Once upon a time in Jerusalem,
And this time – the British Commissioner’s Palace, near the neighborhood of the Commissioner’s Palace and Shruber Promenade.
In the photo – the palace towards the end of the construction stages, early 1930.
The Commissioner’s Palace is a building intended to serve as the residence and office of the British High Commissioner.
The palace is located on the top of Mount Etzel, which is also known as the Mount of Bad Advice, or Jabal Mukabar (the great mountain in Arabic).
After the occupation of Jerusalem by the British in 1917, the Augusta Victoria compound on the Mount of Olives became the main headquarters of the British Army in the Land of Israel.
In 1927 Israel was hit by a severe earthquake, as a result of which the building cracked, and the British High Commissioner temporarily moved to live in Beit Mahanaim on Haneviyim Street.
The British were looking for a new place to build the residence of the High Commissioner, and after examining several alternatives, it was decided to purchase a plot of land in Jabal Mukbar, east of the Talpiot neighborhood.
The cost of constructing the building was estimated at 53,000 Israeli pounds – a huge amount for that period but without reference to the construction inputs.
After discussion, the project was approved, and the British architect Austen Harrison traveled to Damascus, where he gathered information and inspiration for the construction of the palace for the British Commissioner in the spirit of Middle Eastern architecture.
The British did not imagine in their hearts that the forces of the Jewish resistance in the Land of Israel, and other changes such as World War II would affect their future in the Holy Land, and they planned and executed a magnificent building in an area of 65 fenced dunams, in which a large palace was built including a ballroom where a huge fireplace was built covered with Armenian ceramic tiles, a large dining room with a corner for an orchestra to enliven the diners’ time, a residential wing in honor of the Commissioner and his family, all overlooking the ancient view of the Old City walls and the Temple Mount, with the thought that they will dominate the Land of Israel in the coming decades.
The palace was surrounded by elaborate and carefully planned gardens, water fountains, mature pine trees, and even a small cemetery for the High Commissioners’ pets.
In 1928, construction began by an Italian company, which also built the Rockefeller Museum, the main post office, and the Jerusalem City Hall, and employed no less than 400 workers during construction.
In 1933, the building was inaugurated with great pomp and splendor, and the British commissioners managed the Mandate forces in the Land of Israel, at the same time as magnificent parties and banquets were held there, and tea breaks with a raised pinkie in the burning sun of the Land of Israel.
With the end of the British mandate in 1948,
15 years after its grand opening, the British transferred the Commissioner’s Palace to the Red Cross organization, which made the palace its headquarters.
With the outbreak of the war of liberation, the Arabs from the nearby villages fortified themselves in defensive positions to the east of the palace and shelled the civilian population in the Talpiot neighborhood.
The Israeli forces set up positions in the nearby study farm, which still exists today.
The palace was declared part of the demilitarized area, when Moshe Dayan, who was the commander of the Jerusalem area and the Etzioni Brigade, ordered to occupy the mountain without entering the building itself, against the warnings of the Etzioni Brigade officers.
The operation failed, the Etzioni Brigade suffered heavy losses – 14 dead, 24 wounded, and 10 prisoners, and it is considered a major military failure of Moshe Dayan when he was in command of the Jerusalem sector.
In October 1948, the building was transferred to the United Nations organization from the Red Cross.
With the outbreak of the Six-Day War, a company of the Jordanian Legion captured the Commisioner’s Palace.
A few hours later, a force of the Jerusalem Brigade broke into the place and occupied it, drove out the soldiers of the Jordanian Legion, and hoisted the Israeli flag on top of the palace.
After the Six-Day War, Israel was under heavy international pressure to return the Commissioner’s Palace to the UN forces, and the government agreed after heavy pressure to return the UN forces as tenants to the building, but the ownership of the complex remained in Israeli ownership and registered as Israeli property.
In the 1990s, the Shruber Promenade was established nearby, which starts near the Commissioner’s Palace and reaches the Peace Forest and the outskirts of the nearby Abu Tor neighborhood.
The magnificent palace that sits in a pine grove and is hidden from view, built in a unique location, is foreign to almost every resident of Jerusalem because the entrance to it is still limited these days.
This is our Jerusalem-
A palace for a British commissioner destined to control the country in the decades to come and vacated after a decade and a half – befitting a foreigner who plans long-term plans in the Middle East,
a strong earthquake that cracks Augusta Victoria, in front of evacuation and construction projects that are progressing lazily before the next earthquake God forbid,
Red Cross and UN headquarters, Israeli occupation and Jordanian legion,
and a mesmerizing ancient view of the entire Old City basin, the walls, and the Temple Mount,
in a magnificent palace surrounded by gardens, fountains, a ballroom, and a stage for an orchestra that hasn’t played in a long time.
Shabbat Shalom to all, far and near, from Jerusalem
Photographer – unknown
