1 00:00:01,287 --> 00:00:04,006 -(HELICOPTER WHIRRING) -(GUNS FIRING) 2 00:00:05,487 --> 00:00:07,284 -(MISSILES WHIZZING) -(EXPLOSIONS) 3 00:00:09,607 --> 00:00:12,201 SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE: Jerusalem, the Holy City. 4 00:00:12,287 --> 00:00:14,243 (SHOUTING) 5 00:00:15,087 --> 00:00:20,559 Coveted, prized and disputed by three of the world's great faiths, 6 00:00:20,647 --> 00:00:23,764 Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 7 00:00:30,007 --> 00:00:32,202 Jerusalem has been conquered and occupied 8 00:00:32,287 --> 00:00:34,960 more than any other city in history. 9 00:00:35,407 --> 00:00:38,877 In Jerusalem, the history is drenched in blood. 10 00:00:38,967 --> 00:00:42,357 It's been destroyed and rebuilt many times. 11 00:00:42,887 --> 00:00:46,243 The more it's destroyed, the more revered it's become. 12 00:00:46,327 --> 00:00:49,842 These stones have been fought over for centuries. 13 00:00:52,887 --> 00:00:57,677 The holiness of the city dates back long before the arrival of Islam, 14 00:00:57,767 --> 00:01:02,921 long before the advent of Christianity, long even before Judaism. 15 00:01:03,927 --> 00:01:07,556 Each borrowed the sanctity of those who came before, 16 00:01:07,647 --> 00:01:10,844 making Jerusalem the centre of the world. 17 00:01:12,087 --> 00:01:16,797 Today, it's a divided city, the capital of two peoples. 18 00:01:18,687 --> 00:01:22,726 Its sacred sites have never been more intensely contested, 19 00:01:22,807 --> 00:01:25,480 nor with such universal implications. 20 00:01:28,127 --> 00:01:33,485 So why did this Holy City become the object of such violent competition? 21 00:01:34,887 --> 00:01:38,436 And how did the nationalist struggle for Jerusalem 22 00:01:38,527 --> 00:01:42,156 become so infected with apocalyptic religious fervour? 23 00:02:11,567 --> 00:02:16,083 I'm a historian, but I also have a personal connection to the city. 24 00:02:16,167 --> 00:02:19,637 I've been coming here with my family since I was a boy. 25 00:02:22,847 --> 00:02:24,724 Some 4,000 years ago, 26 00:02:24,807 --> 00:02:27,719 Jerusalem was a minor Canaanite stronghold, 27 00:02:27,807 --> 00:02:30,640 with a vital spring and a pagan shrine. 28 00:02:33,967 --> 00:02:36,003 With the arrival of the Hebrews, 29 00:02:36,087 --> 00:02:39,477 Jerusalem became the Holy City of the Jews. 30 00:02:40,207 --> 00:02:44,280 In the Hebrew Bible, it's described as the City of the Temple, 31 00:02:44,367 --> 00:02:47,040 existing in heaven and on earth, 32 00:02:47,127 --> 00:02:50,403 the setting for the final day of judgement. 33 00:02:50,487 --> 00:02:52,478 (PEOPLE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY) 34 00:02:52,927 --> 00:02:54,565 With the spread of Christianity, 35 00:02:54,647 --> 00:02:58,276 the fame of Jerusalem's holiness became truly global. 36 00:02:59,527 --> 00:03:03,566 When the new faith of Islam was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, 37 00:03:03,647 --> 00:03:05,717 he, too, revered Jerusalem. 38 00:03:08,567 --> 00:03:12,845 At first, Muhammad directed his prayer not to Mecca, but to here. 39 00:03:14,607 --> 00:03:17,804 And it was here that Muslims built the Dome of the Rock 40 00:03:17,887 --> 00:03:21,402 on the very place sanctified by the Jews before them. 41 00:03:22,607 --> 00:03:27,123 This is the place where some believe Adam's skull was buried, 42 00:03:27,207 --> 00:03:30,244 where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac, 43 00:03:30,327 --> 00:03:34,036 where the Jewish holy of holies supposedly stood. 44 00:03:34,527 --> 00:03:38,406 This is the place whence Muhammad the Prophet ascended to heaven. 45 00:03:40,247 --> 00:03:45,082 In the Middle Ages, this became the epicentre of a clash of civilisations. 46 00:03:47,127 --> 00:03:51,279 Christian Crusaders competed for control of the Holy City 47 00:03:51,367 --> 00:03:53,437 with its Islamic rulers. 48 00:03:54,047 --> 00:03:57,676 The conflict that followed left the city in ruins. 49 00:04:01,727 --> 00:04:03,319 By the late 1 3th century, 50 00:04:03,407 --> 00:04:08,117 the prospect of Jerusalem becoming once again a city of world renown 51 00:04:08,207 --> 00:04:10,596 must have seemed highly unlikely. 52 00:04:18,167 --> 00:04:20,727 After the bloody trauma of the Crusades, 53 00:04:20,807 --> 00:04:23,844 Jerusalem had been devastated by the Tartars 54 00:04:23,927 --> 00:04:26,395 and laid waste by the Mongol hordes. 55 00:04:26,767 --> 00:04:28,598 Not for the first time in its history, 56 00:04:28,687 --> 00:04:32,521 most of the population had either been slaughtered or had fled. 57 00:04:32,607 --> 00:04:34,882 Even the walls had been reduced to rubble. 58 00:04:36,127 --> 00:04:42,362 And now, scarcely 2,000 ragged souls struggled to survive amongst the ruins. 59 00:04:42,447 --> 00:04:46,804 Indeed,Jerusalem's very survival as a city was in doubt. 60 00:04:49,247 --> 00:04:51,715 Jerusalem was in need of a saviour. 61 00:04:54,807 --> 00:04:58,880 When he emerged, it was in the form of a brutal Islamic soldier 62 00:04:58,967 --> 00:05:02,721 who'd risen to power from the slave markets of Central Asia. 63 00:05:04,327 --> 00:05:07,842 Baibars was a pagan orphan sold as a boy 64 00:05:07,927 --> 00:05:11,522 into an Egyptian army of slaves known as the Mamluks. 65 00:05:13,407 --> 00:05:14,806 As he climbed the ranks, 66 00:05:14,887 --> 00:05:18,800 he was freed by his master and rose to become a general. 67 00:05:20,767 --> 00:05:22,280 By the time he was 30, 68 00:05:22,367 --> 00:05:26,679 Baibars was the most formidable officer in this new empire. 69 00:05:27,687 --> 00:05:31,362 And he was ready to take on the might of the Mongol hordes. 70 00:05:39,847 --> 00:05:44,443 Baibars' Mamluk army defeated the Mongols in the hills of Galilee. 71 00:05:46,287 --> 00:05:50,326 Baibars then declared himself ruler from Egypt to Syria. 72 00:05:51,367 --> 00:05:54,484 Jerusalem lay at the centre of his new domain. 73 00:05:59,007 --> 00:06:01,885 Baibars was a spectacularly cruel warlord. 74 00:06:01,967 --> 00:06:05,243 He liked to build towers of the skulls of his fallen enemies 75 00:06:05,327 --> 00:06:09,718 and his favourite punishment was public bisection, slicing in half. 76 00:06:09,807 --> 00:06:12,765 No wonder he adopted the prowling panther 77 00:06:12,847 --> 00:06:14,883 as his personal symbol. 78 00:06:24,807 --> 00:06:27,162 The Mamluk capital was in Cairo, 79 00:06:27,247 --> 00:06:31,001 but Jerusalem was the religious heart of their world. 80 00:06:31,087 --> 00:06:32,918 Although they were born pagans, 81 00:06:33,007 --> 00:06:36,317 these former slaves had been forced to convert to Islam. 82 00:06:37,767 --> 00:06:41,521 The Mamluks possessed all the fanaticism of a convert 83 00:06:41,607 --> 00:06:44,917 and they revered Jerusalem as the jewel of their faith. 84 00:06:45,007 --> 00:06:46,918 Baibars embarked on a mission 85 00:06:47,007 --> 00:06:50,477 to re-embellish and re-sanctify the Holy City. 86 00:06:56,727 --> 00:06:59,764 The Mamluks' religious enthusiasm for Jerusalem 87 00:06:59,847 --> 00:07:03,044 gave rise to some of the city's finest buildings. 88 00:07:03,767 --> 00:07:08,204 Baibars also helped to restore its sacred status in Islam. 89 00:07:09,127 --> 00:07:12,676 The most important legacy the Baibars left Jerusalem 90 00:07:13,167 --> 00:07:15,397 was not a building, it was a festival. 91 00:07:17,127 --> 00:07:20,437 Baibars borrowed from Christian and Jewish traditions 92 00:07:20,527 --> 00:07:23,280 to create a new religious celebration. 93 00:07:24,047 --> 00:07:28,518 Every Easter, Jerusalem was still dominated by Christian pilgrims. 94 00:07:28,607 --> 00:07:33,681 And so, at the time of Christian Easter and Jewish Passover, 95 00:07:33,767 --> 00:07:37,203 Baibars gave Jerusalem its own festival. 96 00:07:37,287 --> 00:07:39,198 (EXCITED CHATTER) 97 00:07:43,407 --> 00:07:47,798 After Baibars, every year, thousands of Jerusalemites 98 00:07:47,887 --> 00:07:50,765 and Palestinian Arabs from the rest of Palestine 99 00:07:50,847 --> 00:07:53,202 would gather here on the Temple Mount. 100 00:07:53,287 --> 00:07:55,437 They would party, they would celebrate 101 00:07:55,527 --> 00:07:58,121 and then they would gallop out on horses and camels 102 00:07:58,207 --> 00:08:04,362 all the way to the shrine near Jericho of Nebi Musa, the Prophet Moses. 103 00:08:04,647 --> 00:08:10,244 And this festival remained Jerusalem's own special festival for 700 years. 