To Rule Jerusalem

To Rule Jerusalem is a historical and ethnographic account of the twentieth-century struggle for Jerusalem.

Roger Friedland (Author), Richard Hecht (Author)

9780521440462, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 March 1996

574 pages, 49 b/w illus. 10 maps
23.7 x 16 x 4.1 cm, 1 kg

'To Rule Jerusalem is the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, and a welcome scholarly complement to existing journalistic accounts with a similar focus. It reveals extraordinary insight into the complexities which shape this city, and it is beautifully written … invaluable reading for anyone concerned with understanding how and why this small city at once holds the key to peace in the Middle East and threatens to undermine all its prospects.' Cecilia Albin, International Affairs

Compelling historical and ethnographic account of the twentieth-century struggle for Jerusalem. The volume examines how Jerusalem is doubly divided, on the one hand between Israelis and Palestinians, each of whom ground their national identities in the city, as well as within each nation between those who put primacy in the democratic decisions of their nations and those who would yield to a higher divine law. Professors Friedland and Hecht explore how Jerusalem has figured as a battleground in conflicts over the relation between Zionism and Judaism and between Palestinian nationalism and Islam. Based on hundreds of interviews with powerful players and ordinary citizens over the course of a decade, this book evokes the ways in which these conflicts are experienced and managed in the life of the city.

List of maps
List of photographs
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction. To rule Jerusalem
1. A fearful fusion
Part I. The Two Zions: Jews against Zionism in Jerusalem: 2. Zion against Zionism
3. Black Zion
4. Sabbath wars
5. To control the center
Part II. Zion Divine: Jerusalem as the Messianic Central City: 6. A few footsteps for the Messiah
7. Staking the claim
8. Building the capital
9. Suburbs of the Messiah
10. Defensible borders
Part III. Birth of a Nation: 11. Platform for Palestine
12. Zion for Palestine
13. A state of mind
14. The Islamic challenge
15. Baghdad, Berlin and Jerusalem
Part IV. Heart of Stone: 16. Al-Quds and Tunis
17. The city that ate Palestine
18. Heart of stone
Index.

Subject Areas: Social groups [JFS]