 In 1922 , a status quo agreement issued by the mandatory authority forbade the placing of benches or chairs near the Wall . The last occurrence of such a ban was in 1915 , but the Ottoman decree was soon retracted after intervention of the Chacham Bashi . In 1928 the District Commissioner of Jerusalem , Edward Keith @-@ Roach , acceded to an Arab request to implement the ban . This led to a British officer being stationed at the Wall making sure that Jews were prevented from sitting . Nor were Jews permitted to separate the sexes with a screen . In practice , a flexible modus vivendi had emerged and such screens had been put up from time to time when large numbers of people gathered to pray . 