104 00:08:14,007 --> 00:08:19,001 The festival celebrated Moses, originally a Jewish patriarch, 105 00:08:19,087 --> 00:08:21,760 now revered as a prophet in Islam. 106 00:08:24,487 --> 00:08:29,515 Eventually, Baibars himself became a victim of his own murderous instincts. 107 00:08:32,247 --> 00:08:35,956 Baibars, that most talented but also most cruel of generals, 108 00:08:36,047 --> 00:08:41,246 died after absent-mindedly drinking a glass of poisoned kumis, 109 00:08:41,687 --> 00:08:43,484 fermented mare's milk, 110 00:08:43,567 --> 00:08:47,037 that he'd meant to give to one of his dinner companions. 111 00:08:47,287 --> 00:08:49,847 I guess that's bound to happen sooner or later 112 00:08:49,927 --> 00:08:54,159 if you're in the habit of poisoning too many of your dinner guests. 113 00:09:07,167 --> 00:09:11,001 Baibars' successors may have lacked his manic style, 114 00:09:11,087 --> 00:09:13,157 but they were his equal in piety 115 00:09:13,247 --> 00:09:16,478 and surpassed him in their love of architecture. 116 00:09:16,847 --> 00:09:20,556 They built many of the finest buildings in the Old City. 117 00:09:20,647 --> 00:09:23,639 Some of them were rediscovered in the 1 9 70s 118 00:09:23,727 --> 00:09:26,764 by the architectural historian Michael Burgoyne. 119 00:09:28,807 --> 00:09:31,116 This is, I think, one of the most interesting 120 00:09:31,207 --> 00:09:33,596 Mamluk buildings in Jerusalem. 121 00:09:33,887 --> 00:09:36,276 It has fabulous architecture, 122 00:09:36,367 --> 00:09:40,758 architecture that's as good as any in the world, in my view. 123 00:09:41,167 --> 00:09:46,161 It's beautifully built with joints that you can hardly get a razor blade into. 124 00:09:46,247 --> 00:09:50,126 For instance, this stalactite canopy here 125 00:09:50,887 --> 00:09:53,765 is something that a stonemason today 126 00:09:53,847 --> 00:09:56,441 couldn't even begin to think about building 127 00:09:56,527 --> 00:09:59,963 and yet this is now 700 years old and still standing. 128 00:10:01,127 --> 00:10:04,164 How important was Jerusalem for the Mamluks? 129 00:10:04,487 --> 00:10:08,924 Well, judging by the architecture they built here, very important. 130 00:10:09,727 --> 00:10:12,764 The Mamluks really re-ignited 131 00:10:12,847 --> 00:10:16,123 the idea of pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 132 00:10:16,727 --> 00:10:20,436 It had kind of fizzled out during the period of the Crusades 133 00:10:20,927 --> 00:10:25,682 and it was re-introduced right at the start of the Mamluk period. 134 00:10:26,087 --> 00:10:27,918 (MUEZZIN CALLING) 135 00:10:29,487 --> 00:10:33,162 MONTEFIORE: Throughout history, Jerusalem has been most prosperous 136 00:10:33,247 --> 00:10:35,317 when it's been most holy. 137 00:10:36,727 --> 00:10:40,242 Pilgrimage has always been its greatest industry. 138 00:10:41,327 --> 00:10:43,079 With this religious renaissance, 139 00:10:43,167 --> 00:10:47,718 Jerusalem, under the Mamluks, once again became splendid and affluent. 140 00:10:50,127 --> 00:10:52,687 But their affluence was not to last. 141 00:10:54,487 --> 00:10:56,239 By the early 1 6th century, 142 00:10:56,327 --> 00:11:00,684 the Mamluk Empire was exhausted by war, corruption and plague. 143 00:11:01,167 --> 00:11:04,762 Its hold on the Middle East was starting to look tenuous. 144 00:11:07,847 --> 00:11:12,557 The Mamluks were now threatened by a dynamic new Islamic empire 145 00:11:12,647 --> 00:11:15,844 that had already conquered the Balkans and Turkey. 146 00:11:16,367 --> 00:11:19,484 The battle that followed would decide Jerusalem's destiny 147 00:11:19,567 --> 00:11:23,765 for the next 400 years, right up into the 20th century. 148 00:11:25,367 --> 00:11:28,040 North of Jerusalem, in what is now Syria, 149 00:11:28,127 --> 00:11:32,598 a sophisticated, modern army from Turkey confronted the Mamluks 150 00:11:32,687 --> 00:11:35,679 with their old-fashioned swords and lances. 151 00:11:36,527 --> 00:11:38,882 The Mamluks were routed by what would become 152 00:11:38,967 --> 00:11:41,481 the world's greatest Islamic empire. 153 00:11:48,687 --> 00:11:53,841 The ruler of this great empire exulted in the name Selim the Grim. 154 00:11:56,367 --> 00:11:59,962 Selim was given the keys to the Haram-al-Sharif, 155 00:12:00,047 --> 00:12:02,163 the Islamic Noble Sanctuary. 156 00:12:04,407 --> 00:12:06,967 When Selim the Grim arrived in Jerusalem, 157 00:12:07,047 --> 00:12:10,926 he came here to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he prostrated himself and declared that, 158 00:12:11,007 --> 00:12:15,364 ''I am now the possessor of the first qibla,'' the direction of prayer, 159 00:12:15,447 --> 00:12:17,358 because Muhammad had originally decreed 160 00:12:17,447 --> 00:12:19,802 that Muslims should pray towards Jerusalem, 161 00:12:19,887 --> 00:12:22,196 only later changing it to Mecca. 162 00:12:24,887 --> 00:12:27,242 Like all the Muslim rulers before him, 163 00:12:27,327 --> 00:12:30,603 Selim agreed to tolerate the Jews and the Christians 164 00:12:30,687 --> 00:12:33,440 as long as they paid a tax of submission 165 00:12:33,527 --> 00:12:36,963 and recognised the supremacy of Islamic rule. 166 00:12:37,047 --> 00:12:39,117 (MUEZZIN CALLING) 167 00:12:40,207 --> 00:12:42,641 He had earned his macabre sobriquet 168 00:12:42,727 --> 00:12:46,606 by killing all his brothers and probably some of his sons. 169 00:12:48,687 --> 00:12:53,317 When he died, he was survived by just one son, Suleiman. 170 00:12:55,167 --> 00:12:58,955 At the age of 25, shrewd, lean and inscrutable, 171 00:12:59,047 --> 00:13:02,323 Suleiman became the most powerful man in the world. 172 00:13:03,447 --> 00:13:07,042 His empire stretched from the Balkans to the borders of Persia, 173 00:13:07,127 --> 00:13:09,561 and from Egypt to the Black Sea. 174 00:13:10,167 --> 00:13:12,761 Ottoman expansion seemed unstoppable, 175 00:13:12,847 --> 00:13:16,886 challenged only by a coalition of Christian monarchs in the west. 176 00:13:17,847 --> 00:13:20,566 In a dream, the Prophet came to see Suleiman 177 00:13:20,647 --> 00:13:23,798 and told him that if he wished to defeat the Christians 178 00:13:23,887 --> 00:13:25,479 and be a great emperor, 179 00:13:25,567 --> 00:13:28,479 he must first rebuild the walls of Jerusalem 180 00:13:28,567 --> 00:13:31,798 and restore the Haram-al-Sharif, the Temple Mount. 181 00:13:38,047 --> 00:13:42,438 The Haram-al-Sharif had become Jerusalem's most important shrine, 182 00:13:42,527 --> 00:13:45,439 an Islamic site of global renown. 183 00:13:45,727 --> 00:13:48,082 Surrounded by high retaining walls, 184 00:13:48,167 --> 00:13:51,796 it housed the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. 185 00:13:53,087 --> 00:13:54,486 The Dome was built on a rock 186 00:13:54,567 --> 00:13:58,560 that had already been revered for 2,000 years, 187 00:13:58,647 --> 00:14:03,038 the site of the first Jewish temple during the reign of King Solomon. 188 00:14:08,327 --> 00:14:12,081 Suleiman regarded himself as a world emperor 189 00:14:12,167 --> 00:14:14,362 and a monarch of Islam. 190 00:14:14,447 --> 00:14:17,757 His name Suleiman actually means ''Solomon, '' 191 00:14:17,847 --> 00:14:20,645 and therefore, he took his responsibilities in Jerusalem 192 00:14:20,727 --> 00:14:22,558 especially seriously. 193 00:14:22,927 --> 00:14:26,681 He immediately set about restoring this, the Dome of the Rock. 194 00:14:28,087 --> 00:14:32,046 He began by replacing its fading mosaics with tiles. 195 00:14:36,327 --> 00:14:40,161 So many tiles were needed, 450,000, in fact, 196 00:14:40,247 --> 00:14:44,877 that Suleiman ordered that a factory be created up here on the Temple Mount. 197 00:14:45,207 --> 00:14:49,883 And this is a beautiful tribute to the glory of Suleiman, 198 00:14:49,967 --> 00:14:55,485 the majesty of his new Ottoman dynasty and, of course, the splendours of Islam. 199 00:15:03,807 --> 00:15:07,482 Jerusalem had been without walls for 300 years. 200 00:15:07,967 --> 00:15:11,118 Now Suleiman embarked on the enormous task 201 00:15:11,207 --> 00:15:14,005 of building new defences for the city. 202 00:15:14,647 --> 00:15:16,558 Today's walls and gates, 203 00:15:16,647 --> 00:15:21,402 including the magnificent Damascus Gate, are all the work of Suleiman. 204 00:15:23,247 --> 00:15:26,398 Suleiman's achievements in Jerusalem were so colossal 205 00:15:26,487 --> 00:15:29,001 that it's true to say that the Old City today 206 00:15:29,087 --> 00:15:32,318 belongs as much to him as it does to anyone else. 207 00:15:33,727 --> 00:15:36,605 Under Suleiman, Jerusalem, though still small, 208 00:15:36,687 --> 00:15:38,723 began to thrive again. 