Jerusalem

When you visit the Old City of Jerusalem, you understand a lot about the history and relationships between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. The Temple Mount was the location of the two great Jewish temples of ancient times, and was the site of the Ark of the Covenant containing the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments.

The remaining Western Wall of the Temple plaza is the holiest site in Judaism. (That's vegetation, not burn marks or other damage, that you see on the wall.) But wait -- the former location of the temples themselves on the Mount, right above the Western Wall, is a holy site in Islam and is home to the Dome of the Rock (the golden dome peeking over in the pictures) and Al-Aqsa Mosque (the gray dome). You can stand at the wall with the Jews and hear the muezzin calling Muslims to prayers from the minaret above. And by the way, right next to the Temple Mount is the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, site of Christ's crucifixion. Israeli security works with many different religious organizations, such as the Waqf, to provide access to these sites. And most of the time, it's peaceful there.

Comments

[Scott]

Here's a great conversation with former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek about the rebuilding of Jerusalem following the Six Day War: http://info.jpost.com/1998/Supplements/30years/kolek.html