nnn

Two Venerated Mothers Separated by a Wall

Iconic Spaces, Territoriality, and Borders
in Israel-Palestine

Nurit Stadler and Nimrod Luz

n ABSTRACT: This article explores the role of sacred places and pilgrimage centers in the
context of contemporary geopolitical strife and border disputes. Following and expand-
ing on the growing body of literature engaged with the contested nature of the sacred, this
article argues that sacred sites are becoming more influential in processes of determining
physical borders. We scrutinize this phenomenon through the prism of a small parcel of
land on the two sides of the Separation Wall that is being constructed between Israel and
Palestine. Our analysis focuses on two holy shrines that are dedicated to devotional moth-
ers: the traditional Tomb of Rachel the Matriarch on the way to Bethlehem and Our Lady
of the Wall, an emergent Christian site constructed as a reaction to the Wall. We examine
the architectural (and material) phenomenology, the experience, and the implications
that characterize these two adjacent spatialities, showing how these sites are being used as
political tools by various actors to challenge the political, social, and geographical order.

n KEYWORDS: Bethlehem, borders, Israel-Palestine, Jerusalem, Our Lady of the Wall, pil-
grimage, sacred places, Rachel’s Tomb

Holy places have long been recognized as contested venues. In such places, ethnic, national, and
ideological struggles are spatialized, and borders are defined (Chidester and Linenthal 1995;
Eade and Sallnow 1991b; Kong 2001, 2010; Smith 1987; van der Leeuw [1933] 1986). Draw-
ing and building on the expansive body of literature on the contested nature of the sacred, the
present article suggests that sacred sites are gaining an important role in dictating geopolitical
and national borders. Moreover, the rising power of religious factors in multi-scalar settings has
led to a growing phenomenon whereby borders are superimposed in juxtaposition to religious
landmarks (most often sacred sites).
In this article, we explore religiously inspired border superimposition through the prism of a
tiny sliver of land that is claimed by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Lodged between
the expanding outer limits of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the West Bank village of Beit Jala, the
contested land is home to two shrines: the Tomb of Rachel the Matriarch and Our Lady of the
Wall. The former is an ancient, well-established, and well-documented monument that is recog-
nized and mutually contested among Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. In contrast, Our

Religion and Society: Advances in Research 6 (2015): 127–141 © Berghahn Books

doi:10.3167/arrs.2015.060109
128  n  Nurit Stadler and Nimrod Luz

Lady of the Wall is a new site that centers around a Christian icon, which was painted in 2010 on
the Palestinian side of the Separation Wall. This barrier, which is discussed at length below, was
initiated by the State of Israel in 2002, and its construction is ongoing. It abuts both of the sites
under review and has palpably charged the area with new questions of sacredness, territoriality,
and border claiming.
The present article examines the architectural phenomenology that characterizes these two
adjacent spatialities as well as their symbolic-iconic implications in the urban and national realms.
Our focus is on how these sites are being used as political tools by various actors—hegemonic and
marginal, Jewish and Christian—in a dispute over border. We show that in the process of border
claims, Jews, Christians, and Muslims mythologize spaces, territories, and borders by embedding
symbols and narratives of female sainthood into the public sphere—in our case, the canonical
narratives of Rachel and Mary. We show that by producing these religious manifestations, the
devout conceive and/or advance new spatialities of territories, borders, and national identities.
These claims are intensified by the extremely militarized, masculinized, and often violent environs.
Following in the footsteps of Orsi (1999), Lefebvre (1991), Knott (2010), Beaumont (2010),
Beaumont and Baker (2011), Garbin (2012: 401), Cloke and Beaumont (2013), and Molendijk
et al. (2010), we document some of the changes produced by religious claimants on the Jerusa-
lem and Bethlehem borders over the past 20 years. More specifically, throughout this article, we
address the following questions: How are borders reshaped by religious claims that are expressed
and advanced through sacred iconic places? Particularly, how have sacred shrines and construc-
tions of sanctity become the dominant means of mobilizing religious and political symbols as a
way to change and claim lands and borders?

