No one can divide a flame...

   Montefiore's epilogue, in bringing the history of Jerusalem into the history of today, covers the idea of independent states for Palestine and Israel.  Montefiore writes that those living in Jerusalem maintain the separation between groups and "the difference in spirit between noble words and distrustful, violent acts, suggest unwillingness on both sides to make the necessary compromises to share Jerusalem permanently" (536).  Yet, all are determined to have their share in it - and sovereignty is how that share will be decided.  Sovereignty, not only encompasses what can be expressed through legal agreements, but what is historical, mystical, and emotional.  Many political plans and models have been suggested for ways of dividing the area for the benefit of all groups but "Jerusalem is more a flame than a city and no one can divide a flame" (537).