The Handbook of Palestine/4/10
§ 10, The Pro- Jerusalem Society.[edit]
The Pro- Jerusalem Society was founded in 191 8 for the following objects :
(i) the protection of and the addition to the amenities
of Jerusalem and its neighbourhood ; (ii) the provision and maintenance of parks, gardens, and open spaces in and around Jerusalem ;
(iii) the establishment of museums, libraries, art galleries, exhibitions, musical and dramatic centres or other institutions of a similar nature for the benefit of the public ;
(iv) the protection and preservation, with the consent of the Government, of antiquities in and around Jerusalem ;
(v) the encouragement of arts, handicrafts and industries.
The Honorary President of the Society is the High Commissioner, and the President is the Governor of Jerusalem. The Council, which meets once a month, has as an Honorary Member Lord Milner and numbers amongst its other members the Mayor of Jerusalem, the Grand Mufti, the Orthodox, Latin and Armenian Patriarchs, the Anglican Bishop, the Chief Rabbi, the President of the Jewish lay community, representatives of the Dominican and Franciscan Convents, of the Department of Antiquities, etc.
Amongst the achievements of the Society are the freeing and completion of the Rampart Walk, whereby it is now possible, for the first time for several hundreds of years, to " Walk about Sion and go round about the towers thereof ; mark well her bulwarks."
Others include the establishment, on the ancient tradi- tional basis, of a tile and pottery factory, one of whose first tasks will be to cover with new tiles the bare spaces on the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock ; the Jerusalem Looms — handlooms upon which fabrics for everyday use are woven by Palestinians for Palestinians out of Palestinian materials ; the restoration of the Citadel and Tower of David, in which an Academy of Fine Arts was held in 192 1 by the Society and an exhibition of Palestinian products by the Govern- ment in 1922 ; the design of a Jewish market on the Jaffa Road and of a khan shortly (it is hoped) to be erected in place of the present unsightly buildings near the Damascus Gate ; the revival of the Hebron glass industry.
In 1921 the Council of the Society published through Mr. John Murray its first volume -of Annals in a handsomely illustrated quarto volume with the title Jerusalem, igiS- IQ20 : Being the Records of the Pro- Jerusalem Council during the British Military Administration. The Society also issues a Quarterly Bulletin, printed in Jerusalem.
The High Commissioner has been pleased to "grant to the Society its Charter and to make an arrangement whereby the Government contributes a subvention at the rate of ;^i for £1 for all monies collected or earned by the Society.
Donations to the Pro-Jerusalem Society, or membership subscriptions (;^E. 5 per annum) entitling the subscriber to the Annals and other publications of the Society, may be addressed to any of the following :
The Governor of Jerusalem ; The Civic Adviser (Governorate, Jerusalem) ; Mr. John Whiting, Hon. Treasurer of the Pro- Jerusalem Society (American Colony Store, Jerusalem) ; a
Mr. D. G. Salameh (Messrs. Thomas Cook & ■ Son, Jerusalem).