Jerusalem 1918: The Influenza Pandemic in the Holy City

In 1918, as the Great War was winding down and the British had just taken Jerusalem, a new enemy arrived without warning: the Spanish flu. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the pandemic hit the Holy City, a place already strained by war, occupation, and centuries of pilgrimage. They trace the outbreak's arrival via military camps and railway lines, the quarantine measures imposed by the British military administration, and the ways different communities — Jewish, Muslim, and Christian — responded to the crisis. From the crowded alleys of the Old City to the new suburbs, the episode reveals how a global catastrophe interacted with local realities: strained hospitals, the waqf's role in public health, the fragile ceasefire with the Ottoman Empire, and the politics of vaccination. Drawing on contemporary accounts, including the diary of a British nurse and reports in the Arabic press, Lucas and Luna piece together a little-known chapter in Jerusalem's history, one that echoes our own times in surprising ways. They also touch on the long-term effects, from the founding of new health institutions to a deeper wariness of central authority. This is a story about disease, but also about resilience — and about how a city that has endured so much faced one more trial.

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