209 00:15:39,487 --> 00:15:43,116 The population more than tripled to 1 6,000. 210 00:15:44,807 --> 00:15:46,923 But among the Muslim population, 211 00:15:47,007 --> 00:15:49,965 there was also a growing minority of Jews. 212 00:15:57,727 --> 00:15:59,922 The Jews had been stateless 213 00:16:00,007 --> 00:16:03,238 since they were expelled from Jerusalem by the Romans. 214 00:16:03,327 --> 00:16:07,240 Most Jews now lived scattered across Europe and the Middle East, 215 00:16:07,327 --> 00:16:11,400 but they'd never lost their longing for a return to Jerusalem 216 00:16:11,487 --> 00:16:13,443 which they called Zion 217 00:16:13,527 --> 00:16:17,202 after the Biblical name for David's original stronghold. 218 00:16:19,607 --> 00:16:21,279 During the Spanish Inquisition, 219 00:16:21,367 --> 00:16:24,439 the Christian king expelled tens of thousands 220 00:16:24,527 --> 00:16:26,438 of Arabic-speaking Jews. 221 00:16:26,527 --> 00:16:30,281 And they sought refuge in the more tolerant Ottoman Empire. 222 00:16:31,647 --> 00:16:34,081 By the time of Suleiman, many of these Jews, 223 00:16:34,167 --> 00:16:37,318 known as Sephardis, from the Hebrew word for Spain, 224 00:16:37,407 --> 00:16:39,637 had come to the Promised Land. 225 00:16:42,727 --> 00:16:47,323 The Sephardic Jews now felt safe enough to build four new synagogues 226 00:16:47,407 --> 00:16:50,160 in what was becoming the Jewish Quarter. 227 00:16:51,247 --> 00:16:53,397 (SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY) 228 00:17:08,607 --> 00:17:10,837 This is one of the four synagogues that they built, 229 00:17:10,927 --> 00:17:12,758 the Ben Zakkai Synagogue, 230 00:17:12,847 --> 00:17:15,680 and it would have been the centre of all Jewish life 231 00:17:15,767 --> 00:17:17,997 in Suleiman's Jerusalem. 232 00:17:21,607 --> 00:17:26,078 There was also a new influx of Jews fleeing persecution in eastern Europe. 233 00:17:27,207 --> 00:17:31,519 They were known as the Ashkenazis, after the son of Noah, 234 00:17:31,607 --> 00:17:35,122 said to be the original ancestor of the northern tribes. 235 00:17:38,847 --> 00:17:42,237 Since the construction of the Islamic Haram-al-Sharif, 236 00:17:42,327 --> 00:17:46,036 the Jews had been banned from visiting their holiest site. 237 00:17:47,767 --> 00:17:50,235 But the Temple Mount was so holy 238 00:17:50,327 --> 00:17:54,240 that Jews continued to pray as close to it as they could get. 239 00:17:56,327 --> 00:17:59,125 For generations, Jews had prayed 240 00:17:59,207 --> 00:18:02,722 at all the gates and walls of the Temple Mount. 241 00:18:03,127 --> 00:18:07,962 But Suleiman the Magnificent saw himself as the Islamic emperor 242 00:18:08,047 --> 00:18:11,437 and the custodian of the Dome of the Rock sanctuary. 243 00:18:11,527 --> 00:18:15,884 So he restricted the Jews to one small section of wall 244 00:18:16,247 --> 00:18:19,683 with a narrow passageway just nine feet wide. 245 00:18:22,327 --> 00:18:27,355 From now on, this narrow section of the western wall of Herod's Temple 246 00:18:27,447 --> 00:18:31,326 became the focal point for the prayers of the Jewish faithful. 247 00:18:32,487 --> 00:18:34,762 They were subject to bouts of repression 248 00:18:34,847 --> 00:18:38,556 and with no outside champions, they were ultimately powerless. 249 00:18:38,647 --> 00:18:40,365 But according to Islamic tradition, 250 00:18:40,447 --> 00:18:43,598 the Jews were tolerated as People of the Book. 251 00:18:43,687 --> 00:18:45,439 (PRAYING) 252 00:18:45,527 --> 00:18:49,600 The Ottomans also tolerated the city's other religious minority, 253 00:18:49,687 --> 00:18:51,484 the Christians. 254 00:18:54,447 --> 00:18:56,915 Some of the Christians were indigenous to Palestine, 255 00:18:57,007 --> 00:19:00,886 some lived here as monks, and thousands more came annually 256 00:19:00,967 --> 00:19:04,642 as pilgrims to the Sepulchre where Jesus had been buried. 257 00:19:06,767 --> 00:19:08,200 Since its foundation, 258 00:19:08,287 --> 00:19:12,963 Christianity had spread across Europe, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. 259 00:19:13,047 --> 00:19:15,720 Many competing denominations had arisen 260 00:19:15,807 --> 00:19:20,358 and all of them wanted a piece of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 261 00:19:23,607 --> 00:19:27,839 The competition between the three faiths for Jerusalem's holy places 262 00:19:27,927 --> 00:19:30,999 was mirrored by an equally intense competition 263 00:19:31,087 --> 00:19:34,045 between the Christian churches themselves. 264 00:19:34,607 --> 00:19:39,237 Since most of the Christian sects were backed by different Christian kings, 265 00:19:39,327 --> 00:19:43,843 disputes fought out in Jerusalem had reverberations around the world. 266 00:19:46,247 --> 00:19:51,241 Yeah, this especially, I've never been at the night service here. 267 00:19:51,327 --> 00:19:54,239 -But this is yours, isn't it? -Yeah, this is ours, but this is... 268 00:19:54,327 --> 00:19:57,524 MONTEFIORE: George Hintlian has studied how the Ottoman rulers 269 00:19:57,607 --> 00:20:02,522 manipulated and exploited the Christians' interminable squabbles. 270 00:20:04,847 --> 00:20:07,202 By the 1 6th century, when the Ottomans came, 271 00:20:07,767 --> 00:20:11,043 there were about nine communities on the spot 272 00:20:11,487 --> 00:20:15,241 and the Ottomans had the simple rule, whoever pays stays. 273 00:20:15,327 --> 00:20:20,685 So the minor ones like the Georgians, Maronites, Serbians 274 00:20:21,007 --> 00:20:23,077 couldn't afford and they dropped out 275 00:20:23,167 --> 00:20:28,560 while the stronger ones could consolidate their hold on the Church. 276 00:20:29,607 --> 00:20:31,359 MONTEFIORE: The Ottomans' simple system 277 00:20:31,447 --> 00:20:34,837 meant that only the wealthiest churches could remain. 278 00:20:35,447 --> 00:20:37,563 The denominations who controlled the Church, 279 00:20:37,647 --> 00:20:39,877 by the end of the 1 6th century, 280 00:20:39,967 --> 00:20:45,485 were the Catholics, backed by Europe, the Orthodox, backed by Russia, 281 00:20:45,767 --> 00:20:48,440 and Armenians who had strong representation 282 00:20:48,527 --> 00:20:50,597 at the court of the Sultan. 283 00:20:51,167 --> 00:20:52,805 So, by the end of the 1 6th century, 284 00:20:52,887 --> 00:20:55,447 these were the three communities who could stay. 285 00:20:55,527 --> 00:20:56,676 (CHIMING) 286 00:20:56,767 --> 00:20:59,645 MONTEFIORE: Even these three churches seldom agreed 287 00:20:59,727 --> 00:21:03,322 on who should be allowed to pray at the tomb itself. 288 00:21:03,407 --> 00:21:07,798 The communities were struggling for dominance. 289 00:21:07,887 --> 00:21:10,276 Sometimes the tomb of Christ changed hands. 290 00:21:10,367 --> 00:21:15,077 Sometimes the Latins would care it and sometimes the Orthodox would get it. 291 00:21:17,487 --> 00:21:19,000 MONTEFIORE: The Catholics, or Latins, 292 00:21:19,087 --> 00:21:22,443 were supported and encouraged by the French government, 293 00:21:23,287 --> 00:21:26,165 while Russia promoted the Orthodox Church. 294 00:21:26,967 --> 00:21:28,639 Both attached great importance 295 00:21:28,727 --> 00:21:31,685 to the prestige of controlling the holy places 296 00:21:31,767 --> 00:21:35,806 and they lobbied, bribed and threatened the Ottoman sultans 297 00:21:35,887 --> 00:21:39,516 to give more space in the Church to their own priests. 298 00:21:40,727 --> 00:21:44,322 As a result, even the most mundane tasks in the Church 299 00:21:44,407 --> 00:21:48,366 were laden with international and sacred significance. 300 00:21:49,207 --> 00:21:52,085 In this church, there are no fences and hedges. 301 00:21:52,167 --> 00:21:54,761 It's open spaces. 302 00:21:54,847 --> 00:21:57,361 Though the other churches have their own private areas, 303 00:21:57,447 --> 00:21:59,756 but there are many shared and common areas. 304 00:22:01,687 --> 00:22:05,600 Cleaning in Holy Sepulchre means possessing the area. 305 00:22:05,687 --> 00:22:08,485 You would only be able to clean what you possess. 306 00:22:08,567 --> 00:22:11,479 And slowly some of these sacristans 307 00:22:11,567 --> 00:22:14,718 were trying to clean several inches of the property 308 00:22:14,807 --> 00:22:16,843 and the territory of the other person. 