Contextualizing Contested Sites: Two Matriarchal Sacred Shrines

and a Wall between Them
In April 2002, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon initiated the construction of a barrier between Israel
and the Palestinian Authority (Arieli and Sfard 2008; Pike 2006). From its inception, this Separa-
tion Wall, known alternatively as the Wall or the Separation Fence, drew the wrath of local and
international human rights organizations, politicians, and numerous others (Lagerquist 2004),
who have accused Israel of exploiting a precarious security situation as a pretext for the appro-
priation and annexation of Palestinian lands (Arieli and Sfard 2008; Ibheis and Ayad 2010). When
complete, the barrier will wind its way through 430 miles of disputed land between Palestinians
and Israelis. It is essentially a daunting obstacle that combines advanced surveillance methods with
an elaborate system of physical barriers and security measures. It also includes a variety of open-
ings, such as gates and more elaborate passageways, where Israeli soldiers serve as gatekeepers. One
of these passages through the Wall is located midway between the two shrines that serve as our
point of entry to explore the connections among borders, sacred sites, and territoriality.
During the course of a growing geopolitical debate and a series of confrontations between
opposing sides, Rachel’s Tomb became the most hotly contested place in the Jerusalem-Bethle-
hem region. The site is famous for its religious, historical, and political significance. Its high pro-
file also made it the subject of many political disputes and debates between those who wanted
to pass it to Palestine and those who were fiercely determined to keep it as Israeli territory.
After a lengthy and heated discussion, supported and elaborated with theological argument,
the Israeli Cabinet convened a special meeting on 11 September 2002 at which they decided to
change the Wall’s proposed route to include the Rachel’s Tomb compound within Israeli terri-
tory and under direct Israeli control (Shragai 2002). The official explanation for this measure
 Two Venerated Mothers Separated by a Wall  n  129

was not theological but security-based. The Cabinet stated the need to “increase security” at the
shrine and “prevent infiltration of terrorists.”1 To this end, an 8-meter-high towering wall was
constructed around the compound, along with a maze of security roads and several army posts
that are manned at all times. Following the same logic, the civilian route for local Palestinians
(known as Passage 300 or Rachel’s Passage) was moved a few hundred yards due east of the
Tomb in order to prevent Palestinians from approaching the site on foot or by car.
In 2010, at the request of some nuns living near the Wall, a British iconographer painted an
icon of Mary on the Palestinian side of the barrier. This icon, known as Our Lady of the Wall, is
becoming a site of pilgrimage and veneration. Thus, two sacred sites of venerated mothers exist
in very close proximity on opposite sides of the Wall and within this highly nationalistic and
militarized environment.

Methodology
As mentioned above, the present article is part of a comprehensive study on the resurgence of
Christian, Jewish, and Muslim sacred places in Israel-Palestine and their influence on terri-
tory, landscape, urban planning, and everyday life.2 Over the course of our research, we have
observed, photographed, and videotaped the practices and rituals at these sites. Moreover, we
have held informal discussions with visitors and organizers in various languages (Hebrew, Ara-
bic, and English) during special ceremonies and everyday practices. The study has also involved
extensive archival and library research, including an in-depth survey of print and electronic
media articles about the two venues and their surroundings. Our fieldwork on Rachel’s Tomb
and Our Lady of the Wall differed notably from our work elsewhere because several unforesee-
able challenges arose as a result of the two sites’ proximity to the barrier.
As holders of Israeli passports, we were easily able to gain access to Rachel’s Tomb. However,
as soon as we stepped into the shrine’s heavily guarded narrow passage, our view was blocked,
and the passage imposed limitations on our efforts to conduct an ethnographic study (see fig. 1).
Our main challenge was gaining access to the other side of the barrier. Israeli law requires citi-
zens who wish to enter Palestinian-controlled territories (known as Area A) to obtain a formal
letter from the army. Upon presenting it, Israeli visitors to Bethlehem face a grueling ordeal of
interrogations and intimidation at the Rachel’s Tomb checkpoint.

