Page:Syria and Palestine WDL11774.pdf/68

 The Latin Patriarchate was founded during the Crusades; after the tragic failure of the latter the Patriarchs in partibus resided in Rome. In 1847 Pius IX sent the Latin Patriarch back to reside at Jerusalem.

Both Catholic and Protestant missions have been active in Palestine; and, from the early nineteenth century, much educational and medical work has been done by missionaries, mainly of English, French, American, or German nationality (cf. pp. 53—56) The custody of the Christian Holy Places has naturally been a matter of supreme interest to Christians, and has caused many disputes. Not the least unedifying feature of these disputes has been the way in which the religious claims of their own Churches have been used by Governments as pretexts for political interference on a large scale.

(iii) Jews

The Jewish religion in Palestine and Syria is in no way distinguished from orthodox Judaism elsewhere. Their ritual is Sephardic or Ashkenazic, according as they originate from Spain and Portugal or the rest of Europe. The newcomers, especially the colonists, are inclined to be somewhat lax in their observance of rites and ceremonies. Of special interest among the Jews of Jerusalem are the colonies of Yemenite and Bokhariot Jews who immigrated because of the oppression they suffered in Arabia and Central Asia. There is no great cathedral synagogue even in Jerusalem. The Jewish Holy Places are the Temple Area, now occupied by the Mosque of Omar, and the cave of Macpelah, covered by the Hebron Mosque. The Tomb of Rachel near Bethlehem, and the Tombs of the Rabbis at Tiberias are objects of exclusively Jewish reverence.

(2)

Except in the semi-autonomous Lebanon, the Government of Syria and Palestine differs from that of the