Inside Jerusalem [antikvár]

2-3 A1 sunset in Jerusalem, the fading sun6 To the south-west of the Old City is Mount Zion,illuminates the Old and New Quartets of the city,a place of pilgrimage for Jews and Christians alike. Nestling in the Judean Hills on the edge of thedesert, it is one of the world's most ancient and7 This aerial vim of Jenisalem shows theholy cities.proximity of the desert and mountains to the city.4 The summit of the Dome of the Rock, one of the8-9 The characteristically golden local Judaicholiest shrines in the world for Moslems and Jews,stone blends so well with the surrounding desertThe oldest monument in the Islamic world, it wasthat it seems to disappear almost chameleon-likebuilt in AD 691 on the site of the great Temple ofinto its natural surroundings. Solomon where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac, and Mohammed took off on his tide up to heaven.I erusalem is among the world's most ancient cities. In Abraham's time it was known by the Egyptians as Urushamen or, in Hebrew, Yerushalayim. Some scholars believe that this name was derived from Yernh meaning a city, and Shalom meaning peace, and thus It Is still known as the city of peace. However, it is more likely that it means the city founded by the god Salem or the local lord Shalem who ruled the city around 2500 BC. Many historians still favour the first explanation, but ironically never was a city more disputed, besieged, threatened and thrown into turmoil than Jerusalem. The city's ancient past is well known, albeit mixed with legend, and is recorded for posterity In the Bible. However, its more recent history, from the late nineteenth century, is interwoven with the lives of two people - Ttieodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, and Chaim Weizman, who played a leading role In the negotiations that led to the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and later became the first President of Israel. With the British Protectorate of Palestine drawing to a close in 1947 there were fierce struggles between Zionists and Arab nationalists. The United Nations ratified the partitioning of the territory into two states, one Jewish and the other Arab, declaring Jerusalem to be a free city with International status. However, the fierce fighting continued and, with the British evacuation in 1948, the new state of Israel was proclaimed, with Jerusalem as its capital. But while the Western part of the city was Israeli territory, the Old City in the Eastern quarter remained in Jordanian hands.The rest is recent history. During the Six Day War in June 1967 the Israelis took possession of the entire city and officially annexedit on 28 June of that year. The barbed wire and barricades of the divided city were torn down and under the direction of its charismatic mayor, Teddy Kollek, the city embarked on an ambitious building and development project financed by international Jewry through the Jerusalem Foundation. Parks, museums, galleries, housing, shopping centres and stadia sprung up in the city. But even today, you can sense the divisions and the underlying tension that exist between Moslem East Jerusalem and Jewish West Jerusalem. Christians and Arabs account for one-third of the city's 475,000 inhabitants; the remainder being made up of secular and Orthodox Jews. With the Arab uprising (the Intifada) in the Occupied Territories spilling over into Jerusalem itself, it is still a city in search of what may be an unattainable peace. In Jerusalem you enter the realms of the past and literally live and breathe Its unique history. The young native Israelis born in Israel since 1948 are called Sabras, a name derived from the prickly pear with Its tough exterior but tender interior. They are the new pioneers, believing in and working for a young, proud nation, whether on the ancient streets of Jerusalem, in the kibbutzim or in the smart commercial district of Tel Aviv. What Jerusalem offers to the Sabra is the continuity between past and present, and the inner strength that will be necessary to complete the task entrusted to him. Forthe Sabra, the past is most poignantly symbolized by the Wailing Wall where people come to pray and mourn the past and Its dead and at Yad Vashem, the memorial to the Holocaust and its six million Jewish victims who were exterminated by the Nazis during World War 11. Here the young Sabra can pray for the birth of a new and better world.6