A Walled-Off Matriarch: Rachel’s Tomb

Rachel’s Tomb has been venerated in the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions for centuries,
and its convoluted history extends at least 1,700 years (Limor 2007; Schiller 1978; Selwyn 2009,
2011; Sered 1986, 1989, 1991, 1998, 1999; Stadler 2013, 2015). The matriarch’s burial place is
mentioned in Jewish and Christian canonical texts as well as various Muslim sources (Arafat
2013; Friedland and Hecht 1991). The landscape of the shrine has changed considerably over
the course of its existence. The most recent changes are attributed to Israeli narratives of security
needs. In 1995, the Israeli architect Yaron Katz was commissioned to restructure the compound
in accordance with new security demands and guidelines that were laid down by the Israel
Ministry of Defense (Katz 2001). Accordingly, Katz designed a long stone wall lined with sealed
arches (see fig. 2). The implementation of this plan enclosed the hitherto unpretentious struc-
ture behind a fortified concrete corridor. The new architecture and the surrounding wall gave
the shrine an army bunker atmosphere, and visitors have often described it thus.
 Figure 1: The Road to the Tomb between Two Walls

Figure 2: Rachel’s Tomb after the Construction of the Wall

 Two Venerated Mothers Separated by a Wall  n  131

In this reality, as per the 1995 Oslo II Accord (the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement),
Rachel’s Tomb was designated as part of Area C, which is under Israeli security control. The
original plan called for the site to be fully controlled by the Palestinian Authority (Area A),3 as it
was located southeast of Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries at the time. However, it was ultimately
annexed to the areas under Israeli control after heavy pressure from several Israeli religious and
political figures.4 On 11 September 2002, the Israeli Security Cabinet under Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon decided to include Rachel’s Tomb within the ‘Jerusalem envelope’, which effectively meant
de facto annexation (Shragai 2002). The transformation of the legal status of the Tomb’s area from
A to C was buttressed and confirmed by an Israeli Supreme Court ruling5 that denied Palestinian
petitions to allow free movement from Bethlehem to the sacred site.
Since 1996, Palestinians have strengthened their claims to the shrine and its environs. Pal-
estinian activists and religious agents are now producing and reinforcing a new religious nar-
rative. Muslim accounts of veneration of the site date from as early as the eleventh century and
are consistent with Jewish interpretations. The place is aptly named Qubat Rahil (The Dome of
Rachel) in Arabic (al-Harawi 1953; Strickert 2007: 87–89). However, in recent years, a new layer
of traditions is being produced according to which the site is identified as the Bilal Bin Rabah
Mosque in honor of the Prophet Muhammad’s personal companion and former slave, who is
also considered Islam’s first mu’adhdhin or muezzin (a crier who announces prayers) (Arafat
2013).6 These sorts of counterclaims to Israeli-Jewish narratives of holy places have become a
formidable political tool for Palestinians seeking to contest Israel’s hegemonic position and its
claims to the land (Luz 2004). For example, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the former mufti of Jerusalem,
made the following comments in an interview with the Jerusalem Times, an independent Pal-
estinian weekly: “This [i.e., the annexation of Rachel’s Tomb] is unacceptable and a violation of
our religious rights … Israel’s policy of discrimination against the Palestinians, the indigenous
people, in every aspect of their lives, can be seen clearly through the annexation … We can’t
force the Israeli army to cease from carrying out this decision. However, we will continue to
cling to our historic and religious rights over all Muslim and Christian sites and shrines in Pal-
estine” (Shehada 2002).
In turn, the recent identification of the shrine with Bilal was met with an assortment of coun-
terclaims that emphasize the biblical legacy of Rachel and her tomb, reinforced by local Jewish
voices (Stadler 2015). These opposing religious and political voices express the tensions and the
complex politics of borders. During interviews we held with Israeli pilgrims at Rachel’s Tomb,
these sorts of territorial claims were buttressed with notions of a divinely chosen and benevo-
lent mother. Our interlocutors also emphasized the credibility of the present location of her
gravesite. Furthermore, many of them drew a correlation between this shrine and the Jews’
return to their homeland. Put differently, the religious claims were fused with nationalist senti-
ments and geopolitical demands, both of which were translated into concrete barriers and bor-
der lines that serve to deny Arab claims and to exclude Arab access to the site.
This viewpoint was expressed by Smadar, an Israeli woman in her forties, with whom we
spoke at the Tomb in 2009:
Rachel’s life was tragic, but we know that throughout her ordeal she remained absolutely
faithful to God. All the sages declared that Jacob buried Rachel on the roadside so that she
could pray for them [i.e., her progeny] as they were being led into exile … Jeremiah reminded
us all that “Rachel weeps for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children who
are gone.” God’s answer was clear: “Restrain your voice from weeping, your eyes from shed-
ding tears, for there is reward for your labor.” This is why we know that this place belongs to
us today and that the Jews will “return from the lands of their enemies to their own country”
[Jeremiah 31:14–15]. These are God’s words to our mother.
132  n  Nurit Stadler and Nimrod Luz

