Jerusalem Stories
The significance of Jerusalem to the Jews, Muslims and Christians
The city of Jerusalem possesses certain uniqueness within its history that makes the city have a universal importance. The deep significance is brought about by the concrete diversions that are created by the different religions that claim historical reference to the city. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are the three beliefs that claim connections to the land of Jerusalem and have all managed to come up with controversies that have caught international attention at a deal. Such significant religious references are the main issues that Peter Jennings handles in the video. For the audience of the motion picture to capture the detail of the conflicts that arise from the city of Jerusalem, Jennings makes it clear that one requires knowledge of the description of the city to the Jews, Muslims and Christians. Peter claims that the objective of the video is to lay down a possible common root to the Jerusalem debate with the three religions all at once.
Jennings commences the video by looking into the Judaic significance and linkages towards the city of Jerusalem and particularly the land that holds the city. As Jennings seeks the opinion of the native Jews within the city, the historical references that the people make regarding the origin and dominance of the city of Jerusalem, creates quite a stunning controversy. Considering the scientific evidence concerning the inhabitance of the Middle East, and specifically Jerusalem, the holiness revered into the city comes from the suffering that the inhabitants endured in wait for the rebirth of the nation of Israel. The main question that pops up in the situation is the religion of the inhabitants who were massacred and exiled from their homeland in promise of the predictions of the Holy Bible. Identical orientations towards the hopes that were created by all three religions concerning the reaping of the resources of the city have constantly been brought up by the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Ancestral allusions that have been passed on down to the Jews, Muslims and Christians have always had Biblical similarities. A number of the scientific studies go hand in hand with the Biblical predications and content concerning the history of Jerusalem. For example, Jerusalem was initially a Canaanite settlement and was the centre of the kingdom, dominated by the Jebusites prior to becoming a Jewish dominated city. However, according to the Christians, their significance of the city came from the elements originating from the holiness that Christ himself left upon the city, which was his crucifixion location and ascension into heaven. Peter manages to visit the sites where the ordeals took place and touches on their worldly significance, similar to those of Islamic beliefs.
Does the Middle East politics have any relations with religion?
Venturing deeply into the history of the Middle East politics and religion, Jennings finds out that Jewish sovereignty in Palestine. This fall of dominance of the religion gives birth to three of the world’s most powerful kingdoms in History: Rome and Islam. Amidst the consequences of the undermining of the Jewish beliefs, there arose the Christian and Muslim religions that arose to replace Judaism in Jerusalem. With indication from the Iraqi presidents and political rulers, the authorities of the land have been known to remain in complete control even in the midst of a national crisis. This phenomenon has been explained in the documentary to arise from the strong linkages that the rulers of Middle East nations have with religion. In hopes of Assistance from God, or in the case of Islam, Allah, the leaders then manage to stay calm and influence their fellow citizens to follow the lead anticipating positive results from the situation.
Political organizations within the Middle East criteria have knowledge concerning the water scarcity in the region. Peter checks upon the attitude of the people of the region and what the government has taken into consideration to improve the situation. During the video, it was discovered that religion was the main cause of the unawareness and “ignorance” towards the water scarcity in the Middle East. Muslims in the Middle East view the water aspect as God-given resource that every Muslim has an unquestionable access to. This belief leads the people of such countries to use the water resources arbitrarily and the government of these nations set forth support towards such actions.
Does the American ABC Network assist in understanding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict?
Numerous attempts have been made to figure out why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has remained unsolved up to date, even with the advanced mediation organizations such as the United Nations. Media reporting the clashes have been retorted by the feelings of suspicion of conspiracies, fear, and injustice and typecasting that have managed to put up a mental wall between the Israelites and the Palestinians. Looking at the statistics from the ABC networks, they have been able to detect that only the images of distorted content have been aired by many media houses including the American ABC media house itself. The media house chose such an environment for the carrying out of the examination as the previous reporting by ABC and other media houses such as Aljazeera had already been viewed by the rest of the globe. Opinions created by the viewers regarding the situation in Israel were completely pessimistic due to the images being aired. Instead of passing down knowledge that can aid the students or general public about the conflicts, a totally negative perspective view has emerged from the world due to such coverage.
Has the film presented a biased outlook against a certain group or religion?
The unique means that Peter has managed to explain the structure of the three religions within Middle East has been equally matched. Traces of blame, counteractions or support towards one of the religions or against another incase of negativity, have been considerably evaded by Jennings. Much of the history gathered during the making of the film has been from the local inhabitants from each of the religions in an equal number, who explained their ancestral connections with the land of Jerusalem. Any evidences of misinterpretations that emanated within the research of the video have been carefully rated out among the three beliefs that exist in the Jerusalem surrounding. Some of the misinterpretations can be of conflicting essence to the world at large and analysts who decide on the knowledge to pass down to learners of the same field. There’s the case of the direction of prayer according to Judaic beliefs. It was considered to be facing Jerusalem in order for the prayers to have a significant partaking towards a holy ground. On the contrary, Islamic dominance of the Middle East post the misplacement of the Jews in the region said that prayers were to be directed towards the then small city of Mecca, a holy position according to the Holy Book of Koran.
In the making of the video, Peter has triumphed in putting a level and standard viewpoint across from the various sources of information that Jerusalem has to offer. A clears presentation concerning the history and present day controversies that were supported by scientific and Biblical proof has been the main reason why the video has remained non-subjective. The three different religions that once or still dominate Jerusalem have been deeply considered during the information gathering and ruling leaving the viewer with an equal understanding of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Is the video recommendable?
The documentary that Jennings passed out is quite recommendable in a way that it provides suitable material that the public at large ought to be aware of. According to the studies that were carried out by the ABC network concerning the global outlook on the conflict between the Israel and the Palestinians, the information handed out by the video can effectively aid the people in getting to know the significance of Jerusalem to the three religions. The video then takes a neutral stand in handling the conflict between the involved beliefs. Such a maneuver is useful for the documentary to emphasize a vigorous explanation that can aid in coming up with solutions that can settle the situation between both religions, on apolitical and social platter.
Conclusion
Peter claims that the objective of the video is to lay down a possible common root to the Jerusalem debate with the three religions all at once. Associations with political affairs and the universal community cannot be dodged by the Middle East but the weight that religion lays will always go beyond the political influence in spite of the number of conferences held over the subject or the media exposure. Even supposing a democratic civilization might help in the resolution making of the disagreement between the Palestinians and the Israelites, the religious conviction concept in the Middle East should not be kept away from as it by now has a concrete position from its history and the community.
