Living in Disputed Territory

As all of you know, I live in the city of Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel. This city has a very detailed and complicated history, going back almost to the beginning of time. In the last century alone, it has gone from being the center of Ottoman influence in the Palestine region, to the capital of the British Mandate, to divided between the new states of Jordan and Israel, to united under Israeli rule in 1967. Despite its unification, the city is still fought over to this day. The Palestinians claim, at minimum, East Jerusalem for the capital of their future state. The Israelis have said that they will never divide Jerusalem. This city has become one of the huge sticking points between the Israelis and Palestinians and a comprehensive peace treaty. To make matters even more complicated, East Jerusalem is also the site of the Old City and the Holy Sites of the three major religions: the Al Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock for the Muslims, the Wailing Wall for the Jews, and the Holy Sepulcher and Garden Tomb for the Christians. Some peace plans have called for the splitting of Jerusalem between the two sides, some call for the internationalization of Jerusalem, some call for the splitting of the city while internationalizing the Old City and the Holy Sites. Needless to say, its a mess. Living in East Jerusalem, or as some would call it, disputed territory, has given me a front row seat to all the conflicts and dysfunction. In the Old City alone, 50,000 people are crammed into an area comprising 0.35 square miles (I don't really know what that is in terms of easily understood distances, but just to put it in perspective, my hometown of Apple Valley has roughly the same amount of residents, and they're spread over miles of land). In the Old City and throughout East Jerusalem, Muslims, Christians, and Jews live side by side and rub shoulders on a daily basis. Sure, there is conflict between them, and nobody is going to volunteer to watch the neighbor's cat when they go on vacation, but they make it work. Each group has its own quarter in the Old City, which helps ease tensions, but it is impossible to navigate the eastern half of the city without running into people of all three faiths. And if you're thinking that it's the Christians and Jews vs. the Muslims here, just remember that the Jews were actually treated worse under Christian rule during the Diaspora (the scattering of the Jewish people all over the planet after the failure of several rebellions against Rome) than under Muslim rule. Every day, I walk through disputed territory, and I get to see the front lines of the conflict firsthand. I spend the vast majority of my time in East Jerusalem. Soldiers are everywhere, checkpoints can go up at a moment's notice and it's not uncommon for a police officer or soldier to ask to see identification. I've seen several peaceful protests against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, all of which have been closely watched by Israeli soldiers and security officers. I've been allowed through checkpoints without a second glance only to turn around and see the Muslim woman behind me subjected to extra searches. I've learned to avoid certain areas and I never go out at night if I can help it. This is the reality of living in East Jerusalem. It's incredibly safe, but it's also incredibly tense. I wouldn't want to be living anywhere else.