John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

UBQ: A Return To Jerusalem

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Rather than write a long travelogue, I will simply run a series of images to indicate the extraordinary diversity of sights we saw today in Jerusalem. Guided around by Chris (Sveen) and by Lauren Shachar, whose father was a Holocaust survivor. A wonderful combination of talents.

So much has changed since we were in Israel in 1959, but here in Jerusalem so much hasn’t – and so much, like the Western wall tunnels, has come to light since. As we drove east from Tel Aviv in the morning, I was expecting to see burned out vehicles from the 1948 war, where migrants arriving on the coast were rushed straight into battle. I remember being forcefully struck by the wreckage as a child. Nowadays it has been cleaned up and is more symbolic.

Entering Jerusalem, via the enlarged Jaffa Gate, early in the day
Panorama inside Gate: reminiscent of the citadel in Aleppo, on a much smaller scale
Calm before the storm
Framed
An ancient curving
Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Graffito on column outside Church of the Holy Sepulchre, from the late 1300s
And again, though different hand, script and date
Basket-style capital
Graffiti – or a hidden Basquiat?
Outside the rumoured prison cell where Jesus was held – on the opposing wall
Panorama from hotel roof, including the Dome of the Rock
Hallucinatory station of the cross
Down in the tunnels beneath the Muslim Quarter and alongside the Western Wall. This was a highlight of the day, with the tunnels running approximately 488 metres along the Western Wall. The scale of the building is almost beyond comprehension, at least in terms of the technology of the day. For example, one stone is 14 metres long and weighs almost 570 tons.
Smudged detail of a sculpture of “swifts of hope” in gardens of St John Eye Hospital
Hide-and-seek in street excavated after the demolition of the Jewish Quarter
Detail of mural, with old and new children
Composite picture of young Israeli soldiers during the 1967 capture of the city
Self explanatory, perhaps
Old – and very recognisable – postbox
Bullet holes from 1948 pockmark the Zion Gate
Towering
Ravaged poster explaining the Armenian genocide
Sunset panorama from the Mount of Olives, looking back across the Dome
My new-found friend on the Mount
Sunset
Millipede (huge) spotted eating dropped bread
The view east towards the desert as we head down from the Mount

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John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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