PREVIOUS ARTICLE ALL CONTENTS Next ARTICLE

Women and the Holy City: The Struggle over Jerusalem's Sacred Space, Lihi Ben Shitrit

Reviewed by Leonard Hammer

BUY

 

Lihi Ben Shitrit's book examines two Jewish organizations, the Women for the Temple (WOT) and the Women of the Wall (WOW), and one Muslim movement, the Murabitat, to invoke a more feminist context that moves sacred space away from religious zealots and extreme actors toward one that is more mainstream and nonthreatening. Shitrit's contention in Women and the Holy City, however, is that while the role of women serves to involve wider and new constituencies within their religious groups, the women are also entrenching indivisibility at the Wall and the Haram, making shared possession more difficult. For instance, WOT's inherent inclusive nature overcame intracommunity divisions regarding Temple Mount ascension to remove connections with radical and intolerant Jewish groups. WOW's inclusiveness of all religious streams entrenches Jewish presence at the Wall, feeding into the Israeli occupation. Similarly, while the Murabitat movement opened doors for female involvement in Muslim affairs at a holy site like the Haram (leading to the creation of a female Waqf police force at the site), they are ensconced in occupation terminology regarding freedom of religion, at the expense of inculcating notions of equality and political rights that would better serve the Palestinians.

The importance of feminist involvement in sacred space is clearly benef

To continue reading, see options above.

About PSQ's Editor

ROBERT Y. SHAPIRO

Full Access

Join the Academy of Political Science and automatically receive Political Science Quarterly.

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

America at a Crossroads: The 2024 Presidential Election and Its Global Impact
April 24, 2024
8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET
New York, NY

MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT VIEW ALL EVENTS

Editor’s spotlight

Virtual Issue

Introduction: Black Power and the Civil Rights Agendas of Charles V. Hamilton
Marylena Mantas and Robert Y. Shapiro

MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC

Search the Archives

Publishing since 1886, PSQ is the most widely read and accessible scholarly journal with distinguished contributors such as: Lisa Anderson, Robert A. Dahl, Samuel P. Huntington, Robert Jervis, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Theda Skocpol, Woodrow Wilson

view additional issues

Most read

Articles | Book reviews

Understanding the Bush Doctrine
Robert Jervis

The Study of Administration
Woodrow Wilson

Notes on Roosevelt's "Quarantine" Speech
Dorothy Borg

view all

New APS Book

China in a World of Great Power Competition   CHINA IN A WORLD OF GREAT POWER COMPETITION

About US

Academy of Political Science

The Academy of Political Science, promotes objective, scholarly analyses of political, social, and economic issues. Through its conferences and publications APS provides analysis and insight into both domestic and foreign policy issues.

Political Science Quarterly

With neither an ideological nor a partisan bias, PSQ looks at facts and analyzes data objectively to help readers understand what is really going on in national and world affairs.

Stay Connected

newsstand locator
About APS