Like many other visitors to the shrine, Smadar regards the figure of Rachel as not only a devo-
tional mother but a national one. Moreover, she invoked the Tomb’s biblical connection to the
“return of the exiles.” By summoning these symbols, Smadar sought to reinforce the long and,
in her estimation, undisputed territorial claim and Jewish presence at this contested shrine.
Her assertions were echoed by many others. Shulamit, a 33-year-old Orthodox-Israeli woman,
enthusiastically explained why she prays at the gravesite of her “eternal mother” on a regu-
lar basis: “It is written in the sacred scriptures that Rachel imainu [our mother] labors on our
behalf more than all of our holy fathers put together. While they are all hiding in the cave [i.e.,
the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron], she constantly reveals herself to us here.” Joining the
conversation, a 25-year-old woman named Avigail said that “the inspiration of the divine spirit
[shkhinah] is here in our mother’s tomb, and we should all pray for our sake here in her eternal
land that is ours.” In essence, Shulamit and Avigail have narrated their story of the place. They
describe its sacredness and politics by mixing biblical phrases with current events, materiality,
and belonging. Moreover, they mobilize biblical passages for the purpose of portraying Rachel
as the eternal mother of the Jewish nation, which is thus the owner of the land (Stadler 2013).
As we learned from the narratives and debates of many at the Tomb, religious mythology
mingles with land and territory ownership. Although the de facto border was established by a
highly secularized national apparatus in concert with a professional military, the main impe-
tus behind the border contours was the struggle over the land—a highly political struggle that
was cast in religious terms. In this respect, the Tomb’s contentious history and its twenty-first-
century appropriation go hand-in-hand with the transformation of the shrine of Rachel and her
burial place into a national iconic site and of her tomb into a landmark of territorial ownership.
These developments attest to changing dynamics in public spaces, urban landscapes, and deter-
minations of national borders as products of a wide range of often contradictory religious, theo-
logical, totemic, and territorial claims. Thus, at Rachel’s Tomb, the totemic aspects of religion as
belonging are returning to a central role in the reshaping of the public sphere.

A Christian Reaction to the Wall as a Border: Our Lady of the Wall

The case of Our Lady of the Wall can also be discussed as part of this political-religious trans-
formation of the border. In 2010, an icon of the Virgin Mary was painted less than 550 yards due
east of Rachel’s Tomb on the Palestinian side of the Wall. Given the fact that the age-old shrine is
the main reason the Wall runs through that particular location, the relatively new mural can be
understood, in a roundabout way, as a reaction to the shrine’s enclosure. Ian Knowles, a British
iconographer and former priest, was commissioned to paint the mural by nuns from the nearby
Emmanuel Monastery. Nestled among graffiti and new drawings, the icon graces a corner block
of the towering gray Wall. In combination, all of these visuals create a very political landscape
of resistance and express the pain and frustration that the Wall has caused local residents and
visitors from the Palestinian side.
For example, Sister Martha, a monastery nun interviewed by Deborah Pike (2006), explained
the disruption caused by the newly constructed Israeli barrier: “Here in Bethlehem, the wall
encircles us completely. We face Jerusalem but cannot see it, the view is completely blocked.
All around Bethlehem there is this electric wall, the enclosure, it is dangerous and no one can
leave. We have now been cut off from our retreat house, the town hall, and the university. Entire
families have been cut off from one another; it is really like the Berlin Wall. People try to climb
the wall, cross over, leave; the hospitals are full of people who have broken their arms and legs
trying to climb over, because, despite everything, they must live.” Like other people we met,
 Two Venerated Mothers Separated by a Wall  n  133

