Seite - 138 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 06/01

The Opening Ceremony of the New US Embassy as Media Ritual With the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem, President Donald Trump made real one of his promises made during the 2016 election campaign – a promise made by presidents and candidates before him, but never previously realized.40 Trump has also spoken of a new approach to negotiations to create a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. That new approach was, at the time of the opening cere- mony, yet to be explained and certainly the decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv was not greeted peacefully.41 The relocation of the embassy infuriated Israel’s Arabic neighbors, especially the Palestinian National Authority, which claims East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. The wave of violence that the Palestinian leadership announced in December 2017 did not occur, but tensions rose. The weeks before the opening ceremony saw mass protests in the Gaza Strip, with many deaths, and during the opening ceremony itself, there were protests and violent clashes, again especially along the border with the Gaza Strip.42 The ceremony lasted about 80 minutes. It included speeches given by American and Israeli politicians and by two Evangelical pastors and a rabbi as well as cere- monial elements (fig. 2) and two musical interludes.43 The video analyzed here is of a live broadcast by the US news portal TIME, but the ceremony was broadcast by many news channels, especially in Israel and the United States, in the same form, as far as I can establish. People around the world could experience the event live or watch it subsequently. Since the ceremony was held in English, it is easily accessed by an international audience. As noted, I analyze the video on three levels: rhetorical, performative and in terms of medial representation. My focus is on the speeches, which formed the core of the ceremony. The rhetorical level is therefore pre-eminent, supported by the other two levels, which frame the speeches and influence their reception worldwide. 40 Amerika Dienst 2017. 41 Amerika Dienst 2017; Borger/Beaumont 2017. In January 2020, President Trump has finally unveiled his Middle East peace plan, containing a kind of Two-State-Solution. Given the many concessions made to Israel at expense of Palestinian claims, the Palestinian Authority rejected it (Holmes/Taha/ Balousha/McGreal 2020). 42 Anon 2018a; Anon 2018b; Reimann 2018; Underwood 2018. 43 The speakers were, in order, US-Ambassador David Friedman, Pastor Robert Jeffress, Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, US-Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, Donald Trump (via video-message), Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Pastor John Hagee. Jerusalem between Political Interests and Religious Promise | 137www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 127–151