"For 1,000 years Jerusalem was exclusively Jewish; for about 400 years, Christian; for 1,300 years, Islamic; and not one of the three faiths ever gained Jerusalem without the sword, the mangonel (catapult) or the howitzer. Their nationalistic histories tell a rigid story of inevitable progressions to heroic triumphs and abrupt disasters, but in this history I have tried to show nothing was inevitable, there were always choices. The fates and identities of Jerusalemites were rarely clear cut. Life in Herodian, Crusader, or British Jerusalem was always just as complex and nuanced as life is for us today." Montefiore
This book was a Christmas gift from someone that knows I love history (my wife). I read a review of it in the WSJ and also saw that Bill Clinton saw it as a great read. Jerusalem is simply a historical survey of the city. As Montefiore notes above, the city has seen many changes and has many intrigues. My initial interest in the book was to fill in the gaps of what I knew and see if I could gain a clearer understanding of current conflicts in the area.
If you were Jewish and lived in Jerusalem, it wasn't a good situation. One take away from the book is that the Jewish population was a side show throughout the history of Jerusalem - even before the coming of Christ. David saw the zenith of the city but it later went through multiple sackings from the Persians, Macedonians, Maccabees and Romans. Even under Rome, the Herods ruled the city until its ultimate destruction. At this point the Jewish population in Jerusalem was very small and continued to be so until just before World War II.
Christians saw some presence in the city for a short period of time. Mostly influenced by the Christians from the Anatolia(Asia Minor) region. The group mostly influenced by the early church. Subsequently, the Arabs decided they saw Jerusalem as an important city.
"one night, his followers believed that, as he slept beside the Kaaba (a cuboid building in Mecca - one of the most sacred Muslim locations), Muhammad had a vision. The Archangel Gabriel awoke him and together they embarked on a Night Journey mounted on Buraq, a winged steed with a human face, to the unnamed "Furthest Sanctuary"." This furthest sanctuary is believed to be the Temple Mount and part of the sacred Muslim locations.
"After Muhammad's death, the Muslim desired to build the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount. The Rock was the site of Adam's paradise, Abraham's altar, the place where David and Solomon planned their Temple later visited by Muhammad on his Night Journey. Abd al-Malik rebuilt the Jewish Temple for the true revelation of God, Islam." When you consider the Jewish position that Jesus was not the messiah and the Islamic position that Jesus was a prophet just as Muhammad and all praise and glory goes to God - then building the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount makes sense. The Muslims just thought they were improving on the Temple with the Dome of the Rock. The Rock is the Foundation Stone - the stone that was beneath the Ark of the Covenant.
The crusaders tried to unseat Islam from Jerusalem. It would be a natural decision to try to oust the people that built a mosque over the site of the temple. The book goes through multiple visits by the crusaders and their somewhat limited success to restore Jerusalem to Christian rule. Past the crusaders you have attempts by Napoleon and other European (and Russian) leaders to influence Jerusalem. Unfortunately for them, Jerusalem is always a side bar for other events in Europe and sufficient resources are never available for total control of the city.
Through this time, as noted previously, the Jewish population was not a significant influence as to what is going on in Jerusalem. It isn't until after the first World War that a migration of European Jews begins into Palestine. The Russians and the British start to lay the foundation for the modern geography of Israel and Arab lands. Stalin was a defender and proponent of the Jewish state. The British controlled the city for some time until the mandate for the current country. The two state option was on the table from the beginning. The Arabs fought against it and began what we see today in bombings and assassinations. Many of the Arab leaders we know in current times cut their teeth in these early wars - for example - Arafat and Fatah were created during this time.
The bottom line during this period is that the entire Arab region attacked the young state of Israel. Israel was able to defend itself and create buffers of land around the original state. I was in the military in the early 1980's and witnessed in person the Israeli military spirit and the backwardness of the Arab military while stationed in the Sinai desert.
I went into the book with a desire to learn more and have an equitable view. This book is written very much by a defender of the Jewish population - so there is a slant. However, it is clear that the Arab world has received an opportunity to live in peace alongside the Jewish population in Palestine. No "one" people have the rights to Palestine - Jews and Arabs have lived there for thousands of years. The Arabs have chosen to wage a constant battle with the Israeli's. Peace will not come until the Arab world decides it will live in peace.
It also becomes painfully obvious as you go through the history, that Jerusalem is an international city. There is much discussion of treating it almost like a Vatican with a totally independent authority that oversees it. This is an interesting concept.
This is a good read if you really enjoy historical surveys - it is not a light read.
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