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The posts from 20-28 March 2014 were originally formatted for Tumblr. Click here to see the original blog.

Contended Space

The pictures above are from around the Via Dolarosa.  This is one of the most ancient of Christian pilgrimage routes following the way that Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha.  The road runs through the city’s Muslim Quarter although pilgrims who follow it might never know that.  Today our Muslim guide (Dr Mustafa Abu Sway, Professor at al-Aqsa Mosque and at al-Quds University) took us into the side streets that criss cross the Via Dolarosa in which he had grown up. There he unpacked a story of being pushed into the margins even within his own sector of the city by a Christian community that owns the most prominent property and takes over the main street.

A Christian procession carrying a cross pressed all other users of the street to the side as they passed by only to be pressed to the side themselves as a car then drove up the road.

The side streets are covered with much graffiti.  Two green triangular pennants painted on a wall are a sign marking and celebrating a successful Hajj.  Muslim notions of pilgrimage clearly contend with those of Christians in the same way that Islamic calls to prayer through loudspeakers compete with the singing of pilgrims in the streets and church bells ringing.

Whose home is this?  The answer is not altogether clear.

The posts from 20-28 March 2014 were originally formatted for Tumblr. Click here to see the original blog.

Again, just off the Via Dolorosa is the Centre for Israeli Studies. The Barbed wire and the shadow it casts on a concrete wall outside this centre before the gold of the Dome on the Rock is a familiar image of communities contending for space with one another.  There is a lot of barbed wire in Jerusalem.

Roman Catholic members of the Franciscan Order contend in another way. The Mace Bearers at the front of the procession hammer their staffs on the ground as they clear the crowds for friars on their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  I hadn’t realised quite how fast they were moving and nearly ended up under their feet as I took their photograph.

The posts from 20-28 March 2014 were originally formatted for Tumblr. Click here to see the original blog.

The good: pictured above is Ibrahim Mogra  (founder and Principal of Khazinatul-`Ilm, Madaris of Arabic and Muslim Life Studies, in Leicester) standing on the Mount of Olives with the Dome of the Rock at Al-Aqsa Mosque behind.  This was a great day for Ibrahim who walked from here to the Mosque to join the multitudes for Friday Prayers. The Mosque stands in the Old City of Jerusalem on what I knew as Temple Mount but it is known more popularly around here as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary). The opportunity to pray here for a Muslim is a real privilege as the third holiest place after Makkah (Mecca) and Madinah. He told us all he was disgusted last night after a twelve hour wait to get through airport security but today he was happy. (Copyright © Tim Stratford 2014)

The posts from 20-28 March 2014 were originally formatted for Tumblr. Click here to see the original blog.

And the ugly: Whilst the Muslim members of our party joined the throng for Friday Prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque the Christian group walked on to the Pool of Bethesda. Just out of the Old City we encountered two lines of police in a stand-off with a crowd.  As we approached we realised the crowd was praying. We learned that these were Muslim men under 50 who were not allowed to approach Al-Aqsa today for Friday prayers.  we had seen some scuffles at earlier police lines but here the guns were by a crowd that simply prayed. (Copyright © Tim Stratford 2014)

The posts from 20-28 March 2014 were originally formatted for Tumblr. Click here to see the original blog.

This is Thursday 20th March

Tel Aviv Airport.  It’s a nice space to walk through.  The white British Christians did just that.  Four British Muslims spent a further eleven hours there undergoing questions with their passports withdrawn despite carrying letters of recommendation from the British Embassy.  They arrived at St George’s College at 4:00am for their evening meal well after the Christians had retired.  We have rejigged the programme this morning until they are sufficiently rested.  Pictured above, the Dean of St George’s College Jerusalem, Graham Smith, and a participant, Clive Burrows from the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. (Copyright © Tim Stratford 2014)