Sister Martha described the experience of being shut out by the Wall. Since its construction,
people can no longer reach places that were integral parts of their daily life, such as the churches
and sacred places of Jerusalem. It was the Christians restricted by the Wall who called for the
establishment of a new Marian site. According to the local narrative, a picture of Mary was first
lodged into the crevice between two of the barrier’s concrete slabs, thereby lifting the spirits of
Christians in the area. However, the picture was soon frayed by heavy winter rains (interview
with Ian Knowles, 7 October 2011).
As depicted in the mural, the pregnant mother presses her outer garment close to her chest,
while opening her mantle to serve as a safe refuge (see fig. 3). According to visitors we encoun-
tered at the site, the mural’s three ancient olive trees symbolize the endurance of faith, hope, and
charity. In the Israeli-Palestinian context, olive trees also represent deep feelings for contested,
and now lost, lands: “[The] [o]live tree evokes everything for the Palestinians, it is old but it is
not dead. It endures, it is old, it does not die, but it is something that is so often desecrated by the
wall, it is a scar, it is a desecration. The whole thing is about the land … So the olive tree’s endur-
ance is very important. And the mountain, which is the frame, is a very old motive.”7 Beneath the

Figure 3: Our Lady of the Wall

134  n  Nurit Stadler and Nimrod Luz

painting of Mary, an open doorway offers a distant view of Jerusalem. The image of the Virgin,
according to Knowles (interview, 1 November 2012), stands as “a contrast to violence and injus-
tice, in the hope of peace and reconciliation for all … It will [also] ensure that the indigenous
Arab-Christian icon tradition, now hanging on by a thread, is preserved for a new generation.”
Moreover, the mural shows a pair of boots hanging over the top of the slab. Knowles explained
that they “represent all those who have hung up their boots because they no longer have land
of their own on which to walk.” Although the icon is the cynosure of this site, other less formal
elements such as graffiti are constantly being thrown into the mix.
On 13 December 2012, during one of our visits to the site, while enjoying the company of
Knowles, we noticed that someone had painted a large dragon on the Wall some 50 yards due west
of the painting of Mary. Knowles expressed his view that the recently painted dragon alludes to a
passage in the Book of Revelation (12:1–5), which describes two signs that appeared in heaven:
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon
under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, tra-
vailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and
behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.”
During a previous visit on 1 November 2012, we noticed a new graffiti reading “Ride into the
sun.” This, and the other elements discussed below reveal the central theme of the nascent site:
the Virgin as a symbol of revelation and peace. Its primary audience consists of people who are
prohibited from crossing the checkpoint and visiting the established Marian sites in Jerusalem.
“Many people here see this wall as the opposition to all that is good,” Knowles postulated (inter-
view, 7 October 2011). “It has no future, it ghettoizes, cuts you off from your neighbors—this is
what a wall does. You are not free like you used to be.”
For Clemens, a local Catholic woman, the icon is about bringing peace:

The idea behind painting this icon was to bring peace for both sides … if you look at it, you
can notice that half of it is here and the other half is on the second block, this is how it unites
both sides. To be honest, when they took our lands and built the Wall, we were much affected,
we even thought that it was the end of the world for us, because these lands are from our
ancestors to the children and because it is what provides a living for us. So when the lands
were taken and we weren’t able to reach them, we became desperate, but with the picture of
Mary here, we began to feel that there is someone waiting for us. Mary waits for us, gives us
comfort and love, and opens her hands to us … So we, as people of this neighborhood, feel a
great relief when we look at her.8

This narrative makes obvious Clemens’s ability to associate territorial rights and claims with the
figure of Mary and the icon’s sacred presence on the Wall. The icon simultaneously assists her to
the reject the Wall and enables her to make peace with it:

Even if it is not now, one day He will hear the echo of our voices and prayers and will bring
the Walls down. Because we—as Christians—have the idea that we reject this Wall, first from
a political aspect, second from a social aspect, and third this Wall is creating a wall in our
hearts … how can I love people who took my land, stole my dignity, and put me behind this
wall like the animals, walls without a roof? That is why we are much influenced, but having
Mary on the Wall, our psychology has altered … Furthermore, because the painting is some-
thing that a person can [see], when we get sick—of course, not only when we are sick—every
time we pass by here we greet her, we [make the sign of the cross], we say some prayers …
because she is the mother of Jesus Christ … it doesn’t matter from what religious background
we come, she is the mother of Jesus.
 Two Venerated Mothers Separated by a Wall  n  135

