Jerusalem (2013): An Incomplete Picture
The documentary Jerusalem (2013) , that we watched in class provides a great glimpse into some of the cultural and political differences between the main four populations, or quarters, of the city of Jerusalem. However, as is apparent from the optimistic ending of the documentary, it is clear that the filmmakers attempted to create a positive tone to the film that seems to ignore some of the relevant conflict between the quarters. The film implies that in general the individual quarters simply desire cultural solitude from one another, something that results in a lack of communication and intermingling. However, after some further research, it is apparent that the city of Jerusalem and its four quarters experience much more ongoing cultural conflict than portrayed in the film. I believe that this conflict, while easy to overlook for the sake of creating a film, is extremely important for understanding Jerusalem both politically and culturally.
Specifically, at the time of filming of the movie, and ongoing today, there exists a movement within the Jewish people known as the Israeli Settler Movement. This movement, enacted by groups like Ateret Cohanim, plans to not only create a Jewish majority in the old city, but do so by moving Jewish residents into the current Christian and Muslim quarters “apartment after apartment and home after home” (Garcia-Navarro). Claiming that the land these two quarters sit on was given to the Jews by God, the movement attempts to increase the Jewish population through buying apartments and homes in these quarters, evicting any non-Jewish residents and renting to exclusively Jewish families. This movement is a far cry from the depiction of conflict described in Jerusalem (2013), going beyond the simple aloofness portrayed in the film.
However, this is not to say that the Christian and Muslim quarters are innocent victims and the Jewish quarter is an evil oppressor. Aggression between quarters certainly goes both ways. For example, at the same time that the Israeli Settler Movement is moving into Christian and Muslim quarters, many Jewish families and schools have been forced to provide their children security escorts when walking to school due to violent acts from Christian and Muslim individuals (Garcia-Navarro). In general, aggression between quarters is extremely common and exists in numerous facets of everyday life in Jerusalem.
While the effects, reasoning and moralities of these acts are up for debate, it is clear that the existence of movements like Ateret Cohanim and others show that the four quarters of Jerusalem experience a much more complex and difficult relationship than as depicted within the film. While the ending may have been uplifting, it is important to take into account these conflicts and their effects on the cultural and political climate of Jerusalem if one is to fully understand its history and ongoing state.
Citations:
https://www.npr.org/2010/12/03/131733219/mideast-conflict-plays-out-in-a-house-divided
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/368811
Nice blog post about the four quarters in the old city that brings in some outside articles to help add new topics to the conversation started in the film!
ReplyDeleteSuggestion: you might want to make your photos larger in future posts so they fit better on the computer screen; you should also include captions and citations for the photos. Also, the instructions didn't include this, but in you should include the full bibliographic citation at the end (and not just the URL); otherwise, readers have to go to the articles to determine which one you are referring to in the parenthetical citations.