By Neora Shem Shaul

More than before all the other wonders of the Internet, I stand amazed at the conspicuously different readings and interpretations that can be placed upon history. It hit me again this week during a virtual visit to Jerusalem, the holy city nestling in its surrounding hills, holy places, and lots of Internet sites.

The true significance of every historic event has inevitably been in the eye of the beholder. But visitors to sites dedicated to Israel’s capital city might justifiably wonder whether any one true reality really exists.

These Internet sites supply a great deal of historical and contemporary information and lots of pictures and gimmicks, each differently slanted by its author, depending on what he/she sets out to prove.

Each site delivers its own political message. Jerusalem: united or divided, ruled by Israel, Palestine or an international forum? A minority of rabble-rousers versus a peace-seeking majority. The Internet Hyde Park is rife with manifestos from official, establishment sources and also from private and political persons and bodies. Our theme is the politics of cyber-space, rather than of our geographical region, and this article accordingly does not cover the politics of terra sancta (or indeed terra firma).

Nationally Sanctioned Sites

Sites offering a tour of virtual Jerusalem include one resulting from collaboration between "Snunit", the English Teachers Union and the Hebrew University, where one may view the city gates, Marc Chagall’s windows, and, loveliest of all, some enchanting Old City mosaics.

There is, of course, a comprehensive new site, called "Virtual Jerusalem". This site, basically Jewish in character and content, was inaugurated in April 1997, as part of the celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification.

Its forty pages, with their split-level links, display pictures, maps and useful historical and political information. All are accessible via eight excursion routes, an encounter with sites holy to Judaism and others, an encounter with Israel’s various political parties, modern history, Jerusalem Day celebrations and news, updated by the minute and able to be audited using RealAudio from Israeli radio stations.

At the beginning of June, on Jerusalem Day, the company responsible for constructing it also celebrated the site’s first birthday and its fifty millionth hit. Avi Moskovitz, founder and president of Virtual Jerusalem, sums up a year’s hard work at stacking the site with high quality data. He is especially proud of gimmicks such as a camera positioned opposite the Wailing Wall and taking snapshots in real time; and the electronic mail box enabling global villagers to send a letter to the Almighty; and of course, the daily newspapers and radio stations that also give voice.

This site is certainly a good point of departure, especially for Jewish surfers, providing, as it does, links to five thousand Jerusalem-related references. People can also register as members, obtain e-mail updates on request and even receive discount coupons for various shops in Jerusalem.

Palestinian

One cannot but note how natural an arena is cyber-space for those militating for national independence, and wonder, a little wistfully, how different the Jewish struggle might have looked, could it have emblazoned its colours on the Internet.

This potential is not lost on the Palestinians. Two years ago, perhaps, one could only find sites set up in other countries by Palestinians in exile, or at most the Bir-Zeit University site. But today, both the Palestinian authorities and various private bodies have a diverse range of sites.

I elected to start out with the Palestinian Authority’s official site, and branch out from there in various directions.

Various Palestinian Authority ministries use this site to keep up a correspondence and publish different opinions. The Ministry of Planning and Foreign Liaison offers a great deal of material on combating Jewish settlement activity and on contact with Palestinians living abroad, as well as guidance for those wishing to return. There is a wealth of material on the organisational set-up of the different ministries, including, albeit rather inadequately, economic information, on which the Palestinian Authority’s commercial and industrial relations are ultimately supposed to be based.

There is something odd about the pages presenting historical-chronological information. Surfers on the PNA site will find that a whole swath of history, namely the biblical era of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has somehow been conjured out of existence. The historical emphasis is naturally on the Ottoman civilisation, but it is surely most unnatural that Jewish history in the region commences only from the reign of King David. Even this is presented as a period of occupation that began one thousand years before the Christian era. David, the Palestinians tell us, conquered the land of Canaan from the Arabs who dwelt there in the preceding millennium.

"We were here first" is the message emanating from the Palestinian Ministry of Information. The site offers a description of the Western ("Wailing") Wall of the Temple. "This is a wall on the western side of the Muslim ‘Al-Aqsa’ mosque, which orthodox Jews consider a holy place. The Israeli authorities have made it a Jewish religious site, and sent archaeologists to dig beneath it, while destroying Muslim historic sites, sealing main entrances to the City and isolating it from the rest of the Arab world".

Even emotionally uninvolved surfers may be stirred by watching the rise of a new community on the Internet, which documents its own simultaneous evolution in the physical domain. Objective sympathies aside, however, one cannot but experience a certain discomfort at this blatant rewriting of history. Alternative information from Palestinian sources on the Jerusalem issue can be found in the comprehensive and highly recommended archives of the Bir-Zeit University.

Answerback

A new site is presently being launched in honour of Jerusalem, on the initiative of the International Forum for a United Jerusalem. Members in this international organisation are prominent Christians and Jews from several nations.

The Forum is headed by its founder, Eliyahu Tal, one of Israel’s first advertising wizards. Founded seven years ago, the organisation has since worked to imbue the public consciousness with the notion of a united Jerusalem. It has the support of a wide spectrum of intellectuals and politicians, including past and present Jerusalem mayors Teddy Kolleck and Ehud Olmert, past and present Prime Ministers Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu, not to mention the late Menahem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin, who were Distinguished Members of the Forum.

"The launching of the site", Tal explains, "was timed to make up for the dearth of expression of its cause on the Internet, and to counter Palestinian propaganda, the reason being that propaganda is not a strong suit of the Jewish people in general or of those who champion a unified Jerusalem in particular. These days, when the Palestinians are making known their opinions and their historical perspective, we must present the facts as they are known to us from our research work, especially regarding the biblical era which the Palestinians ignore".

The site is produced and designed by Judy Maissels, with the object of facilitating far more active learning than can be achieved by simple aimless surfing. It is accordingly structured on games and prize-winning contests.

At present, the site operates in English only, but we are assured that in future, it will be translated into other languages. No attempt is being made to compete with other sites that present mosaics, children's drawings, guided tours and political manifestos. On the contrary, the game window opening up to the visitor, in a clear, user-friendly manner, prevents the browser from veering off to lateral links, and enables him to go with the flow until completing the experience without his attention being distracted.

A linear route through history highlights twenty-six dates and historical reference points, six of them presenting a picture that relates to a particular place at a particular time. The player is asked to identify that place. Any error is corrected in a friendly manner, and will send the player back to the route. Chronology is presented in such a way that even a child can understand it, and the active participation and experience may in fact be expected to stimulate interest in the fate of the Holy City. Thus, the site is an interesting Internet experiment in itself, over and above the authors’ original purpose.

Other Interesting Sites

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Jerusalem Mosaic

Activities for Kids

Private Christian Manifest Supporting Israeli Sovereignty

Palestinian Moslem Manifest Supporting Palestinian Sovereignty