Slater, Jermone. "Muting the Alarm over the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The New York Times versus Haaretz, 2000–06." International Security 32.2 (2007): 84-120. Project MUSE. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/international_security/summary/v032/32.2slater.html>.
Jermone Slater, University Research Scholar at the State University of New York at Buffalo, warn readers about the dangers of the United States giving too much support to the Israelis. He addresses scholarly United States citizens and international political figures and urges them to help ease the conflict in Israel. It compares and contrasts the views of the New York Times and the views of the Haaretz (an Israeli news paper). However, he is slightly biased against the United States’ policy with Israel, blaming the US for some part in the break down of peace negotiations. He focuses on the break down of the peace process between these two nations because neither side is able to begin to negotiate terms that both can agree to. The article references influential media sources in Israel and the US such as Yediot Aharonot, Haaretz, and the New York Times, explaining that these sources are read by scholarly citizens and are generally accepted views. He believes, however, that these views don’t accurately represent the views of the general population, which leads to frustration and confusion. The conclusion he comes to is that the “pro-Israel” view that the New York Times writes from, coupled with Israel’s media’s lack of self-criticism, gives rise to more conflict between Israel and Palestine. He believes that if the U.S. were to pressure the Israeli media to become more self-critical, then negotiation between the two nations would come easier because the media has such a strong influence on the population.
Fowden, Elizabeth K. "Sharing Holy Places." Common Knowledge 8.1 (2002): 124-46. Project MUSE. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/common_knowledge/summary/v008/8.1fowden.html>.
Elizabeth Fowden is a Research Fellow at the Center for Greek and Roman Antiquity in Athens, Greece. She has researched and written about Muslims, Christians, and other religions in the Middle East and how they interact. Her article in this journal give insight into how Christians, Jews, and Muslims have interacted since the beginning of Jerusalem as a holy site. She suggests that the three religions have inspired one another and they have taken some traditions from one another over the many years they shared a home for their religions. While this reading is slightly difficult given the vast expanse of time it covers and the complicated nature of the subject, she makes it possible to understand for any educated reader. I believe that she thinks the Christians and Jews were sort of on the same side and the Muslims were the opposing side, which I’m not sure is accurate. I find this article especially helpful and interesting because it focuses mostly on the holy sites and how they have affected the history of these three religions. Before reading this article, for example, I didn’t know that they have changed their holy sites and been influenced in this way by each other’s religions. This source is helpful for our topic because the reader can examine the history of the religious sites our topic focuses on and also learn more about the history of the three religions and how they interact.Scham, Sandra. “High Place: symbolism and monumentality on Mount Moriah, Jerusalem.”
Antiquity 78.301 (2004): 647-660. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 22 Nov.
2010
One of the most iconic archaeological sites in the world is Jerusalem's Temple Mount which is also known as the Haram al-Sharif. The author draws a distinction between state-sponsored and popular religious shrines and relates their functions to that of other local prehistoric sacred spaces. The author traces the Mount’s history up to the present day. The author establishes the significance of the thirty-five acre hilltop in the national and religious consciousness of both Muslims and Jews. For Palestinians, the site represents the origins of their culture and symbolizes their continuity of their traditional culture. For Israelis, the hill is representative of the continuity of language and religion which for generations has had its roots in Jewish liturgy and Jerusalem. The Bible is used by Israelis to successfully communicate their cultural attachment to Jerusalem and the existence of the modern State of Israel keeps the Israelite past alive. This geography has been powerfully sustained both by biblical scholarship and Jewish culture. The purpose of this paper is to examine the monumental and symbolic territory of Mount Moriah. It is concluded that the site's topographical and hilltop position has given it a particular religious and political prominence over 4000 years. Sandra Scham is the editor of Near Eastern Archaeology which is published by the American Schools of Oriental Research. She is a specialist in artifacts of the Near East and a professor of Near Eastern Archaeology. This article provides enlightenment to our research about the religious significance behind the site and its relevance to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Hamilton, Bernard. “The Sepulchre of Christ and the Medieval West: From the Beginning to
1600 By Colin Morris.” History 91.304 (2006): 614. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.
Web. 22 Nov. 2010.
The shrine of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was the focus of a thousand years of devotion to Christ because of the place of his death and following resurrection. Colin Morris follows the growth of this religious sect which began when Constantine the Great commissioned the building of a great basilica that incorporated the traditional sites of Christ's tomb and the Calvary. Western pilgrims spread the religious following to the Holy Places. The relics of the True Cross were sent to the West and were greatly revered. Although there were few western pilgrims who visited Jerusalem after the Arabs conquered it in 638, devotion to the Holy Places remained strong in the Christian west. This is shown by the Holy Week liturgy which had evolved. The First Crusade captured Jerusalem and the Frankish rulers rebuilt the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in its present form. Huge numbers of pilgrims visited it, many of whom took relics back to the west with them. Devotion to the relics of Christ’s Passion and the Holy Places remained very strong in the West. Western pilgrimage to the Holy Places virtually ended in the sixteenth century because the Protestant Reformation marked the end of the cult of Jerusalem.
Catholicism encouraged interior devotion to the Passion of Christ rather than physical veneration of the places where he had suffered. Colin Morris illustrates the complex history by making use of the full range of documentary, literary and visual evidence. This work makes contributes significantly to the reader’s understanding of the religious life and thought of the medieval west.
Armstrong, Karen. "Jerusalem: the problems and responsibilities of sacred space." Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 13.2 (2002): 189-196. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. EBSCO. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.
