Strands of gold entwined with copper, wrapped in the folds of a towering
wall, the scent of pines carried on the breeze at twilight, the sound of bells
punctuating the slumber of tree and stone.Lying in proud solitude, its
mountain air as clear as wine, its name scorching like the kiss of a seraph.
We
are
looking
down
on
the
little
town
of
Jerusalem,
city
of
gold,
of
which
the
poets
and
troubadours
never
tire
of
singing
Israel‚
Ofra
Haza
calls
it
Yerushalaym
shel
zahav‚
(Jerusalem
of
Gold)
and
Lebanon‚
Fayrouz
zahratul
mada‚
(flower of the cities).
We
are
in
the
process
of
carrying
out
some
aerial
filming.
The
helicopter
hovers
impatiently
in
the
spring
air,
the
65mm
camera
in
its
bosom
hungrily
lapping
up
the
landscape
unravelling
below,
creating
the
backdrop
for
what
the
producers
and
director
are confident will be a triumphant celebration of Jerusalem.
Like
busy
ants,
the
thousands
of
pilgrims
down
below
push
and
pull
each
other,
in
their
haste
and
eagerness
to
join
a
procession
or
reach
a
gate
before
a
logjam
develops
and
they
are left out in the cold, sometimes for hours.
They
are
here
to
celebrate
Easter,
2010.
The
concatenation
of
ceremonies
this
particular
leap
year
has
exacerbated
a
perennially
congested
logistics
problem,
creating
headaches
not
only
for
church
leaders
who
must
accommodate
their
flock,
but
also
for
the
outnumbered
police who must impose order and a sense of security and ensure all things run smoothly.
Religious
ceremonies
follow
one
another
back
to
back
in
an
endless
run
of
astute
stage
management
and
euphoric
expectations
as
members
of
the
various
Christian
churches,
Catholic,
Protestant
and
Orthodox
(Armenian,
Greek,
Assyrian,
Coptic,
Ethiopian),
crane
necks
or
seek
vantage
points,
some
clinging
perilously
to
rooftops,
as
they
seek
to
view,
absorb and store in their memories, echoes of the sacred moments they are experiencing.
In
years
past,
when
the
crowds
were
thinner,
scuffles
between
two
or
three
different
Christian
denominations,
almost
invariably
involving
Greeks
and
Armenians,
had
come
to
be
the
expected
norm.
Disagreements
broke
out
over
each
side’s
private
interpretation
of
the
terms
of
the
long-standing
“status
quo”
that
governs
relations
between
the
various
Christian churches, an inheritance from the Ottoman regime.
With
territorial
rivalry
running
rampant
over
ownership
of
the
holy
sites,
breaches
of
the
status
quo
are
always
viewed
with
zero
tolerance.
You
sweep
one
extra
tile
beyond
your
jurisdiction, and you are encroaching on my rights and privileges.
With
these
and
other
sensitivities
in
mind,
our
production
team
has
worked
hard
to
establish
solid
rapport
with
the
leaders
of
the
Christian
churches,
as
well
as
with
leaders
of
the
neighborhood
Moslem
and
Jewish
communities.
We
have
almost
carte
blanche
to
film
whenever and wherever we want.
Almost.
Although
I
am
allowed
to
videotape
the
relics
of
Armenian
saints
(encased
in
gilt
silver
containers
shaped
like
forearms),
housed
in
a
chapel
that
is
ordinarily
out
of
bounds,
I
am
denied
access
to
the
treasury
of
the
Armenian
Patriarchate,
whose
location
is
a
closely
guarded
secret,
and
whose
portals
require
three
separate
keys
wielded
by
three
different
priests,
to
open.
And
the
Waqf,
the
institution
which
oversees
Moslem
religious
sites,
demands
that
we
stop
the
cameras
rolling
when
the
sheikh
mounts
the
minbar
(pulpit)
to
deliver
the
Friday
sermon
at
the
Aqsa
mosque,the
third
most
important
place
of
worship
for
Islam after Mecca and Medina.
The
weather
is
unimpeachable
and
the
spacecam
delivers
beautiful
footage
of
the
Dead
Sea,
Qumran,
Nazareth,
the
distant
Judean
hills,
and
other
major
landmarks
of
the
Holy
Land
in a wide sweep of a predetermined grid pattern.
I
am
down
on
the
ground
doing
my
bit.
This
is
my
second
trip
to
Jerusalem
in
15
years.
I
have
been
brought
over
as
project
consultant,
but
soon
after
I
land,
a
camcorder
is
thrust
into
my
hands:
what
I
film
will
complement
our
mushrooming
research
material
and
help
the
project make an informed decision about what to include in the final cut.
For
the
first
time
in
years,
there
are
no
incidents
to
mar
the
festive
spirit.
Sensible
heads
have
prevailed
and
have
been
able
to
contain
any
nascent
sparks
that
might
lead
to
a
potential
flareup:
the
only
jarring
note
is
the
immense
difficulty
hundreds
of
hapless
pilgrims
face
in
trying
to
run
the
gamut
of
makeshift
checkpoints
the
Israeli
police
has
erected
at
every corner and junction of the Old City streets and alleys.
I
myself
have
had
personal
experience
of
this
anomaly:
armed
with
a
couple
of
passes
issued
by
the
Armenian
Patriarchate,
I
am
trying
to
get
two
production
team
members
past
one
checkpoint
at
Jaffa
Gate,
only
to
be
rebuffed
and
told
to
try
the
nearby
New
Gate
or
the
more
distant
Zion
Gate.
Although
I
carry
an
itonai
chutz
(foreign
correspondent)
pass
as
well
as
permission"
letters
of
reference
from
all
three
Guardians
of
the
Holy
Places
(the
Armenians,
the
Greeks
and
the
Custodia)
allowing
us
free
access
to
the
Holy
Places,
the
police officer is unimpressed.
If
I
let
your
people
pass,
I
must
let
everyone
else
pass
as
well,
he
tells
me,
waving
at
the
milling multitude behind the barricade.
As
I
stand
there
fuming,
one
of
the
pilgrims
at
the
checkpoint
pleads
with
me
to
give
her
a
pass.
I shake my head helplessly. I only have the two
The
team
members
finally
make
it
through
but
only
after
we
place
a
call
with
the
Jerusalem police chief.
We barely have time to join the Armenian procession to the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
As
we
plod
through
the
cobblestoned
streets
of
the
Old
City,
I
tell
myself,
it
is
through
these
roads
that
the
son
of
the
carpenter
from
Nazareth
must
have
passed
on
his
mission
of
peace
and forgiveness, and his eventual condemnation and punishment.
And
here
we
are,
two
thousand
years
later,
re-enacting
his
painful
march
to
his
place
of
crucifixion.
And
ultimate
triumph
over
death,
and
his
resurrection
on
the
Holy
Fire
Saturday
we
are
witnessing .
Jerusalem, April 2010
3D IMAX screen capture