countries thought men and women should have equal rights." In fact, majorities in even some of the most conservative Muslim societies directly refute this assessment: 73% of Saudis, 89% of Iranians and 94% of Indonesians say that men and women should have equal legal rights.

Notice the sleight-of-hand - changing the question from one of "equal rights" to one of "equal legal rights" when asking people in Muslim countries. When Muslims are referring to legal rights, they are not thinking about religious rights. Which means that if you would ask Muslims whether women should be able to have up to four spouses as men are allowed to, the answers would not be the same as to the question they asked. Yet if they really supported equal rights as Esposito and Mogahed claim, then they would by definition support polyandry as much as polygamy.

What about Muslim sympathy for terrorism? Many charge that Islam encourages violence more than other faiths, but studies show that Muslims around the world are at least as likely as Americans to condemn attacks on civilians. Polls show that 6% of the American public thinks attacks in which civilians are targets are "completely justified." In Saudi Arabia, this figure is 4%. In Lebanon and Iran, it's 2%.

Again, in this case it appears that how the question is asked is far more important than the supposed answers. Since the authors show that 7% of Muslims condoned 9/11, and other polls show that a far higher number condone attacks on Israeli civilians, the cherry-picking of the answers from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Iran proves only that the people answering the poll are more likely to support individual, real world attacks against civilians than some abstract concept of attacking civilians. The fact that there are no Americans publicly celebrating Muslim deaths is proof enough that the methodology for this question was flawed.

Looking across majority-Muslim countries, Gallup found no statistical difference in self-reported religiosity between those who sympathized with the attackers and those who did not.... On the other hand, not a single respondent who condoned the attacks used the Koran as justification. Instead, they relied on political rationalizations, calling the U.S. an imperialist power or accusing it of wanting to control the world.

The authors create a division between politics and religion that is nonsensical in much of the Islamic world. Islam is more than just a religion; it is also a political movement, and the absence of Koranic justification for 9/11 does not necessarily indicate one way or the other that terror-supporters are less religious.

In other words, all that the poll indicates is that the level of religiosity does not indicate a propensity to terror. The implication from the authors that the more religious tend to be more against terror attacks is not borne out, based on the limited information given here.

If most Muslims truly reject terrorism, why does it continue to flourish in Muslim lands? What these results indicate is that terrorism is much like other violent crime. Violent crimes occur throughout U.S. cities, but that is no indication of Americans' general acceptance of murder or assault. Likewise, continued terrorist violence is not proof that Muslims tolerate it. Indeed, they are its primary victims.

This is astonishingly dishonest. Terrorism, by definition, is political, and can only thrive when the political environment - in this case, the Muslim and Arab cultures that permeate these lands - allow it. Comparing it to violent crime is an incredible distortion, and one that has absolutely no basis in any of the polling numbers given here - it quite literally made up.

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Saudi mufti a bit miffed at idea of inviting Jews to kingdom

Last week, Saudi King called for dialogue between Christians, Jews and Muslims to much publicity.

Moderate Arab commentators complimented the move, but it was clear that "dialogue" to them was a one-way street:

Saudi newspaper commentaries suggested the king's motives were addressing militant violence inside Muslim countries and tension between Muslims and the authorities in Europe.

"The dialogue could clear up some facts about our religion, far from the distortions that extremists and fanatics have caused," wrote Saudi daily newspaper al-Jazirah, referring to militant violence in Saudi Arabia and the region.

Nothing about learning anything about other religions, only about lecturing about Islam. As usual, to Muslims, "dialogue" means the same thing as "Islamic indoctrination."

Now,the Saudi mufti has made it very clear that the idea of having rabbis in Saudi Arabia is pretty sickening to him:

Saudi Arabia's grand mufti Abdelaziz al-Sheikh has rejected an attempt by the government to open interreligious dialogue with Jewish rabbis.

According to a report by the official Kuwaiti news agency Kuna on Wednesday, the mufti refused to accept any visit by rabbis to a conference on interreligious dialogue, expected to be held in the kingdom's capital Riyadh.

I guess no Jews will be visiting their old digs at Khaybar anytime soon.

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Today's Gaza news you won't see anywhere else

The Palestinian Arab press has been increasing in its reporting of corruption and strong-arm tactics by Hamas in Gaza lately, seemingly to increase its revenue (beyond the $150 million a month that the PA provides to Gaza.)

Today, Palestine Press Agency reports that Hamas is involved in drug trafficking and car thefts in Gaza. In addition, they report that Hamas is levying arbitrary fees on auto-repair shops in ways that look more like protection racket payoffs than taxes. Its court systems are adding large fees for judgments. In addition, Firas Press reports that Hamas is adding "tolls" on roads, pretty much stopping people and asking for money, a different amount each time.

The impression is that Hamas is building a police state with its terrorists doing whatever is necessary to extort money from the citizens it pretends to care about.

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Hamas apparently is taking credit for Mercaz HaRav massacre

Hamas released a statement announcing its accomplishments for March, 2008:

Military Communiqué

Al Qassam statistic for March,2008

34 martyrs ; 89 Qassam rockets ; 534 mortar shells towards Zionist targets ; 12 Zionist were killed; other 79 were injured

First: Al Qassam martyr :

Rafah	Khanyounis	Gaza	North strip	South-Gaza	Total
5	3	10	14	2	34

Second: Resistance activities:

Qassam	Mortars	R.P.G	Bombs	Fire	Sniping	Clashes
89	534	18	7	21	8	22

Third: Zionist losses:

losses	injures
12	79

Day and date	The Zionist losses
Saturday 1st of March,2008	4 Zionist were killed
Thursday 6th of March,2008	8 Zionist were killed

Settlement	Rockets	Settlement	Rockets
Sederot	36	Natif Eitsra	4
Meftahim	10	Nahal Oz	4
Kissufim	2	Eirtz	10
Nir Eishaq	5	Zionist vehicles	18

And Islamic Jihad came out with their own numbers:
18 killed versus 2 "Zionists"
216 rockets and mortar shells

Hamas' rocket numbers are low if you assume that they are taking credit for all groups' rocket attacks, so they must only be talking about their own rockets - the total Qassam count for March was over 200.

Which implies that they are taking credit for only the Israelis killed by Hamas as well.

And since they list 8 "Zionists" killed on March 6, this means that Hamas is taking credit for the Mercaz HaRav massacre (they denied initial claims of responsibility and the only group to officially take credit was the unknown "Galilee Freedom Batallions".)

Of course, this report includes out and out lies - four Israelis weren't killed on March 1, and the total number of Israelis killed in March was 11 (they might be including the Qassam victim from February 27.)

Still, this is apparently the first official, if backhanded, claim of responsibility for the massacre.

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