Contested Holy Sites

Lai Chungzen E0196782

The cartoon depicts the consequential announcement made by Trump on officially recognising
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the preparations the US made to move its embassy from Tel
Aviv to the contested city. It is a very geopolitical announcement by Trump as it creates a lot of
tension to the already deep conflicted frontier between Israel and Palestine. Jerusalem is holy to all
three monotheistic religions of the middle east, namely Christians, Jews, and Muslims and holds
significant religious monuments and buildings for these religions. Since the creation of the modern
state of Israel, both Israel and Palestine have laid claims to the historic city.

Picture source: https://www.mintpressnews.com/comic/donald-trump-declares-jerusalem-capital-

israel-editorial-cartoon/

Information source:

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-12-11/what-trumps-jerusalem-
decision-means-for-the-middle-east

http://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/facts-on-the-ground-in-jerusalem/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/06/donald-trump-us-jerusalem-israel-capital

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jerusalem-trump-meaning-why-
important-what-does-it-mean-happened-israel-palestine-middle-east-latest-a8095991.html
This is one of the most contested holy sites in the old city of Jerusalem, known as Temple Mount to
the Jews or Haram al-Sharif to the Muslims. The Temple Mount is considered the holiest site in
Judaism as it is the site of the destroyed Solomon’s temple and Second temple, with the remnants
Western Wall as an iconic Jewish prayer site. The Haram al-Sharif is considered the third holiest site
in Islam, hosting the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Both Israel and Palestine have had
efforts to religiously secure the revered site in terms of visiting and prayer rights.

Picture source: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/Temple_Mount.html

Information source:

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/22/world/jerusalem-most-contest/index.html

http://www.timesofisrael.com/clashes-erupt-in-jerusalem-amid-temple-mount-unrest/

https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/11/economist-explains-13
The photo shows Israeli Soldiers standing next to the blood stains in the Cave of the Patriarchs in
Hebron, also known as the Ibrahimi Mosque by Muslims following the Goldstein Massacre carried
out by American-Israeli Baruch Goldstein on 25th February 1994, which killed 29 and injured 125
Palestinian Muslims. It was during the concurrent holidays of the Jewish Purim and Muslim
Ramadan. The Cave, considered as the second holiest place for the Jewish people, is believed to be
the burial tomb of Patriarchs and Matriarch of the Jews, namely Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and
Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. For the Muslims, Abraham is a revered prophet of Islam, also the father of
Ishmael, the ancestor Muhammad.

Picture sources: https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-decades-after-massacre-hebron-is-still-

hurting/

Information source:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tomb-of-the-patriarchs-ma-arat-hamachpelah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Patriarchs#Islam

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Patriarchs_massacre

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-a-look-at-contested-holy-sites-in-the-conflict-
1.5412383

https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-decades-after-massacre-hebron-is-still-hurting/
This is Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem, revered as the burial site of matriarch Rachel and considered
the third holiest site to the Jews, and equally revered by the Christians and Muslims. It is considered
as a special place for the Jews to pray for childless mothers and the Jews had made pilgrimages to
the tomb since ancient times. However, it has a Muslim cemetery around it while being claimed as
the mosque of Bilal bin Rabah by the Palestinian Authority, though the claim was unfounded.
Throughout history, the Turkish Prime Minister and UNESCO had endorsed that it belongs to the
Muslims while the Ottoman authorities recognised Jewish rights on the site.

Picture source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/244479/palestinian-hijacking-rachels-tomb-

david-bedein

Information source:

http://jcpa.org/article/rachel%E2%80%99s-tomb-a-jewish-holy-place-was-never-a-mosque/

http://www.rachelstomb.org/capsulehistory.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel%27s_Tomb

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/244479/palestinian-hijacking-rachels-tomb-david-bedein

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-a-look-at-contested-holy-sites-in-the-conflict-
1.5412383
Additional editorial:

Territory concisely refers to geographical space within a certain boundary. However, Elden (2013)
describes territory as a controllable “political technology” of social and spatial organisation which is
dependent on the ways of perception about space. Often, motives to claim a certain territory
derives from emotional, sentimental ties and, in this case, religious attachments, which forms the
cultural and religious bonds of “homeland”.

In this context, territory refers to these contested holy sites. The old city of Jerusalem functions as
the holy city for three religions, which is Judaism, Islam and Christianity while hosting significant
religious sites for all three. In a smaller perspective, Temple Mount, Rachel’s Tomb, and Cave of the
Patriarchs are territory religiously perceived by the Muslims and the Jews to be exclusively theirs. At
the heart of it, the dilemma of these contested holy sites is that both the Judaist Jewish and Muslim
Palestinians shared different sentiments over the same “territory”.

Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem to be their capital, though the UN proposed it to be an
international zone. From a geopolitical perspective, it complicates the political conflicts as both Jews
and Muslims expressed belonging over Jerusalem. This is territoriality at play at a geopolitical level;
Storey (2012) refers territoriality as the means of translating control over a territory or the action of
laying claims over it. Having such control conveys the political authority, power, and rights, or more
specifically, religious rights in terms of prayers and visiting permit.

Throughout history, these holy sites have seen repeated annexation by both Jews and the Muslims.
For examples, wars between Israel and Jordan resulted in Israel’s capture of Jerusalem in 1967; the
Byzantine and Crusaders made the Caves of Patriarch a church, but the Muslims rendered it a
Mosque; Jews were prevented from visiting the Rachel’s Tomb during the Jordanian period, but the
site was reclaimed following the Six Day War in 1967.

Academic reference:

[1] Beinin, J., Hajjar, L. (2001) Palestine Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Primer, (p. 7) Middle
East Research & Information Project

[2] Storey, D. (2012) Political Geographies: Geopolitics, Territory, States, Citizenship and Governance,
(pp. 422-423)