Stories of redemption: Jerusalem and Shusha - opinion

Whether it be the latest wave of rockets from Gaza or Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s “Nakba” event on Capitol Hill, Israel finds itself in the familiar position of defending itself against physical and political attacks alike.

Rather than scrambling to find the nearest bomb shelter, Israelis would much prefer to focus on celebrating their nation’s success stories during this month of anniversaries. Following Israel’s milestone 75th birthday last month, Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) has just been celebrated, marking the anniversary of the capital’s reunification.

While inspiration may be difficult to come by in these tumultuous times, Israelis and Jews across the globe can find an uplifting message in the parallel historical narrative of Israel’s longtime Muslim majority in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan.

In its 2020 war with Armenia, Azerbaijan liberated Shusha – a city known as the “Conservatory of the Caucasus” due to its status as a significant political, economic, and cultural center in the region – as part of its broader liberation of the Armenian-occupied territory of Karabakh. Azerbaijanis’ joy surrounding the liberation of Shusha mirrors world Jewry’s sentiments on the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli control in 1967.

For 19 years after Israel attained independence, Jews still could not visit their cherished Western Wall under Jordanian control of eastern Jerusalem. Today, 56 years after the reunification of Jerusalem, Yom Yerushalayim serves as a reminder of how far the Jewish and Israeli people have come in relatively recent history – a much-needed morale boost when rockets are raining down from Gaza.

Shusha, the Azeri nation’s cultural capital

Even after the 2020 liberation of Karabakh, it was not a given that Azerbaijanis could visit Shusha, as the government embarked on its ambitious effort to redevelop the area following three decades of Armenian occupation.

In Karabakh, the occupation was typified not only by the neglect of the land but also intentional destruction – with today’s visible reminders including looted homes, mosques (including those that were used to house livestock) and cemeteries, as well as what United Nations experts estimate to be more than a million explosive devices in the area. Only since March 2023 has Azerbaijan been able to organize tourist trips to Shusha.

IMAGINE, FOR a moment, the immense excitement that Israeli Jews felt in 1967 when they were able to finally return to the Western Wall. That is akin to how Azerbaijanis feel when they step foot in Shusha, which is gradually reassuming its place as their nation’s cultural capital as the redevelopment of Karabakh progresses.

Notable sites such as the mausoleum built in honor of the poet and diplomat Molla Panah Vaqif and the museum memorializing the famed singer Bulbul have been restored. International conferences are being hosted in the city once again.

As my tour guide put it when I visited Shusha, last year, these activities are being given a second chance – and in less than three years since the liberation, Azerbaijan’s redevelopment effort is seeking to achieve what Armenians couldn’t do in 30 years of occupation. Just one week after the Armenian occupation ended in 2020, Apple Pay came to Shusha – signifying the city’s reopening to international communication and commerce.

Redemption unites Jerusalem and Shusha

Similarly, while the controversy associated with territorial conflict will seemingly always be part of the public discourse surrounding eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank, the economic benefits of Israel’s victory in 1967 are indisputable. Today, Jerusalem is known for much more than ancient history, as it is quickly becoming a hub for technology and innovation that rivals the country’s longtime commercial epicenter of Tel Aviv.

The Jerusalem-Shusha analogy is not necessarily airtight, as Jerusalem is historically more of a religiously significant city, while Shusha is a cultural capital. Yet the cities’ mutual narrative of redemption is what continues to unite them. They are also both subject to double standards in the international community.

Rashida Harbi Tlaib (D-MI), the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, vehemently opposes the Israeli presence in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem – yet she supported the Armenian occupation of Karabakh, a territory that is recognized as part of Azerbaijan by four UN Security Council resolutions, before the Azerbaijani liberation in 2020.

On May 28, Azerbaijan will celebrate its own Independence Day (also known as Republic Day), marking the founding of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) as the first secular democratic state in the Muslim world. Israelis, meanwhile, will hope and pray for a respite from rockets. And in the long run, both nations can continue to tap into the parallel stories of redemption in Jerusalem and Shusha as a source of strength.

The writer is the editor and publisher of the San Diego Jewish World, the former editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, and the founder of Stellar Jay Communications, a PR firm representing Azerbaijan.