Jerusalem: Tale of a holy city known for contradictions

The church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is considered the place where Jesus tomb is located. [Brigid Chemweno, Standard]

The orange light blinking deep in the darkened tunnel was like a dirty wink from an evil monster.

Slowly, the bus stopped, next to a stalled truck. The driver had alighted and was helplessly holding a bottle of water, the bonnet open as he surveyed the road ahead.

Heartbeats raced as horror scenes unfolded in the troubled minds of journalists. There was nowhere to hide in the dark tunnel cutting through the holy city.

A blaring voice, first in Hebrew and then in Arabic blared from the walls. It was a like movie script gone wrong. Nobody moved.

During these anxious moments, the words of our tour guide, Hannan Gorder, the Israeli ambassador to Sudan who had offered a commentary on the city earlier in the day rang in the darkness.

“On your right is Jehoshaphat valley from where the Messiah will come from, when the world ends. The people in that graveyard, will be among the first to ascend to heaven. I hope none of you is planning to join those in the valley today.”

Theatre of God’s judgement

Theologians define the valley, populated with Jews tombstones, as the theatre of God’s final judgement on the enemies of Israel.

And as images of orange balls of fire, anarchy and screams of distress raced through our minds, the voice of the tour guide further haunted us in the darkness.

 “…and that is the valley of Jahannam, where in the ancient times children were sacrificed by idol worshippers. It is also known as hell.”

One journalist quietly whispered: “Oh God. What is happening.”

Suddenly, the deafening voices from the walls of the tunnel faded away, the blinking lights steadied and the revving bus accelerated.

Finally, the unseen danger had passed and all the 23 foreigners sighed in relief. Fate and technology had gifted them a new lease to pen more stories.

Later a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official on the bus, later wrote in the Whatsapp group:

“Anyone who is interested - there was a bomb alert right now in the area we were down south. Right now, Ami and Suzi are running into their bomb shelters.”

The following day, the Israeli Police Spokesperson, Micky Rosenberg, explained the complexities of watching over Jerusalem, a city which thrives in tranquility but is forever haunted by turbulence.

“We have received 4 million tourists this year. We have police officers manning all the entrances looking for potential threats. The old city is a hot point and we have to be prepared because anything can happen any time.”

According to Rosenberg, police officers are armed with 9-millimetre weapons and rely of 360 CCTV cameras to monitor every inch of the one square kilometre of the old city.

“The cameras can turn 360 degrees and the information they record is acted on real time by police officers who are patrolling, looking out for trouble makers,” Rosenberg adds.

Danger, in Jerusalem comes clothed in all manner of robes and veils. A few months ago, a veiled woman in an ankle-long dress failed to respond when she was directed to show her face by police.

She continued walking after she was challenged to stop and even after warning shots were fired she marched on, without uttering a word. 

When she was ultimately demobilised after being shot in the leg, police learnt that she was not a suicide bomber but a Jew of a religious sect whose female adherents are not allowed to speak to men or show their faces in public.

There have been attempts to cause mayhem at the holy city poised by knife wielding youth or sophisticated suicide bombers who are forever looking for a chink in the armour of the old city’s security.

In 2016, the police set up a special unit to track social media posts inside Israel to thwart attempts by terrorists planning to attack Temple Mount, one of the holiest sites in Jerusalem.

“We track social media and also mount roadblocks and concrete barriers to deter vehicles with explosives being used. We have a 30-second police response whenever we are alerted. The civilian population also helps because they are alert to any suspicious behaviours.”

Rosenberg recalled an incident in 2011 when a kiosk operator detected a bag abandoned near his kiosk at a bus station in Jerusalem. He alerted the people who were waiting for a bus to move away and called the police.

A short while later a bomb hidden in the bus exploded but the kiosk owner saved the lives of about 50 people who would have been caught unawares had he not acted.

Police statistics indicate that on a regular Friday, about 50,000 Muslims come to the Dome of the Rock, the Mosque constructed in the 7th century by Abd Al Malik bin Marwan, on a rock considered sacred by both Jews and Muslims.

On Mondays an estimated 20,000 Jews troop to the Wailing Wall, not far away from the Dome of the Rock, where they too conduct special prayers and leave their prayers written on pieces of paper which they hope will be taken to God by doves which hover around.

The Wailing Wall is remnant of a foundation of a church built by King Herod who tried to kill Jesus when he was born. Later, King Herod’s temple on Mount Olive was destroyed by Romans in 70AD just as Jesus had prophesied 40 years earlier.

The battle for the heart and soul of Jerusalem, which has from 1948 been the capital city of Israel, is crucial for the existence of a State which is surrounded by foes. The Israel Defence Forces Spokesperson, Lt. Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spells out Israel’s predicament.

“There are 100,000 rockets aimed at Israel. Hizballah want to eliminate Israel. Hamas and Isis who are fighting proxy wars in Syria are also a threat to us.

Three months ago, 30 rockets were fired at Gollan heights. We intercepted them in full plight.” 

Jerusalem, has many fault lines as there are some areas Jews cannot go, especially in the East where most residents hold Jordanian passports and acts as a hotbed for some radicals. 

“We live in a tough neighbourhood where some our neighbours are determined to attack us. If they loved their children more than they hate us, we would have peace, “Sharren Haskel, a Likud Party Member of the Knesset (MP) said.

In past and current adversities, Jerusalem and its holy sites has learnt to live with kite bombs, rockets and guns, because as one top government official explained, if one runs away every time when they encounter a problem, then they will be on the run their entire life.

In the meantime, residents and tourists troop to Jerusalem where Jordanians who live in the East of the old city, dream of one day governing it; and Jews aspire to continue administering a united city, conquered by King David more than 3,000 years ago even as they await their Messiah.

And as the Christian pilgrims flock the place Jesus was crucified and ascended into heaven and later appeared to his disciples in a vision, Catholics and protestants hold incongruent beliefs.

Here modernity and medieval architecture compete for space.

It is only in Jerusalem where you can walk on pathways created by King Herod the Great in one moment and in the next cruise at breakneck speed in a tram driving in bridges high above one storey buildings made of only one stone; the Jerusalem stone.    

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