As shown through the construction of the shrine of Our Lady of the Wall, local Palestinians
resist the construction of the Separation Wall by cultivating an alternative sacred venue that not
only castigates the massive border obstacle in their path, but also is an antithesis to the domi-
nance of the Jews who confiscated the land. This reaction is also manifested with regard to the
Rachel’s Tomb shrine in the immediate yet inaccessible vicinity. As we have seen, the two places
under study are being shaped by trenchant religious voices that aspire to reclaim the same terri-
tory, to Christianize or Judaize the landscape. These opposing, competing narratives are part of
the ongoing religious/political contests that underpin the construction and reconstruction of the
shrines and their current reformulation and newly emergent understandings. Moreover, these
narratives speak volumes about the growing impact of religion on the national conflict and the
geopolitical struggle. They clearly demonstrate how totemic and iconic features of religion are
being re-established as the public sphere is reshaped and state/municipal borders are redrawn.

Transforming Sacred Space and Setting Borders on Hallowed Ground

Our findings suggest that the construction, reconstruction, and renovation of sacred space in
the Israel-Palestine region are fueling deep-seated conflicts over physical borders and territori-
ality on both the municipal and national scales. The spatial dynamics of Rachel’s Tomb and Our
Lady of the Wall reveal how religious symbols, materials, discourse, theology, and rituals can
be employed to alter and recreate space and, by extension, to impact municipal/state borders
(Ivakhiv 2001, 2006). Needless to say, sacred places have often been recruited in struggles for
legitimacy and ownership and, as a result, have continuously become battlegrounds for political
conflicts (Bowman 2010; Chidester and Linenthal 1995; van der Leeuw [1933] 1986). In this
respect, the present-day circumstances of holy sites reflect the current (albeit perhaps tempo-
rary) resolutions to various competing needs and claims to these sites (Chidester and Linenthal
1995: 3). For this reason, they incorporate and embody a farrago of imported, often contested,
and radically polarizing interests, perceptions, and narratives pertaining to the object(s) of
sanctification (Eade and Sallnow 1991b: 5, 10). In particular, venues with competing ownership
claims over a tangible space are the scenes of power struggles between adversarial groups that
are locked in complex religious, political, national, ethnic, and territorial disputes (Albera and
Couroucli 2012; Bax 1990a, 1990b, 1991, 1995; Bowman 1991, 1993; Brace et al. 2006; Breger et
al. 2010; Harris 1997; Herrero 1999; Kong 2005). Such rivalry is glaringly obvious in the political
context of Israel-Palestine. Thus, in parallel with the growing popularity of Jewish pilgrimage
sites (Ben-Ami 1998; Bilu 2010; Limor 2007; Reiter 2010; Sered 1986; Wilkinson 1990), one may
also find local Christian and Muslim Arabs nurturing and enhancing their own sacred sites, his-
tories, and landmarks. For this reason, several holy sites in Israel-Palestine, especially those of
counter-hegemonic groups, are on the front lines of violent political conflicts (Luz 2004, 2008;
Stadler 2011, 2012). Although many of these places have been documented, our current case
studies call for a more nuanced theoretical approach because the religious claims to these sites
have become legitimate factors in the setting of post-secular borders.
In our analysis, we show that sacred places are not only tangible and highly politicized ele-
ments in geopolitical struggles; they are also central agents in settling border disputes. Through
our encounters with the sacred in a border zone, we point to a new phenomenon: sacred places
used to mark borders.9 David Sibley’s (1995) research on the creation of ‘otherness’ through the
‘purification’ of space is pertinent to the discussion at hand. Sibley argues that dominant groups
frequently evoke this idea as a way to exclude and marginalize the ‘other’ from an ultra-puri-
fied space. This process inevitably entails the construction of borders and other impediments
136  n  Nurit Stadler and Nimrod Luz

