The Holy Land And Jerusalem

“Throughout comedy the emphasis is on human limitations rather than on human greatness” (John Morreal Comedy Tragedy and Religion). To what extent does Jez Butterworth focus on human weakness and ineptitude in his play ‘Jerusalem’?

For ages the Jewish population did not have a place to call home. They had been wandering around deserts, were once slaves in Egypt, but didn’t have any land to their name. Following the Holocaust, after many Jews had been persecuted by Hitler and the Nazis, a good portion of the overall amount of Jews in the world let alone Europe had been exterminated. As a result, Harry Truman and the UN suggested Israel, a homeland for the Jews. Tensions had been growing throughout the beginning of the 20th Century regarding the Palestinian area in the Middle East. This area was off to the side of Asia, near Africa. When the Jews and Arabs were offered part of this land, war broke out and still continues today. Even though a war happened as a result

Millions of people dead, all because of a little thing called religion. During the Holocaust, the Nazi’s judged the Jewish community because of the success, or lack of success, of the Germans. Judaism has been prejudiced for hundreds of years. But only recently has the Star of David represented the religion; although the Holocaust has changed the outlook on this symbol drastically. All throughout time the significance of the Star of David has changed: from its original meaning to the way we see it today.

The Crusades were a series of wars over the holy lands such as Jerusalem between European Christians and the Ottoman Empire between the 11th and 15th centuries. They fought for many reasons such as control over religious sights, access to trade and protection of fellow christians.

The Middle East is home to the creation of so many different cultures and religions. It is the home to the most prominent monotheistic faiths of this lifetime. Those faiths are Christianity, essentially Catholicism, and Islam. They do not only share a similar origin, but share the same ancestors and stories of prophets and people. There is a connection between the profound values of truth, love, and mercy that Catholics and Muslims hold dear. Although there are a great many commonalities between Catholicism and Islam, it is important to note the key foundations that make both religions special.

The Crusades, a series of wars, are an extremely important part of history in the 12th century, occurring during the Middle Ages. The Middle East or the Holy Land was always a place that Christians traveled to to make pilgrimages. The Seljuk Turks eventually took control of Jerusalem and all Christians were not allowed in the Holy City. As the Turks power grew, they threatened to take over the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I, asked Pope Urban II for help and Pope agreed, hoping to strengthen his own power. He He united the Christians in Europe and In 1095, Pope Urban II waged waged war against muslims in order to “reclaim the holy land.”

The Spoils of Jerusalem is a very interesting sculpture. This sculpture was constructed in c. AD.82 by Emperor Domitian after the death of his oldest brother Titus, to show off Titus' victory over the siege of Jerusalem (Khan, n.d). The relief sculpture is located within the "Arch of Titus" and it represents the victories of Domitian's father and his brother in the Jewish War (Cartwright, 2013).It is relief sculpture, which means that it is attached to a background and can only be viewed from one side (Sporre, 2015). The original sculpture is located within the Arch of Titus, in Rome, which is a beautiful piece of art in its self.

Since the UN partition of Israel and Palestine in 1947, Israel has been placed in many instances of conflict between the Jewish migrants to the region and the Palestinian natives. Several conflicts resulted in open, declared war, such as the First Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949, and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. In addition, Israel has been involved in the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of the Gaza Strip. After the last open war, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank has been marked by the military governorate, taking political and institutional control of the region that is ethnically and religiously different than the population that resides in the Jewish state of Israel.

Comic resolution is seen symbolically as an act of rebirth, renewal and affirmation in the final act of Jerusalem. Act 3 is the scene where all problems that have arisen in Act 1 and Act 2 are solved.

After reading a newsletter my temple sent out about the upcoming protest, the attack became personal. The WBC’s claim that my temple was a “god-cursed” organization was a shock to our jewish community. Living in a generally liberal and accepting area, I realized I have been sheltered my whole life; protected from degrading people with unaccepting attitudes. However, reading about the protest online was no comparison to the defeat I felt when I saw the messages the WBC wrote on their signs and surrounded our temple with. Despite the large group of members of the WBC, I was surprised to see an even bigger gathering of rabbis, cantors, teachers, and other members of my temple, unwilling to accept the false accusations from the WBC. The jewish community joined together, supporting and comforting one another, not even phased by such a personal attack. Articles were written, and newsletters were sent out, comforting the whole community and ensuring that everyone had a way to express and discuss their feelings about the situation. While the WBC may have deemed their protest a success in spreading their message, my temple proved to be successful in helping me see how community and faith can truly heal

Robert W. Hamilton, a British archaeologist, carried out excavations against the north wall of the Old City of Jerusalem almost 70 years ago from the years 1937-1938. Hamilton began several test soundings in order to determine the age of the accumulations at various points and to fix the approximate levels at the time of the last major reconstruction – in the middle of the sixteenth century A.D by Suleiman the Magnificent. The wall of the Old City of Jerusalem was rebuilt in the sixteenth century by the Ottoman Turkish ruler Suleiman the Magnificent. As such, Hamilton decided to determine the age of the accumulations of earlier construction sites by cleaning up the outside area of the North Wall of Jerusalem and Hamilton hoped the

Moses: The Holy Land is important for my faith because it is where I was given the Ten Commandments from God. It is also significant to me because I lead many people from Egypt to the Holy Land.

Through the deliverance of a speech the former Pope Urban II incited Catholics all over Europe to take action in reclaiming the Holy city of Jerusalem from the Muslims in the Middle East. It was in this year,1095, that the beginning of the first, of nine, Crusades and thus the first series of religious wars between the Catholics and Muslims begun. The focus of this paper will remain on the Third Crusade (1189-1192 A.D)- more specifically the actions of ‘Islam’s Warrior Hero’ Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb who was better known to the English as Saladin- Sultan of Egypt. How did one individual gain the respect of both his Muslim followers and his enemies- the Catholic Europeans? Throughout history Saladin has been portrayed as a charismatic, honourable, virtuous and chivalrous man by the historians and chroniclers of the Middle East and Europe. Even the Europeans who sought to dislike this man due to his religious affiliations could not, as he encompassed all the qualities in which a great leader and a good ‘Christian’ was thought to possess.

Many Americans flocked to see Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” On over 2.000 screens across America the viewed the “harrowing depiction of Jesus' last 12 hours in wide-screen vivid color.” (Allen 2004) People viewed images of Jesus being flogged, crucified and left to die. This violence caused some Christians discomfort with theology, and some Jews’ fear that it will “incite violence against them because of its portrayal of Jews’ involvement in Jesus’ death.” (Allen 2004)

Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world. Located in between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, It is the main destination for those tourists that have a desire of getting a grasp of the Western East Countries, and for many, a unique religious experience. However, Jerusalem: also called the "Holy Land" has by its name a very controversial meaning: " The City of Peace". Once ago in this place, according to the Hebrew Bible (The Tanakh), the Temple of Solomon was built. According to the Muslim Bible (The Quran), also the location of the Dome of the Rock. From the Christian point of view and The Bible, It was once the place where the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus took place. This series of religious events have brought up along with it a conflict in between Middle Eastern Countries for more than 50 years long with one main question on the plate: Who fairly and ethically deserves to live in the Holy Land?