Page - 128 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/01

Hannah Griese Jerusalem between Political Interests and Religious Promise The Opening Ceremony of the New US Embassy as Media Ritual Abstract This article focuses on the opening ceremony for the new US embassy in Jerusalem, which took place on 14 May 2018. By analyzing a live transmission of the ceremony, it seeks to show how Jerusalem is constructed as a “holy city” through the ceremony and its medi- al representation. It thus aims to deepen our understanding of the relationship between religion and politics in the Middle East by focusing on the intersection of ritual, (sacred) space, conflict, and the media. More specifically, adopting a spatial approach to religion, drawing on this episode it looks at media rituals in the construction of holy space within the Middle East conflict. Keywords Middle East Conflict, Jerusalem, Holy Space, Religion and Media Biography Hannah Griese received both her Bachelor’s degree and her Master’s degree in the Study of Religion at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU), where she is currently working on a doctoral thesis in the same field. The Relocation of the US Embassy in the Midst of Middle East Conflict Jerusalem is of utmost importance in the conflict in the Middle East above all be- cause the city plays a key role for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, for it is a “holy city” for all three faith traditions. But what is a “holy city”? Why does that character make Jerusalem so important in the conflict? And why do seemingly smaller epi- DOI: 10.25364/05.06:2020.1.7 Jerusalem between Political Interests and Religious Promise | 127www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 127–151