Reading Response 2

History has always been one of my favorite subjects, so I really enjoyed this week's articles. We spend so much time focusing on the (relatively) recent history of Jerusalem that it was a nice breather to get to see a bit into the ancient past. Jerusalem means so much to so many people, and so many passions are tied up into it, it's strange to think that, at one point Jerusalem was just a small village reliant upon springs for water in the middle of the dusty landscape. I find it kind of funny that, in all actuality, Jerusalem wasn't a very convenient location for the tug-of-war between the three great monotheistic faiths. Poor Jerusalem has known more sieges, invasions, take-overs, build-ups and tear-downs than pretty much any city in the world. Who among the Jebusites, or other first inhabitants could have foreseen the fate of their little village. Just think of how different things would be if King David hadn't chosen it as his capital, or if the founder of Christianity hadn't died there, or if Muhammad would not have traveled there on his Night Journey? All three of the articles spend pages going over the various groups conquering the city, and then being conquered themselves. It made me really really want to watch Kingdom of Heaven (the director's cut of course).


My favorite of the three was the article by Mick Dumper. I thought he did a good job of establishing that Jerusalem wasn't a cake walk for the Palestinians or the Jews. The visual timeline was also a nice edition (and, maybe it's the Kindergartner in me, but I liked the pictures too). I liked how the Rubin article was mainly historical, though I thought how he ended it was a little sunshine and rainbows-y what with "Jerusalem {becoming} a united city where Jews and Muslims {. . . } could like side by side. Hmmm. I don't know if he's portraying that in a very realistic light. The Khalidi begins by saying that even if all of the religious texts aren't historically accurate, enough people believe that they are historically accurate for the traditions formed from them to be very very relevant today. He also ends on a hopeful note, but I think his is much more realistic than Rubin's. He hopes that in the end, peace will be reached and all the faiths can live in Jerusalem in (relative) harmony.