Jerusalem is divided into quarters with each ethnic group claiming a quarter. The muslims, Christians, Jews and Armenians each have their own area inside the old town with their synagogues, mosques and churches.
And then there is one vast area that is a holy place for two religions – Judaism and Islam. The temple mount or Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa Mosque.
The western wall is right beneath the Al Aksa Mosque, one being the holiest place in the jewish religion the other being the third holiest place after Mekka and Medina. This makes for an explosive situation as each religion claims the right to the same place. Jews claim that on temple mountain is where their two original temples were standing and Muslims claim that Mohammed ascended from the rock that is inside the dome, into the sky. And we“ll never know the truth.
Today the dome of the Rock is a memorial around a rock on thr ground with a golden roof, and pretty colorful tile work all around. Non muslim visitors can only see it from the outside. The best time to visit the dome of the rock and the temple mountain is early morning. Visitors are only allowed to visit at certain times from 7 AM to 11 AM (winter) and one hour in the afternoon. That’s it. And it’s not easy to find. Simply follow the wooden Moroccan Bridge all the way to the end—this is where the security checkpoint is located – to the right of the ones leading to the Western Wall.
Jews are not supposed to go up on top of the temple mountain at all as they could step on sacred ground where one of the two original temples could have stood. Muslims are allowed to go at any time (if the Israelis don’t block all access) and on Fridays it is literally corwded as the Al Aksa Mosque alone acommodates 5000 people. Visitors are not allowed on Friday afternoons at all.
Access for western visitors is only through one of the gates, checked by heavy security and a wooden walk way leading up onto the temple mountain. One is not allowed to bring any sign or religious artefact onto the grounds and while the Israeli police controlls all access gates, the Jordanian military forces control the temple mountain on top. When we were there all looked peaceful but as soon as there are any signs of problems, the Israelis close off temple mountain and if need be Jerusalem.
Our feeling was that since the Gaza war unrests have been scarce and palestinians intimidated and each year it seems that Israelis claim more and more land and buildings that originally belonged to muslims before. We now see Israeli flags on some of the houses in the muslim quarter, we see small groups of ultra orthodox jews strolling the grounds of the table mountain with heavy Israeli police protection (which they are not supposed to do), there are petitions to tear down Al Aksa and the dome of the rock and to rebuild their two temples instead and of course many new settlements in the palestinian side of east Jerusalem. All that leads to a widening rift between the two parties with no end or solution in sight.
Nevertheless, it was worth seeing the impressive and beautiful dome and grounds bathed in the early sunlight at 7 AM and without any tourists. We admired the tile art on the walls and the peacefulness of the moment counting us lucky to live in a country without wars.
We exited through one of the other gates, meandering through the rabbit warren of small passageways back to our Hospice grabbing the car keys to make our way up to Mount of Olives.
True to the name, there are many olive trees on Mount of Olives. It“s quite a steep drive up to the top and there we could admire the dome from the other side of the valley. Thousands of mostly Jewish graves line the hillside looking like a white\yellow rocky desert patch. This is a prized burial place for any Jew as it“s the prime and closest spot to follow the Messiah (once he comes) to the temple mountain.
On our way down we visited various churches that have been built during various centuries by different christian confessions.
Parking our car at Jaffa gate this time, we decided to walk the ramparts. This is possible across the entire length of the city wall with the exception of the temple mountain area. Countless rock stairs led on narrow ledges from gate to gate allowing intimate views into private terraces and areas of the city one usually does not get to see. It was literally several kilometers of wall walk ways and steps so by the end of it we were sore and exhaused from walking 25.000 steps/ 17 kms and stairs on one single day – always up or down as Jerusalem is one hilly city.
We passed by the Western Wall once more, but this time the plaza was filled with young recruits, apparently about to take their oath of service for Israel. The ceremony was noticeably larger than Chris remembered it from his visit some twenty years ago. In Israel, most Jewish citizens are conscripted: men serve around 32 months, women about 24 months, making military service a visible and formative part of everyday life.
After that, we finally visited the Hurva Synagogue, a reconstruction, as the original building was destroyed by the Jordanian Arab Legion in 1948 during the fighting over the Old City.
The synagogue has a viewing terrace that offers for 22 NIS (6 Euro) beautiful views over Jerusalem’s rooftops—well worth the climb.
One beautiful sunset later and dining at a small Lebanese restaurant, we felt we are too pooped to stay up late despite it being December 31st. In Jerusalem nobody celebrates the new year, no fireworks or big dinners, so we are going with the locals and just go to bed early and sleep through into the new year….
Find Chris’ 2020 Jerusalem blog with some additional pictures & details here and here.
