cover image Jerusalem Blessed, Jerusalem Cursed: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Holy City from David's Time to Our Own

Jerusalem Blessed, Jerusalem Cursed: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Holy City from David's Time to Our Own

Thomas A. Idinopulos. Ivan R. Dee Publisher, $30 (383pp) ISBN 978-0-929587-66-0

Impassioned yet balanced, this dramatic history of Jerusalem lets us grasp the full weight of three major religions' claims on the holy city. Capturing Jerusalem's ``sensuousness'' and its ``perpetual seriousness,'' Idinopulos, who teaches religion at Miami University in Ohio, sifts through the uniquely different meanings the city holds for today's Jews, Muslims and Christians. While blaming the British for calculated betrayals, he argues that the fundamental cause for Arab-Jewish war in 1948 was the refusal of major Arab leaders to tolerate a Zionist-led Jewish nation in their region. He calls for a ``wise compromise'' whereby Arab East Jerusalem becomes the capital of a newly independent Palestine, Israel returns sovereignty to the West Bank and Jordan accedes to Israel's annexing of the Jewish parts of East Jerusalem. Photographs and other illustrations are interwoven with a detailed narrative. (Nov.)