Conflicts over place

Conflicts over place

Conflicts over places involve rival claims to define their meaning and thereby, rights to control their use or future. This is all centred on the concept of a 'sense of place', where particular places hold significance and meanings for people thus being important in how people define their identities. While some people might feel that some of their characteristics are linked with certain places. A sense of place is important in making sense of the world around us giving us feelings of belonging to certain places, ranging from individual structures to whole countries or regions. However particular places might hold different meanings to different groups of people leading to the potential clashing of ideas and concepts. While some groups might take this a step further by attempting to gain overall control of a particular place increasing the potential for conflict.

Many of today's examples for conflict over places are centred on the interpretation of an area's past.

The iconic image of Israeli soldiers shortly after...

English: Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem...

A model of Herod's Temple adjacent to the Shrine o...

This would certainly include Jerusalem in Israel, where the origins of conflict lie in the areas religious history. Jerusalem is the holy city of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Situated in the Judaean Hills, 35 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. The growth of the city may be attributed to its location along a pass through the Judean Hills on an ancient trade route, and to its religious importance. Christians, Jews and Muslims see Jerusalem as important in defining their religion and its origin. For Jews, Jerusalem is the focus of their religious longing, the site of their ancient Temple, and their historical capital; for Christians, the city is the site of many of the events in the life of Jesus Christ; for Muslims, the city is their third holiest as the site from which Muhammad is said to have risen to...