I can’t think of any place in the world that can match the history and intractable complexity of Jerusalem. Center of the universe for the three great monotheistic religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, it remains a city divided by the schisms of those religions. Jews pray at the Western Wall, Christian pilgrims walk the path of the ‘Via Dolorosa‘, the route of Jesus’s crucifixion, and Muslims worship at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Despite the essential role of religion here, Jerusalem hardly felt awash in spiritual uplift.
Most of us know, or think we know, the broad strokes of the story. Putting aside the politics and recent history, the main sticking points are property disputes. Palestinians and Israelis both claim Jerusalem as the capitol of their respective homelands.In today’s version of this ancient disputed land, the Israelis own the homeland and Jerusalem is its capitol. Palestinians have to accept Israeli rule, something that’s never gone down well. Further heightening the political frisson is the disputed ownership of the Temple Mount, or as Muslims know it, ‘al-Haram al-Sharif’