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The book deals with the role of Jerusalem as a central religious-political symbol, and with the processes by which symbols of faith and sanctity are being employed in a political struggle. It examines the current Islamic ethos towards Jerusalem and the affinity between this religious ethos and the political aspirations of the Palestinians and other Arab and Islamic groups. It also compares current Jewish and Muslim narratives and processes of denial and de-legitimizing the affiliation of the other to the holy city and its sacred shrines and addresses the question whether religious outlook forms a major barrier for achieving peace in the Israeli-Arab arena.
This study portrays the Status-Quo that prevailed at the Temple Mount/Al-Haram al-Sharif since 1967 until it began to be eroded in stages, first in 1996 following Israel's opening of the northern exit to the touristic Western Wall tunnel, then in 2000 following the visit of MK Ariel Sharon to the site when the compound was closed to non-Muslim visitors for about three years, and the new arrangements at this holy place since it was re-opened in August 2003. Alongside with the understandings acheived thoughout the fifty years period since 1967 between Israeli authorities and the Jordanian administered Waqf the book presents the dynamics of erosion of what is termed the Status-Quo. The violent ...
This book addresses the major generators of conflict and toleration at shared holy places in Palestine and Israel. Examining the religious, political and legal issues, the authors show how the holy sites have been a focus of both conflict and cooperation between different communities. Bringing together the views of a diverse group of experts on the region, Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict provides a new and multifaceted approach to holy places, giving an in-depth analysis of relevant issues. Themes covered include legal regulation of holy places; nationalization and reproduction of holy space; sharing and contesting holy places; identity politics; and popular legends of holy s...
In 2006 a dispute broke out regarding an initiative by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles (backed by Israeli authorities) to construct a Museum of Tolerance (MoT) in West Jerusalem. The museum was to be built on a plot of land that in the past had been part of the historic Muslim Mamilla Cemetery, which since the 1980s has served as a municipal parking lot. Debate centred on whether construction of a museum dedicated to human dignity on Muslim cemeterial land was justified. The Northern Islamic Movement and a group of 70 academics and eight Israeli civil society organizations (including rabbis) opposed the project, but their petition to Israel's High Court of Justice failed. Yitzhak ...
Presents and analyses fatwas - rulings of Islamic law - issued by religious sages and clerics on issues of war and peace in regard to the actual or future possibility of conducting a peace agreement between Muslim states and Israel.
This study presents the first comprehensive survey of the abundant early Islamic sources that recognize the historical Jewish bond to the Temple Mount (Masjid al-Aqsa) and Jerusalem. Analyzing these sources in light of the views of contemporary Muslim religious scholars, thinkers and writers, who – in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict – deny any Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and promote the argument that no Jewish Temple ever stood on the Temple Mount. The book describes how this process of denying Jewish ties to the site has become the cultural rationale for UNESCO decisions in recent years regarding holy sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron, which use Muslim Arabic termino...
The Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the most intense and intractable international conflicts of modern times. This book is about the historical roots of that conflict. It re-examines the history of 1948, the war in which the newly-born state of Israel defeated the Palestinians and the regular Arab armies of the neighbouring states so decisively. The book includes chapters on all the principal participants, on the reasons for the Palestinian exodus, and on the political and moral consequences of the war. The chapters are written by leading Arab, Israeli and western scholars who draw on primary sources in all relevant languages to offer alternative interpretations and new insights into this defining moment in Middle East history. The result is a major contribution to the literature on the 1948 war. It will command a wide audience from among students and general readers with an interest in the region.
Religious leaders and political actors often use holy places to rally citizens to 'protect' or 'liberate' national territory as 'hallowed land.' The Holy Land, Palestine or Eretz-Israel, is the most obvious case of the process of 'religionizing' ethnic, national and territorial conflicts. This book analyzes fourteen case studies of conflicts over holy sites in the Holy Land, each representing a particular archetype of conflict. It seeks to understand the many facets of disputes and the triggers for the outbreak of violence in and around such sites. It also analyses the effectiveness of the conflict mitigation and resolution tools used for dealing with such disputes.
Religious leaders and political actors often use holy places to rally citizens to 'protect' or 'liberate' national territory as 'hallowed land.' The Holy Land, Palestine or Eretz-Israel, is the most obvious case of the process of 'religionizing' ethnic, national and territorial conflicts. This book analyzes fourteen case studies of conflicts over holy sites in the Holy Land, each representing a particular archetype of conflict. It seeks to understand the many facets of disputes and the triggers for the outbreak of violence in and around such sites. It also analyses the effectiveness of the conflict mitigation and resolution tools used for dealing with such disputes.