A Bit of History

New York's Jewish Press carried this article dealing with the blowing of the shofar after the British banned its blowing in 1930.

Now, this matter may seem arcane but its background is important because Arafat always kept bringing up that commissions conclusions, that the Temple Mount belongs to Muslims as does the Western Wall. The Jews have only certain religious practices that must be guarded and even the Western Wall Plaza is Waqf property. Here's a concise summary:-

1- The Muslims are the sole owners of the West Wall of Al Aqsa Mosque.
2- The Muslims are the owners of the pavement beside the Wall.
3- Worship-related instruments used by the Jews near the Wall do not give the Jews any right in the Wall or the pavement.

And if you don't believe me, here's the report itself.

Anyway, back to the Jewish Press article. It presents a problem so I wrote them this letter:-

The article by Larry Domnitch, "The Shofar of Hope and Courage", (Oct. 3) telling the story of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Segel HaLevi zt"l who first blew the shofar in protest against the prohibition declared by the British Mandatory authorities in then Palestine in 1930 lacks one crucial fact.

Domnitch writes that "In the following years, others, inspired by Rabbi Segal, followed his example and shofars were sounded at the Western Wall as Yom Kippur ended. Each year, the inevitable arrests followed". Actually, every single year until 1948, the shofar was blown and it was done so not by some anonymous "others" but exclusively by members of the Betar Zionist youth movement and Irgun fighters.
One who did so, Dov Gruner, was later hanged by the British after raiding a police arms depot.

None of those shofar blowers were members of any of the other religious Zionist youth movements. It seems that religious motivation was insufficient. Proud nationalism was essential.