History Mount Scopus

hebrew university inauguration ceremony, 1917



hadassah nursing school under construction, c. 1934



the botanist alexander eig established national botanical garden of israel - 1931

the exact location of mountain known in ancient sources mount scopus not known. described being in north-eastern part of ridge prominently includes mount of olives, dominates jerusalem east. zionist organisations decided build new jewish institution of higher learning in jerusalem, became hebrew university, decided unwise try , ask donations project designed built on mount of olives, location christian connotations. site chosen university did correspond approximately description of ancient mount scopus, , decided name particular peak mount scopus. name became used , few jerusalemites nowadays know rebranding story of old name. ancient mount scopus cannot far though modern one. in 1948, british began letting go of security responsibilities, jewish enclave on mount scopus became increasingly cut off main sections of jewish jerusalem. access hospital , university campus through narrow road, mile , half long, passing through arab neighbourhood of sheikh jarrah. arab sniper fire on vehicles moving along access route became regular occurrence, , road mines laid. when food , supplies @ hospital begun dwindle, large convoy carrying doctors , supplies set out besieged hospital, leading attack became known hadassah medical convoy massacre. seventy-eight jewish doctors, nurses, students, patients, faculty members , haganah fighters, , 1 british soldier killed in attack.

mount scopus 1948

after ceasefire agreement of november 30, 1948, established division of east , west jerusalem, israel controlled western part of city while jordan controlled east. several demilitarized no man s land zones established along border, 1 of them mount scopus. fortnightly convoys carrying supplies university , hospital located in israeli part of demilitarized zone on mount scopus periodically held jordanian troops.

article viii of 1949 armistice agreements signed israel , jordan in april 1949 called resumption of normal functioning of cultural , humanitarian institutions on mount scopus , free access thereto; free access holy places , cultural institutions , use of cemetery on mount of olives; resumption of operation of latrun pumping station; provision of electricity old city; , resumption of operation of railroad jerusalem. in january 1958, francis urrutia, representative of un secretary-general, tried persuade jordan abide article viii, without success. in may 1958, jordanian soldiers fired on israeli patrols, killing un officer , 4 israeli policemen. ralph bunche, assistant un secretary-general dag hammarskjöld visited jerusalem , amman find solution, followed hammarskjöld himself, again unsuccessfully. mount scopus agreement signed on july 7, 1948 regulated demilitarised zone around mount scopus , authorized united nations truce supervision organization settle disputes between israelis , jordanians.

two jewish-owned plots in al-issawiya, known gan shlomit or salomons garden, purchased mrs. v.f. salomons in 1934 , sold gan shlomit company, ltd. in 1937. land surrounded fence, clashes erupted when arabs living on other side of fence sought cultivate land, pick olives , carry out repairs on homes close fence. arabs requested not work closer fifty metres fence unless prior permission granted israeli police. there 2 versions of demilitarization agreement: 1 initialed franklyn m. begley, un official; local jordanian commander; , israeli local commander; while other not initialed israeli local commander. having 2 versions of map cause of many incidents within mount scopus area.