309 00:22:16,927 --> 00:22:21,000 So, this is where the other sacristan would be very vigilant, 310 00:22:21,087 --> 00:22:25,683 that his broom doesn't progress into his own area. 311 00:22:25,887 --> 00:22:30,119 And even an imagined conception 312 00:22:30,207 --> 00:22:32,880 that his broom moved a little further 313 00:22:32,967 --> 00:22:34,764 could ignite a fight. 314 00:22:35,167 --> 00:22:37,203 (MAN PRAYING) 315 00:22:42,047 --> 00:22:44,277 MONTEFIORE: The Ottomans kept the church locked 316 00:22:44,367 --> 00:22:47,882 so they could charge a fee to anyone going in or out. 317 00:22:48,167 --> 00:22:50,203 (DOOR UNLOCKING) 318 00:22:54,527 --> 00:22:57,599 The key was held by an Arab Muslim family, 319 00:22:57,687 --> 00:22:58,881 the Nusseibehs. 320 00:22:58,967 --> 00:23:02,004 And to this day, each morning before dawn, 321 00:23:02,087 --> 00:23:05,796 they still climb up to unlock the ancient church door. 322 00:23:09,047 --> 00:23:12,483 The Ottomans let the Nusseibehs keep a share of the income 323 00:23:12,567 --> 00:23:15,081 from the entry fees to the church. 324 00:23:16,527 --> 00:23:20,805 They were one of a select group of aristocratic Arab families 325 00:23:20,887 --> 00:23:24,323 allowed by the Ottomans to run the city's affairs. 326 00:23:35,367 --> 00:23:37,756 One family controlled the Temple Mount, 327 00:23:37,847 --> 00:23:41,556 another family controlled access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 328 00:23:42,567 --> 00:23:46,446 And I'm standing in the library of the Khalidi family 329 00:23:46,527 --> 00:23:49,246 that controlled the Islamic law courts 330 00:23:49,327 --> 00:23:52,637 and they were great connoisseurs and collectors 331 00:23:52,727 --> 00:23:57,039 and over many centuries they amassed this extraordinary collection 332 00:23:57,127 --> 00:24:00,039 of early Islamic manuscripts and books. 333 00:24:02,207 --> 00:24:04,880 As Muslims, these elite Arab families 334 00:24:04,967 --> 00:24:09,245 had far more power in Ottoman Jerusalem than any Christian or Jew. 335 00:24:10,647 --> 00:24:15,243 But even the Arabs were often harassed by their Turkish Ottoman masters. 336 00:24:20,167 --> 00:24:25,036 In 1 702, the Ottoman governor demanded a massive rise in taxes 337 00:24:25,127 --> 00:24:27,004 throughout Palestine. 338 00:24:27,767 --> 00:24:32,158 He had to raise money to help fund wars in distant Europe and Russia. 339 00:24:34,447 --> 00:24:36,881 According to the historian Adel Manna, 340 00:24:36,967 --> 00:24:41,324 these tax rises were the last straw for the ruling Arab families. 341 00:24:41,847 --> 00:24:46,557 Notable families of Jerusalem, they were angry on this new policy. 342 00:24:47,767 --> 00:24:52,204 What they did after the Friday prayer 343 00:24:52,287 --> 00:24:54,278 on the mosque in Al-Aqsa, 344 00:24:55,727 --> 00:25:00,721 they had a gathering of all the elite and they decided together 345 00:25:01,247 --> 00:25:05,035 that we will rebel against the policy and the governor. 346 00:25:06,167 --> 00:25:09,523 The local people of Jerusalem took control of the city 347 00:25:09,607 --> 00:25:11,802 and then they closed the gates. 348 00:25:11,887 --> 00:25:16,085 The rebels succeeded to have the control of the city 349 00:25:16,167 --> 00:25:18,681 for about two years and a half. 350 00:25:19,727 --> 00:25:25,324 The Ottomans came with a stronger army and put siege again on the city. 351 00:25:25,767 --> 00:25:28,486 And they were besieging the city from all sides, 352 00:25:28,567 --> 00:25:31,684 from the north, from the south, from east, from west. 353 00:25:34,247 --> 00:25:37,796 MONTEFIORE: Inside, life under the siege was harsh. 354 00:25:39,087 --> 00:25:42,762 The rebels split. Those who wanted to hold out for victory 355 00:25:44,607 --> 00:25:47,326 and those in favour of a compromise. 356 00:25:48,487 --> 00:25:51,684 Some of the people against the rebellion 357 00:25:51,767 --> 00:25:56,761 opened the gate for the Ottoman soldiers who were able to get into the city. 358 00:25:57,087 --> 00:26:00,921 And thousands of Ottoman soldiers went in. 359 00:26:01,327 --> 00:26:03,363 It was a matter of time 360 00:26:03,447 --> 00:26:07,281 until the Ottomans were able to crush the rebellion. 361 00:26:09,567 --> 00:26:12,001 MONTEFIORE: The Ottomans may have crushed the rebellion, 362 00:26:12,087 --> 00:26:14,237 but the great powers of Europe sensed 363 00:26:14,327 --> 00:26:17,046 that their hold on Jerusalem was weakened. 364 00:26:17,127 --> 00:26:19,687 The British, the French and the Russians 365 00:26:19,767 --> 00:26:23,726 all began to compete for influence in the city's holy places. 366 00:26:34,527 --> 00:26:36,722 (BELL TOLLING) 367 00:26:39,047 --> 00:26:42,801 Jerusalem's status as the Holy City of Christianity 368 00:26:42,887 --> 00:26:46,562 made it a great prize for the Christian rulers of Europe. 369 00:26:46,847 --> 00:26:49,964 They promoted their interests through their clients in the city. 370 00:26:50,047 --> 00:26:54,120 The French backed the Catholics, the Russians backed the Orthodox. 371 00:26:55,167 --> 00:26:56,759 The British, as Protestants, 372 00:26:56,847 --> 00:26:59,725 had a particular reverence for Jerusalem. 373 00:27:03,047 --> 00:27:05,515 Ever since the time of Cromwell and the Puritans, 374 00:27:05,607 --> 00:27:08,644 Protestants had prayed for the return of the Jews 375 00:27:08,727 --> 00:27:11,002 to the Biblical Holy Land. 376 00:27:13,407 --> 00:27:15,523 British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston 377 00:27:15,607 --> 00:27:19,395 built a consulate in Jerusalem to promote British interests 378 00:27:19,487 --> 00:27:22,604 and a church to convert Jews to Christianity. 379 00:27:24,847 --> 00:27:30,240 Imperial ambition dovetailed perfectly with evangelical zeal. 380 00:27:37,607 --> 00:27:39,359 Evangelical Christians, 381 00:27:39,447 --> 00:27:42,564 who were hugely influential in Victorian Britain, 382 00:27:42,647 --> 00:27:46,640 believed that the longed for second coming of Jesus Christ 383 00:27:46,727 --> 00:27:50,686 would only happen once the Jews had returned to Jerusalem 384 00:27:50,767 --> 00:27:53,235 and been converted to Christianity. 385 00:27:55,687 --> 00:27:58,679 This belief was based on Biblical prophecies 386 00:27:58,767 --> 00:28:02,840 of the events that would bring about the final day of judgement. 387 00:28:03,407 --> 00:28:06,922 All the kings of Europe, motivated by the same combination 388 00:28:07,007 --> 00:28:10,158 of religious faith and imperial ambition, 389 00:28:10,247 --> 00:28:12,807 began to build churches in Jerusalem. 390 00:28:18,087 --> 00:28:21,762 But of all the European governments vying for power in the city, 391 00:28:21,847 --> 00:28:24,680 it was the Russians who were the most aggressive, 392 00:28:24,767 --> 00:28:27,918 and their aggression was about to spark a war. 393 00:28:28,327 --> 00:28:30,238 (BELLS TOLLING) 394 00:28:35,047 --> 00:28:39,484 On Good Friday, 1 846, the never-ending competition for territory 395 00:28:39,567 --> 00:28:43,321 in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre erupted in a fight. 396 00:28:43,407 --> 00:28:44,886 (SHOUTING) 397 00:28:44,967 --> 00:28:48,516 The French-backed Catholics and the Russian-backed Orthodox churches 398 00:28:48,607 --> 00:28:52,122 both wanted to pray in the tomb at the same time. 399 00:28:52,967 --> 00:28:57,757 It's a continuing dispute that sometimes erupts in violence even now. 400 00:29:00,487 --> 00:29:04,366 Back then, the priests came armed with guns and daggers 401 00:29:04,447 --> 00:29:05,960 hidden under their vestments. 402 00:29:07,167 --> 00:29:08,964 Forty were killed. 403 00:29:13,487 --> 00:29:17,116 The Ottoman Sultan divided the church between the Christian sects 404 00:29:17,207 --> 00:29:20,517 in a power-sharing deal that still stands. 405 00:29:22,887 --> 00:29:25,606 But it wasn't enough to prevent the Russians going to war 406 00:29:25,687 --> 00:29:27,917 with the French and the British. 407 00:29:32,287 --> 00:29:35,404 All the great powers were vying for influence in Jerusalem. 408 00:29:35,487 --> 00:29:38,877 But Tsar Nicholas I of Russia had greater ambitions. 409 00:29:38,967 --> 00:29:42,516 He saw himself not just as the heir to the Ottoman empire 410 00:29:42,607 --> 00:29:45,280 but as the actual ruler of Jerusalem. 411 00:29:45,527 --> 00:29:49,406 And when he invaded Ottoman territories to force the Sultan's hand, 412 00:29:49,487 --> 00:29:53,036 Britain and France went to war against him to stop him. 413 00:29:53,647 --> 00:29:55,842 They fought the war in the Crimea, 414 00:29:55,927 --> 00:29:58,566 but even though the battles were far away, 415 00:29:58,647 --> 00:30:01,719 it was also a war for Jerusalem. 