Jottings - Slice of life – 180 (Oh! Jerusalem...)

Jottings - Slice of life – 180 (Oh! Jerusalem...)

(Note to my readers: The story of Jerusalem is a story of human potential of what can be achieved, and equally a story of human stupidity. A little piece of land has governed the imagination of millions for over two thousand years. It’s very name invokes deep divisions, yet at the same, an intense reverence. The following piece is meant to be a basic primer for those who would want to know a little about why Jerusalem has constantly remained a bone contention in world politics. For those interested in knowing more, I have recommended two popular volumes towards the end of the article.)

In the annals of history, no piece of land has been subject to so much dispute, possessiveness - and imbued with so much religious connotation and interpretation as that of Jerusalem - th city of foundation of the God Shalom. For thousands of years this land has been the bone of contention for variety of reasons. Its grounds have been trodden by Jews, Christian and Muslims with equal honor and equally ferocious impunity. During its long history, it was burnt and destroyed without a trace at least twice and rebuilt, ransacked and besieged more than fifty times, each time recaptured and restored by a distant friend or known foe. The resilient city simply refused to disappear from collective human memory. So Where exactly is Jerusalem? If you care to look at the world map, you would be hard pressed to locate it. Turn the map gently towards the middle east, gently run your eyes along the Mediterranean Sea, and if you are alert enough, your eyes will fall upon a little mountain Judea situated between the Mediterranean and the Dead sea; and Jerusalem smugly ensconced on a tiny little plateau upon it. In reality, the whole of historic Jerusalem is less than a square kilometer in area, with no striking beauty, with no natural resources to boast of; yet within its narrow perimeters, history runs as deep and wide as blood that has flowed upon it. Men and women across the globe, across civilizations and nationalities, across religions have coveted that little piece of land with a ferocity and zeal that baffles the modern mind. Even today, in this age of so called intellectual emancipation, that tiny territory continues to invoke the most virulent passions in the breast of man. Deserted, wasted and devoid of any semblance of normal city, it remains a disputed territory, with modern armies on either side gunning down even any innocent transgressions. On this emotionally charged land, the human mind has lavished its greatest infatuation - the love of God, and in his honorable name - the love of territory.

The central fact about Jerusalem, around which much of its drama hinges, is that it is home to three major monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam - each of them as fanatical about their God as the other can hope to be. Chronologically, Judaism found its birth place there at the dawn of Human History, about 3000 years ago. When King David, and his famed son Solomon consecrated Jerusalem as the land of Hebrew built its first glorious temple, the fate of the little land was sealed forever. The first act of entitlement to jerusalem was given to sons of Yahweh. It was believed that the sacred ark using which Noah saved the world from primodial deluge was hosted there. It was there the covenant that God made with Humanity resided in all its holy authority. After Solomon’s Death, the Jews scattered into different tribes, forever roaming and persecuted. Their search for Homeland still continues even after 2000 years.

After Judaism, it was Christianity’s turm to lay siege to the land. Jesus, the Christ was a born in bethlem, six miles from Jerusalem, and it was just outside Jerusalem, in Golgotha he was crucified - thus transforming this little hand into birthplace of Christianity. Under the Romans, Christians lived a charmed and precarious life depending upon which emperor was ruling, but after Roman emperor Constantine officially declared Christianity to be its official religion, there was no looking back. Christianity, now claimed absolute claim to this holy land.

The Islamization of Jerusalem began around late sixth century AD, by which time Muslims had already occupied the Eastern Byzantine empire. It directed its followers to pray facing Jerusalem. According to tradition, Mohammad ascended heaven in Jerusalem to converse with God. For thirteen years, this profound act of daily prayer facing the Holy land laid an indelible mark on Muslims. They came to believe with intense faith that Jerusalem was indeed the true birth place of Islam. Ironically, after thirteen years, Muslim was redirected by ordinance to change the direction of prayers towards Mecca. That is how they do it today. But, that has had little effect on how Jerusalem was perceived in the minds of Muslims. For those first-generation followers, Jerusalem was the original Holy land, and will continue to be so for generations to come.

Thus, it came to be that Jerusalem in first ten centuries became the center of three major religions and caught in the middle of their fanatic loyalties. But that was not the end of it woes. In 1095, Pope Urban II, on a momentous cold wintery day in Italy, announced to a group of disgruntled Knights they could gain heaven and absolved from sins on earth, if they could march to Jerusalem and reclaim the holy land from the infidels (Muslims had by that time control of the holy land). In the dark middle ages of Europe when superstition ruled, and men for few crucial centuries lost the ability to reason, this clarion call from the Crowned Papal Master of the Christian Europe was nothing short of voice of God, and the kind of encouragement they needed to go on a rampage. The knights who gladly took up arms came from all parts of Europe - France, Italy, England- and they marched to Jerusalem in their silvery steel armors, caparisoned horses and cross engraved lances to launch what we have come to know as the “Crusades”. Waves and waves of Men and Women in the name of Crusades, went on expeditions to Jerusalem to attain spiritual relief, and once there, they killed and looted with a smile on their faces and blessings of the Church. Barbara Tuchman, in one of her first books, “The bible and the sword” captures in arresting detail the march of ordinary and extraordinary men to Jerusalem in God’s name, and in the course of their travels created, documented and passed on cultural and social history of the time they lived in. It was a curious world, the years between 11’th and 15th century, and Jerusalem played an important role in the lives of people as a place to aspire, live and die for.

In the modern era, by which I mean the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the West has played a crucial role in meddling with the position and role of Jerusalem. It was England, as usual, who meddled with it. Caught between protecting their colonial interests, and the increasing demand for Jerusalem to be considered a Christian territory, and pressure from well-meaning clergy men to return Jerusalem to the Jews - swung the ever-vacillating English Government to consider supporting one group or the other. The climax of this effort resulted in the creation of the Balfour Declaration (Prime minister Balfour was instrumental in carving this out), in which creation of Israel as a separate state for the Jews was officially placed on table for the first time. After two thousand years of dispersion, Jews saw their first glimpse of the original promise of Abraham materializing. The diaspora was to become one people again. It was an ancient prophecy unfolding in modern times. But little did they realize that even with Israel recognized as a Jewish state, Jerusalem would never be theirs because the Arabs who lived in equal or more numbers in nearby Palestine had claim to it as well.

Numerous books have been written on Jerusalem and its tortuous history, but for the general reader, I recommend Simon Sebag Montefiore’s “Jerusalem” for non-fictional read covering its story across ages, or Dominique Lapierre’s brilliant narrative in novel form of the modern state of Israel. Both are thick books, but worth reading. Such reading and understanding is required, if one were to make sense of President Trump’s announcement he would treat Jerusalem to be a rightful part of Israel, its capital. He is more in the long list of Political leaders in history to have taken a stand on the holy land, and its future. Once more that land in Judea gets center stage attention.

When I was India this month, I read about the current status of the dispute over Ayodya. The Supreme court had finally issued a verdict on the case. And when I landed here, the first piece of news I read was President trumps announcement. In both cases, a piece of land is invested with so much of Human meaning, symbolism, ideology and sacredness, and we fight for its vindication. It is natures law that all animals fight for territory. In fact it is a biological necessity, an universal trait, but animals do so only for survival, food and shelter. Its only man who fights over a piece of land for an idea, an opinion, and in many cases a mere myth. Such an attitude is a boon, and a torrid curse. A boon, because, we have risen above the needs of human body, a curse because we have still not learnt where to draw the line between symbols and reality.

Oh! Jerusalem, I pray we leave you in peace.

God bless…

Yours in mortality,

Bala