To Rule Jerusalem

Twentieth-century Jerusalem is doubly divided. As well as being a holy site for both Judaism and Islam, the city contains secular Israelis and Palestinians who ground their respective national identities within its borders. To Rule Jerusalem provides a historical and ethnographic account of how Jerusalem has become the battleground for conflicts both within and between the Israeli and Palestinian communities. Roger Friedland and Richard Hecht examine 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. To Rule Jerusalem is a compelling study of the intertwining of religion and politics, exploring the city simultaneously as an ordinary place and an extraordinary symbol.

"To Rule Jerusalem is a study of religion and politics, Judaism and Zionism as well as Palestinian nationalism and Islam, and it brings a most remarkable perspective to a topic—conflict over Jerusalem—with which we all are, unfortunately, far more familiar than we might like to be."—Gregory Mahler, Shofar

Jewish Book World

Historical ethnography of Jerusalem that includes a fair amount of current political information as well. Divided into four sections, two deal with Jewish aspects of Jerusalem and two with the Arab aspects of the city. The latter are especially interesting in light of the upcoming "final status" negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian authority. Jerusalem is considered as a whole, but is also viewed as a fundamentally divided city: divided between Jews and Arabs and between religionists (Jewish and Moslem) and nationalists (Jewish and Arab).

Roger Friedland is Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Richard Hecht is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.