2023-06-30 13:27:22
The Cross The Weekly : What does the history of Jerusalem tell us about its tormented present?
Vincent Lemire : The very long duration teaches us a lot about the present: Jerusalem is certainly a theater of geopolitical and religious conflicts, but we forget the periods of coexistence. This is the case of the Mamluk and Ottoman period, from the 14th to the beginning of the 20th century: in 1863, Jerusalem was the first city in the Ottoman Empire to have a mixed municipality, representative of all the communities.
But this story is obliterated because it does not fit with our analysis grids of 2023. History also reminds us that no political power has ever succeeded in appropriating this city exclusively. The Crusades, an ideological project of exclusive appropriation and elimination of all those who were not Catholic (Jews, Muslims, Eastern Christians), shows us that this supremacist vision cannot take hold. The crusaders were driven out by Saladin in 1187, less than a century after their arrival.
The history of Jerusalem is also a series of bridges between stories and points of view. In our comic strip (1), it is this logic of interconnection that guided us. Jerusalem is a holy city, but above all an aggregation of composite holy places, which we tend to label in a simplistic way, “If you are Jewish, go there, if you are Christians, here, Muslims, there”. However, even if they are rarely places of coexistence, they are always places with mixed traditions, including the esplanade of the Mosques/Mount of the Temple. This is also the case of the Ascension Mosque on the Mount of Olives, dedicated to Issa, Jesus in Arabic, second prophet of Islam after Mohammed, a place where many Christians go to pray.
Is there still a common experience of living in such a plural and divided city?
V. L. : Historically, there were many Arab neighborhoods in West Jerusalem and a few Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. With the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948-1949, we are witnessing a form of ethnic cleansing on both sides, which leads to the current homogenization.
Today, there is a great paradox: demographically, this capital self-proclaimed by Israel is the least Jewish city in the entire Jewish state, and this proportion has been constantly decreasing since 1967: a quarter of the municipal population was Palestinian then, compared to 40% today… and even 90% in the Old City!
That being said, whatever their origins or religions, one perceives an underlying urban identity among the oldest inhabitants of the city, a form of pride in living in this city with such a rich past. This urban awareness is based on common figures such as the patriarch Abraham (Ibrahim), King Solomon (Suleiman) or the prophet Samuel (Samwil).
Is a reconciliation of the two cities possible?
V. L. : I don’t think the Jerusalem file is the most complex in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the issues of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Palestinian refugees outside the territory are much heavier and, in a way, insurmountable.
In Jerusalem, most of the Israeli national institutions being in the West, quite far from the Old City, one could imagine that 5 km to the east of the ramparts, Palestinian national institutions are set up and that between the two constitute a common municipality, elected by all the inhabitants to carry their claims and regulate their conflicts.
Another very simple, yet essential, tool is lacking in Jerusalem: district municipalities, with a devolution of responsibilities and recognized areas of competence in terms of education, heritage, religion, culture, to allow this mending and the construction of living together with respect for each of the communities. What is at stake is the connection of the heterogeneous, not a chimerical homogeneity.
What future do you see for Jerusalem?
V. L. : The short term is not bright. All the elements of a confrontation are in place: the sectarianization of national struggles, the focus on the esplanade of the Mosques / Temple Mount, the progress of colonization. The scenario of a “Holy Bible Land” is also taking shape, in a logic of hyper-adaptation to the needs of pilgrims and tourists. This trend towards museumification can also fuel inter-community clashes.
But we can be more optimistic in the medium and long term. This is the lesson of our story of Jerusalem in comics. These four thousand years show that despite the dramatic episodes, the vocation of the city remains the same: it is the founding city of the three monotheisms. It will continue to be home to different populations, with different languages and cultures. It is a de facto “shared” city, including demographically and territorially. It is its sovereignty that is no longer so, being today exclusively Israeli. But eventually, the universal vocation of Jerusalem will once again be recognized.
#mending #respecting #communities