416 00:30:02,287 --> 00:30:04,243 (BELLS TOLLING) 417 00:30:07,727 --> 00:30:09,524 (BELLS CHIMING) 418 00:30:09,607 --> 00:30:11,802 (CHOIR SINGING) 419 00:30:13,127 --> 00:30:15,766 The Russians lost the Crimean War, 420 00:30:15,847 --> 00:30:18,839 but then set about conquering Jerusalem culturally, 421 00:30:18,927 --> 00:30:21,521 building their own Russian compound. 422 00:30:23,167 --> 00:30:27,683 Over 1 0,000 Russian Christian pilgrims visited the city every year. 423 00:30:30,047 --> 00:30:35,201 Meanwhile, most of the Jews of Jerusalem were living in abject poverty. 424 00:30:36,367 --> 00:30:40,758 Appalled by their conditions, a British Jew named Moses Montefiore, 425 00:30:40,847 --> 00:30:45,045 a financier, philanthropist and friend of Queen Victoria, 426 00:30:45,127 --> 00:30:49,518 built the first suburb outside Jerusalem's city walls, 427 00:30:49,967 --> 00:30:52,765 complete with a Kentish windmill 428 00:30:52,847 --> 00:30:55,725 to encourage the Jews to bake their own bread. 429 00:30:56,367 --> 00:30:59,120 Montefiore was my great-great-uncle 430 00:30:59,207 --> 00:31:02,563 and it was thanks to him that I started coming here. 431 00:31:03,487 --> 00:31:06,320 The Old City was so filthy and poverty-stricken 432 00:31:06,407 --> 00:31:09,763 that Montefiore decided to build his new village out here 433 00:31:09,847 --> 00:31:13,283 in the clean countryside outside the city walls. 434 00:31:13,367 --> 00:31:17,201 It became the first Jewish suburb of Jerusalem. 435 00:31:19,367 --> 00:31:22,598 At the same time, the elite Arab families 436 00:31:22,687 --> 00:31:25,406 were building mansions in their own new suburbs 437 00:31:25,487 --> 00:31:27,284 east of the Old City. 438 00:31:30,167 --> 00:31:31,839 But as the century wore on, 439 00:31:31,927 --> 00:31:35,158 Jerusalem was set to become increasingly Jewish. 440 00:31:36,127 --> 00:31:38,482 The millions of Jews in the Russian Empire 441 00:31:38,567 --> 00:31:41,400 had faced persecution throughout the 1 9th century. 442 00:31:41,487 --> 00:31:46,561 But in the 1 880s, anti-Semitic violence became official Tsarist policy. 443 00:31:46,847 --> 00:31:52,205 Now they faced waves of attacks and massacres known as the pogroms. 444 00:31:52,287 --> 00:31:56,838 Thousands of Russian Jews started to plan their escape to Jerusalem. 445 00:31:59,807 --> 00:32:04,722 The idea of returning to Jerusalem had inspired Jews for centuries, 446 00:32:04,807 --> 00:32:08,925 ever since they'd been expelled by the Romans in 70 AD. 447 00:32:09,647 --> 00:32:13,037 It wasn't just about finding refuge from persecution, 448 00:32:13,127 --> 00:32:16,358 but also about a spiritual idea, 449 00:32:16,447 --> 00:32:20,156 returning to the Promised Land and living closer to God. 450 00:32:20,967 --> 00:32:24,755 In 1 895, an Austrian journalist published a book 451 00:32:24,847 --> 00:32:27,315 that would change the history not only of Jerusalem, 452 00:32:27,407 --> 00:32:29,363 but of the entire Middle East. 453 00:32:29,447 --> 00:32:32,200 The journalist's name was Theodor Herzl 454 00:32:32,287 --> 00:32:34,881 and the book was called The Jewish State. 455 00:32:36,927 --> 00:32:41,603 Herzl observed the new racial anti-Semitism spreading across Europe 456 00:32:41,687 --> 00:32:45,157 and he predicted that persecution was about to get worse. 457 00:32:47,887 --> 00:32:51,163 He argued the only way Jews could be safe 458 00:32:51,247 --> 00:32:53,522 was to have their own country. 459 00:32:56,087 --> 00:32:58,840 His project became known as Zionism. 460 00:33:07,087 --> 00:33:09,521 (TRADITIONAL MUSIC PLAYING) 461 00:33:10,647 --> 00:33:14,276 Many of Jerusalem's Jews had been here for centuries, 462 00:33:14,367 --> 00:33:19,122 speaking Arabic and living alongside their Christian and Muslim neighbours. 463 00:33:20,687 --> 00:33:24,805 The diaries of a Palestinian musician, Wasif Jawhariyyeh, 464 00:33:24,887 --> 00:33:28,038 give a surprising insight into the decadence of life 465 00:33:28,127 --> 00:33:30,243 in this cosmopolitan city. 466 00:33:30,647 --> 00:33:33,764 ''It was the period of total anarchy in my life, 467 00:33:33,847 --> 00:33:36,202 ''sleeping all day and partying all night. 468 00:33:36,287 --> 00:33:38,755 ''I only went home to change my clothes, 469 00:33:38,847 --> 00:33:41,645 ''sleeping in a different house every day, 470 00:33:41,727 --> 00:33:45,606 ''my body totally exhausted from drinking and merrymaking. 471 00:33:45,687 --> 00:33:50,761 ''One moment I'm picnicking with members of Jerusalem's noble families, 472 00:33:50,847 --> 00:33:54,886 ''the next day I'm holding an orgy with thugs and gangsters 473 00:33:54,967 --> 00:33:57,720 ''in the back alleys of the Old City. '' 474 00:33:58,207 --> 00:34:03,122 The most fascinating thing about this is how all these different worlds, 475 00:34:03,207 --> 00:34:07,598 Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Arab and Turk, 476 00:34:07,887 --> 00:34:10,003 continued to mix and coexist. 477 00:34:14,567 --> 00:34:18,355 But this cultural coexistence was about to come to an end 478 00:34:18,447 --> 00:34:21,564 with consequences no one could have foreseen. 479 00:34:23,967 --> 00:34:28,199 The growing number of European Jews arriving to settle in Palestine 480 00:34:28,287 --> 00:34:31,006 had started to alarm the Arabs of Jerusalem 481 00:34:31,087 --> 00:34:33,681 as well as the Ottoman authorities. 482 00:34:39,407 --> 00:34:42,080 When World War I broke out in 1 9 1 4, 483 00:34:42,167 --> 00:34:46,160 the Ottomans sided with Germany against Britain and her allies. 484 00:34:46,247 --> 00:34:47,726 (EXPLOSIONS) 485 00:34:47,807 --> 00:34:52,119 By 1 91 6-1 7, things were going badly for the British. 486 00:34:52,207 --> 00:34:54,516 And in order to secure their support, 487 00:34:54,607 --> 00:34:57,405 they made promises to the Arabs and the Jews 488 00:34:57,487 --> 00:35:00,923 that they never would have made in any other circumstances. 489 00:35:04,327 --> 00:35:07,922 To get Arab support for the war, the British promised to hand over 490 00:35:08,007 --> 00:35:11,443 virtually the entire Middle East to Arab rule, 491 00:35:11,527 --> 00:35:14,837 if the Arabs would rise up against the Ottomans. 492 00:35:16,727 --> 00:35:18,877 But Prime Minister David Lloyd George 493 00:35:18,967 --> 00:35:23,040 was also keen to get Jewish support for the British campaign. 494 00:35:25,447 --> 00:35:28,644 Lloyd George was steeped in the stories of the Bible. 495 00:35:28,727 --> 00:35:31,764 He longed to see the Jews return to the Holy Land 496 00:35:31,847 --> 00:35:34,680 after centuries of exile and repression. 497 00:35:35,887 --> 00:35:38,799 He also believed that backing the Jewish cause 498 00:35:38,887 --> 00:35:41,845 might win the support of the millions of Jews 499 00:35:41,927 --> 00:35:45,476 in America and Russia, Britain's most important allies. 500 00:35:45,927 --> 00:35:47,918 So he declared his approval 501 00:35:48,007 --> 00:35:50,840 for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. 502 00:35:50,927 --> 00:35:52,758 (INAUDIBLE) 503 00:35:55,647 --> 00:35:58,320 When General Allenby, the British commander in Egypt, 504 00:35:58,407 --> 00:36:00,682 invaded Ottoman Palestine, 505 00:36:02,127 --> 00:36:05,085 Lloyd George demanded that he capture Jerusalem 506 00:36:05,167 --> 00:36:08,284 as a ''Christmas present'' to the British nation. 507 00:36:14,807 --> 00:36:17,640 When Allenby arrived to take possession of the city, 508 00:36:17,727 --> 00:36:19,957 he received a telegram from the foreign office. 509 00:36:20,047 --> 00:36:22,925 ''Strongly advise dismounting,'' it said. 510 00:36:23,407 --> 00:36:27,400 The government were keen that he should avoid any Christ-like pretension. 511 00:36:27,487 --> 00:36:29,682 He duly got off his horse at the Jaffa Gate 512 00:36:29,767 --> 00:36:32,361 in a reverence of the city's holy status. 513 00:36:33,407 --> 00:36:35,841 In a speech on the steps of the Citadel, 514 00:36:35,927 --> 00:36:39,442 Allenby promised protection and tolerance to all religions. 515 00:36:39,527 --> 00:36:41,324 (MAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY) 516 00:36:43,887 --> 00:36:47,436 Soon afterwards, the defeated Ottoman Empire collapsed. 517 00:36:48,847 --> 00:36:51,520 The map of the Middle East was redrawn. 518 00:36:54,367 --> 00:36:58,519 The territory lost by the Ottomans was divided between the victors. 