Between Jerusalem and Turkey... Distances and differences overwhelmed by marriage

Occupied Jerusalem-

The days of Jerusalem are not without Turkish visitors who came to see the relics of their Ottoman ancestors, starting from the Jerusalem wall, and not ending with hundreds of landmarks in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City.

This popular rapprochement has gone beyond historical and religious memory to the personal relations between the Turks and the Jerusalemites, to be reflected in mutual welcome and acceptance at times, and marriage and intermarriage at other times.

they gave birth to "Quds"

The two-year-old girl "Quds" runs in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while her parents watch her while they talk to Al-Jazeera Net about the story of their mixed marriage. The Turkish young man, Emre Karaca, got to know the young Jerusalemite Amira Al-Muhtadi, during a distance course to teach the Turkish language, after which a princess travels to Istanbul Under a scholarship, they meet again, and Emra later travels with his family to Jerusalem to be engaged to her.

The couple communicate in Turkish, and Amira speaks fluently, even though her husband can speak Arabic and understand classical and colloquial.

They call their daughter "Quds" with different pronunciations of the name;

The Turks pronounce the qaf close to the kaf, and include the consonant sign.

The little girl doesn't care about that slight difference, she learned two languages ​​at a young age.

The couple Emra and Amira settled in Istanbul and frequented Jerusalem (Al-Jazeera)

Emra hails from the city (Yozgat) in central Turkey, while Amira lived her childhood in an Ottoman-built house in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Together, they look at the tribal chapel in front of them and recall their marriage contract in 2018, and the holding of two weddings in Jerusalem and Istanbul in 2019, after vigorous attempts to persuade the family of Amira, who was afraid to send her daughter (the last of the cluster) to exile.

Amira says, "I liked Emira and his family, and I didn't care about his different nationality, but I didn't know much about Turkey at first," her husband joked, saying, "I thought the Asian part of Turkey was another country." Jerusalemites very much, I love Jerusalem because it is holy, but Amira is a special woman, I loved her no matter where she came from.”

YouTube channel "The Palestinian Bride"

The couple has settled since their wedding in Istanbul, and they visit Jerusalem frequently. In 2019, Amira created a channel on YouTube, called “The Palestinian Bride,” after the nickname her husband calls her, where she creates visual content with him, to teach Turkish to Arabs and the Palestinian colloquial dialect to Turks. Dissemination of Turkish culture, and answering the questions of followers of mixed marriages.

Emra praises his Jerusalem bride once again, saying that she is a skilled cook, who masters Turkish and Palestinian dishes. He loves falafel, maqluba and Qatayef, which she prepares. Amira joins the conversation, "Master the Turkish borek, and (strict) varicose veins as well."

“My father used to think that war was always burning in Jerusalem, but visiting the family of a princess dispelled his stereotype,” Emra says, then explains the common and different customs, saying: “As Turks and Jerusalemites, we are similar in honoring the guest and mutual popular love, but we differ in the carpeting inside the homes in the summer And winter, and not praying directly above the stone, and the obligatory removal of shoes when entering the house.” As for Amira, she said, “In Jerusalem, we criticize those who ask a guest to take off their shoes, as the matter is optional.”

The love of Jerusalem and its history were the most prominent common traits between Shahd Al-Qudsiyah and her Turkish groom Emre (Al-Jazeera)

They were brought together by an antique khan

Emra is also the name of the fiancé of the young woman, Shahd Imad Abu Khadija, 22, who met her fiancé, Emra Saritas, 29, while he was visiting her father's antique shop, "Khan Abi Khadija" on Bab al-Silsila Road in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been a popular shrine for Turkish visitors, who have contributed greatly to its restoration and reconstruction, since 2016.

Shahd studied Ottoman history and Turkish culture within the specialization of "Middle Eastern Studies", and mastered Turkish, English and Hebrew, and got to know more about Emre during a language exchange course, to travel with his family later to Jerusalem for her engagement, where the two families - originally close - agreed and the Qur'an was held in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Turkish groom studied social service and tourism, and hails from the city (Igdir) in eastern Turkey, but he will settle with his Jerusalem bride in Istanbul after their wedding next September.

Shahd told Al Jazeera Net, "I have traveled more than 10 times to Istanbul, but Emra cannot visit Jerusalem at the same pace because he has a red passport and his visa needs time, unlike the owners of the green passport who do not need a visa to travel to Palestine."

Emra and Shahd tied the knot in Al-Aqsa Mosque and will marry next month in Istanbul (Al-Jazeera)

Nearby Istanbul

Shahd was initially apprehensive about the idea of ​​moving away from Jerusalem, which she loved, but her consolation was in the culture of Emra and his extensive knowledge of the history of Jerusalem and Palestine, in addition to the ease of travel, as she jokes, "Istanbul has become closer to us than Kafr Aqab (a Jerusalem town famous for traffic crises due to occupation barriers)" ".

The love of Jerusalem seemed evident in Emra's words, who told Al Jazeera Net in Turkish, "He feels excited when the name of Jerusalem is mentioned. Everything in it transports him to a different era. When he enters the gate of the column, he closes his eyes as if he is the hero of a historical novel, and separates from reality when he walks through the town's alleys." Old".

Shahad still prefers the Palestinian cuisine she is accustomed to, but she admitted that Turkish sweets are tastier, especially the Turkish baklava (Hawch).

Emra traveled with his family to Jerusalem for the engagement of a princess and they tied the knot at Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2019 (Al-Jazeera)

Turkish bride

Turkish Gulçin Eraltay Musa, 40, confirms what Shahd said about the lack of spices and the frequent use of tomato paste, and she tells Al Jazeera Net that Turkish and Palestinian cuisine share some foods and differ in their taste, stressing that since her marriage to her Jerusalemite husband 13 years ago, she has mastered many One of the Jerusalemite dishes, the most famous of which is upside down.

Gülçen hails from Northern Turkish Cyprus, and studied counseling psychology at the Eastern Mediterranean University, which she brought together with her husband, Al-Maqdisi, in 2005. They met and married in 2009, and settled with their two children (9 and 12 years old) in Jerusalem, where Gülçen works in the field of tourism and travel, and her two children mastered 3 languages, Turkish, Arabic and English.

Gulchin still finds it difficult to master Arabic because of the different letter exits, she said, and continues in English, "We have common words with different pronunciations, we have traditions that look similar on the outside but different on the inside, as in fashion and food, for example."

She concludes, "My family was worried when I told them about the decision to marry and settle in Jerusalem due to the security situation, and they are still worried today, but I love Jerusalem and every street in it gives me a different feeling as if I am traveling to a new country."