0:00:02 > 0:00:04GUNSHOTS
0:00:05 > 0:00:08GUNFIRE
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Jerusalem, the Holy City.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18Coveted, prized and disputed by three of the world's great faiths,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Jerusalem has been conquered and occupied
0:00:31 > 0:00:34more than any other city in history.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37In Jerusalem, the history is drenched in blood.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41It's been destroyed and rebuilt many times.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45The more it's destroyed, the more revered it's become.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49These stones have been fought over for centuries.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56The holiness of the city dates back long before the arrival of Islam,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59long before the advent of Christianity,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02long, even, before Judaism.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Each borrowed the sanctity of those who came before,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08making Jerusalem the centre of the world.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15Today, it's a divided city, the capital of two peoples.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Its sacred sites have never been more intensely contested
0:01:21 > 0:01:25nor with such universal implications.
0:01:26 > 0:01:32So why did this holy city become the object of such violent competition?
0:01:33 > 0:01:37And how did the nationalist struggle for Jerusalem
0:01:37 > 0:01:41become so infected with apocalyptic religious fervour?
0:02:09 > 0:02:15I'm a historian but I also have a personal connection to the city,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19I've been coming here with my family, since I was a boy.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Some 4,000 years ago, Jerusalem was a minor Canaanite stronghold,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29with a vital spring and a pagan shrine.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34With the arrival of the Hebrews,
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Jerusalem became the holy city of the Jews.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42In the Hebrew Bible, it's described as the City of the temple,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45existing in heaven and on earth,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49the setting for the final day of judgement.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53With the spread of Christianity,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57the fame of Jerusalem's holiness became truly global.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02When the new faith of Islam was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04he too revered Jerusalem.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12At first Mohammed directed his prayer not to Mecca but to here.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16And it was here that Muslims built the Dome of the rock
0:03:16 > 0:03:20on the very place sanctified by the Jews before them.
0:03:20 > 0:03:26This is the place where some believe Adam's skull was buried,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33where the Jewish Holy of Holies supposedly stood.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37This is the place whence Mohammed the Prophet ascended to heaven.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40In the Middle Ages,
0:03:40 > 0:03:45this became the epicentre of a clash of civilisations.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Christian Crusaders competed for control of the Holy City
0:03:49 > 0:03:52with its Islamic rulers.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57The conflict that followed left the city in ruins.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03By the late 13th century, the prospect of Jerusalem becoming
0:04:03 > 0:04:09once again a city of world renown, must have seemed highly unlikely.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19After the bloody trauma of the Crusades,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Jerusalem had been devastated by the Tartars
0:04:22 > 0:04:25and laid waste by the Mongol hordes.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Not for the first time in its history,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31most of the population had either been slaughtered or had fled.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Even the walls had been reduced to rubble.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39And now, scarcely 2,000 ragged souls struggled to survive
0:04:39 > 0:04:41amongst the ruins.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Indeed, Jerusalem's very survival as a city was in doubt.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Jerusalem was in need of a saviour.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57When he emerged, it was in the form of a brutal Islamic soldier
0:04:57 > 0:05:02who'd risen to power from the slave markets of Central Asia.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Baibars was a pagan orphan, sold as a boy into
0:05:06 > 0:05:10an Egyptian army of slaves, known as the Mamluks.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15As he climbed the ranks, he was freed by his master
0:05:15 > 0:05:18and rose to become a general.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21By the time he was 30,
0:05:21 > 0:05:26Baibars was the most formidable officer in this new empire.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29And he was ready to take on the might of the Mongol hordes.
0:05:38 > 0:05:44Baibars' Mamluk army defeated the Mongols in the hills of Galilee.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Baibars then declared himself ruler from Egypt to Syria.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Jerusalem lay at the centre of his new domain.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Baibars was a spectacularly cruel warlord,
0:06:00 > 0:06:04he liked to build towers of the skulls of his fallen enemies,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08his favourite punishment was public bisection, slicing in half.
0:06:08 > 0:06:14No wonder he adopted the prowling panther as his personal symbol.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25The Mamluk capital was in Cairo,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29but Jerusalem was the religious heart of their world.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Although they were born pagans,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35these former slaves had been forced to convert to Islam.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40The Mamluks possessed all the fanaticism of the convert
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and they revered Jerusalem as the jewel of their faith.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Baibars embarked on a mission to re-embellish
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and re-sanctify the Holy City.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59The Mamluks' religious enthusiasm for Jerusalem gave rise to
0:06:59 > 0:07:02some of the city's finest buildings.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07Baibars also helped to restore its sacred status in Islam.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12The most important legacy that Baibars left Jerusalem
0:07:12 > 0:07:15was not a building, it was a festival.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Baibars borrowed from Christian
0:07:17 > 0:07:22and Jewish traditions to create a new religious celebration.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27Every Easter Jerusalem was still dominated by Christian pilgrims
0:07:27 > 0:07:32and so, at the time of Christian Easter and Jewish Passover,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36Baibars gave Jerusalem its own festival.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44After Baibars, every year
0:07:44 > 0:07:48thousands of Jerusalemites and Palestinian Arabs
0:07:48 > 0:07:52from the rest of Palestine would gather here on the temple mount,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55they would party, they would celebrate and they would gallop out
0:07:55 > 0:07:59on horses and camels all the way to the shrine, near Jericho,
0:07:59 > 0:08:03of Nebi Musa, the Prophet Moses.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05And this festival remained
0:08:05 > 0:08:09Jerusalem's own special festival for 700 years.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17The festival celebrated Moses, originally a Jewish patriarch,
0:08:17 > 0:08:21now revered as a prophet in Islam.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Eventually, Baibars himself became a victim
0:08:26 > 0:08:28of his own murderous instincts.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Baibars, that most talented but also most cruel of generals,
0:08:34 > 0:08:40died after absentmindedly drinking a glass of poisoned qumiz,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42fermented mare's milk,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45that he'd meant to give to one of his dinner companions.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48I guess that's bound to happen sooner or later
0:08:48 > 0:08:53if you're in the habit of poisoning too many of your dinner guests.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09Baibars' successors may have lacked his manic style,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11but they were his equal in piety
0:09:11 > 0:09:15and surpassed him in their love of architecture.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18They built many of the finest buildings in the Old city.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Some of them were rediscovered in the 1970s
0:09:22 > 0:09:25by the architectural historian Michael Burgoyne.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31This is, I think, one of the most interesting Mamluk buildings
0:09:31 > 0:09:35in Jerusalem, it has fabulous architecture,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39architecture that's as good as any in the world, in my view.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42It's beautifully built
0:09:42 > 0:09:47with joints that you can hardly get a razor blade into for instance,
0:09:47 > 0:09:52this stalactite canopy here, is something that a stonemason today
0:09:52 > 0:09:55couldn't even begin to think about building
0:09:55 > 0:09:59and yet, this is now 700 years old and still standing.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03How important was Jerusalem for the Mamluks?
