Capital on a Border: Growth and Society in Divided Jerusalem — Guides' Seminar

About the study day We get to know the urban and political processes that took place on both sides of the "city line" between the War of Independence and the Six-Day War: from the tin shacks and housing projects of the young state to the international airport of Jordanian Jerusalem. We explore the symbolic and cultural dimension of the divided capital as shaped in cinema, in literature and in the renewed tourist landscape. 09:00-10:30 Mansions, tin shacks and housing projects: populating Israeli Jerusalem and housing its residents in the era of the divided city Hebrew Jerusalem, badly hit and barely surviving the War of Independence, became within less than two decades a thriving city, with its population doubling and more. In this lecture we learn about the debates over repopulating the city in the early days of the state and about the four stages of housing its residents, in the abandoned neighborhoods and villages, in the transit camps and in the new permanent neighborhoods, the difficulties and disputes that accompanied them, and their long-term effect on the city's landscape. Lecturer: Dr. Eldad Brin 10:45-12:00 The city beyond the wall: Jordanian Jerusalem, 1948-1967 Jordanian Jerusalem lay within touching distance of the Israeli one, but might just as well have been on the moon. Contrary to common opinion, the city was not entirely neglected by the Jordanian authorities, and it even saw a great flow of tourists and pilgrims that greatly influenced its built landscape and its social and cultural spirit.