Posts Tagged With: Jerusalem

Thomas skriver :

I walked into Jerusalem today and managed to blend in with the Christian pilgrims. I walked with them, listened to their hymns and joined their rituals. These pictures are from the final destination, where, according to tradition, Jesus was crucified, buried and then arose.

The Old City of Jerusalem is a complex, intense and significant place. Jewish, Islamic and Christian holidays coincide and thousands of militarily armed police officers control the area. News reporters and journalists are present as well. Given this incomprehensibility I wasn’t able to fully grasp the norms. At some point I was suddenly inside of fences with guards keeping others outside, surrounded by nuns and priests. I wasn’t told to leave so I stayed till the end.

At some point there was loud screaming in front, parts of the crowd started to turn back, police officers yelling into walkie-talkies appeared. The Christian group was apparently so large that Muslims couldn’t move across the streets. Thus there was an intersection of two crowds, with a layer of armed forces separating us. An angry-ish Muslim crowd yelling at the Christian crowd to hurry, guns and rifles everywhere, tensions increasing. Eventually we passed through fine, although, and this rarely happens, I did feel scared. The intensity of the situation, being there alone, was too juicy to miss. And had I turned back I would’ve missed out on a truly special experience. Didn’t understand a word the whole day but it was quite beautiful.

Just a few hundred meters away, jews are praying at the Western Wall, and Muslims are praying by the Al-Aqsa Mosque. I did, sort of unintentionally, try to wander into the Muslim quarter to experience their rituals as well, but was unable to enter due to prayer (?). Had a great shawarma though. Literally 50 Israeli police officers guarded the entrance and apparantly I didn’t look Muslim enough and my cover was blown. Not a problem, was told in a friendly manner that, at least during prayer (?) – Muslim only. Supposedly much more interesting during prayer unfortunately..

Dystopian and wrong 🇵🇸 At least artistry and humour is still alive. Wasn’t ready for how overpowering the wall is. It cuts through the middle of the city, is around 700km long and 12m meters high at the highest. The juxtaposition of that and all the art leaves a strong impression.