519 00:36:59,607 --> 00:37:02,485 Syria and Lebanon went to the French, 520 00:37:02,567 --> 00:37:05,479 while the British took Jordan and Palestine. 521 00:37:07,687 --> 00:37:11,441 They agreed to rule their new territories not as colonies, 522 00:37:11,527 --> 00:37:16,237 but under international mandates from the newly formed League of Nations. 523 00:37:23,327 --> 00:37:26,000 They built a palatial new governor's residence 524 00:37:26,087 --> 00:37:29,397 on a hill above the city, Government House. 525 00:37:31,447 --> 00:37:34,757 For the first time since the Crusader kingdom, 526 00:37:34,847 --> 00:37:39,204 Jerusalem, under the British mandate, was once again a capital city. 527 00:37:39,487 --> 00:37:42,081 And the British set about creating 528 00:37:42,167 --> 00:37:45,364 a modern, elegant and cosmopolitan Jerusalem. 529 00:37:49,687 --> 00:37:53,282 The economy flourished and the standard of living rose. 530 00:37:53,367 --> 00:37:55,164 (PEOPLE LAUGHING) 531 00:37:55,247 --> 00:37:57,397 Honouring their promise to the Zionists, 532 00:37:57,487 --> 00:38:01,162 Britain welcomed tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants. 533 00:38:03,287 --> 00:38:05,323 Many were idealistic Europeans 534 00:38:05,407 --> 00:38:08,285 who wanted to build a secular, socialist country 535 00:38:08,367 --> 00:38:10,756 for Jews from around the world. 536 00:38:14,047 --> 00:38:16,641 But as they bought more and more land from the Arabs, 537 00:38:16,727 --> 00:38:19,400 tension with their new neighbours grew. 538 00:38:21,807 --> 00:38:26,119 As so often in her history, it was Jerusalem's holiest site 539 00:38:26,207 --> 00:38:29,199 that would become the focal point of conflict. 540 00:38:32,407 --> 00:38:35,877 The Palestinian Muslim leader, the Mufti of Jerusalem, 541 00:38:35,967 --> 00:38:39,323 was from one of the elite Arab families, the Husseinis. 542 00:38:40,447 --> 00:38:44,838 He gave voice to a widespread Arab fear of Jewish immigration. 543 00:38:45,407 --> 00:38:49,286 He feared the Jews were planning to destroy the Haram-al-Sharif 544 00:38:49,367 --> 00:38:52,165 to build a Jewish temple in its place. 545 00:38:54,007 --> 00:38:57,522 He launched a campaign against Jews praying at the Western Wall. 546 00:39:00,847 --> 00:39:03,919 The Mufti ordered that the Jewish worshippers at the Wall 547 00:39:04,007 --> 00:39:06,840 would be harassed from above and below. 548 00:39:06,927 --> 00:39:08,599 He knocked through a doorway 549 00:39:08,687 --> 00:39:12,726 that turned the narrow space in front of the wall into a thoroughfare 550 00:39:12,807 --> 00:39:17,198 through which donkeys were driven to interrupt the Jewish prayers. 551 00:39:17,287 --> 00:39:20,882 The Mufti was trying to make life for the Jewish worshippers here 552 00:39:20,967 --> 00:39:23,117 impossible and unbearable. 553 00:39:26,167 --> 00:39:31,195 In response, 300 Jewish nationalists staged an angry protest. 554 00:39:33,327 --> 00:39:35,363 The next day after Friday prayers, 555 00:39:35,447 --> 00:39:38,120 2,000 Arabs descended from Al-Aqsa Mosque 556 00:39:38,207 --> 00:39:40,641 and attacked the Jewish worshippers. 557 00:39:45,047 --> 00:39:49,438 The tension between Arabs and Jews turned the city into a tinderbox. 558 00:39:54,127 --> 00:39:56,880 In a totally unrelated but tragic incident, 559 00:39:56,967 --> 00:39:59,925 some Jewish schoolboys were playing football in the street 560 00:40:00,007 --> 00:40:02,316 when they kicked the ball into an Arab garden. 561 00:40:02,407 --> 00:40:04,159 When one of them went to get the ball back, 562 00:40:04,247 --> 00:40:06,556 he was stabbed to death. 563 00:40:06,647 --> 00:40:10,640 At his funeral, Jewish youths attacked Arab passers-by 564 00:40:10,727 --> 00:40:12,479 and at Friday prayers, 565 00:40:12,567 --> 00:40:16,276 thousands of armed Arabs screaming for revenge 566 00:40:16,367 --> 00:40:20,679 descended on Jewish neighbourhoods with the cry, ''Death to the Jews.'' 567 00:40:21,087 --> 00:40:22,759 (GLASS SHATTERING) 568 00:40:27,087 --> 00:40:29,601 1 3 1 Jews were killed by Arabs. 569 00:40:31,607 --> 00:40:36,727 1 1 6 Arabs were also killed, mostly by the British security forces. 570 00:40:40,047 --> 00:40:45,121 A decade of surprisingly calm British rule was brought to an end. 571 00:40:50,847 --> 00:40:53,600 When Hitler came to power in 1 933, 572 00:40:53,687 --> 00:40:56,997 the flow of Jews fleeing Europe reached a new high. 573 00:40:58,327 --> 00:41:01,239 Never since the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans 574 00:41:01,327 --> 00:41:03,921 had so many Jews lived in the city. 575 00:41:04,007 --> 00:41:08,683 But while it may have felt like a return to Zion for these refugees, 576 00:41:08,767 --> 00:41:11,486 their presence convinced many Palestinians 577 00:41:11,567 --> 00:41:14,843 they'd have to fight to keep hold of their land. 578 00:41:16,887 --> 00:41:18,957 The British were caught completely unawares 579 00:41:19,047 --> 00:41:21,038 when the first shots were fired. 580 00:41:21,127 --> 00:41:24,915 Here in Jerusalem, the Mufti assumed leadership of the revolt, 581 00:41:25,007 --> 00:41:28,886 and soon it was a full-scale uprising throughout Palestine. 582 00:41:29,207 --> 00:41:32,279 The rebels attacked the British and the Jews. 583 00:41:32,407 --> 00:41:35,240 And at one point, they even managed to capture this, 584 00:41:35,327 --> 00:41:37,318 the Citadel of Jerusalem. 585 00:41:38,007 --> 00:41:40,202 (PEOPLE SHOUTING) 586 00:41:40,287 --> 00:41:42,118 (GUNSHOTS) 587 00:41:43,247 --> 00:41:45,602 Jerusalem descended into chaos. 588 00:41:45,687 --> 00:41:48,679 Palestinians attacked the British and the Jews. 589 00:41:48,767 --> 00:41:50,837 The Jews responded in kind. 590 00:41:50,927 --> 00:41:53,361 Both committed atrocities against civilians. 591 00:41:53,447 --> 00:41:54,960 (GUNSHOTS) 592 00:41:55,047 --> 00:41:56,924 (SIRENS BLARING) 593 00:41:57,607 --> 00:42:00,041 The British suppressed the revolt brutally, 594 00:42:00,127 --> 00:42:04,564 punishing whole Palestinian villages for the crimes of individual rebels. 595 00:42:09,887 --> 00:42:14,358 One in 1 0 Palestinians was killed, arrested or exiled. 596 00:42:21,767 --> 00:42:23,803 Britain had defeated the Arabs, 597 00:42:23,887 --> 00:42:27,084 but as they faced the prospect of a second World War, 598 00:42:27,167 --> 00:42:30,159 they regretted their promises to the Jews. 599 00:42:30,247 --> 00:42:32,966 Jerusalem's fate would once again be determined 600 00:42:33,047 --> 00:42:35,402 by events beyond her borders. 601 00:42:36,487 --> 00:42:39,399 As war with Nazi Germany became inevitable, 602 00:42:39,487 --> 00:42:41,205 Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain 603 00:42:41,287 --> 00:42:45,041 decided the British needed the backing of the Arabs. 604 00:42:45,127 --> 00:42:48,437 ''If we have to offend one side or the other,'' he said, 605 00:42:48,527 --> 00:42:50,961 ''let it be the Jews and not the Arabs.'' 606 00:42:55,887 --> 00:42:59,357 He believed the Jews would want to fight Hitler regardless, 607 00:42:59,447 --> 00:43:01,722 but the Arabs would need encouragement. 608 00:43:02,767 --> 00:43:05,281 He offered to put a cap on Jewish immigration 609 00:43:05,367 --> 00:43:09,360 and give the Palestinians total independence within 1 0 years, 610 00:43:09,447 --> 00:43:11,597 with no Jewish state at all. 611 00:43:13,447 --> 00:43:16,803 It was the best offer the Palestinians were to receive 612 00:43:16,887 --> 00:43:18,764 throughout the 20th century. 613 00:43:18,847 --> 00:43:22,840 But for the Mufti, it wasn't enough. He rejected it out of hand. 614 00:43:25,447 --> 00:43:26,800 When war broke out, 615 00:43:26,887 --> 00:43:29,959 many Arab Jerusalemites supported the Germans, 616 00:43:30,047 --> 00:43:33,278 not out of anti-Semitism but out of nationalism. 617 00:43:33,367 --> 00:43:37,804 They hoped that if Britain was defeated, they would get their own state. 618 00:43:40,327 --> 00:43:42,716 The Mufti himself went further. 619 00:43:42,967 --> 00:43:46,437 He moved to Berlin where he publicly supported Hitler 620 00:43:46,527 --> 00:43:48,199 and Nazi policies. 621 00:43:55,047 --> 00:43:58,722 After the end of World War II, the British forces found themselves 622 00:43:58,807 --> 00:44:01,844 completely out of their depth in the Holy Land. 623 00:44:07,447 --> 00:44:08,641 To appease the Arabs, 624 00:44:08,727 --> 00:44:12,356 they continued to enforce a limit on Jewish immigration. 