Overview

Perhaps the most contested patch of earth in the world, Jerusalem’s Old City experiences consistent violent unrest between Israeli and Palestinian residents, with seemingly no end in sight. Today, Jerusalem’s endless cycle of riots and arrests appears intractable—even unavoidable—and it looks unlikely that harmony will ever be achieved in the city. But with Jerusalem 1900, historian Vincent Lemire shows us that it wasn’t always that way, undoing the familiar notion of Jerusalem as a lost cause and revealing a unique moment in history when a more peaceful future seemed possible.   In this masterly history, Lemire uses newly opened archives to explore how Jerusalem’s elite residents of differing faiths cooperated through an intercommunity municipal council they created in the mid-1860s to administer the affairs of all inhabitants and improve their shared city. These residents embraced a spirit of modern urbanism and cultivated a civic identity that transcended religion and reflected the relatively secular and cosmopolitan way of life of Jerusalem at the time. These few years would turn out to be a tipping point in the city’s history—a pivotal moment when the horizon of possibility was still open, before the council broke up in 1934, under British rule, into separate Jewish and Arab factions. Uncovering this often overlooked diplomatic period, Lemire reveals that the struggle over Jerusalem was not historically inevitable—and therefore is not necessarily intractable. Jerusalem 1900 sheds light on how the Holy City once functioned peacefully and illustrates how it might one day do so again.

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9780226188232

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Reviews

An important book for its theoretical and corrective analysis of the vicissitudes of Jerusalem's ongoing realities, and a contribution to archaeology and modernization in general. Highly recommended. --Choice Jerusalem, undoubtedly the most sensitive spiritual and geopolitical hotspot on the planet, counts Lemire among its most original historians. He brings the city to life at a time when ethnic and religious divisions were less entrenched and clear-cut than today. --Le Monde This book should be placed in the hands of anyone who is interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--not because Lemire places a spotlight on the news but rather because he provides new historic clarity on the beating heart of the conflict: Jerusalem. --Lib ration Jerusalem 1900 chronicles the history of the ancient city at the turn of the century and offers a compelling rebuke to this false Israeli claim that seeks to legitimize Israel's occupation. --Palestine Square

Author Information

Vincent Lemire is lecturer in contemporary history at the University of Marne-la-Vallee, in Paris.

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