Feb 8, 2021
Brits stole clock from Palestinians and turned it into Big Ben
When I first saw the headline I thought it must be a joke, from one of those satire sites, and I just did not pay close attention. I just realized it is real, so here goes. Who even needs the satire sites when the reality does the job all on its own?
Fatah is claiming that Big Ben, the iconic clock in London (Big Ben is actually one of the bell's on the clock), is actually The Jerusalem Clock and was originally built at Hebron Gate during the Ottoman Period. Later it was moved by the British during the British Mandate to the municipal building and then dismantled and transferred it to the British Museum in London, against the strong protest of residents.
The post on the FatahNews website was from 2 years ago, but JNS picked up on it now. JNS points out the differences and facts between Big Ben and the Jerusalem Clock, showing how ridiculous the claim is that the British stole Big Ben from them. Differences and facts such as the fact that the construction of Big Ben was completed in 1859, well before the Jerusalem Clock was built. Big Ben dwarfs the Jerusalem Clock with the JC standing 42 feet tall and Big Ben standing 316 feet tall.
I guess if we take the claim they have on Jerusalem seriously, the British should be negotiating the return of the Jerusalem Clock, aka Big Ben, as well....
Return or not, claim or not (the site says it was stolen but does not actually make any overt demands), the Fatah article claiming the British stole the clock and turned it into Big Ben was some good fun to start the day...
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ReplyDeletePalestinians claim that America stole the Grand Canyon from Palestine.
In an interview, one Palestinian spokesman said, “It was an irrigation ditch that Ahmed the Farmer had to water his chummus field. Then one day an American Jew came along and stole it! He moved it to Arizona, widened the ditch and turned it into a tourist attraction to make money. Those evil Jews!”
The Ottomans built clocks all over their empire in 1905 (it was the 25th year of the caliph) both to demonstrate their sovereignty as well as show their modernity- the clocks were European, as was the architecture of the towers. In Israel, towers were built in Yafo, Akko, Haifa, Tzfat, and Shechem. These are all kind of nice and have been refurbished. (The ones in Israel, that is: I'm not sure about the one in Shechem.) There's also a clock on the Ottoman building in Nazareth but it's not clear if that was intended as part of the "series."
ReplyDeleteThe one in Jerusalem, on the Jaffa Gate, came later, in 1910. It was really ugly and looked really out of place perched as it was on top of the wall. (There are lots of photos of it, if you want to see.) The British took it down in 1922 and no one really minded- no one had liked it, and it was only about ten years old, so it wasn't like it had some intrinsic historical value either. I'm pretty sure it was just destroyed, and not saved anywhere.
To "replace" it, a building was put up the next year, by a foundation, in what is now Kikar Tzahal, nearby, which also had a large clock. (It was called Kikar Allenby then- Kikar Allenby is now the name of where the Allenby Monument is, in Romema.) It looked completely different, though, much more modern. (Maybe the clock mechanism was the same, but I doubt it.) However, as more traffic began running through that area, they demolished that building as well, in 1934. Nothing was preserved.
So the clock was not transferred, and was not moved to the British Museum, and there were no protests.
And of course, Big Ben was built over fifty years before the clock was even set up, and over sixty years before it was demolished.
interesting. thanks
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