VIDEO ESSAY ->
City of Peace, City of Conflict: The Politics of Jerusalem in Popular Culture
on For the Record - 2023From William Blake to the Jerusalema Challenge, Jerusalem is a city that often struggles to live up to the heavenly resonances of its religious reputation, especially given the colonial legacies of political turbulence over the last century. In City of Peace, City of Conflict, Sary Zananiri unpacks the city of Jerusalem as subject of inspiration for artists, writers and musicians, well beyond the confines of Historical Palestine, and how the two conflicting Jerusalems, both heavenly and earthly, relate to one another.
And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon England’s mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On England’s pleasant pastures seen!
And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England’s green & pleasant Land.
-William Blake - And did those feet in ancient times, 1804