Chapters 5-7

Chapters 5-7 provided much more insight to the Jewish perspective and I began to see why it is indeed such a holy land for the Zionistic movement.  Clearly there have been multiple “battles” that have taken place in Jerusalem-be they physical, mental, emotional, or religious- and I am beginning to see that with multiple religious and ethnic groups having such strong connections to one holy land conflict is bound to arise, but like we have discussed in class, Armstrong’s book is not about today’s strife, instead it is about the history that ties each culture to the same land.

The recurring theme that I noticed throughout the chapters is that of construction and destruction (as is the title of Chapter 7), but through all of the adversity, no loss of hope.  I learned something similar in Sunday school classes-the Jewish people were very determined to build a homeland in the Middle East and Jerusalem was claimed as the holiest of holy places.  What I am wondering is if this same desire for a home will be discussed with the other two major religions currently inhabiting Jerusalem.