0:10:03 > 0:10:08Well, judging by the architecture they built here, very important.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11The Mamluks really re-ignited
0:10:11 > 0:10:15the idea of pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
0:10:15 > 0:10:21it had kind of fizzled out during the period of the crusades
0:10:21 > 0:10:24and it was re-introduced right at the start of the Mamluk period.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Throughout history, Jerusalem has been most prosperous
0:10:31 > 0:10:35when it's been most holy.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Pilgrimage has always been its greatest industry.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42With this religious renaissance,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46Jerusalem under the Mamluks once again became splendid and affluent.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51But their affluence was not to last.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57By the early 16th century the Mamluk Empire was exhausted
0:10:57 > 0:10:59by war, corruption and plague.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Its hold on the Middle East was starting to look tenuous.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11The Mamluks were now threatened by a dynamic new Islamic empire
0:11:11 > 0:11:14that had already conquered the Balkans and Turkey.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18The battle that followed would decide Jerusalem's destiny
0:11:18 > 0:11:22for the next 400 years, right up into the twentieth century.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26North of Jerusalem, in what is now Syria,
0:11:26 > 0:11:31a sophisticated, modern army from Turkey confronted the Mamluks
0:11:31 > 0:11:33with their old-fashioned swords and lances.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38The Mamluks were routed by what would become the world's
0:11:38 > 0:11:40greatest Islamic Empire.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52The ruler of this great empire exulted in the name Selim the Grim.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58Selim was given the keys to the Haram al Sharif,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01the Islamic Noble Sanctuary.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05When Selim the Grim arrived in Jerusalem,
0:12:05 > 0:12:10he came here to the al Aqsa mosque. He prostrated himself and declared,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13"I am the now possessor of the first qibla",
0:12:13 > 0:12:16the direction of prayer, because Mohammed had originally decreed
0:12:16 > 0:12:19the Muslims should pray towards Jerusalem,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23only later changing it to Mecca.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Like all the Muslim rulers before him,
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Selim agreed to tolerate the Jews and Christians
0:12:28 > 0:12:32as long as they paid a tax of submission
0:12:32 > 0:12:36and recognised the supremacy of Islamic rule.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42He had earned his macabre soubriquet by killing all his brothers,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46and probably some of his sons.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51When he died, he was survived by just one son, Suleiman.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57At the age of 25, shrewd, lean and inscrutable,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Suleiman became the most powerful man in the world.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05His empire stretched from the Balkans to the borders of Persia,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and from Egypt to the Black sea.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11Ottoman expansion seemed unstoppable,
0:13:11 > 0:13:16challenged only by a coalition of Christian monarchs in the West.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20In a dream, the Prophet came to see Suleiman and told him that,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24if he wished to defeat the Christians and be a great emperor,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27he must first rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
0:13:27 > 0:13:30and restore the Haram al Sharif, the temple mount.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41The Haram al Sharif had become Jerusalem's most important shrine,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44an Islamic site of global renown.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Surrounded by high retaining walls,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49it housed the Aqsa mosque
0:13:49 > 0:13:51and the Dome of the rock.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54The Dome was built on a rock that
0:13:54 > 0:13:57had already been revered for 2,000 years.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02The site of the first Jewish temple during the reign of King Solomon.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12Suleiman regarded himself as a world emperor and a monarch of Islam.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16His name Suleiman actually means Solomon.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Therefore he took his responsibilities in Jerusalem
0:14:19 > 0:14:21especially seriously.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24He immediately set about, restoring this,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26the Dome of the rock.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31He began by replacing its fading mosaics with tiles.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38So many tiles were needed, 450,000 in fact,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40that Suleiman ordered that
0:14:40 > 0:14:44a factory be created up here, on the temple mount.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48And this is a beautiful tribute to the glory of Suleiman,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51the majesty of his new Ottoman dynasty
0:14:51 > 0:14:55and, of course, the splendours of Islam.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Jerusalem had been without walls for 300 years.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Now Suleiman embarked on the enormous task
0:15:09 > 0:15:13of building new defences for the city.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18Today's walls and gates, including the magnificent Damascus Gate,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21are all the work of Suleiman.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Suleiman's achievements in Jerusalem were so colossal
0:15:25 > 0:15:28that it's true to say that the Old City today,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31belongs as much to him as it does to anyone else.
