Eran Tzidkiyahu
"It is not the pure, unmixed populations which dominate history, but precisely those populations, where different peoples, different cultures and ideas have fused." (Vilhelm Grønbech)
Book Review: Power, Piety, and People
The Politics of Holy Cities in the Twenty-First Century
Michael Dumper
Columbia University Press, 2020
As a geopolitical guide in Jerusalem and scholar of religious nationalism, I often tell visitors: "There are many divided cities in the world. Every city has its divisions—geography, race, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity. But some cities are more divided than others." Cities like Belfast, Nicosia, Sarajevo, Beirut, and Cape Town are deeply divided by ethno-national, religious, and political cleavages that completely separate their inhabitants. In these places, population groups differ entirely in nationality, religion, ethnic identity, language, and the symbolic systems organizing their lives. Yet even among these deeply divided cities, Jerusalem stands exceptional.
I deliver this introduction from a strategic hilltop in southeast Jerusalem—a lookout positioned on the watershed line between East and West Jerusalem, between the Palestinian village of Jabel al-Mukaber and the Jewish neighborhood of East-Talpiot where I grew up. From this vantage point, nestled between an Israeli border police base and the former British High Commissioner's palace (now the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization), visitors can see Jewish West Jerusalem, Palestinian East Jerusalem, the separation barrier, and West Bank settlements. On clear days, one can glimpse Ramallah and even Amman. At the center of this panorama stands the golden Dome of the Rock, shining above the foundation stone where two Jewish Temples once stood.
It is no coincidence that Michael Dumper concludes his 2020 book Power, Piety, and People: The Politics of Holy Cities in the Twenty-First Century (Columbia University Press) at this very spot. Jerusalem's triple and central sanctity to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam makes it both unique and a prototype for sacred cities in conflict worldwide—a paradox Dumper explores masterfully throughout his work.
Dumper examines the complex interplay of religion, politics, and urbanism through comparative studies of sacred cities in conflict: Jerusalem as the template; Córdoba's Mosque-Cathedral as a site of shared holy space; Hindu-Muslim rivalries in Banaras (Varanasi); Chinese secular occupation of Buddhist Lhasa; and, intriguingly, George Town, Malaysia as a model of inter-religious harmony. These case studies are framed by a robust theoretical introduction and conclude with a thoughtful synthesis offering conflict resolution approaches for religious urban conflicts.
As a scholar of Middle East politics at the University of Exeter, Dumper has extensively researched Jerusalem's politics within the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict and religious institutions in the Middle East. His personal background enriches this perspective—born to an Anglican clergyman and a Roman Catholic mother, Dumper was raised in Southeast Asia amidst diverse religions, languages, and cultures. Like my own upbringing in East Jerusalem surrounded by synagogues, churches, and mosques, this multicultural immersion fostered what Max Weber might call being "religiously musical." Dumper's academic work is further enhanced by his experience as an activist and in Track II diplomacy.
This book represents the culmination of Dumper's scholarly journey, following his Jerusalem Unbound: Geography, History, and the Future of the Holy City (2014) and his edited volume Contested Holy Cities: The Urban Dimension of Religious Conflicts (2019). His decades of expertise in Middle Eastern affairs and urbanism, combined with hands-on policy experience, lend remarkable depth to his analysis.
The theoretical framework Dumper establishes fills an important gap in the study of divided cities. While scholars like Hayden, Hassner, and Luz have examined multi-religious spaces, Dumper's work uniquely develops a theory of urbanism anchored in holy cities experiencing violent religious conflict, beginning with a precise definition of what constitutes a "holy city."
The first chapter deepens this framework through an analysis of Jerusalem, which Dumper treats as both a unique case and a prototype. This dual characterization introduces a fascinating paradox: How can a city be singular yet simultaneously serve as a model? Dumper navigates this tension skillfully, using Jerusalem to examine three critical dimensions:
* Sacred Space Management: The complex interplay between religious authorities and secular governance in managing contested holy sites, illustrated through Jerusalem's Waqf, Christian denominations, and Jewish institutions.
* Intercommunal Dynamics: The tensions among diverse religious and ethnic communities with competing historical narratives and territorial claims.
* Urban Policies and Power Structures: How zoning laws, land ownership, housing allocations, and access restrictions shape urban conflict and coexistence.
The central paradox—Jerusalem as both unique and prototype—is not a flaw but a reflection of urban studies' complexity. Dumper addresses this by balancing specificity with generalization, using Jerusalem as a structured starting point rather than a rigid template, and finding shared elements across seemingly incomparable cases. While Jerusalem's centrality to three major world religions is unique, the themes of sacred space management and intercommunal tensions resonate universally.
