Now, how interesting! This is a view of Jerusalem I didn't catch in Karen's book, for sure. What a fascinating writing on Wasif Jawhariyyeh's memoirs. I know I have wondered if, surely, some time during the millennia, the 'three' divisions (Muslim, Christian, and Jew) got along. So this was an eye opening addition to the book we have just finished. In fact, the chapter mentions, early on, the FOUR communities: Muslim, Christian, Jew, and Armenian. Wow. I knew that one of the early leaders had an Armenian wife and four daughters (was it Saladin?) but had no idea they had a comparable community like the others. And Tamari mentions several times about the accepted and relaxed atmosphere of interaction between them, including the "Other" within their celebrations: Christians and Muslims shared Purim with the Jews, and Muslim, Christian, and Jews celebrated some form of "Easter/Pessah" celebration together, etc...hmmm.....
Also, Jerusalem's internal dynamics seem to come alive. Tamari writes, "Jawhariyyeh's memoirs contest the conventional picture of Jerusalem as a grim and conservative city dominated by religious organizations and institutions of pilgrimage" (p91). Was this just during this time period in general, or due to the interesting people that lived within her boundaries at this time? I was intrigued with the detail shared of Wasif's family, life, and goings on that surrounded him then. It seems that Jerusalem was exploding with life and high society entertainment on personal levels, smoothly and fluidly within the communities. Tamari's chapter mentions, "...the move toward modernity...was linked to the rising middle classes' migration to the outskirts of the city" (p82). ...so, the explosion included population...and this drove families to move to the 'outskirts' of the city? I wonder why then this migration, which included building new neighborhoods for the families, was seen as "signaling a separation of ways between modern Palestinian Arab nationalism and Jewish communal consciousness" (p82). What happened? I sure don't know, but it was interesting to see this bit of cultural growth intertwined for a while between them all.
The chapter on Canaan was interesting also...I didn't realize lepers existed outside of the Bible....anyway, Canaan also seems to have seen the native cultures blending into the "forces of modernity" (p97). (It must have been an obvious change, as Jawhariyyeh had noticed it too.) What was really interesting was that Canaan believed that "the peasants of Palestine represent, through their folk norms and material artifacts, living heritage of all the accumulated ancient cultures that appeared in Palestine" (p98). This includes the Bible time Canaanite and Philistine? That's what Canaan said! Now that is interesting...it reminds me of our next journal assignment....material pieces, words of a song, poetry, interests, habits, etc...anything that says something about who we are...these same things not only identify the "peasants of Palestine" but point towards their heritage....I wonder if the same holds true for us? Could another Canaan look at our "folk norms and material artifacts" and tell something about our accumulated ancient cultures? I had never thought about this.....
I like that you brought up the Jews, Christians, and Muslims celebrating Purim, Easter, and Pesach together. I also talked about them sharing the celebration of Purim together in my blog and shared a little bit about our Purim celebration in Jerusalem last year. It is so fascinating to me how so many people in Israel are trying to make it work and it's sad that it's only the few that are extremists are holding everyone back from moving forward.
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