Mount Zion and Maqam Sayyidna ʿAli: The Two-Fold Formation of Religion in the Sovereign State and the Limits of Jewish Sovereignty

This paper examines the dual formation of religion in Israel through a comparative analysis of two sacred sites: Maqam Nabi-Daud (King David's shrine) on Mount Zion and Maqam Sayyidna-ʿAli on the Mediterranean coast. Both Islamic endowments were transferred to Israeli supervision after 1948, but underwent contrasting transformations. While Mount Zion was appropriated and developed into a Jewish religious-national pilgrimage site symbolizing Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, Maqam Sayyidna-ʿAli was depoliticized and its Palestinian connections severed through restricted access and administrative control. These complementary yet opposite processes, managed by the same governmental institution, demonstrate how religion simultaneously serves as a foundation for Jewish-Israeli national consciousness while functioning as a tool for Palestinian denationalization. The spatial analysis reveals how sacred sites became vehicles for manifesting sovereignty, constructing national identity, and controlling collective memory.