0:15:31 > 0:15:38Under Suleiman, Jerusalem, though still small, began to thrive again.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42The population more than tripled to 16,000.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46But among the Muslim population there was also
0:15:46 > 0:15:49a growing minority of Jews.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01The Jews had been stateless since they were expelled from Jerusalem by the Romans.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06Most Jews now lived scattered across Europe and the Middle East,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10but they never lost their longing for a return to Jerusalem,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12which they called Zion,
0:16:12 > 0:16:17after the Biblical name for David's original stronghold.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20During the Spanish inquisition,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24the Christian king expelled tens of thousands of Arabic speaking Jews.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28They sought refuge in the more tolerant Ottoman Empire.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33By the time of Suleiman, many of these Jews, known as Sephardi,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37from the Hebrew word for Spain, had come to the Promised Land.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44The Sephardic Jews now felt safe enough to build
0:16:44 > 0:16:50four new Synagogues in what was becoming the Jewish Quarter.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11This is one of them, the Ben Zaki synagogue.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14And it would have been the centre of all Jewish life
0:17:14 > 0:17:17in Suleiman's Jerusalem.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22There was also a new influx of Jews
0:17:22 > 0:17:24fleeing persecution in eastern Europe.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28They were known as the Ashkenazis,
0:17:28 > 0:17:30after the son of Noah,
0:17:30 > 0:17:35said to be the original ancestor of the northern tribes.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Since the construction of the Islamic Haram al Sharif,
0:17:40 > 0:17:46the Jews had been banned from visiting their holiest site.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48But the temple mount was so holy
0:17:48 > 0:17:53that Jews continued to pray as close to it as they could get.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58For generations, Jews had prayed
0:17:58 > 0:18:01at all the gates and walls of the temple mount.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06But Suleiman the Magnificent saw himself as the Islamic emperor
0:18:06 > 0:18:10and custodian of the Dome of the Rock sanctuary,
0:18:10 > 0:18:14so he restricted the Jews to one small section of wall
0:18:14 > 0:18:20with a narrow passage way, just nine feet wide.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25From now on, this narrow section of the western wall of Herod's temple
0:18:25 > 0:18:31became the focal point for the prayers of the Jewish faithful.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33They were subject to bouts of repression
0:18:33 > 0:18:37and with no outside champions, they were ultimately powerless.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39But, according to Islamic tradition,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42the Jews were tolerated, as people of the book.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49The Ottomans also tolerated the city's other religious minority, the Christians.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Some of the Christians were indigenous to Palestine,
0:18:56 > 0:19:00some lived here as monks and thousands more came annually,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04as pilgrims to the Sepulchre, where Jesus had been buried.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Since its foundation, Christianity had spread throughout Europe,
0:19:09 > 0:19:11the Middle East and the horn of Africa.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Many competing denominations had arisen.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19And all of them wanted a piece of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26The competition between the three faiths, for Jerusalem's holy places
0:19:26 > 0:19:30was mirrored by an equally intense competition
0:19:30 > 0:19:33between the Christian churches themselves.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Since most of the Christian sects were backed
0:19:36 > 0:19:39by different Christian kings,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42disputes fought in Jerusalem had reverberations around the world.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49This is special leave. I've never been at a night service.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52- This is yours, isn't it?- Yes, this is ours but ...
0:19:52 > 0:19:57George Hintlian has studied how the Ottoman rulers manipulated
0:19:57 > 0:20:01and exploited the Christians' interminable squabbles.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06By the 16th century, when the Ottomans came,
0:20:06 > 0:20:10there were about nine communities on the spot
0:20:10 > 0:20:14and the Ottomans had the simple rule whoever pays stays,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19so the minor ones like the Georgians, the Maronites, the Serbians
0:20:19 > 0:20:23couldn't afford and they dropped out, while the stronger ones
0:20:23 > 0:20:27could consolidate their hold on the church.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31The Ottomans' simple system meant
0:20:31 > 0:20:34only the wealthiest churches could remain.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38The denominations who controlled the church by the end of the 16th century
0:20:38 > 0:20:42were the Catholics, backed by Europe,
0:20:42 > 0:20:44the orthodox, backed by Russia,
0:20:44 > 0:20:49and Armenians who had strong representation of the court of the Sultan.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51So by the end of the 16th century
0:20:51 > 0:20:54this was three communities who could stay.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Even these three churches seldom agreed
0:20:57 > 0:21:02on who should be allowed to pray at the tomb itself.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06The communities were struggling for dominance.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Sometimes the tomb of Christ changed hands
0:21:09 > 0:21:11sometimes the Latin's would get it
0:21:11 > 0:21:14and sometimes the orthodox would get it.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18The Catholics, or Latins,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21were supported and encouraged by the French government,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25while Russia promoted the Orthodox church.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Both attached great importance to the prestige of
0:21:28 > 0:21:33controlling the holy places and they lobbied, bribed and threatened
0:21:33 > 0:21:36the Ottoman Sultans to give more space in the church
0:21:36 > 0:21:39to their own priests.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42As a result, even the most mundane tasks in the church
0:21:42 > 0:21:47were laden with international and sacred significance.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50In this church, there are no fences and hedges,
0:21:50 > 0:21:53it's open spaces.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56The churches have their own private areas
0:21:56 > 0:22:00but there are many shared and common areas.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Cleaning the holy sepulchre means possessing the area.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07You would only be able to clean what you possess
0:22:07 > 0:22:12and slowly some of these sacristans were trying to clean
0:22:12 > 0:22:15several inches of the property and the territory of the other person.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19So this is where the other sacrosanct would be very vigilant