625 00:44:14,847 --> 00:44:19,284 Even after the scale of Hitler's slaughter of European Jews was known, 626 00:44:19,367 --> 00:44:23,645 they intercepted shiploads of survivors from the Nazi death camps. 627 00:44:25,807 --> 00:44:28,321 The Jews turned firmly against them, 628 00:44:28,407 --> 00:44:32,161 and it wasn't enough to secure Palestinian support anyway. 629 00:44:34,247 --> 00:44:36,761 Now it was the Jews' turn to rebel. 630 00:44:40,887 --> 00:44:44,004 ANNOUNCER: Tight security measures are imposed by the British. 631 00:44:44,087 --> 00:44:46,317 Scores of Jewish leaders are jailed 632 00:44:46,407 --> 00:44:49,763 and rigid searches are conducted for terrorist weapons. 633 00:44:49,847 --> 00:44:52,600 Palestine becomes an armed camp. 634 00:44:55,927 --> 00:44:57,406 MONTEFIORE: In retaliation, 635 00:44:57,487 --> 00:45:01,116 fighters from the underground Jewish militia, the Irgun, 636 00:45:01,207 --> 00:45:03,277 planted a massive car bomb 637 00:45:03,367 --> 00:45:06,439 at the unofficial headquarters of the British Mandate, 638 00:45:06,527 --> 00:45:08,245 the King David Hotel. 639 00:45:13,807 --> 00:45:17,516 The bomb destroyed an entire wing of the King David Hotel. 640 00:45:17,607 --> 00:45:22,556 92 people were killed, including British,Jews and Arabs. 641 00:45:22,927 --> 00:45:26,317 The British called it an act of terror aimed at civilians 642 00:45:26,407 --> 00:45:30,525 and certainly it remains the bloodiest bombing of the entire war. 643 00:45:31,167 --> 00:45:33,123 (DIGGING) 644 00:45:34,287 --> 00:45:38,041 The British were now caught between the Jews of Palestine 645 00:45:38,127 --> 00:45:40,960 determined to found their own Jewish state, 646 00:45:41,047 --> 00:45:43,117 and the larger Arab population 647 00:45:43,207 --> 00:45:47,246 equally determined to stop them and to win their own independence. 648 00:45:47,927 --> 00:45:49,838 Both wanted Jerusalem. 649 00:45:52,527 --> 00:45:55,166 The British lost their will to rule Palestine 650 00:45:55,247 --> 00:45:59,399 and turned to the newly formed United Nations for an exit strategy. 651 00:45:59,687 --> 00:46:02,121 (PEOPLE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY) 652 00:46:02,887 --> 00:46:06,926 The United Nations voted to partition Palestine into two states, 653 00:46:07,007 --> 00:46:09,441 one Jewish and one Palestinian. 654 00:46:14,087 --> 00:46:18,524 Jerusalem was to have a unique status under UN protection. 655 00:46:19,647 --> 00:46:21,478 (CHEERING) 656 00:46:21,567 --> 00:46:23,956 For Jews, it was a cause for celebration. 657 00:46:24,047 --> 00:46:25,924 After 2,000 years, 658 00:46:26,007 --> 00:46:30,876 the Zionist dream of a Jewish state in the Holy Land was finally possible. 659 00:46:31,007 --> 00:46:32,804 (CHEERING) 660 00:46:33,607 --> 00:46:35,199 (GUNSHOT) 661 00:46:35,287 --> 00:46:39,519 But the Palestinians rejected the resolution and civil war broke out. 662 00:46:39,607 --> 00:46:41,438 (FIRING CONTINUES) 663 00:46:41,887 --> 00:46:44,447 The partition was never enforced. 664 00:46:45,767 --> 00:46:48,565 As the British made their ignominious exit, 665 00:46:48,647 --> 00:46:52,242 the Zionists declared the existence of the State of Israel. 666 00:46:58,887 --> 00:47:01,162 (SHOUTING) 667 00:47:01,247 --> 00:47:04,205 Immediately, the surrounding countries of the Arab League 668 00:47:04,287 --> 00:47:07,404 invaded to destroy the fledgling Jewish state. 669 00:47:08,087 --> 00:47:12,399 The Jordanians had the best trained and most effective of the invading armies. 670 00:47:12,487 --> 00:47:14,876 They made straight for Jerusalem. 671 00:47:16,127 --> 00:47:18,595 Both sides committed appalling atrocities. 672 00:47:18,687 --> 00:47:20,086 Civilians were massacred, 673 00:47:20,167 --> 00:47:23,045 neighbourhoods were lost, captured and destroyed. 674 00:47:23,127 --> 00:47:27,359 Both Israelis and Arabs feared desperately they were losing Jerusalem. 675 00:47:31,447 --> 00:47:35,042 The Israeli forces in the Old City were soon surrounded and cut off. 676 00:47:35,127 --> 00:47:36,355 (GUNSHOTS) 677 00:47:36,447 --> 00:47:40,838 The battle for the Jewish quarter was especially intense and desperate. 678 00:47:40,927 --> 00:47:43,487 The crack troops of the Jordanian Arab legion 679 00:47:43,567 --> 00:47:47,606 fought their way in, house by house, alleyway by alleyway, 680 00:47:47,687 --> 00:47:51,600 until for the Jews of the Jewish quarter there was no way out. 681 00:47:55,527 --> 00:47:58,200 Two thousand Jews were expelled from their homes. 682 00:47:58,287 --> 00:48:01,040 The Jordanians looted the empty houses 683 00:48:01,127 --> 00:48:04,802 and then blew up 22 of the 2 7 synagogues. 684 00:48:05,247 --> 00:48:08,717 Jews were banned totally from the Western Wall. 685 00:48:11,967 --> 00:48:16,245 Once again, the Jews had lost access to their holiest shrine. 686 00:48:17,167 --> 00:48:20,876 They in turn expelled thousands of Palestinians 687 00:48:20,967 --> 00:48:23,686 from the Jewish suburbs they now held. 688 00:48:25,847 --> 00:48:27,724 Jews, Christians and Muslims, 689 00:48:27,807 --> 00:48:31,038 many of whom had lived side by side for centuries, 690 00:48:31,127 --> 00:48:32,845 were driven apart. 691 00:48:35,647 --> 00:48:40,402 Jerusalem became a divided city according to historian Salim Tamari. 692 00:48:42,047 --> 00:48:44,925 By the end of May, most of the Arabs had fled 693 00:48:45,007 --> 00:48:47,237 and then the Jewish forces came 694 00:48:47,327 --> 00:48:50,637 and cleared all the Arabs from West Jerusalem. 695 00:48:51,327 --> 00:48:55,036 So Jerusalem became ethnically pure, if you like. 696 00:48:55,367 --> 00:48:58,245 Of course, the Jewish population in the Old City 697 00:48:58,327 --> 00:49:01,205 were also cleared from the Jewish quarter. 698 00:49:01,487 --> 00:49:05,116 But the people cleared in the Jewish side were much more 699 00:49:05,207 --> 00:49:06,720 than the people cleared from the Arab side. 700 00:49:07,447 --> 00:49:09,085 The city was sealed. 701 00:49:09,167 --> 00:49:11,727 You have barbed wire 702 00:49:11,807 --> 00:49:14,844 and then a wall was built 703 00:49:15,567 --> 00:49:20,322 to separate the Arab city, which was the Eastern part, 704 00:49:20,967 --> 00:49:24,198 from the Jewish city, which was the Western part. 705 00:49:24,287 --> 00:49:28,166 And it was absolutely hermetically sealed. 706 00:49:28,247 --> 00:49:31,205 There was nobody allowed to move in and out. 707 00:49:34,247 --> 00:49:36,966 MONTEFIORE: Israel was engaged in a desperate 708 00:49:37,047 --> 00:49:40,357 but ultimately victorious struggle for survival. 709 00:49:41,047 --> 00:49:43,481 The real losers were the Palestinians. 710 00:49:45,167 --> 00:49:48,125 Over three quarters of a million lost their homes. 711 00:49:48,207 --> 00:49:50,482 Some were expelled by force, 712 00:49:50,567 --> 00:49:53,798 some left to avoid the fighting hoping to return. 713 00:49:54,047 --> 00:49:56,800 Many of them ended up in camps of tents 714 00:49:56,887 --> 00:49:59,321 around the west bank of the Jordan river. 715 00:49:59,407 --> 00:50:02,683 And about half became citizens of Israel. 716 00:50:02,767 --> 00:50:07,921 The tragedy of the Palestinians became known as the Naqba, the catastrophe. 717 00:50:11,527 --> 00:50:16,043 In 1 949, Israel and Jordan signed an armistice treaty 718 00:50:16,127 --> 00:50:19,961 that divided the city along a mile and a half of frontier. 719 00:50:21,527 --> 00:50:25,998 The Jordanians controlled East Jerusalem and the whole of the Old City. 720 00:50:26,087 --> 00:50:28,806 The Israelis kept the western suburbs. 721 00:50:30,087 --> 00:50:33,523 The Armistice Line was not meant to be a permanent border. 722 00:50:33,607 --> 00:50:38,283 It just happened to be where the armies stood when the fighting stopped. 723 00:50:38,367 --> 00:50:43,157 But for 20 years, it formed an impenetrable, impassable barrier 724 00:50:43,287 --> 00:50:47,246 between the Israelis on one side and the Arabs on the other. 725 00:50:47,327 --> 00:50:49,887 It's futile to divide any city, 726 00:50:49,967 --> 00:50:53,004 but it's especially tragic to divide Jerusalem. 727 00:50:54,647 --> 00:50:59,675 Jerusalem was to remain divided until June of 1 967, 728 00:50:59,767 --> 00:51:04,761 when another conflict broke out between Israel and her Arab neighbours. 