Saturday 20 July 2013

Jerusalem of Above and Jerusalem of Below


No matter how holy a city, commercialism
rules.
After already having fulfilled the standard verse of "next year in Jerusalem", I took it one step further last Thursday night. I went along to the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah - the World Maccabi Sports games, an International competition where around 7,000 Jews from around 70 countries compete against each other. It is a kind of mini-Olympics, where past and future Olympians compete along-side amateurs. I last attended this ceremony 20 years ago, as a teenager. But I digress, the special part was the opening ceremony itself, which more or less started with the singing of Hatikva, the Israeli National Anthem. Singing this for probably the first time as an adult, in a crowd of 35,000 people, in the capital of the Jewish people (as the prime-minister told us on the night - Israel is not a country belonging to the Israelis, it belongs to all Jews).

We decided to stay in an Arab part of the city, just north of the Old City, in what was formerly East Jerusalem. The purpose was threefold; cheaper accommodation, closeness to the Old City, and a 'different' experience (including more things being open on Saturday!) I chose to use English and carry my Australian passport, though I would like to think that the friendliness we experienced would have been no different had I used mainly Hebrew.


I'm not sure who thinks Jerusalem is a beautiful city. I don't. It has character - the Old City is amazingly interesting. The markets are fun, colourful, and full of spices and smells. The city though is white - Jerusalem stone is everywhere and colours are seriously lacking - as if it was designed by the same people who design clothes in Denmark. The alleyways are full of twists and turns - again, interesting and enjoyable, but not practical nor beautiful. The views from the Mount of Olives of the modern Haas Promenade are spectacular - history is laid out before you. But it's not what I would call pretty.

Apartheid In Israel

There are many people with a low IQ in this world who claim that Israel is an apartheid state. Rather than demonstrate why these people are nincompoops, I will provide them with some evidence they can use when putting forward their arguments. It only took 48 hours in Jerusalem to twice experience restriction of movement (segregation) based on religion (well, it wasn't based on race, but since the proponents of this argument aren't the smartest of people - I'm sure they won't care about such minor details).

Walking to Friday prayers through the Arab Quarter of the Old City.
Anyway, Friday morning we are walking into the Old City through Herod's Gate, walking amongst the throngs of Muslims heading for prayers at Al-Aqsa. Now, admittedly, we were not trying to get to Al-Aqsa, but we did get told at one point we had to turn around because as non-Muslims, we could not head down one of the final passage-ways.

Similarly, Saturday afternoon, when trying to find Herod's Gate to exit the city, again, due to not being a Muslim I was told I couldn't proceed down a particular street.

And who was telling me this? These terrible Israeli military folk with their machine guns, doing their utmost to protect the Muslims whilst not letting me through!

Sources of Hatred

Jerusalem is so obviously the centre of the world for so many people. This is particularly noticeable when standing on a rooftop vantage point in the Old City and seeing the Western Wall, Al-Aqsa, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, all within a stone's throw of each other.

Inside the Kotel Tunnels - 30m from where the Holy of Holies used to be.
I can't help by get annoyed at (what I'm sure is only a part story) of how things have worked out for the Jews and the Christians. The Christians were kind enough to have their story take place a little distance away from the Jews. But the Muslims had to build over the Jews - which is obviously a source of frustration. Interestingly, the Muslims almost built over the Christians too, were it not for the foresight of Omar the Caliph who when offered by pray inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, replied that he had better lay his prayer mat outside, as it would likely become a place of pilgrimage in the future. Sure enough, it did, and a mosque was built a few metres from the Church many years later!

They do ask nicely (similar signs are plastered all over the neighbourhood).
So you cannot really blame them for throwing stones at you if you
disrespect them.
Sadly, the contrast and hatred is quite evident today still. On the surface, it is an amazing experience walking from Me'ah She'arim (one of the most religious Jewish neighbourhoods in the world), across the main road, into a dense Arab neighbourhood, all is not quite as it seems. Upon leaving Me'ah She'arim, we came upon a poor soul having trouble with the air pump at a petrol station. We stopped to help him. It turned out that during the time he left his car there while collecting bread from the bakeries closing just before Shabbat (for his chickens), someone had slashed his tyres. All were flat, and at least 3 had punctures. While helping him, another gentleman showed up with the same problem. Both were Arabs. On a Friday afternoon there was no chance of finding a garage to help them, and the police were not interested. You could not help but feel sorry for them.

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