0:22:19 > 0:22:24that his broom doesn't progress into his own area.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29Even an imagined conception,
0:22:29 > 0:22:33that his broom moved a little further, could ignite a fight.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43The Ottomans kept the church locked
0:22:43 > 0:22:47so they could charge a fee to anyone going in or out.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57The key was held by an Arab Muslim family, the Nusseibehs.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00To this day, each morning before dawn,
0:23:00 > 0:23:07they still climb up to unlock the ancient church door.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11The Ottomans let the Nusseibehs keep a share of the income
0:23:11 > 0:23:15from the entry fees to the Church.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19They were one of a select group of aristocratic Arab families
0:23:19 > 0:23:24allowed by the Ottomans to run the city's affairs.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36One family controlled the temple mount,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40another family controlled access the church of the holy sepulchre.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45I'm standing in the library of the Khalidi family
0:23:45 > 0:23:48that controlled the Islamic law courts.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51They were great connoisseurs and collectors.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53And, over many centuries,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55they amassed this extraordinary collection
0:23:55 > 0:23:59of early Islamic manuscripts and books.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03As Muslims, these elite Arab families had
0:24:03 > 0:24:08far more power in Ottoman Jerusalem than any Christian or Jew.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11But even the Arabs were often harassed
0:24:11 > 0:24:14by their Turkish Ottoman masters.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22In 1702, the Ottoman governor demanded a massive rise
0:24:22 > 0:24:26in taxes, throughout Palestine.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31He had to raise money to help fund wars in distant Europe and Russia.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35According to the historian Adel Manna,
0:24:35 > 0:24:40these tax rises were the last straw for the ruling Arab families.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43The notable families of Jerusalem
0:24:43 > 0:24:46were angry on this new policy.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51What they did after the Friday prayer
0:24:51 > 0:24:54on the mosque at Al Aqsa
0:24:54 > 0:24:57they had a gathering of all the elite
0:24:57 > 0:25:02and they decided together that we would rebel against
0:25:02 > 0:25:04the policy and the governor.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08The local people of Jerusalem took control of the city
0:25:08 > 0:25:10and then they closed the gates.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14The rebels succeeded to have the control of the city
0:25:14 > 0:25:17for about two years and a half.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21The Ottomans came with a stronger army
0:25:21 > 0:25:25and put siege again on the city,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27they were besieging the city from all sides,
0:25:27 > 0:25:32from the north, from the south, from east, from west.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37Inside, life under the siege was harsh.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39The rebels split.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Those who wanted to hold out for victory
0:25:42 > 0:25:45and those in favour of a compromise.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Some of the people against the rebellion opened the gate
0:25:51 > 0:25:56for the Ottoman soldiers, who were able to get into the city.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00Thousands of Ottoman soldiers went in
0:26:00 > 0:26:03it was a matter of time until
0:26:03 > 0:26:06the Ottomans were able to crush the rebellion.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10The Ottomans may have crushed the rebellion
0:26:10 > 0:26:13but the great powers of Europe sensed
0:26:13 > 0:26:16that their hold on Jerusalem was weakened.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19The British, the French and the Russians all began to compete
0:26:19 > 0:26:22for influence in the city's holy places.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Jerusalem's status as the holy city of Christianity
0:26:41 > 0:26:45made it a great prize for the Christian rulers of Europe.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49They promoted their interests through their clients in the city.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53The French backed the Catholics, the Russians backed the orthodox.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58The British, as Protestants, had a particular reverence for Jerusalem.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Ever since the time of Cromwell and the Puritans,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Protestants had prayed for the return of the Jews
0:27:07 > 0:27:09to the Biblical Holy Land.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14British foreign secretary Lord Palmerston
0:27:14 > 0:27:18built a consulate in Jerusalem to promote British interests
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and a church to convert Jews to Christianity.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28Imperial ambition dovetailed perfectly with evangelical zeal.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Evangelical Christians,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41who were hugely influential in Victorian Britain,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45believed that the longed-for second coming of Christ
0:27:45 > 0:27:49would only happen once the Jews had returned to Jerusalem
0:27:49 > 0:27:52and been converted to Christianity.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56This belief was based on Biblical prophecies
0:27:56 > 0:28:01of the events that would bring about the final day of judgment.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05All the kings of Europe, motivated by the same combination
0:28:05 > 0:28:08of religious faith and imperial ambition,
0:28:08 > 0:28:12began to build churches in Jerusalem.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20But, of all the European governments vying for power in the city,
0:28:20 > 0:28:23it was the Russians who were most aggressive.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26And their aggression was about to spark a war.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38On good Friday 1846, the never-ending competition for territory
0:28:38 > 0:28:42in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, erupted in a fight.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47The French-backed Catholics and the Russian-backed Orthodox churches
0:28:47 > 0:28:51both wanted to pray in the tomb at the same time.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55It's a continuing dispute that sometimes erupts in violence
0:28:55 > 0:28:56even now.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Back then, the priests came armed with guns and daggers,
0:29:02 > 0:29:04hidden under their vestments.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07Forty were killed.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15The Ottoman Sultan divided the Church between the Christian sects
0:29:15 > 0:29:19in a power sharing deal that still stands.
0:29:21 > 0:29:26But it wasn't enough to prevent the Russians going to war with the French and the British.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34All the great powers were vying for influence in Jerusalem,
0:29:34 > 0:29:37but Tsar Nicholas The First of Russia had greater ambitions.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41He saw himself, not just as the heir to the Ottoman Empire,
0:29:41 > 0:29:43but as the actual ruler of Jerusalem.
