Women and the Holy City
The Struggle over Jerusalem's Sacred Space

Addresses the central role of Jewish and Muslim women's movements at the heart of the struggle over Jerusalem's sacred spaces.

Lihi Ben Shitrit (Author)

9781108485470, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 October 2020

304 pages
15.5 x 23.5 x 2 cm, 0.49 kg

'This sophisticated account of the gendered dimensions of contemporary conflict over Jerusalem's sacred esplanade is a must-read for scholars of religion and politics. Challenging the naïve assumption of women as 'do-gooders,' Ben Shitrit shows that women's religious freedom activism has entrenched the very divisions and hierarchies within and between communities that it is presumed to tame or transcend.' Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Northwestern University

Jerusalem's Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif is the holiest place in the world for Jews, the third holiest place for Muslims and a constant feature in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet the gendered dimensions of inter-communal disputes over sacred space in Jerusalem, as well as in other holy places around the world, have been largely neglected, as have women's roles in these site-specific conflicts. An implicit association of women with peaceful politics and syncretic religious practices has obscured the fact that women are often key actors in inter-communal contestation of holy places. This study looks to three contemporary women's movements in and around Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade: Women for the Temple - a Jewish Orthodox movement for access to Temple Mount; The Murabitat - Muslim women activists devoted to the protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque from Jewish claims; and Women of the Wall - a Jewish feminist mobilization against restrictive gender regulations at the Western Wall. Lihi Ben-Shitrit demonstrates how attention to gender and to women's engagement in conflict over sacred places is essential for understanding what makes contested sacred sites increasingly 'indivisible' for parties in the inter-communal context.

Introduction
1. Women for the temple and the (in)divisibility of Temple Mount
2. Women of the wall: feminism between intra- and inter-communal contestation
3. Al-aqsa will not be divided! Murabitat traveling to, studying in, and fighting for Al-aqsa
Epilogue – the question of religious freedom.

Subject Areas: Gender studies, gender groups [JFSJ], Religious issues & debates [HRAM], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]