{"id":132034,"date":"2019-05-27T12:00:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T11:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=132034"},"modified":"2024-09-23T14:44:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T13:44:06","slug":"jerusalem-a-rock-and-a-hard-place-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/05\/jerusalem-a-rock-and-a-hard-place-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Jerusalem: A Rock and a Hard Place (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

7 Apr 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

A remarkable new two-part documentary special from Al Jazeera English, goes behind the scenes with residents from each of the three monolithic faiths who share one of the world\u2019s most extraordinary cities: Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Here, Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims and Christians exist in close geographical proximity and are bound in many ways by a common history. But as these films reveal, they are also worlds apart.<\/p>\n

The stark, every-day challenges of life in a city shaped by 70 years of Israeli occupation \u2013 with its oppressive discrimination, security walls and endless petty restrictions \u2013 aren\u2019t always fully understood by outsiders. To followers of different faiths, Jerusalem is a sacred and spiritual place, to many tourists it\u2019s most famous for its culturally significant monuments, but to those who live here its status is much more complex.<\/p>\n

These two insightful episodes go beyond some of the common misconceptions, tracing the roots of the occupation and exploring the relationship that Jerusalem\u2019s different communities have with their city and with each other.<\/p>\n

For Omar Harami, a young Palestinian Christian, and a lead character in the film, the consequences of Jerusalem\u2019s divisions are too often ignored. \u201c This is an apartheid in the 21st century and the world is silent,\u201d he says. \u201cIsrael builds walls to hide the [settler only roads] highway, so it becomes an invisible part. We Palestinians in East Jerusalem are invisible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Others, including some surprising voices from across the divided community, explain how the Zionist project to establish a Jewish homeland in the territory continues to reinforce inequality and prejudice in Jerusalem today.<\/p>\n

Dr. Meir Margalit is a former soldier and settler turned human rights activist, who also researches the history of the Jewish community. \u201cForty percent of the city\u2019s residents are not citizens of the state, \u201c he says. \u201c\u201cThey don’t have the right to be elected. More importantly, they can lose their right to live in their city.\u201c<\/p>\n

Sahar Vardi, a young Israeli woman who refuses to serve in the armed forces, also condemns the divisions. \u201cThe education system, media, everything around us is by definition defined by fear,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The film also features interviews with UN Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov and South Africa\u2019s ambassador to Palestine talking about their experiences in one of the world\u2019s most renowned cities.<\/p>\n

Both episodes of A Rock and Hard Place have been produced and directed by Awad Joumaa and edited by Jameel Hodzic in cooperation with executive producer Stephen Phelps.<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9SqUIM4yVNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

7 Apr 2019 – A remarkable new two-part documentary special from Al Jazeera English, goes behind the scenes with residents from each of the three monolithic faiths who share one of the world\u2019s most extraordinary cities: Jerusalem. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,54,168],"tags":[773,767,85],"class_list":["post-132034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide","category-in-depth-videos","tag-jerusalem","tag-middle-east","tag-palestine-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275265,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132034\/revisions\/275265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}