PLUNDERING PALESTINE - Jerusalem Quarterly

However, party-goers, clubbers and boutique shoppers were in luck in 2007:
Time Out Jerusalem, a monthly guide, came to present us with a new and better
Jerusalem, one where restaurant ratings triumph over building demolitions, and “hip
cafes, happening bars and designer boutiques” form a “Trendy Jerusalem” (March
2007) that has no trace of Jerusalem’s recent history, where such cafes were truly
sites of danger. Jerusalem is no longer contested, bitter, or even bounded by the Wall
– Jerusalem, it turns out, is a party city and destination of choice for youthful and
affluent tourists.
Time Out Jerusalem (and Time Out Tel Aviv) are monthly publications of an Israeli
company, the Yuval Sigler Media Group, under “exclusive license” from the UKbased
Time Out International – although, perhaps because of low demand or a
sense of discretion, these editions are not listed on Time Out’s main website 2 ,
which does include Time Out Dubai and Time Out Abu Dhabi. All issues of Time
Out Jerusalem to date contain the same potted history of Jerusalem (“In Context”),
noting, indisputably, that the 5,000 year history is “fraught with turmoil, conflict and
bloodshed.” A laundry list of conquerors follows, with Israel’s capture of the city in
1967 noted simply: “to this day the city remains under Israeli government.” Indeed,
except for a brief mention of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles in
1993, the 1967 war seems to have brought Jerusalem’s history to an end, leaving the
way open for more familiar ground, i.e. where to find the best bars and restaurants,
boutiques, clubs and a scattering of cultural events. A comparison with an equally
brief, but more honest, history of Jerusalem in the UK-based Rough Guide series is
telling. Noting Israel’s “unilateral” annexation of Jerusalem, the Guide points out
that “most of the international community does not recognize Israel’s jurisdiction
over East Jerusalem” and adds that Israel has “ringed East Jerusalem with three
bands of settlements to forestall the Palestinian claim to the east.” 3
The magazine’s brief foray into history is more unrevealing than directly
objectionable; it’s shaping of the new Jerusalem comes more through the heart of
the matter – what to buy, where to go, what to see, what is happening. It is in these
“cartographies of leisure,” to use Stein’s apt term, that we discover how “Things
are happening in Jerusalem, a multi-cultural melting pot”. Lest the reader imagine
that the guide is about to introduce Jerusalem’s diverse populations, identities
and cultures, “The Melting Pot” section in December 2006 included “European
decadence,” (a waffle shop), a spice and nut haven in Maoz Zion (“colloquially
know as the Castel”) and a suggested trip to “fab wineries” in the Judean Hills (“you
don’t have to go all the way to Tuscany”). A click on the suggested map route shows
a stop at that Tuscan-like Israeli settlement, Gush Etzion.
Jerusalem Quarterly 33 [ 77 ]