Holy, Holy, Holy

There's a new book out:

Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and co-existence

It is edited by Marshall J. Breger, Yitzhak Reiter, Leonard Hammer (*) and published by Routledge

According to the blurb:

This book addresses the major generators of conflict and toleration at shared holy places in Palestine and Israel. Examining the religious, political and legal issues, the authors show how the holy sites have been a focus of both conflict and cooperation between different communities...Themes covered include legal regulation of holy places; nationalization and reproduction of holy space; sharing and contesting holy places; identity politics; and popular legends of holy sites. Chapters cover in detail how recognition and authorization of a new site come about; the influence of religious belief versus political ideology on the designation of holy places; the centrality of such areas to the surrounding political developments; and how historical background and culture affect the perception of a holy site and relations between conflicting groups.

And the Table of Contents includes:

...2. The Legal Regulation of Holy Sites 3. Protection of Holy Places in International Law: Objective and Subjective Approaches 4. Wars and Sacred Space: The Influence of The 1948 War on Sacred Space in the State of Israel...8. The Pessimist's Guide to Religious Coexistence 9. Contest or Cohabitation in Shared Holy Places: The Cave of the Patriarchs and Samuel's Tomb 10. Treatment of Antiquities on the Temple Mount/ Al-Haram Al-Sharif 11. The Shihab Al-Din Mosque Affair in Nazareth: A Case Study of Muslim-Christian-Jewish Relations in the State of Israel 12. Holy Shrines (Maqamat) in Modern Palestine/Israel and the Politics of Memory...

As I have blogged numerous times, the so-called "Palestinian Arab Nationalist Movement" was a fiction. There were really no "Palestinians" except fro the fact that Britain created a Mandate. Up until 1921-22, the Arabs resident in this part of the Middle East considered themselves, even though they wrote about living in "Palestine" (a foreign name for their own country is weird), considered, as much as they did or could, their nationality as Syrian. They were Southern Syrians.

It took the Mufti to fashion a local form of nationalism but that was based on a fanatic religious stance, with the Temple Mount as the focal point. Already in 1924, he initiated Waqf interference with the Western Wall site of Jewish prayers. In 1928, he began another campaign of incitement and interference which culminated in hundreds of rioters pouring out of the Haram compound to slaughter Jews.

Finally, we now have scholars trying to cathc up with history.

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(*)

Marshall J. Breger is a Professor of Law at the Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America where he teaches Administrative Law, Church and State, International Law, and Legal Issues of the Mid East Peace Process. A contributing columnist to Moment magazine, he writes and speaks regularly on both legal issues and issues of Jewish public policy and has published in numerous law reviews and periodicals.

Yitzhak Reiter teaches at the Conflict Studies Program of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science of Ashkelon Academic College. Between 1978 and 1986 he served as the Deputy Advisor on Arab Affairs to three Israeli Prime Ministers and is very active in projects of Jewish-Arab dialogue inside Israel.

Leonard Hammer is Associate Professor at Middle East Technical University, Northern Cyprus Campus. He lectures in the fields of public international law and international human rights, and has published books, articles, and chapters pertaining to these areas. He has received a number of fellowships and grants to conduct research on international law, freedom of religion and conscience, migrant workers, and holy places.