Jerusalem Syndrome

Arriving from Israel's southern city of Eilat was an experience in itself.
After hours driving through barren desert, settlements begin to get bigger and closer together and traffic denser until a large city emerged across the hillsides. From the bus window the golden 'Dome of the Rock' gleamed from in amongst puzzle pieces of white buildings. Coming into view was the incredible old town of Jerusalem. Set behind towering pale yellow stone walls it puts even the best historical cities of Europe to shame.

Inside, the old town is divided into four areas; Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Armenian. This seems odd but necessary in this place, so sacred to so many.
There are ancient churches, mosques and synagogues dotted all around the place and Arab markets abound.
There's a mixture of local Muslims, Jewish Orthodox and Christians, as well as the many international pilgrims which add even more zealotry to the city.

People in all manner of dress dart to and fro but to my eye, rarely mix. Those in western dress dash past others in Islamic robes, orthodox Jews in dark suits and top hats or Kippah. The most interesting dress of all for me is the disk like fur hat some orthodox Jews wear. It's apparently called the Schtreimal.
It is hard to imagine the discipline of these people wearing such heavy clothing in soaring summer temperatures.
A well known Israeli comic made light of this in a stand up routine;
'Is it hot in here or is it just that I'm dressed for 18th century Poland?'

People watching in this place is so all-consuming you could nearly forget the dizzying array of sacred sites you can visit from one day to the next. You have the Western wall (‘Wailing wall') a site desperately sacred to Jews who regard this last remaining part of their temple as their holiest place. People come here to pray towards the location of the old temple. But during ‘Shabbat’ quiet lamentation ceases and an almighty celebration occurs there. Shabbat is the Jewish Sabbath that occurs from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Being at the wall at dusk on Friday is incredible and unmissable for any tourist.

It's unlike any church service you would ever see and more resembles New years' eve celebration than anything else I can think of. It's a full blown open air party with thousands at the wall singing and dancing in groups. Young and old are alike in their fervour and exhilaration. Even soldiers make merry with machine guns on their arms, which is an odd and troubling sight. It seems these people are truly enjoying being back in their promised land with their temple and feel the full weight of history and their own place in it. It appears both provocative and nationalistic in this place, but it is truly an amazing sight.

It is doubly provocative when you think the holiest site in Israel for Muslims is just above the wall where the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque stand. The 'Temple Mount' is sacred to both Muslims and Jews and causes a lot of friction and controversy to this day. The site of the Dome is where Muslims believe Mohammed ascended to heaven during his miraculous night flight and also the likely location of the Jewish temple in antiquity. The complex is only open a few hours per day and tourists must enter through a bridge near the Western wall. After visiting a lot of mosques around the world it was disappointing that non Muslims are unable to go inside Al Aqsa.

Just thirty minutes on foot from the wall is the famed Mount of Olives. It's a place that's important to all three Abrahamic religions whose faithful believe that the Messiah will return there on judgement day. It's also particularly sacred to Christians and Muslims as it's held that it was from here that Christ ascended to heaven. I visited the garden of Gethsemane, Virgin Mary's tomb and then braved the midday heat to climb the steep hill and visit the church of the ascension. There is also a mosque of the ascension which claims to have Isa's (Jesus') ascending footprints embedded in the rock floor. On the other side of the Mount of Olives is the Jewish graveyard. Thousands of gravestones mark Israel's most sought after cemetery. Those vying for the hillside plots believe they will be the first to be raised and judged by the Messiah at the apocalypse.

Back in the old town Christianity's holiest site is the Via Dolarosa, or 'Way of sorrow' which culminates in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Situated in the old town's Christian quarter pilgrims follow Christ's path to crucifixion and internment. Pilgrims follow the path with great reverence and each week Franciscan friars lead a service marking each station of the cross. Inside the church is what the faithful believe are the sites of Christ's crucifixion on Calgary, his tomb and the rock he was wrapped on after death. It's a highly charged place. Some people sit in quiet reflection, others are wailing and still more reaching out to kiss and touch the sacred relics.

Jerusalem is such a holy place to so many. Most people in the world are aware of the conflict over this land for millennia but it is wrong not to emphasize the irony of this ongoing struggle in the so called 'city of peace'. Not surprisingly Israeli security seems to be at its peak in and around the city. There are soldiers patrolling and manning checkpoints everywhere. A few times during my stay I was walking through the markets in the old town only to come to be brought to a halt by IDF (Israeli Defense Force) soldiers because the way was 'closed'. As well as the soldiers most security detail in malls or bars have guns. Most disturbing though is the amount of plain clothed young Israelis carrying machine guns in town as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I suppose they must be off-duty soldiers but it is disconcerting and sometimes they seem too young even for the IDF draft; set at 18.

Although you get used to the weapons with time and the atmosphere at the moment is calm it is obvious things are badly wrong if this is the price to be paid to keep people safe.