Struggle for Jerusalem takes on new form
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism has released a map of Jerusalem’s Old City that omits many Christian and Muslim sites, fueling claims that Israel is trying to politicize tourism in the holy city.
Israel’s constant attempts to turn the city of Jerusalem into an exclusively Jewish city have taken an unusual turn with an attempt to politicize tourism.
A map of the Old City of Jerusalem issued by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism in March attempts to reinforce this twisted narrative by trying to deny the physical reality of Jerusalem. The map underreports Christian and Muslim sites while overexaggerating Jewish locations.
Of the 57 sites on the map, only one Muslim site and five Christian sites are identified. The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz referred to the absurdity of the right-wing Israeli tourism’s effort in an article on April 4: “Where the map key gets truly absurd, however, is in its list of all the buildings occupied by Jews in the Muslim Quarter. Of the 57 sites marked by number on the map, no less than 25 of the Jewish sites named such buildings — along with synagogues and yeshivas — that have never been heard of, even by experienced tour guides.”
Raed Saadeh, the head of the Jerusalem Tourism Cluster, a consortium that attempts to defend Palestinian tourism, told Al-Monitor that the Israelis are trying to limit representations of Jerusalem in a way that only reflects Jewish identity.