0:29:43 > 0:29:48When he invaded Ottoman territories to force the Sultan's hand
0:29:48 > 0:29:52Britain and France went to war against him, to stop him.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54They fought the war in the Crimea,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57but even though the battles were far away,
0:29:57 > 0:30:00it was also a war for Jerusalem.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14The Russians lost the Crimean war
0:30:14 > 0:30:18but then set about conquering Jerusalem culturally,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21building their own Russian compound.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24Over 10,000 Russian Christian pilgrims
0:30:24 > 0:30:26visited the city every year.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Meanwhile, most of the Jews of Jerusalem
0:30:31 > 0:30:34were living in abject poverty.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39Appalled by their conditions, a British Jew named Moses Montefiore,
0:30:39 > 0:30:43a financier, philanthropist and friend of Queen Victoria,
0:30:43 > 0:30:48built the first suburb outside Jerusalem's city walls,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51complete with a Kentish windmill,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55to encourage the Jews to bake their own bread.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Montefiore was my great, great uncle and it was thanks to him
0:30:59 > 0:31:01that I started coming here.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04The old city was so filthy and poverty stricken
0:31:04 > 0:31:07that Montefiore decided to build his new village
0:31:07 > 0:31:11out here in the clean countryside, outside the city walls,
0:31:11 > 0:31:16it became the first Jewish suburb of Jerusalem.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22At the same time, the elite Arab families were building mansions
0:31:22 > 0:31:25in their own new suburbs, east of the old city.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30But as the century wore on,
0:31:30 > 0:31:33Jerusalem was set to become increasingly Jewish.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37The millions of Jews of the Russian Empire
0:31:37 > 0:31:40had faced persecution throughout the 19th century,
0:31:40 > 0:31:45but in the 1880s anti-Semitic violence became official Tsarist policy.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50Now they faced waves of attacks and massacres, known as the pogroms.
0:31:50 > 0:31:56Thousands of Russian Jews started to plan their escape to Jerusalem.
0:31:57 > 0:32:03The idea of returning to Jerusalem had inspired Jews for centuries,
0:32:03 > 0:32:08ever since they'd been expelled by the Romans in 70AD.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12It wasn't just about finding refuge from persecution,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16but also about a spiritual idea, returning to the Promised Land
0:32:16 > 0:32:19and living closer to God.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23In 1895 an Austrian journalist published a book
0:32:23 > 0:32:26that would change the history, not only of Jerusalem,
0:32:26 > 0:32:28but of the entire Middle East.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31The journalist's name was Theodor Herzl.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33The book was called The Jewish State.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39Herzl observed the new racial anti-Semitism
0:32:39 > 0:32:41spreading across Europe
0:32:41 > 0:32:45and he predicted that persecution was about to get worse.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49He argued, the only way Jews could be safe
0:32:49 > 0:32:52was to have their own country.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57His project became known as Zionism.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Many of Jerusalem's Jews had been here for centuries,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15speaking Arabic and living alongside
0:33:15 > 0:33:18their Christian and Muslim neighbours.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23The diaries of a Palestinian musician, Wasif Jawariyeh,
0:33:23 > 0:33:27give a surprising insight into the decadence of life
0:33:27 > 0:33:29in this cosmopolitan city.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33"It was the period of total anarchy in my life, sleeping all day
0:33:33 > 0:33:37"and partying all night, I only went home to change my clothes.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40"Sleeping in a different house every day.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44"My body totally exhausted from drinking and merry-making.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49"One moment I'm picnicking with members of Jerusalem's noble families.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53"The next day I'm holding an orgy with thugs and gangsters
0:33:53 > 0:33:57"in the back alleys of the old city."
0:33:57 > 0:33:59The most fascinating thing about this
0:33:59 > 0:34:01is how all these different worlds
0:34:01 > 0:34:06Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Arab and Turk
0:34:06 > 0:34:08continued to mix and coexist.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17But this cultural coexistence was about to come to an end
0:34:17 > 0:34:22with consequences no-one could have foreseen.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25The growing number of European Jews arriving
0:34:25 > 0:34:29to settle in Palestine had started to alarm the Arabs of Jerusalem
0:34:29 > 0:34:32as well as the Ottoman authorities.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40When the First World War broke out in 1914,
0:34:40 > 0:34:45the Ottomans sided with Germany, against Britain and her allies.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51By 1916-17 things were going badly for the British.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53In order to secure their support,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56they made promises to the Arabs and the Jews
0:34:56 > 0:35:00that they never would have made in any other circumstances.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04To get Arab support for the war,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07the British promised to hand over
0:35:07 > 0:35:10virtually the entire Middle East to Arab rule,
0:35:10 > 0:35:14if the Arabs would rise up against the Ottomans.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18But Prime minister David Lloyd George was also keen
0:35:18 > 0:35:22to get Jewish support for the British campaign.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27Lloyd George was steeped in the stories of the Bible.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30He longed to see the Jews returned to the Holy Land
0:35:30 > 0:35:34after centuries of exile and repression.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38He also believed that backing the Jewish cause might win the support
0:35:38 > 0:35:42of the millions of Jews in America and Russia,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Britain's most important allies.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47So he declared his approval
0:35:47 > 0:35:51for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59When General Allenby, the British commander in Egypt, invaded Ottoman Palestine,
0:35:59 > 0:36:03Lloyd George demanded that he capture Jerusalem
0:36:03 > 0:36:06as a "Christmas present to the British nation".
