Possession of Twofold Peace?

Jerusalem, viewed by Jews and professed Christians as the Holy City and by Muslims as the third most holy place on earth (behind Mecca and Medina), means “Possession of Twofold Peace.”

The modern State of Israel was founded in 1948, and in 1949, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan. But in 1967, during the Six-​Day War, the Israelis captured its eastern half. Since then they have modernized the city, while trying to retain its historical integrity. By 1993 its population was over half a million.

With three major world religions all viewing Jerusalem as sacred, religious tensions sometimes run high. “Of all the conflicts between Jews and Arabs, that over Jerusalem is the most complex and intractable,” notes Time. For the present there is little evidence of the twofold peace that Jerusalem’s name promises.