Settler Colonialism
Dumper explores the dynamics of settler colonialism, with a focus on how it manifests in urban religious contexts. In Jerusalem, Israeli settler colonialism combines territorial expansion with ideological narratives rooted in religious nationalism. Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem exemplify this through their strategic positioning to assert Israeli sovereignty over contested areas, creating a ring of barricaded compounds around the city’s holy esplanade. Dumper’s comparative lens highlights a parallel with Chinese policies in Lhasa, where Beijing’s efforts to integrate Tibet into the broader Chinese state involve urban transformations and demographic shifts aimed at diluting Tibetan Buddhist identity. Both cases demonstrate the use of religious and cultural symbolism to reinforce political dominance, but with different ideological underpinnings—Zionist religious nationalism in Jerusalem and secular state-driven integration in Lhasa.
These parallels underscore the shared strategies of erasing and replacing indigenous identities. In Jerusalem, this process includes the use of archeological projects to assert Jewish historical claims and the promotion of Jewish-Israeli settler enclaves in Palestinian neighborhoods. Similarly, in Lhasa, the Chinese state promotes economic incentives and migration of Han Chinese to erode the Tibetan population's dominance while emphasizing state-driven narratives of cultural harmony.
Securitization
Dumper describes how governments transform religious and urban conflicts into matters of security in a way that can be conceptualized as securitization. In Jerusalem, securitization manifests through checkpoints, surveillance systems, and physical barriers that restrict Palestinian access to holy sites and surround settler compounds. These measures aim to maintain Israeli control but often exacerbate tensions by deepening divisions and marginalizing Palestinian residents. Religious-Zionist settlers also function, albeit unofficially, as an external branch of the state mechanism. Their presence intensifies securitization by justifying heightened police (and private security companies funded by the state) activity under the guise of protecting settlers and their compounds.
Similarly, in Lhasa, Chinese authorities securitize Tibetan Buddhist spaces, employing military presence and surveillance to suppress dissent and ensure state control. This includes the surveillance of monasteries and public spaces associated with Tibetan Buddhism, further intertwining securitization with the settler colonial agenda. The comparison underscores how securitization strategies in both contexts reshape urban and religious landscapes, often at the expense of local communities and their access to cultural and spiritual heritage.
Each case study illuminates different aspects of Dumper's framework:
* Córdoba exemplifies how religious pluralism can coexist with a contested holy site, tracing the Great Mosque's transformation into a cathedral and revealing the fragility of pluralism without active management.
* Banaras (Varanasi) demonstrates how Hindu-Muslim tensions around the sacred Ganges are managed through informal networks and rituals, highlighting the limitations of formal governance in deeply spiritual contexts.
* Lhasa provides both similarities and contrasts with Jerusalem. As Tibet's spiritual capital under Chinese control, Lhasa illustrates the tensions between preserving sacred heritage and integration into a modern state-controlled framework.
* George Town, Malaysia serves as a hopeful counterpoint—a multicultural city with Malay, Chinese, Indian, and British influences demonstrating how inclusive policies and shared urban spaces can foster harmony among diverse communities.
Dumper's comparative approach reveals insights applicable across diverse contexts while respecting each city's unique characteristics. The inclusion of George Town as a harmonious example broadens the discussion beyond conflict-ridden case studies. However, the emphasis on sacred spaces occasionally overshadows other critical factors like economic disparities and urban migration, which significantly shape urban tensions in cities like Banaras and Lhasa.
Power, Piety, and People represents a masterful exploration of contested urban spaces. By examining Jerusalem alongside diverse cities worldwide, Dumper crafts a framework that is both specific and adaptable. His resolution of the paradox—balancing Jerusalem's uniqueness with its role as a prototype—adds depth and credibility to his analysis.
While future applications of his framework might benefit from deeper integration of economic and social dimensions, Dumper's work stands as an essential resource for understanding the complex interplay of religion, politics, and governance in polarized urban environments—a valuable guide for scholars, policymakers, and anyone seeking to understand cities where the sacred and secular collide.
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I originally wrote this review following a direct request from the reviews editor of the journal Jerusalem Quarterly at the Institute for Palestine Studies. I revised and expanded it in response to specific editorial requests, and the editors explicitly informed me that the review was suitable and would be published soon. Some time later, after the review had not been published, I contacted the reviews editor. At that point (late January 2026), the journal’s new Editor-in-Chief, Khaldun Bshara, informed me that “in light of ongoing developments in the region, particularly in Palestine, the Editorial Committee has reassessed the journal’s editorial direction and priorities. As part of this process, we have decided not to proceed with publishing your book review in JQ.” I therefore publish this review on my website.