0:36:13 > 0:36:16When Allenby arrived to take possession of the city,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18he received a telegram from the foreign office
0:36:18 > 0:36:22"Strongly advise dismounting", it said.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26The government was keen that he avoid any Christ-like pretension.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28He duly got off his horse at the Jaffa Gate
0:36:28 > 0:36:31in reverence of the city's holy status.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35In a speech on the steps of the Citadel,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Allenby promised protection and tolerance to all religions.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Soon afterwards, the defeated Ottoman Empire collapsed.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50The map of the Middle East was redrawn.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58The territory lost by the Ottomans was divided between the victors.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01Syria and Lebanon went to the French,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04while the British took Jordan and Palestine.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10They agreed to rule their new territories, not as colonies,
0:37:10 > 0:37:12but under international mandates
0:37:12 > 0:37:16from the newly formed League of Nations.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25They built a palatial new governor's residence
0:37:25 > 0:37:28on a hill above the city. Government House.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33For the first time since the crusader kingdom,
0:37:33 > 0:37:38Jerusalem under the British mandate, was a capital city.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41The British set about creating a modern,
0:37:41 > 0:37:44elegant and cosmopolitan Jerusalem.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52The economy flourished and the standard of living rose.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Honouring their promise to the Zionists,
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Britain welcomed tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05Many were idealistic Europeans who wanted to build a secular,
0:38:05 > 0:38:09socialist country for Jews from around the world.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15But as they bought more and more land from the Arabs,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18tension with their new neighbours grew.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24As so often in her history, it was Jerusalem's holiest site
0:38:24 > 0:38:28that would become the focal point of conflict.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34The Palestinian Muslim leader, the Mufti of Jerusalem,
0:38:34 > 0:38:39was from one of the elite Arab families, the Husseinis.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43He gave voice to a widespread Arab fear of Jewish immigration.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48He feared the Jews were planning to destroy the Haram al Sharif
0:38:48 > 0:38:52to build a Jewish temple in its place.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55He launched a campaign against Jews praying at the Western Wall.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02The Mufti ordered that the Jewish worshippers at the wall
0:39:02 > 0:39:05would be harassed from above and below
0:39:05 > 0:39:07he knocked through a doorway
0:39:07 > 0:39:11that turned the narrow space in front of the wall into a thoroughfare,
0:39:11 > 0:39:16through which donkeys were driven, to interrupt the Jewish prayers.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18The Mufti was trying to make life,
0:39:18 > 0:39:22for the Jewish worshippers here, impossible and unbearable.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28In response, 300 Jewish nationalists
0:39:28 > 0:39:30staged an angry protest.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34The next day after Friday prayers,
0:39:34 > 0:39:362,000 Arabs descended from the Al Aqsa Mosque
0:39:36 > 0:39:39and attacked the Jewish worshippers.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48The tension between Arabs and Jews turned the city into a tinderbox.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55In a totally unrelated and tragic incident,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59some Jewish schoolboys were playing football in street,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01when they kicked the ball into an Arab garden.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05When one went to get it back, he was stabbed to death.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09At his funeral, Jewish youths attacked Arab passers by
0:40:09 > 0:40:14and at Friday prayers, thousands of armed Arabs, screaming for revenge,
0:40:14 > 0:40:19descended on Jewish neighbourhoods with the cry, "Death to the Jews."
0:40:25 > 0:40:29131 Jews were killed by Arabs.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33116 Arabs were also killed,
0:40:33 > 0:40:38mostly by the British security forces.
0:40:38 > 0:40:44A decade of surprisingly calm British rule was brought to an end.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52When Hitler came to power in 1933,
0:40:52 > 0:40:56the flow of Jews fleeing Europe reached a new high.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59Never, since the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02had so many Jews lived in the city.
0:41:02 > 0:41:07But while it may have felt like a return to Zion for these refugees,
0:41:07 > 0:41:10their presence convinced many Palestinians
0:41:10 > 0:41:13they'd have to fight to keep hold of their land.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19The British were caught completely unawares when the first shots were fired.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23Here in Jerusalem the Mufti assumed leadership of the revolt,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27and soon it was a full scale uprising, throughout Palestine.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31The rebels attacked the British and the Jews.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34And, at one point, they even managed to capture this,
0:41:34 > 0:41:36the citadel of Jerusalem.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44Jerusalem descended into chaos.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Palestinians attacked the British and Jews.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49The Jews responded in kind.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52Both committed atrocities against civilians.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58The British suppressed the revolt brutally,
0:41:58 > 0:42:03punishing whole Palestinian villages for the crimes of individual rebels.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13One in ten Palestinians was killed, arrested or exiled.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22Britain had defeated the Arabs,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25but as they faced the prospect of a second world war,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28they regretted their promises to the Jews.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Jerusalem's fate would once again be determined
0:42:31 > 0:42:34by events beyond her borders.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38As war with Nazi Germany became inevitable,
0:42:38 > 0:42:40Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain
0:42:40 > 0:42:43decided the British needed the backing of the Arabs.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47"If we have to offend one side or the other," he said,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49"let it be the Jews and not the Arabs."
0:42:54 > 0:42:57He believed the Jews would want to fight Hitler regardless
0:42:57 > 0:43:00but the Arabs would need encouragement.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04He offered to put a cap on Jewish immigration
0:43:04 > 0:43:08and give the Palestinians total independence within ten years,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11with no Jewish state at all.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15It was the best offer the Palestinians were to receive
0:43:15 > 0:43:17throughout the 20th century.
0:43:17 > 0:43:23But for the Mufti, it wasn't enough, he rejected it out of hand.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28When war broke out, many Arab Jerusalemites supported the Germans,
0:43:28 > 0:43:32not out of anti-Semitism but out of nationalism,
0:43:32 > 0:43:36they hoped if Britain was defeated, they would get their own state.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42The Mufti himself went further.
0:43:42 > 0:43:47He moved to Berlin where he publicly supported Hitler and Nazi policies.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55After the end of the Second World War,
0:43:55 > 0:43:57the British forces found themselves
0:43:57 > 0:44:01completely out of their depth in the Holy Land.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08To appease the Arabs,
0:44:08 > 0:44:12they continued to enforce a limit on Jewish immigration.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15Even after the scale of Hitler's slaughter
0:44:15 > 0:44:17of European Jews was known,
0:44:17 > 0:44:22they intercepted ship-loads of survivors from the Nazi death camps.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26The Jews turned firmly against them.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30And it wasn't enough to secure Palestinian support anyway.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Now it was the Jews turn to rebel.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42"Tight security measures are imposed by the British.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44"Scores of Jewish leaders are jailed
0:44:44 > 0:44:48"and rigid searches are conducted for terrorist weapons.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51"Palestine becomes an armed camp."
