Documentary Photo By George Phillips -Jewish Quarter East Jerusalem 1948

Documentary Photo taken 1948 in East Jerusalem by George Phillips.

The soldier is Jordanian. The families are Jewish Jerusalemites.

Jordan purged and thereafter occupied The Palestinian Terriotries until

1967. Before that Palestine was occupied by Britian. This photograph

by Phillips now stands in the restored Jewish Quarter near about to

where the original was taken.

Wonderful image, well seen and so well captured, thank you for sharing it and wishing you all of the best.

Thank you very much for your kind comment and encouragment.

Meir,

 

I love what you’ve done here because of the way your presentd this fascinating photograph of Jerusalem in 1948. How do you know this is a Jordanian and not a British soldier? Anyway, looks quite different nowadays. The framing, with the barred gate/door on one side – shows there is still turmoil – and the lit inner areas with arches and shadowy figures with the bit of light on the floor leading us through is magnificent. By the way, it’s John Phillips, not George Phillips.

You are correct, it is "John". I missread.... The photo stands at the entrance to the Museum in the Old City (how to say it?) which is like a minature holocaust museum describing with photos and a film on the Jordanian Occupation in 48 and attendant driving out of Jews from the Jewish Quarter of the "old city" That is what the museum is all about like the Holocaust Museum on Hertzl on a small scale. The photos inside could just as well have been Gestapo in Poland. This is the 48 war. British were out of Israel by that time.

I thought there were still some British in Palestine/Israel in '48. I know they evacuated but thought that was just before the war. Anyway, I guess I have reading to do.

 

I've been in the museum but had forgotten about it. For me, nothing compares to Yad Vashem.

The British did evacuate just before the war. This photo is the war. The refugees in the posting are escaping through Zion Gate to reach the new city. The soldier I am now not sure of. If he was Israeli he would have either subsequently been killed in the battle or captured and sent with the others to a concentration camp in Jordan. The girl in the bottom right photo in the posting is "Seven Year Old Rachel Levi Maatok"

Good presentation....