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Jerusalem is the major holy city of Judaism and Christianity, and third holiest city in Islam (Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia are more significant). Major religious sites are located there, such as the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif, where the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are located), the Western (Wailing) Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. A summary of the significance of these places, including tips for visiting, are included in the blog article ‘What Are the Most Important Religious Sites in Jerusalem?’ by Matthew Karsten on his travel blog website. Each site involves key moments in the founder of each religion’s life, frequently with overlap of location and even the specific event. One example of overlap in a site is the Temple Mount because the rock beneath the structures is considered “the Foundation Stone in Judaism, where Earth was first created; in Islam, it is where the Prophet Muhammad left Earth to visit heaven on a winged horse during his Night Journey” (Karsten, 2019).
Key issues surrounding the situation in Jerusalem include: the belief that Jerusalem is the holy land belonging to the Jews as promised in the Bible; the belief that the Arabs living there in the time of Jewish exile and persecution constitutes reason for them to continue living there; Islamic architecture was built on top of Jewish architecture, causing tensions; Jewish control is taking over in areas designated for Palestinians; Jewish control in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank; President Trump has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and plans to move the American embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, etc. The difficult nature of the Jerusalem situation is that all the arguments seem valid, especially on religious grounds. One problem however is that Judaism seems to be favored over Islam, so the previous ideas of Jews and Palestinians sharing the land equally are failing as Jews build walls in Palestinian territory and other nations praise a Jewish nation.
Unfortunately, I do not see any fantastic solutions, as it seems any move is too charged for the area. The best scenario would be that all three religions share the land equally and cohesively. If there is a way to split the city into sectors of the religions fairly, it could be explored, but all peoples would need access to the holiest sites; besides, sectors can make for territorial conflict the likes of neighbors arguing over fence lines would fear. Jews and Palestinians both want sole control of the land, and Palestinians are agitated by being outnumbered by and under-supported compared to the Jews in the land. Unfortunately, leaving Jerusalem as a ‘world city’ that no-one controls has not worked either, even as a fragile compromise. In the article ‘A Reasonable Solution for Jerusalem’ by Umran Chowdhury in the Dhaka Tribune, Chowdhury urges that “aid be given to Palestine to form their own strong democratic government and foster an economic bond between Israel and Palestine as a gateway to peace between the two states with Jerusalem as the capital to both” (Chowdhury, 2017). This would follow the idea of Chandigarh, which serves as the capital of the Punjab and Haryana in India.
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