FROM OUR ARCHIVES

65 YEARS AGO

The US government released the text of an informal diplomatic message sent to the Israeli government, in which the US criticized Israel’s plans to move the Foreign Affairs Ministry to Jerusalem. “The government of the US has adhered to the policy that there should be a special international regime for Jerusalem which will not only provide for the holy places but which will be acceptable to Israel and Jordan as well as for the world community.” The letter ended by saying that “The government of the US also wishes to convey that in view of its attitude on the Jerusalem question, it has no present intentions of transferring the Ambassador of the US and his staff to Jerusalem.”

Two sisters, torn apart by the War of Independence, met under the open sky in no-man’s-land near Mandelbaum Gate in Jerusalem. Yehudit Shlomovitz of Israel saw her sister and her Arab husband, who had run away to Jordanian-held territory. In another meeting, Mrs. Al Said of Israel, who was married to a Christian Arab, talked to her son, who was a student in the Old City. Both Israeli and Jordanian police were present at the meetings.

50 YEARS AGO

Curfew hours in east Jerusalem would begin at midnight, instead of 9 p.m., and would last only four hours. Families were reported calling on forgotten babysitters as they began planning late outings to the cinemas and bars of western Jerusalem. The eight bars and two discotheques in east Jerusalem quickly began preparing for night business. Only a few dozen east Jerusalemites at the most had been caught breaking the 9 p.m. curfew the previous few weeks, a police spokesman said.

In response to an urgent appeal from the Turkish Red Crescent, Israel rushed medical aid to victims of a Turkish earthquake. Officials said that Magen David Adom made special arrangements to send such assistance despite the need for equipment after the previous month’s war.

Teachers at the Herzliya Municipal High School were withholding report cards from graduating students as a protest over non-payment of their June salaries. Parents feared the situation would prejudice their children’s chances for acceptance at universities in the fall.

25 YEARS AGO

A comprehensive freeze on construction in Judea and Samaria was ordered, as the new government led by Yitzhak Rabin took its first official steps towards reallocating national funds to social and economic projects within the Green Line. But the go-ahead was also given to finish construction on thousands of new homes in the administered territories.

Jerusalem Municipality crews escorted by police demolished a church and an adjacent building being built illegally by the Greek Orthodox Church on the Mount of Olives, as City Hall took steps to preempt negative fallout over the move.

Naamah Kelman became the first woman rabbi ordained in Israel at a graduation ceremony at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.

Israel and Austria officially resumed ties at the ambassadorial level. Relations were downgraded six years earlier with the election of Kurt Waldheim as president of Austria. Waldheim had been accused of collaborating with the Nazis during his army service in World War II. – Daniel Kra