Jerusalem: The Golden Chalice Filled With the Scorpions

On the occasion of the hitherto ambiguous ten-month war in Palestine and the Gaza Strip, it is noteworthy that Jerusalem has the following peculiarity: while it resembles a coveted all-gold chalice (paraphrasing the “golden basin” of the Jerusalemite Muslim historian Muqaddasi, 945-991 CE .X. ) which everyone wants to obtain and drink from this water of glory and purification, when they take it in their hand they find that the Golden Chalice is full of scorpions.

Due to its geographical position and its subsequent metaphysical dimension for the ancient and then the three monotheistic religions, Jerusalem has been for millennia a coveted geopolitical apple of contention with frequent changes of power.

Throughout time, a request for every empire or kingdom was the peaceful and stable governance of Jerusalem and the wider region so that there would be economic prosperity and security. This was possible in some exceptional cases, such as the Achaemenids, the Seleucids, the Christianized Romans and the Ottomans.

As a rule, however, Jerusalem has been at the center of constant wars and changes of conquerors and power. With the culmination of these periods of instability in the Crusades and the period from 1917 to the present day each conqueror tries to impose himself unilaterally and by force to make Jerusalem his own without taking into account the socio-economic and political balances with the native population, depriving him i.e. basic freedoms and rights. The result of this frivolous management of Jerusalem by the conquerors is the constant rebellions and wars, putting the Holy City in a vicious cycle of violence.

The above transfer of Muqandasi in his historiographical work The best parts for the knowledge of climates (Ahsan al-takasim fi ma’refat al-aqalim) highlights the bittersweet taste of Jerusalem for each conqueror. But above all, it reveals the eternal secret for the wise governance of Jerusalem and Palestine: Govern with moderation to have peace! Today, with the current balances, this message highlights as an absolute necessity the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the basis of the Two State Solution. Otherwise, Israel will continue for now to hold the Golden Chalice without rebuttal.