The occupation by Jews of St. John's Hospice in the Old City of Jerusalem: An analysis of an iconic event

Social life can be conceived as a series of interconnected events. The great majority of events are of a routine character and few are, by themselves, of much sociological significance. We argue, however, that there are events that do matter sociologically and distinguish between two types of such events: strategic and iconic. This article focuses on iconic events in modern societies: those which evoke competing, conflicting interpretations, serving as symbolic focal points of a social drama of meaning, power, and politics. We contend that in contemporary societies iconic events are indicative of the process of contested structuration, permitting an insight into its "inner workings." A perusal of the literature, however, indicates that very few iconic events in modern societies have been studied in depth. We present an analysis of a localized conflict - the occupation by religious Jews of a building in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, which emerged as an iconic event on a broader scale. The significance of the occupation was a contested issue, negotiated by various groups. Hence, we construct six "thick descriptions" of the event, reflecting its disparate interpretations by various "players." What follows is our analysis of the interchange of interpretations through which the occupation was constructed as iconic and came to symbolize major societal conflicts.