ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the British conquest which merged the sanjaq of Jerusalem with the sanjaqs of Acreand Nablus, which had previously belonged to the wilya of Beirut. At the end of the Ottoman period, the mudr awqf had his seat in Jerusalem; the mab endowments were administered by an official of lower rank who had the title of mamr awqf. Immediately after taking over, the British appointed local committees to operate alongside the mamr. They expected these committees to exercise real power, but the new organizational structure collapsed swiftly. The mamrs often regarded their positions as family sinecures, and therefore foiled any effort on the part of the committees to intervene in their affairs. At the top of the structure stood a British-appointed central committee for waqf affairs. It had its offices in Jerusalem and was chaired by the Mufti of Jerusalem; its membership consisted of delegates from each local committee.
