{"id":13395,"date":"2011-07-04T07:59:33","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T14:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=13395"},"modified":"2011-07-04T07:59:33","modified_gmt":"2011-07-04T14:59:33","slug":"simon-sebag-montefiore-talks-about-jerusalem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=13395","title":{"rendered":"Simon Sebag Montefiore Talks About Jerusalem"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Simon Sebag Montefiore\/Photo: Mati Milstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould held a reception in honor of Simon Sebag Montefiore\u2019s Jerusalem: the Biography (W & N 2011) on July 27, 2011. Eschewing long ceremonial speeches in favor a conversation as direct and lively as Sebag Montefiore\u2019s immensely readable history of Jerusalem, the Ambassador conducted an interview with the author, raising many interesting questions in relation to the book, the choices made in the process of writing, and the Montefiore family history.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Gould opened by asking Sebag Montefiore, who has written three books about Russia, why he waited so long to write a book about Jerusalem. He replied that he had always been obsessed with Jerusalem, saying, \u201cI always wanted to read a book about Jerusalem that dealt with the people,\u201d and quoted Disraeli\u2019s saying \u201cwhen I want to read a book I write it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked to name the most difficult part to write, Sebag Montefiore said that writing about the \u201cmodern time was the hardest, I had it read by Israelis, Palestinians, Armenians\u2026of course, not every side size of Jerusalem is in the book. It\u2019s a challenge to write a book accepted by all sides.\u201d Recounting an anecdote about Sir Ronald Storrs, the Governor of Jerusalem in 1917, who managed to fall out with the Jews and the Arabs soon after his arrival, and was told by his superior that he should continue with that policy of non-favoritism; Sebag Montefiore concluded, \u201cI hope that I\u2019ve pleased neither side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ambassador Gould noted that Simon Sebag Montefiore comes from a family that is \u201ca part of modern Israeli history\u201d and asked the author about his relationship to family history.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoses Montefiore was a Zionist before Zionism existed,\u201d said Sebag Montefiore, \u201cand also a great British imperialist. Claude Montefiore led the campaign against the Balfour declaration, so we covered all sides\u2026Seder nights were formal with bowler hats and black suits, it was quite rammed down our throats what a paradigm he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid he have a dark side,\u201d asked the Ambassador.<\/p>\n

Sebag Montefiore confessed that \u201cGrowing up we were slightly sick of Sir Moses\u2026 he is a heroic figure\u2026like every Victorian he had a secret life. At 81 he fathered a child with a 16 year old housemaid.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked whether he has a favorite forebear, Sebag Montefiore did not hesitate to name Major Geoffrey Sebag Montefiore who was police chief of Jerusalem from 1918 to 1920, whose responsibilities included policing the brothels of Jerusalem, and quoted a message from the Major: \u201cJerusalem quiet \u2013 VD rampant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking a more serious turn, the Ambassador asked Sebag Montefiore whether he feels burdened by \u201cthe weight of history\u201d as someone who represents the UK in Israel. Sebag Montefiore tossed the question right back at Ambassador Gould, asking, \u201cDo you feel responsible?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI try and duck responsibility,\u201d quipped Ambassador Gould, while affirming his belief that Britain\u2019s contribution to Israel, in many areas, is significant.<\/p>\n

In terms of his relationship to the history of British involvement in Israel, Sebag Montefiore said, \u201cAs an individual I feel responsibility. Britain screwed up here hugely in many ways,\u201d mentioning drastic shifts in policy and decisions taken, yet continued to say, \u201cI don\u2019t doubt that there should be two states here. I do think the way they left in \u201848 was pretty unforgiveable. The way you leave a party is important. The way Britain left is irresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes Jerusalem disappoint you?\u201d asked Ambassador Gould.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the most beautiful city in the world,\u201d said Sebag Montefiore, yet acknowledged that it is also, \u201cvulgar, angry, and messy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou stopped your narrative in 1967, what do you think Jerusalem will look like in 10 \u2013 20 years?\u201d asked Ambassador Gould.<\/p>\n

Sebag Montefiore responded, \u201cI can imagine three Jerusalems \u2013 one, exactly the way it is now only more so, a religious city center for Jews and fundamentalist Muslims who jostle together, with few Christians. The second is a Jerusalem that does not exist anymore, destroyed by fanatics.\u201d The third Jerusalem envisioned by Sebag Montefiore is one in which \u201cthere will be some sort of peace process that allow settlement for both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould held a reception in honor of Simon Sebag Montefiore\u2019s Jerusalem: the Biography (W & N 2011) on July 27, 2011. Eschewing long ceremonial speeches in favor a conversation as direct and lively as Sebag Montefiore\u2019s immensely readable history of Jerusalem, the Ambassador conducted an interview with the author, raising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}