In Jerusalem, it seems like every second person comes looking for peace of mind. While some find it, others just jostle with armed guards as they try and discover the roots of their religion. And at the gates of the old city, as you get off the bus, the irony and helplessness of Jerusalem city blows into you. As the grand Jaffa Gate looms in front of you, the large head of Yaseer appears. “You need a guide,” he says, assures you his prices are reasonable and considering the deal closed, begins to tell the story of one of the oldest cities in the world.Sidestepping the Bible-clutching tourists who crowd attentively around their guide, Yaseer deftly makes his way into the cobbled alleys that criss-cross the old city. He is a Palestinian who tells it as it is. “Don’t discuss politics,” he has already warned and doesn’t give you a chance either. Instead he slowly peels off the layers of history that cover the city from the Biblical era to the Crusades, and slowly brings you to the realities of the present.It is unsettling being in Jerusalem. Everything in the city is a contradiction — from the bustling Turkish market to the serene Russian Orthodox Church, from the appetising aroma of shwarma to the spotless kosher restaurants for Jews, from the cries of trinket sellers to the sobering tone of guides as they walk you through the “13 stations of the cross”. Like in Benares and Hardwar, the trinket sellers won’t let go in Jerusalem either. And yet people find solace here.But the one thing that makes sense in all the chaos is the fact that almost everyone here is on a journey to discover their religion. Armed with their holy books, Jews, Christians and Muslims jostle with each other as they walk past police pickets to get to their shrines. Everywhere they are stopped, checked and then allowed to move on. Nobody seems to mind.Except the tourists. For most groups the journey is a pilgrimage. And they all flip through their religious books trying to connect with their past. But midway, they all stop and just stare at the chaotic streets of this holy city.At the Wailing Wall, standing at the boundary of the mosque, a Jew explains the tragedy of the city to his friend, a tourist just like us. A young South African Muslim tries to explain the contradiction of Jerusalem to his mother. Both have traveled all the way to understand what Jerusalem stands for.Like most, they came to Jerusalem looking for answers but ended up with just more questions. And in the bargain, like most, they don’t sit on a tiny stool inside the market and sip on some hot Turkish coffee and just watch Jerusalem go by!