729 00:51:05,887 --> 00:51:07,798 (BOMB EXPLODING) 730 00:51:07,887 --> 00:51:10,003 Threatened with war on three fronts, 731 00:51:10,087 --> 00:51:13,204 Israel struck first and soon got the upper hand. 732 00:51:13,287 --> 00:51:14,879 (GUNS FIRING) 733 00:51:14,967 --> 00:51:18,243 ANNOUNCER: And that victory is a swift, smashing and total one 734 00:51:18,327 --> 00:51:22,161 as crack air force, infantry, artillery and tank corps combine. 735 00:51:23,087 --> 00:51:27,956 Thousands of prisoners are taken while Jordan announces she lost 1 5,000 troops 736 00:51:28,047 --> 00:51:30,242 in the sudden and devastating campaign. 737 00:51:33,807 --> 00:51:35,559 MONTEFIORE: In just six days of fighting, 738 00:51:35,647 --> 00:51:39,686 Israel conquered the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, the Sinai Peninsula 739 00:51:39,767 --> 00:51:42,361 and the West Bank of the Jordan river. 740 00:51:42,767 --> 00:51:44,439 (GUNSHOTS) 741 00:51:44,527 --> 00:51:47,485 But the conquest of the Old City of Jerusalem 742 00:51:47,567 --> 00:51:49,603 was the climax of the war. 743 00:51:50,007 --> 00:51:52,043 (EXPLOSIONS) 744 00:51:54,007 --> 00:51:56,043 ANNOUNCER: Without doubt, the most personally moving moment 745 00:51:56,127 --> 00:51:59,756 for Israeli troops was the capture of the Old City of Jerusalem, 746 00:51:59,847 --> 00:52:02,042 the location of an ancient Jewish holy place 747 00:52:02,127 --> 00:52:04,083 revered by the Israelis. 748 00:52:04,727 --> 00:52:06,957 MONTEFIORE: When Israeli soldiers captured the Wall, 749 00:52:07,047 --> 00:52:10,517 it was an event of absolute exultation. 750 00:52:10,607 --> 00:52:15,078 They danced, they sang, they prayed, they kissed the stones. 751 00:52:15,447 --> 00:52:20,043 Even for secular Jews, it was a moment of religious joy. 752 00:52:20,447 --> 00:52:22,517 (PEOPLE CHEERING) 753 00:52:28,847 --> 00:52:35,195 For the Jews, Israel was at last in Zion and the cosmic order had been restored. 754 00:52:35,287 --> 00:52:39,519 It was the end of exile, the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. 755 00:52:43,327 --> 00:52:45,557 But for thousands of Palestinians, 756 00:52:45,647 --> 00:52:49,242 it was the beginning of a long and bitter military occupation. 757 00:52:49,327 --> 00:52:51,716 Winning the war presented the Israelis 758 00:52:51,807 --> 00:52:55,686 with the challenge faced by all who have conquered Jerusalem, 759 00:52:55,767 --> 00:52:58,122 how to share its holy sites. 760 00:52:58,727 --> 00:53:03,482 They wanted to rule a Jerusalem of the three great Abrahamic faiths, 761 00:53:03,567 --> 00:53:07,321 and that meant leaving the Haram-al-Sharif to the Muslims. 762 00:53:09,247 --> 00:53:13,479 The eyes of the world were upon them and they wanted to show that Israel 763 00:53:13,567 --> 00:53:17,446 was a fit and suitable custodian for the Holy City. 764 00:53:17,727 --> 00:53:22,801 Israel prided itself on being a young and open democracy. 765 00:53:22,887 --> 00:53:26,721 And for that reason they wanted to show that they would have tolerance 766 00:53:26,807 --> 00:53:29,196 for all the other faiths in Jerusalem. 767 00:53:34,087 --> 00:53:36,647 But the challenge of giving all religions 768 00:53:36,727 --> 00:53:41,278 equal access to their own holy sites was not so easily achieved. 769 00:53:41,927 --> 00:53:46,239 So many Jews were coming to pray at the newly captured Western Wall, 770 00:53:46,327 --> 00:53:48,477 there was a demand for more space. 771 00:53:48,567 --> 00:53:51,877 The Israeli authorities needed to clear a plaza. 772 00:53:51,967 --> 00:53:55,516 But this meant destroying a historic Palestinian neighbourhood. 773 00:53:57,007 --> 00:54:01,080 Deputy Mayor Meron Benvenisti has mixed feelings about this. 774 00:54:02,247 --> 00:54:05,364 We destroyed the whole area and removed the people, 775 00:54:05,447 --> 00:54:10,237 which caused us great distress on the one hand 776 00:54:10,327 --> 00:54:11,646 and criticism in the world. 777 00:54:11,727 --> 00:54:16,676 People said that it was similar to ethnic cleansing 778 00:54:17,327 --> 00:54:18,726 but I think it was inevitable. 779 00:54:18,807 --> 00:54:21,480 This is the area of the plaza of the wall today. 780 00:54:21,567 --> 00:54:25,116 Suddenly the reality of Jerusalem, the earthly Jerusalem, 781 00:54:25,207 --> 00:54:28,882 suddenly tarnished the heavenly Jerusalem 782 00:54:28,967 --> 00:54:32,596 and Israelis began to understand 783 00:54:33,047 --> 00:54:37,120 that still there's a problem, 784 00:54:37,927 --> 00:54:40,236 because now 785 00:54:40,327 --> 00:54:43,444 there cannot be peace 786 00:54:43,767 --> 00:54:45,359 with exclusive possessions. 787 00:54:52,727 --> 00:54:54,797 MONTEFIORE: This fundamental contradiction 788 00:54:54,887 --> 00:54:57,355 that has plagued the city for centuries 789 00:54:57,447 --> 00:55:02,316 made the Haram-al-Sharif, yet again, the focus of intense religious rivalry. 790 00:55:08,447 --> 00:55:11,962 When the Aqsa Mosque was set on fire in 1 969, 791 00:55:12,367 --> 00:55:14,881 many of Jerusalem's Muslims rioted, 792 00:55:14,967 --> 00:55:19,006 believing the fire bomb was a Jewish attempt to destroy the mosque. 793 00:55:22,607 --> 00:55:25,360 Actually, the attack turned out to be the work 794 00:55:25,447 --> 00:55:28,962 of an Australian Christian fundamentalist, Dennis Rohan. 795 00:55:31,887 --> 00:55:33,445 ANNOUNCER: The trial of Dennis Michael Rohan 796 00:55:33,527 --> 00:55:35,165 was a top security affair. 797 00:55:35,247 --> 00:55:39,001 Rohan later admitted starting the blaze, but pleaded insanity. 798 00:55:40,007 --> 00:55:43,636 When Rohan was brought to court, it became clear he was suffering 799 00:55:43,727 --> 00:55:48,676 from a special form of religious madness peculiar to Jerusalem. 800 00:55:52,047 --> 00:55:55,517 The psychotic condition is known as Jerusalem Syndrome, 801 00:55:58,407 --> 00:56:01,479 an affliction that affects visitors to the Holy City 802 00:56:01,567 --> 00:56:04,479 when their hopes of heavenly transcendence 803 00:56:04,567 --> 00:56:07,445 collide with the reality of earthly life. 804 00:56:08,927 --> 00:56:13,398 The intensity of Jerusalem's holiness has infected not only believers, 805 00:56:13,847 --> 00:56:18,682 but also visitors and conquerors alike, with obsession, if not madness, 806 00:56:19,127 --> 00:56:22,403 how to reconcile the dream of sanctity 807 00:56:22,487 --> 00:56:26,924 with the chaos, complexity and violence of the real city. 808 00:56:28,127 --> 00:56:31,085 The contradiction has never been more acute. 809 00:56:31,847 --> 00:56:35,078 The long struggle for possession of the city continues, 810 00:56:35,167 --> 00:56:37,397 aggravated on both sides 811 00:56:37,487 --> 00:56:41,162 by intolerant nationalism and religious fundamentalism. 812 00:56:42,207 --> 00:56:46,962 It has placed Jerusalem, once again, at the very centre of global politics. 813 00:56:47,447 --> 00:56:49,358 (GUNS FIRING) 814 00:56:52,927 --> 00:56:54,246 (CLAMORING) 815 00:56:55,207 --> 00:56:56,560 (GUNSHOT) 816 00:56:57,687 --> 00:56:59,598 (PEOPLE SHOUTING) 817 00:57:03,007 --> 00:57:06,761 The conflict has given rise to a vast concrete wall 818 00:57:06,847 --> 00:57:09,441 between the Israelis and Palestinians, 819 00:57:09,527 --> 00:57:13,406 the most visible symbol of the curse of Jerusalem, 820 00:57:13,487 --> 00:57:16,240 its division by nation and by religion. 821 00:57:20,287 --> 00:57:23,085 Four thousand years since it was founded, 822 00:57:23,167 --> 00:57:27,558 Jerusalem today has never been larger or more prosperous. 823 00:57:28,567 --> 00:57:32,162 But it's also anxious, angry and divided, 824 00:57:32,727 --> 00:57:34,797 facing an uncertain future. 825 00:57:34,887 --> 00:57:38,562 -(SIREN BLARING) -I can imagine a future 826 00:57:38,647 --> 00:57:42,959 where the insane acts of a few outrageous fanatics 827 00:57:43,407 --> 00:57:46,080 would destroy Jerusalem altogether, 828 00:57:46,167 --> 00:57:50,080 a catastrophe that would break the heart of the world, 829 00:57:50,887 --> 00:57:52,878 but I can also foresee a future 830 00:57:52,967 --> 00:57:58,439 when the Holy City would be shared by its two peoples and its three faiths. 831 00:58:02,927 --> 00:58:07,921 Jerusalem's holiness has been passed down through generations of believers, 832 00:58:08,007 --> 00:58:10,441 Jew, Christian and Muslim. 833 00:58:11,607 --> 00:58:16,681 Each generation has distilled and intensified the city's sanctity 834 00:58:16,767 --> 00:58:18,917 and claimed it as their own. 835 00:58:23,407 --> 00:58:27,764 Who will find it in their faith to share this hallowed place 836 00:58:28,127 --> 00:58:30,277 where God meets man?