"Jerusalem" Chapters 14-15

CHAPTER 14

"The word jihad does not mean merely 'holy war'. Its primary meaning is 'struggle', and it is in this sense that it is chiefly used in the Qur'an." (Pg. 295)

Obviously, none of the modern-day major news sources or policy-makers got this memo.

"Saladin did not intend to exclude Christians and Jews from the city entirely: the old ideal of integration and coexistence persisted." (Pg. 298)

- Will it still be effective?

"The Crusades had not only inspired a new jihad in the Muslim world. They had also given rise to a form of Zionism among the Jews of Europe and the Islamic empire." (Pg. 298)

- ...the plot thickens.

"When people become alienated from their surroundings and feel that, physically and spiritually, they have no home in the world, they feel drawn to return to their roots to find healing." (Pg. 299)

- So depressing to think about.

"In fact, the Franks who lived in the Kingdom of Acre were now anxious to keep the peace; they had learned a valuable lesson at the battle of Hittin. But the Christians of the West were more bellicose and continued to send Crusades to liberate Jerusalem." (Pg. 301)

- Most people learn the first time, others learn the second time, and some people never learn.

"Economic and political problems in Muslim Jerusalem made it harder for Christians and Muslims to live peacefully together." (Pg. 314)

- Mo' money --> mo' problems.

"But the Jews of the city had suddenly awakened to the fact that the tomb of the first Jewish king of Jerusalem was in a Christian precinct. They repeatedly asked Sultan Barsbay to hand it over to them. This was a mistake...As far as the Latin Christians were concerned, the old Muslim ideal of coexistence and integration was crumbling fast." (Pg. 316)

- The times, they are a changing...

"During the reign of Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay, the Mamluk empire entered its last phase. The armies of the Ottoman Turks of Asia Minor were beginning to encroach on their territory." (Pg. 319)

- I always wondered how the Ottoman Empire came to be. Now it all makes sense.

"In 1453, the Ottomans had conquered Constantinople and absorbed the old Christian empire of Byzantium." (Pg. 321)

- ::Istanbul...Constantinople::

"On 1 December 1516, Selim arrived outside Jerusalem. There was no opposition. The 'ulama' went out to meet the sultan and presented him with the keys of the Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock.

- This was the most anti-climatic 're-conqueroring Jerusalem' episode...ever.

CHAPTER 15

"The people of Jerusalem welcomed the Ottomans with relief. As the Mamluk empire had declined, the city had been neglected..." (Pg. 323)

- Bad move.

"The new stability brought by the Ottomans also improved the lot of the dhimmis."

- Pax Turca

"In 1535, Suleiman made a treaty with Francis I against the European emperor Charles V...Francis could appoint a French 'bailiff' or 'consul' to judge civil and criminal cases between merchants and other French subjects in Ottoman territory, without interference from the Muslim legal system." (Pg. 331)

- Outside influence...interesting.

"When the Ottoman empire was in decline, this type of arrangement gave the West a chance to intervene with impunity in its internal affairs in a way that violated Turkish sovereignty." (Pg 331)

- Bad news bears.

"The decline of the Ottoman empire was balanced by the rise of the European powers, which were now able to dictate terms to the sultans. This meant that the position of the Franciscans in Jerusalem continued to improve." (Pg. 335)

- Politics as usual.