The Western Wall during the British Mandate of Palestine: Politics, strategies, struggles

This paper briefly examines the conflicting perspectives created by the British,
Jewish, and Arab authorities to use and control the Western Wall of Jerusalem during the British Mandate of Palestine. Based on the archival documents from the Mandate period, this paper explores the dynamics not only of the Arab-Jewish confrontation over the status of the Western Wall but also of the success and failures of the public strategies to adapt or suppress the rules created by the Mandate Administration in the 1920s. It begins with a current account of the significance of the Western Wall to open a discussion about the controversy that existed over the site's character. Then, it explores the history of conflicts to reveal social and political contexts, power structures, and the choices and decisions of those who valued the Western Wall's sacred, historical, or national significance. Finally, focusing on the disturbances that occurred around the Western Wall in the 1920s, this paper argues why the conflicting sacredness of the Western Wall escaped the control of the administrative authorities and how it was reconstructed along with the evolution of Palestinian society.