0:44:54 > 0:44:58In retaliation, fighters from the underground Jewish militia,
0:44:58 > 0:45:04the Irgun, planted a massive car bomb at the unofficial headquarters
0:45:04 > 0:45:07of the British Mandate, the King David Hotel.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16The bomb destroyed an entire wing of the King David Hotel.
0:45:16 > 0:45:2192 people were killed including British, Jews and Arabs.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25The British called it "An act of terror aimed at civilians."
0:45:25 > 0:45:29And certainly, it remains the bloodiest bombing of the entire war.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36The British were now caught between the Jews of Palestine,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39determined to found their own Jewish state,
0:45:39 > 0:45:42and the larger Arab population,
0:45:42 > 0:45:46equally determined to stop them and win their own independence.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49Both wanted Jerusalem.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54The British lost their will to rule Palestine
0:45:54 > 0:45:58and turned to the newly formed United Nations for an exit strategy.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05The United Nations voted to partition Palestine into two states,
0:46:05 > 0:46:09one Jewish and one Palestinian.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17Jerusalem was to have a unique status, under UN protection.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23For Jews it was a cause for celebration.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26After 2,000 years the Zionist dream of a Jewish state
0:46:26 > 0:46:29in the Holy Land was finally possible.
0:46:34 > 0:46:40But the Palestinians rejected the resolution and civil war broke out.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43The partition was never enforced.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47As the British made their ignominious exit,
0:46:47 > 0:46:51the Zionists declared the existence of the State of Israel.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02Immediately, the surrounding countries of the Arab League
0:47:02 > 0:47:06invaded to destroy the fledgling Jewish state.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09The Jordanians had the best trained
0:47:09 > 0:47:11and most effective of the invading armies.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13They made straight for Jerusalem.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17Both sides committed appalling atrocities,
0:47:17 > 0:47:21civilians were massacred, neighbourhoods were lost, captured and destroyed.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Both Israelis and Arabs feared desperately
0:47:24 > 0:47:26they were losing Jerusalem.
0:47:30 > 0:47:35The Israeli forces in the old city were soon surrounded and cut off.
0:47:35 > 0:47:36The battle for the Jewish quarter
0:47:36 > 0:47:38was especially intense and desperate.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41The crack troops of the Jordanian Arab legion
0:47:41 > 0:47:46fought their way in, house by house, alleyway by alleyway,
0:47:46 > 0:47:50until, for the Jews of the Jewish quarter, there was no way out.
0:47:53 > 0:47:562,000 Jews were expelled from their homes.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59The Jordanians looted the empty houses
0:47:59 > 0:48:03and then blew up 22 of the 27 synagogues.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07Jews were banned totally from the Western wall.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15Once again, the Jews had lost access to their holiest shrine.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19They, in turn, expelled thousands of Palestinians
0:48:19 > 0:48:21from the Jewish suburbs they now held.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26Jews, Christians and Muslims,
0:48:26 > 0:48:30many of whom had lived side by side for centuries, were driven apart.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36Jerusalem became a divided city,
0:48:36 > 0:48:40according to historian Salim Tamari.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43By the end of May, most of the Arabs had fled
0:48:43 > 0:48:46and then the Jewish forces came
0:48:46 > 0:48:49and cleared all the Arabs from West Jerusalem.
0:48:49 > 0:48:54Jerusalem became ethnically pure, if you like.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56The Jewish population in the old city
0:48:56 > 0:48:59were also cleared from the Jewish Quarter.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02But the people cleared in the Jewish side
0:49:02 > 0:49:05were much more than the Arab side.
0:49:05 > 0:49:10The city was sealed, you have barbed wire
0:49:10 > 0:49:14and then a wall was built
0:49:14 > 0:49:17to separate the Arab city,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19the eastern part,
0:49:19 > 0:49:23from the Jewish city, the western part.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26It was absolutely hermitically sealed,
0:49:26 > 0:49:30there was nobody allowed to move in and out.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Israel was engaged in a desperate,
0:49:35 > 0:49:39but ultimately victorious, struggle for survival.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43The real losers were the Palestinians.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46Over three quarters of a million lost their homes.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49Some were expelled by force,
0:49:49 > 0:49:52some left to avoid the fighting hoping to return,
0:49:52 > 0:49:55many of them ended up in camps of tents
0:49:55 > 0:49:58around the west bank of the Jordan river.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01About half became citizens of Israel.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05The tragedy of the Palestinians became known as the Naqba,
0:50:05 > 0:50:06the Catastrophe.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14In 1949, Israel and Jordan signed an Armistice treaty
0:50:14 > 0:50:20that divided the city along a mile and a half of frontier.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24The Jordanians controlled East Jerusalem and all of the old city,
0:50:24 > 0:50:28the Israelis kept the western suburbs.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32The Armistice line was not meant to be a permanent border.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35It just happened to be where the armies stood
0:50:35 > 0:50:37when the fighting stopped.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41But for 20 years it formed an impenetrable, impassable barrier
0:50:41 > 0:50:45between the Israelis on one side and the Arabs on the other.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48It's futile to divide any city,
0:50:48 > 0:50:53but it's especially tragic to divide Jerusalem.
0:50:53 > 0:50:58Jerusalem was to remain divided until June of 1967,
0:50:58 > 0:51:01when another conflict broke out
0:51:01 > 0:51:04between Israel and her Arab neighbours.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10Threatened with war on three fronts, Israel struck first
0:51:10 > 0:51:12and soon got the upper hand.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17"And that victory is a swift, smashing and total one.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21"As crack air force, infantry, artillery and tank corps combine,
0:51:21 > 0:51:25"thousands of prisoners are taken while Jordan announces
0:51:25 > 0:51:29"she lost 15,000 troops in the sudden and devastating campaign."
0:51:32 > 0:51:36In just six days of fighting, Israel conquered the Gaza strip,
0:51:36 > 0:51:38the Golan heights, the Sinai peninsular
0:51:38 > 0:51:41and the West Bank of the Jordan river.
