The ''Jerusalem News'' was the first English-language newspaper in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, existing for around six months during the British Mandate for Palestine. The ''Jerusalem News'' was established in 1919 under the auspices of the Christian Science movement. William Denison McCrackan, the associated editor of both the ''

Christian Science Journal ''The Christian Science Journal'' is an official monthly publication of the Church of Christ, Scientist through the Christian Science Publishing Society, founded in 1883 by Mary Baker Eddy.Christian Science Sentinel The ''Christian Science Sentinel'' (originally the ''Christian Science Weekly'') is a magazine published by the Christian Science Publishing Society based in Boston, Massachusetts. The magazine was launched by Mary Baker Eddy in 1898. It include ...

'', was critical of the Zionist slogan "

a land without a people for a people without a land "A land without a people for a people without a land" is a widely cited phrase associated with the movement to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine during the 19th and 20th centuries. Its historicity and significance are a matter of conten ...

". He said, "We used to read in our papers the slogan of Zionism, 'to give back a people to a Land without a People,' while the truth was that Palestine was already well-peopled with a population which was rapidly increasing from natural causes." Following the conquest of Palestine by the British Army in 1917, Christian Science interested itself in the affairs of Palestine, first organizing relief work and then with starting a new newspaper. The ''Jerusalem News'' paper was originally established in 1919 by

Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen (January 1, 1878 – December 25, 1958) was the founder of the Women's International Association of Aeronautics. Biography She was born on New Year's Eve in 1878 in Salem County, New Jersey. Elizabeth's parents ...

, a British-American woman who would later become a women's aeronautics pioneer, and who had in the aftermath of

WWI World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

served in war relief work in Palestine under Field Marshal Allenby. The first issue, on Dec. 9, 1919, bore a congratulatory message from Allenby, then High Commissioner for Egypt. In February 1920 the British-American writer and journalist

Talbot Mundy Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as the ...

- McCrackan's co-worker and personal friend - arrived in Jerusalem. There he became the ''Jerusalem News editorial assistant, being involved in writing articles, reporting on current events, proof reading, and editing. Talbot witnessed the increasing conflict between Arab and Jewish populations within the city, and was present during the Nebi Musa riots. McCrackan was the editor. The copies of the Jerusalem News preserved at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

begin on Dec. 9, 1919 and cease with no. 151 (June 8, 1920). The end of the paper's publication was explained by its having been "a wartime publication" and that the start of a British civil administration necessitated a different kind of paper.Peter Berresford (1984). The Last Adventurer: The Life of Talbot Mundy. West Kingston: Donald M. Grant. There was no continuity between this short-lived paper and what would later become ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...

'', the primary and long-lasting English-language newspaper based in the city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerusalem News, The 1919 establishments in British-administered Palestine 1920 disestablishments in Mandatory Palestine Publications established in 1919 Publications disestablished in 1920 English-language newspapers published in Asia Culture of Jerusalem Jewish businesses established in Mandatory Palestine Mass media in Jerusalem Newspapers published in Mandatory Palestine