Category: History
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JERUSALEM: Sanctity of Jerusalem in Christianity
This is the second installment of the history of Jerusalem, the first part; Sanctity of Jerusalem in Judaism was posted earlier. The story of Jerusalem is closely tied to the history of the three western religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Originally Jerusalem was a small Canaanite settlement brought out of obscurity to the world stage…
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Jerusalem: Sanctity of Jerusalem in Judaism
This is a four-part series covering the 4,000 year history of the city. This post and the subsequent three posts would focus why this City is important to Jews, Christians and Muslims. The first written account of Jerusalem appears in Egyptian records dating back to 1700 BC. Jerusalem is located 32 miles east of the…
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A fence dividing a city’s poorest from richest
By Alyssa Campbell When driving along Montreal’s Boulevard de l’Acadie, you might at first only notice on one side of the road a line of shrubs with suburban houses in the background. However, upon closer inspection, the existence of a six-foot tall chain-link fence separating Montreal’s poorest neighborhood from one of its richest becomes readily apparent.…
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Gentrification in the Plateau, Montreal’s most famous neighborhood
By Alyssa Campbell The Plateau-Mont-Royal is arguably Montreal’s most famous neighborhood. Ranked by many publications as one of North America’s “best neighborhoods,” the Plateau has built a reputation for being a hip area with trendy bars, shopping, restaurants and cafes. Yet four decades ago life in the neighborhood was quite the opposite, on the precipice of…
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Tear Down This Turnstile
“Tear down this wall”. President Reagan referred, of course, to the Berlin Wall, which was behind him alongside the Brandenburg Gate. That gate — a historical entrance to the old city which saw Napoleon, the Prussians, the Imperial German Army, the Nazis, the Red Army, the Stasi, and so many others pass through — soon…
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A Love Letter To Flemish Cities
I’ve recently become enamored with the historic cities of Flandres, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. Whilst I used to only pass through Flandres in the past, often on my way to France, I first discovered Flemish cities on a study trip to the region in 2007. Wandering through places like Bruges or Ghent with a…