A dual narrative

Jerusalem, القدس, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם. Three names for one city, the city of prayer for all.

It is perhaps best to study history through visual media. Through this objects of interest become personalized, through this pictures and movies become colors that connect to our senses. Colors of different shades that help us reach a more comprehensive understanding of our focus, especially if our focus was a city such as Jerusalem.

A notable movie I recently watched tried to paint Jerusalem using two different brushes. "Jerusalem:City to the gates" provided a dual narrative to the city through its' inhabitants' eyes: The Israelis and the Palestinians. Born from an unsuccessful cultural festival, the movie seeked to explore the benevolence both inhabitants share towards Jerusalem. It juxtaposed two viewpoints in a thirty minute segment starting with the Israeli narrative. The city is forecast by the Israelis as the pivotal focus of the state, the deserved homeland of the people with no land. A city with far stretched Jewish roots dating back many generations. Gears abruptly shifted towards an Israeli barrier while phasing into Palestinian Jerusalem, a very solemn and tense atmosphere camps throughout. A caged bird symbolizing the Palestinians is dragged across all scenes. People are weary, business is slow. People have endured for a long time, but to what conclusion. It is alas that the victimization loop shall continue for some time now...

Both segments illustrated the harsh and cruel reality of this batch of land. I feel progress made towards production of both segments was minimal, it was like two pieces of wood glued together with no special attention paid to whether the top was glued to the side or not...Neither side's story or plot helped shed any hope onto the future. This to the viewer presented the unfrosted corn flake, the double fried french fry, a sad and persistent reality of a land torn by conflict.. I urge anyone who didn't see this movie to at least make an effort to borrow it from their local library, if you're like myself longing to get an opportunity to visit the city then this movie is for you..