0:51:43 > 0:51:48But the conquest of the old city of Jerusalem was the climax of the war.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56"Without doubt, the most personally moving moment for Israeli troops
0:51:56 > 0:51:59"was the capture of the old city of Jerusalem.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03"The location of an ancient Jewish holy place, revered by the Israelis."
0:52:03 > 0:52:05When Israeli soldiers captured the wall,
0:52:05 > 0:52:09it was an event of absolute exultation.
0:52:09 > 0:52:14They danced, they sang, they prayed, they kissed the stones.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19Even for secular Jews it was a moment of religious joy.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31For the Jews, Israel was at last in Zion
0:52:31 > 0:52:34and the cosmic order had been restored,
0:52:34 > 0:52:38it was the end of exile, the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45But for thousands of Palestinians it was the beginning of a long
0:52:45 > 0:52:48and bitter military occupation.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51Winning the war presented the Israelis with the challenge faced
0:52:51 > 0:52:57by all who have conquered Jerusalem, how to share its holy sites
0:52:57 > 0:53:02They wanted to rule a Jerusalem of the three great Abrahamic faiths,
0:53:02 > 0:53:06and that meant left leaving the Haram al Sharif to the Muslims.
0:53:07 > 0:53:12The eyes of the world were upon them and they wanted to show that Israel
0:53:12 > 0:53:16was a fit and suitable custodian for the Holy City.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21Israel prided itself on being a young and open democracy,
0:53:21 > 0:53:25and for that reason they wanted to show that they would have tolerance
0:53:25 > 0:53:28for all the other faiths in Jerusalem.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36But the challenge of giving all religions equal access
0:53:36 > 0:53:40to their holy sites was not so easily achieved.
0:53:40 > 0:53:44So many Jews were coming to pray at the newly captured western wall,
0:53:44 > 0:53:47there was a demand for more space.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50The Israeli authorities needed to clear a plaza.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54But this meant destroying a historic Palestinian neighbourhood.
0:53:55 > 0:54:00Deputy mayor Meron Benvenisti has mixed feelings about this.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04We destroyed the whole area and removed the people
0:54:04 > 0:54:09which caused us great distress, on the one hand,
0:54:09 > 0:54:11and criticism of the world,
0:54:11 > 0:54:14people said that it was similar to ethnic cleansing,
0:54:14 > 0:54:17but I think it was inevitable.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20This is the area of the plaza of the wall today.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22Suddenly the reality of Jerusalem,
0:54:22 > 0:54:24the earthly Jerusalem,
0:54:24 > 0:54:29suddenly tarnished that heavenly Jerusalem,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32Israelis began to understand
0:54:32 > 0:54:36that still there is a problem,
0:54:36 > 0:54:42because there cannot be peace
0:54:42 > 0:54:44with exclusive possession.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56This fundamental contradiction, that has plagued the city for centuries,
0:54:56 > 0:54:58made the Haram al Sharif, yet again,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01the focus of intense religious rivalry.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11When Al Aqsa mosque was set on fire in 1969,
0:55:11 > 0:55:13many of Jerusalem's Muslims rioted,
0:55:13 > 0:55:18believing the fire bomb was a Jewish attempt to destroy the mosque.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23Actually, the attack turned out to be the work
0:55:23 > 0:55:26of an Australian Christian fundamentalist,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28Dennis Rohan.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34"The trial of Dennis Michael Rohan was a top security affair.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39"Rohan later admitted starting the blaze, but pleaded insanity."
0:55:39 > 0:55:42When Rohan was brought to court, it became clear he was suffering
0:55:42 > 0:55:48from a special form of religious madness, peculiar to Jerusalem.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53The psychotic condition is known as Jerusalem Syndrome.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00An affliction that affects visitors to the Holy City
0:56:00 > 0:56:03when their hopes of heavenly transcendence
0:56:03 > 0:56:06collide with the reality of earthly life.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11The intensity of Jerusalem's holiness has infected
0:56:11 > 0:56:15not only believers, but visitors and conquerors alike,
0:56:15 > 0:56:17with obsession, if not madness.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21How to reconcile the dream of sanctity
0:56:21 > 0:56:25with the chaos, complexity and violence of the real city.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29The contradiction has never been more acute.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33The long struggle for possession of the city continues,
0:56:33 > 0:56:37aggravated on both sides by intolerant nationalism
0:56:37 > 0:56:40and religious fundamentalism.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43It has placed Jerusalem, once again
0:56:43 > 0:56:46at the very centre of global politics.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05The conflict has given rise to a vast concrete wall
0:57:05 > 0:57:08between the Israelis and Palestinians,
0:57:08 > 0:57:12the most visible symbol of the curse of Jerusalem
0:57:12 > 0:57:15its division by nation and by religion.
0:57:19 > 0:57:224,000 years since it was founded,
0:57:22 > 0:57:27Jerusalem today has never been larger, or more prosperous.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30But it's also anxious, angry, and divided,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33facing an uncertain future.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39I can imagine a future where the insane acts
0:57:39 > 0:57:44of a few outrageous fanatics would destroy Jerusalem altogether,
0:57:44 > 0:57:49a catastrophe that would break the heart of the world.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51But I can also foresee a future
0:57:51 > 0:57:54when the Holy City would be shared
0:57:54 > 0:57:57by its two peoples and its three faiths.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05Jerusalem's holiness has been passed down
0:58:05 > 0:58:10through generations of believers, Jew, Christian and Muslim.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Each generation has distilled and intensified
0:58:13 > 0:58:17the city's sanctity and claimed it as their own.
0:58:22 > 0:58:26Who will find it in their faith to share this hallowed place
0:58:26 > 0:58:31where God meets man?
0:58:44 > 0:58:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:47 > 0:58:50E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk