The <i>Status Quo</i> at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial

Steven Eric Zipperstein

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19

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The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial

Steven Eric Zipperstein

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 6, Issue 3)

Received: 17 July 2023 Accepted: 2 August 2023 Published: 22 August 2023

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Abstract

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the world’s most volatile flashpoint for religio-nationalist conflict. A shaky Status Quo arrangement has governed the administration of the Muslim Holy Sites since Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The focus of conflict at the Temple Mount today is the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest shrine. The Wailing Wall, Judaism’s most sacred site, also forms part of the Temple Mount complex. Following a series of violent episodes at the Wall in the 1920s, the British Authorities and the League of Nations appointed an international commission in 1930 (the Lofgren Commission) to conduct a month-long courtroom trial between Arabs and Jews focusing on the legal rights and claims of Muslims and Jews to the Wailing Wall and the pavement in front of the Wall. The Commission issued a verdict defining the Status Quo as affirming Muslim ownership of the Wall, but also permitting certain Jewish devotional practices. Neither side was happy with the outcome, but both seemed to accept it, and no further serious outbreaks of violence occurred at the Wall during the remainder of the British Mandate. This article explores the 1930 trial and asks whether the Lofgren Commission might serve as a model for adjudicating modern-day disputes regarding the Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Published in	International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19
Page(s)	241-253
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Jerusalem, Status Quo, Temple Mount, Haram Al-Sharif, Wailing Wall

References

[1]	International Crisis Group (2015). The Status of the Status Quo at Jerusalem’s Holy Esplanade. Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics, and Culture, 20/21 (4/1): 175-76.
[2]	Lapidoth, R. & Treger, T. (2017). The Temple Mount: Israel's Commitment to Preserve the Status Quo. Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, 11 (1): 15-24.
[3]	Zalzberg, O. (2020). The Trump Plan Threatens the Status Quo at the Temple Mount/al-Haramal-Sharif. Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture 25 (1/2): 127-131.
[4]	Medad, Y. (2020). The Temple Mount and the Status Quo Revisited. Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, 14 (3): 399-415.
[5]	Report of the Commission Appointed by His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the Approval of the Council of the League of Nations, to Determine the Rights and Claims of Moslems and Jews in connection with the Western or Wailing Wall at Jerusalem, 58-9096 (Dec. 1930).
[6]	Porath, Y. (1974). The Emergence of the Palestinian-Arab National Movement, 1918-1929. London and Portland: Frank Cass.
[7]	Cohen, H. (2015). Year Zero of the Arab Israeli Conflict: 1929. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
[8]	Priestland, J. (ed.). (2002). Records of Jerusalem 1917-1971. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Archive Editions.
[9]	Lundsten, M. E. (1978). Wall Politics: Zionist and Palestinian Strategies in Jerusalem, 1928. Journal of Palestine Studies 8 (1): 3-27.
[10]	Mattar, P. (1983). The Role of the Mufti of Jerusalem in the Political Struggle over the Western Wall, 1928-29. Middle East Studies 19 (1): 104-118.
[11]	Lahav, P. (1997). Judgment in Jerusalem: Chief Justice Simon Agranat and the Zionist Century. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[12]	Bentwich, N. (1932). England in Palestine. London: Kegan Paul.
[13]	Townshend, C. (2002). Going to the Wall: The Failure of British Rule in Palestine, 1928-31. Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 30 (2): 25-52.
[14]	Marlowe, J. (1959). The Seat of Pilate: An Account of The Palestine Mandate. London: Cresset Press.
[15]	Reiter, Y. (2017). Contested Holy Places in Israel-Palestine: Sharing and Conflict Resolution. Abingdon, Oxon and New York: Routledge.
[16]	Attorney General v. Karaewany, Criminal Case No. 192/46, District Court of Jerusalem (Judgment of Acquittal, 18 Nov. 1946).

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Steven Eric Zipperstein. (2023). The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial. International Journal of Law and Society, 6(3), 241-253. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19

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Steven Eric Zipperstein. The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial. Int. J. Law Soc. 2023, 6(3), 241-253. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19

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Steven Eric Zipperstein. The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial. Int J Law Soc. 2023;6(3):241-253. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19

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@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19,
  author = {Steven Eric Zipperstein},
  title = {The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {241-253},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20230603.19},
  abstract = {The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the world’s most volatile flashpoint for religio-nationalist conflict. A shaky Status Quo arrangement has governed the administration of the Muslim Holy Sites since Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The focus of conflict at the Temple Mount today is the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest shrine. The Wailing Wall, Judaism’s most sacred site, also forms part of the Temple Mount complex. Following a series of violent episodes at the Wall in the 1920s, the British Authorities and the League of Nations appointed an international commission in 1930 (the Lofgren Commission) to conduct a month-long courtroom trial between Arabs and Jews focusing on the legal rights and claims of Muslims and Jews to the Wailing Wall and the pavement in front of the Wall. The Commission issued a verdict defining the Status Quo as affirming Muslim ownership of the Wall, but also permitting certain Jewish devotional practices. Neither side was happy with the outcome, but both seemed to accept it, and no further serious outbreaks of violence occurred at the Wall during the remainder of the British Mandate. This article explores the 1930 trial and asks whether the Lofgren Commission might serve as a model for adjudicating modern-day disputes regarding the Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.},
 year = {2023}
}

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T1  - The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial
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VL  - 6
IS  - 3
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Author Information

Steven Eric Zipperstein

Department of Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Steven Eric Zipperstein. (2023). The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial. International Journal of Law and Society, 6(3), 241-253. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Steven Eric Zipperstein. The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial. Int. J. Law Soc. 2023, 6(3), 241-253. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Steven Eric Zipperstein. The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial. Int J Law Soc. 2023;6(3):241-253. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19,
  author = {Steven Eric Zipperstein},
  title = {The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {241-253},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20230603.19},
  abstract = {The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the world’s most volatile flashpoint for religio-nationalist conflict. A shaky Status Quo arrangement has governed the administration of the Muslim Holy Sites since Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The focus of conflict at the Temple Mount today is the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest shrine. The Wailing Wall, Judaism’s most sacred site, also forms part of the Temple Mount complex. Following a series of violent episodes at the Wall in the 1920s, the British Authorities and the League of Nations appointed an international commission in 1930 (the Lofgren Commission) to conduct a month-long courtroom trial between Arabs and Jews focusing on the legal rights and claims of Muslims and Jews to the Wailing Wall and the pavement in front of the Wall. The Commission issued a verdict defining the Status Quo as affirming Muslim ownership of the Wall, but also permitting certain Jewish devotional practices. Neither side was happy with the outcome, but both seemed to accept it, and no further serious outbreaks of violence occurred at the Wall during the remainder of the British Mandate. This article explores the 1930 trial and asks whether the Lofgren Commission might serve as a model for adjudicating modern-day disputes regarding the Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: The 1930 Wailing Wall Trial
AU  - Steven Eric Zipperstein
Y1  - 2023/08/22
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
SP  - 241
EP  - 253
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1908
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230603.19
AB  - The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the world’s most volatile flashpoint for religio-nationalist conflict. A shaky Status Quo arrangement has governed the administration of the Muslim Holy Sites since Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The focus of conflict at the Temple Mount today is the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest shrine. The Wailing Wall, Judaism’s most sacred site, also forms part of the Temple Mount complex. Following a series of violent episodes at the Wall in the 1920s, the British Authorities and the League of Nations appointed an international commission in 1930 (the Lofgren Commission) to conduct a month-long courtroom trial between Arabs and Jews focusing on the legal rights and claims of Muslims and Jews to the Wailing Wall and the pavement in front of the Wall. The Commission issued a verdict defining the Status Quo as affirming Muslim ownership of the Wall, but also permitting certain Jewish devotional practices. Neither side was happy with the outcome, but both seemed to accept it, and no further serious outbreaks of violence occurred at the Wall during the remainder of the British Mandate. This article explores the 1930 trial and asks whether the Lofgren Commission might serve as a model for adjudicating modern-day disputes regarding the Status Quo at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download