Spiritual Jerusalem Unites Us

Walking the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem in the last days of the holy month of Ramadan, it becomes clear that spirituality is not confined to one faith. The Easter holiday taking place at the same time shows that Jerusalem is a place that unites and does not divide, a place where the human being is the most important. If it were not for the militarized Israeli police imposed on the city and its alleys, I would have said that this is a city from another world.

Near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, you see Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan with a permanent smile on his face. A dignified figure, he stands tall in front of a shop in the Old City in the Dabbagha Market (Souk al-Dabbagha), exchanging conversations with his friend Abu Muhammad, 70, owner of the shop, congratulating him on the holy month of Ramadan, and inviting him to break the fast with him.

Reminding him of his youthful days in the Old City, Abu Muhammad responds by congratulating the bishop on the holy Easter celebration. Speaking to Jerusalem Story, he observed that he has known Bishop Younan for decades and that he is more than a brother to him.1

Bishop Younan describes himself as a Palestinian Jerusalemite to the core.2 He lived and grew up in a city that knows tolerance. He never felt that there was a difference between him and his friends except for the location of their prayers: He heads to the church; they make their way to al-Aqsa Mosque.

In recent years, there has been a phenomenon particular to Jerusalem, which is the keenness of the heads of the various Eastern and Western Christian churches to hold an iftar banquet for Jerusalemite Islamic figures and their friends. Likewise, the youth of the Christian Quarter hold an iftar banquet for their friends in the Bab Hatta and al-Sa‘diyya (Muslim) neighborhoods, who respond with home visits and congratulations to their Christian neighborhoods on the Easter and Christmas holidays.

This year, all celebrations have disappeared due to the sadness that envelops the holy city. There is grief over Israel’s genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip and the world’s failure to stop it.

In the last days of Ramadan this year, which coincided with the beginning of Easter celebrations for those following the Western Christian calendar, the Old City was filled with a spiritual atmosphere, but the alleys are solemn and joyless; the entire city is wrapped in a sense of deep sadness. People grieve for the situation of Palestinians in general and Gaza in particular.

This was clear in Bishop Younan’s Easter sermon, delivered to the faithful of the Lutheran Church in Jerusalem, which lies outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, right in front of the Dabbagha (Tanning) Market in the Christian Quarter:

Bishop Younan ended his sermon:

Dimitri Diliani, a Jerusalemite political and social activist, argues that the occupation has stifled all desire to celebrate. He told Jerusalem Story:

Yet still, Jerusalem remains the most beautiful, tolerant, and loving city, as everyone melts into it out of love, this city that unites and does not divide.