Contested Ground

As President Obama lands in Israel, a beautiful satellite image of Jerusalem frames the geography of contested ground. The city is seen here in an image from the ASTER instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. (Image: NASA/GSFC/METI/Japan Space Systems; U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team) For the first time in his presidency, President Obama has traveled to Israel, landing in the Holy Land today for what the New York Times calls "a richly symbolic state visit, bearing a message of solidarity to a wary Israeli public, and a promise to defend Israel from threats near and far." During his time in Israel, the president will be visiting Jerusalem to address young Israelis at the International Convention Center. The city is, of course, richly historic — the source of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And also highly contested. Recently, tensions betweens Israel and the Palestinians intensified as the Israeli government stepped up planning for a ...