with which to exclude the ‘other’ (Paasi 1998). Building on Sibley’s insights, Falah and Newman
(1995) demonstrate how both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict point out threats made by
the other side on its own members as grounds for mutual exclusion. Rachel’s Tomb fortifications
and the exclusion of Palestinians are indeed premised on this sort of threat. In the end, these
same arguments led to the placement of the national border in response to the threat and in
consideration of the site. Put bluntly, the sacred becomes a factor in shaping boundaries and, in
turn, people’s identity, rather than the other way around. In the case under review, the process of
establishing territory—a fundamental role of the modern nation-state—was advanced by reli-
gious narratives and agents that co-opted the state apparatus.
Our findings demonstrate that holy sites can be crucial to the forging of urban spaces and
boundaries, be they symbolic or physical. It is no coincidence that the two studied sites are
dedicated to the veneration of matriarchs or that they revolve around themes of fertility, moth-
erhood, and female suffering. By reinforcing rituals and memories at Rachel’s Tomb, Jewish
devotees promote and mobilize narratives and symbols of the saint for the purpose of strength-
ening their grip over a site that they believe to be at risk of falling into the hands of their rivals.
Through the reappropriation and feminization of this expanse, they empower Jewish/Israeli
belonging. On the other hand, Christian minorities struggle to express themselves against the
overwhelming power of Israel’s state apparatus and to find solace through the (highly politi-
cized) religious sphere. Thus, local Christians reconstruct their own narrative of the place and
challenge the unilateral establishment of the de facto border at this shrine by cultivating a com-
peting feminine-matriarchal site. At the heart of Our Lady of the Wall stands a female claim
for peace. In this way, both sides to the dispute not only inject religious ideas into public spaces
and political debates, but also determine how boundaries are negotiated and decided upon.
Moreover, we have seen how these places provide an opportunity to challenge the existing social
order. Against the backdrop of militarization, violence, and sequestration, symbols of fertility
and pious motherhood reinforce an alternative outlook toward the land and its borders.

Conclusion
In this article, we analyze the construction and reconstruction of two sacred venues, Rachel’s
Tomb and Our Lady of the Wall, in the context of the Israel-Palestine Separation Wall. Our over-
arching argument is that, against the backdrop of a highly militarized, masculinized, and often
violent location, religious matriarchal sites are active as elements in the process of establishing
both tangible and intangible boundaries and as symbols of religious and national yearnings.
The article shows how devotees at the two shrines mobilize each site’s ritual emphasis on revered
mothers for the sake of advancing their own interests in the public sphere. Our geo-ethnography
reveals that national borders and the appropriation of land can be premised on sacred places. In
particular, we examine two coterminous sacred places that also abut an emergent border. Rachel’s
Tomb has indeed played a critical role in determining the path of the Separation Wall. More spe-
cifically, religious actors persuaded the Israeli Cabinet to include the shrine inside the state’s de
facto borders. The barrier’s completed construction at this site has intensified the age-old shrine’s
standing in the national discourse. No longer merely a holy site, it is now also revered as a national
landmark. These developments on the Israeli side of the Wall then triggered Christian-Palestinian
reactions, including among them, the establishment of a new Marian site—Our Lady of the Wall.
In summation, we have focused on a pair of interrelated processes revealed over the course
of this research project: the political spatialization of the holy and the interplay between reli-
giosity and borders. Accordingly, Rachel’s Tomb and Our Lady of the Wall shed light on the
 Two Venerated Mothers Separated by a Wall  n  137

growing significance of religious claims on everyday life. The first development touches on what
Peter Berger (1999) has defined as the ‘desecularization of the world’. Although prevailing pub-
lic discourse is focused mainly on globalization, capital flows, and the ostensible demise of the
nation-state, scholars should take note of recent territorialization processes that are grounded on
religious claims to specific places. The advancement of these claims and their influence on the
realignment of borders cannot help but trigger opposing actions. In Israel-Palestine, the incor-
poration of the sacred into the national discourse has given rise to a newly emerging space that
straddles the de facto border between two ancient cities and two inchoate polities. Two devotional
matriarchs stand in competition with one another as they establish and inhabit a newly emergent,
highly politicized space. Moreover, they also provide living examples of our main theme—that
iconic and sacred places have a growing political and spatial role in determining borders.

n ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This article is part of a wide-ranging project, Sacred Sites in Contested Regions, which studies
sacred places in Israel-Palestine. Special thanks are due to the Israel Science Foundation (Grant
No. 0321861) for its generous support and encouragement. A first draft of the article was pre-
sented at a symposium titled “Recentering Borderlands: Comparative Cases from Mexico/US
and Palestine/Israel,” which was organized by Valentina Napolitano and held at the University
of Toronto in September 2013, and we thank Valentina for her invitation. The authors greatly
appreciated her companionship on an excursion to Bethlehem during her visit, and we value our
ongoing debates on religion and borderlands. We owe a debt of gratitude to Avi Aronsky for his
fine editing and helpful suggestions throughout the writing phase. We would like to thank David
Lehmann for his continuing assistance, be it his companionship on the ethnographic journey
or his sage feedback and prodding. Yoram Bilu’s encouragement and inspiring comments have
been a boon to the project. Additionally, we are indebted to Lior Chen, Emily Kattan, and Chen
Reuveni for their research assistance and collaboration on various aspects of this work. We also
wish to thank the anonymous reviewers and Shawn Kendrick for their advice on the text. This
voyage could not have been completed without the help of all these wonderful people.

n Nurit Stadler is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology

at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research interests include Israel’s ultra-Ortho-
dox community, fundamentalism, Greek-Orthodox and Catholic rituals in Jerusalem,
text-based communities, the veneration of Mary in Israel-Palestine, and the study of
current fertility shrines and rituals in sacred places and sacred tombs. Her publica­tions
include Yeshiva Fundamentalism: Piety, Gender, and Resistance in the Ultra-Orthodox
World (2009) and A Well-Worn Tallis for a New Ceremony: Trends in Israeli Haredi Culture
(2012); nurit.stadler@mail.huji.ac.il.

Nimrod Luz is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at

the Western Galilee College in Israel. He is a cultural geographer and a Middle East scholar.
He has published on various themes concerning cities and urbanism in the Middle East,
Islamization and transformations of the cultural landscape, and the politics and landscapes
of sacred sites. His latest book is The Mamluk City in the Middle East: History, Culture, and
the Urban Landscape (2014); luznimrod@gmail.com.
138  n  Nurit Stadler and Nimrod Luz

n Notes
1. “Israel’s Security Fence” [in Hebrew], Israel Ministry of Defense, http://www.securityfence.mod.gov.
il/Pages/Heb/shelot.htm (accessed 21 April 2013).
2. Titled “Sacred Sites in Contested Regions,” this ongoing study focuses on emerging and recently
revived contested places on the margins of Israeli society. The project aims to identify the nuances
and transformation of the Israel-Palestine landscape in order to analyze the role of icons, artifacts,
and the sites themselves as spatial metaphors. More information about this project can be found at
http://sacredplaces.huji.ac.il/.
3. Area B regions are under Palestinian civic jurisdiction, but joint Israeli-Palestinian security control.
4. Among those who lobbied for the site’s annexation were notables such as Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, MK
Hanan Porat, Minister of Religion Asher Ohana (2001–2003), and the serving chief rabbis, Eliyahu
Bakshi Doron (2002) and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch.
5. Bethlehem Municipality and 22 Others v. State of Israel–Ministry of Defense, the Supreme Court Sitting
as the High Court of Justice, HCJ 1890/03, PD 59(4), 736–766 (3 February 2005).
6. In October 2010, UNESCO’s Executive Board declared that the “Bilal bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel’s
Tomb” is an “integral part of the occupied Palestinian Territories and that any unilateral action by
the Israeli authorities is to be considered a violation of international law.” See http://www.unesco.
org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/executive_board_adopts_five_decisions_concerning
_unescos_work_in_the_occupied_palestinian_and_arab_territories/#.Va6rAShy90c.
7. “Our Lady of the Wall—UK Launch of the Bethlehem Icon School,” Society of St John Chrysostom,
1 December 2012, http://orientale-lumen.blogspot.co.il/2012/12/our-lady-of-wall-uk-launch-of-
bethlehem.html (accessed 11 December 2012).
8. This interview was conducted on 22 September 2013 by Emily Kattan, who is a participant in the
Sacred Sites in Contested Regions project.
9. Boundaries are hardly alien to the sacred realm. The classics indicate that the very act of sacralization
transforms an otherwise profane site into a transcendent one. Such sacred places are involved—even
if only tacitly—in the setting of borders (Eliade 1958; Otto 1923).

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