This source is an article posted on a website database, provided by the university through its library. This article was retrieved through the university library website, in the ‘Religious Studies’ database. It was a valuable website because there were collections of different searches within the site, depending on the source needed. The article provides thorough analysis of the subject. The article by Armstrong analyzes the importance of Jerusalem and the reason for its holiness. It discusses the meanings of the city to its different people who find it important to their faith. She mentions the reality of what is ‘holy’ and relates it to Jerusalem. Armstrong’s argument is to address the situation in Jerusalem as a holy-land for the religious faiths of Christians, Jews, and Muslims and what its holiness means to them. She argues that the city is more of a territorial place, stating that it only becomes holy to them after one of the religions loses it. She illustrates the idea that its identity is not focused on an individual religion, but by the history of all the religions and its sites. The article’s intended audience is to those seeking historical and scholarly opinions of Jerusalem. It can also be intended for an audience seeking information on their own faith and a view of why the city is holy to them. My impression of the article is that it’s a good source to present new ideas about the relationships between these faiths and Jerusalem.
Esposito, John L. . "SOCIETY, POLITICS, AND ECONOMY." In . Oxford Islamic Studies Online. 30. Nov. 2010. <http://0-www.oxfordislamicstudies.com.sculib.scu.edu/article/book/islam-9780195157130/islam-9780195157130-div1-84>.
This source is an article posted on a website database, which is provided by the university library through its series of online databases. The article was retrieved through the university website, in the ‘Religious Studies’ database. It is an authentic website for those who want more information on Islamic studies. On the website, there are multiple resources that can be used to help more information, including articles, encyclopedias, and research. This article provides information about Islam and why Jerusalem is important to that faith. Esposito engages historical references and background knowledge to the Muslim traditions in Jerusalem. It discusses the creation of Palestine and how it was taken away from the people who live there including the holy city of Jerusalem. The author provides an argument about the Western cultures and how they are implementing the changes and a division between Jerusalem and Islam. The article goes into more examples from history referencing certain events in which Muslims were persecuted and exiled from Israel. The author identifies with people of the Islamic faith who are seeking an explanation for their history. The article’s intended audience is for people researching Palestine and also for people interested in finding out more information about Jerusalem and its history. I believe this source provides useful information about my subject and reliable information.
Idinopulos, Thomas A. "Jerusalem the Blessed: The Shrines of Three Faiths." Christian Century 95.13 (1978): 386-91. Print. In Idinopulos's article, he discusses that Jerusalem is not only a place of conflict and controversy, but also a place that people have come together for centuries to honor places considered sacred to their religion. He explains in depth the history behind both the state of Palestine, and why many religions claim it to be theirs. In his explaination of the history behind the city, he discusses various religion’s pilgrimages, the sites found in Jerusalem (The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The Wailing Wall, Garden Tomb and Dome of the Rock) and their significance to each religious history. He explains Jesus’s arrest, torture, trial and death in Jerusalem, and says Jesus “wept over the city” (Idinopulos). He also discusses how many people are drawn to the sites because of their grand appeal. He also talks about some of the architectural components of the sites, like that anti-Christian sayings were incorporated into the Dome of the Rock to ensure no Muslims were drawn to the appeal of Christianity. He writes that since the sites are all built very close together, practically on the same ground, they come together to be seen as one holy city and one holy shrine rather than separate sites that correspond to different religions. With the great details of history that Idinopulos describes, it’s clear why the three religions fight over it and explains some of the rivalry between the religions all trying to exist in one land.
Idinopulos, Thomas A. "Jerusalem the Blessed: The Shrines of Three Faiths." Christian Century 95.13 (1978): 386-91. Print. In Idinopulos's article, he discusses that Jerusalem is not only a place of conflict and controversy, but also a place that people have come together for centuries to honor places considered sacred to their religion. He explains in depth the history behind both the state of Palestine, and why many religions claim it to be theirs. In his explaination of the history behind the city, he discusses various religion’s pilgrimages, the sites found in Jerusalem (The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The Wailing Wall, Garden Tomb and Dome of the Rock) and their significance to each religious history. He explains Jesus’s arrest, torture, trial and death in Jerusalem, and says Jesus “wept over the city” (Idinopulos). He also discusses how many people are drawn to the sites because of their grand appeal. He also talks about some of the architectural components of the sites, like that anti-Christian sayings were incorporated into the Dome of the Rock to ensure no Muslims were drawn to the appeal of Christianity. He writes that since the sites are all built very close together, practically on the same ground, they come together to be seen as one holy city and one holy shrine rather than separate sites that correspond to different religions. With the great details of history that Idinopulos describes, it’s clear why the three religions fight over it and explains some of the rivalry between the religions all trying to exist in one land.
Smith, Julie Ann. "My Lord's Native Land": Mapping the Christian Holy Land." Church History 76.1 (2007): 1-31. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Dec. 2010.
Julie Ann Smith, University of Sydney, provides an analysis into the land known to Christians as the Holy Land. She provides a thorough description of the history of the land, through details of its history, people, and geography. Palestine, as she mentions, is the foundation of the three main monotheistic religions and the land has a significant meaning to all three religions. Smith discusses the article primarily in relation to Christianity and the birthplace of Jesus. It compares the stories of the Bible to confirm the notion of its beliefs and actions as said in the text. In doing so, she researches the geographical landscape to verify the construction of the Bible and its places. It also argues that the construction of the holy land was built through new technologies of mapping and how it has affected the cultures and people who reside in the area. Smith concentrates on the formation of the holy land through the different techniques of mapping, and the affects it has on cultures in today’s society. She further goes on to state that if it weren’t for the identification of the holy places in the area, through the construction of churches and monasteries, that the holy land would not be what it is today.
