Page - 150 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/01

and Israel) perform a ritual that constructs Jerusalem as sacred space. Jerusalem al- ready bears a distinct religious identity, which is then bolstered by the reiteration of powerful religious concepts. Religious concepts are naturalized and the actors sa- cralized, giving both Jerusalem and the performers a standing that has consequenc- es for the Middle East conflict. Religion’s special role is a result of its privileged rela- tionship to power, which makes loading a space with religious concepts especially lucrative. The sacralization of the actors gives them power and a monopoly of truth. A complex web of legitimization is created, binding together the actors, their con- cepts and space, which then legitimize one another and form an unassailable whole, within which and through which power functions in multiple ways. Already-pow- erful religious concepts derived from different religious traditions (according to a particular interpretation) are advanced in the ceremony, where they merge with political interest to form a powerful synthesis that serves the actors by legitimizing their claims and giving them a powerful position within the conflict. Thus, the reli- gio-political legitimization of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is intensified. Moreover, the absence from the ceremony of the Palestinians’ claim to Jerusa- lem and of the holy status of the city in Islam erases their existence. The connection between power and sacred space is realized: since Israel is more powerful, unlike the Palestinians it has the resources to produce sacred space (e.g. to perform rituals and convey them to a worldwide audience), which heightens its powerful position within the conflict. The struggle over Jerusalem can thus be described as a struggle over sacred space: the group that is most successful in endowing Jerusalem with its religious concepts can claim Jerusalem, which Israel is evidently in the stronger position to do. In the ceremony in particular and in the Middle East conflict in general, religion and politics are tightly interwoven and sometimes cannot be separated. Where the substantial ends and the symbolical begins is often unclear. Conceptualizations of space (the “heavenly” and the “earthly” Jerusalems) are often equated. (Sacred) space, ritual and media are evidently central concepts for an analysis of the entan- glements of politics and religion in Middle East conflict, as we have seen from this telling example. The holiness of Jerusalem is not absolute, but rather a product of political, soci- etal and cultural factors with which the city interacts. With religion and politics in turn interwoven into the Middle East conflict, the constructed holiness of Jerusalem is a vital factor in that conflict. Jerusalem between Political Interests and Religious Promise | 149www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 127–151