Divided Jerusalem: The Struggle for the Holy City

Divided Jerusalem: The Struggle for the Holy City

by Bernard Wasserstein (Author), Bernard Wasserstein (Author), Bernad Wasserstein (Author)

Synopsis

'The 'eternally unified capital' of the state of Israel is the most deeply divided capital city in the world. Its Arab and Jewish residents inhabit different districts, speak different languages, attend different schools, read different newspapers, watch different television programmes, observe different holy days, follow different football teams - live, in almost every significant respect, different lives...' (from the preface) A fascinating account of the tumultuous history of one of the most troubled and important cities in the world by a brilliant historian. How has the city become so hopelessly divided and will it always be so? Is a solution possible and what has been the fate of earlier attempts to reconcile the different communities? Bernard Wasserstein examines the often unhappy history of the Holy City - one of the most contentious places in the world. Wasserstein shows how, throughout modern history, Jerusalem has been exploited for the ulterior purposes of many powers. The religious devotion of masses of Christians, Muslims and Jews throughout the world, he argues, has been manipulated for often squalid ends. Wasserstein contends that a long-term solution to the Jerusalem question must involve recognition of current social reality: a city that in almost every way is irrevocably divided. Against the background of renewed violence in and around Jerusalem, this book offers a timely and illuminating contribution towards the effort to achieve a negotiated settlement of a tragic conflict that, in one way or another, affects us all.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 440
Edition: Main
Publisher: Profile Books
Published: 21 Mar 2002

ISBN 10: 1861973330
ISBN 13: 9781861973337

Media Reviews
'A new history of Jerusalem offers an unbiased account of how the city came to be so politically contentious.' Financial Times
Author Bio
Bernard Wasserstein was born in London and educated at Balliol and Nuffield Colleges in Oxford. His many books include The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln (Penguin), which won the Golden Dagger Award for Non-fiction and was acclaimed as a tour de force of historical detection. His most recent book was the controversial Vanishing Diaspora (Penguin). He is currently working on a history of Europe in the twentieth century for Oxford University Press.