Israel

It’s easy to hear voices, knowing which ones to listen to is the question.

Anyone who thought Monty Python’s Life of Brian was exaggerating need only spend a while in Jerusalem to see just how many travelers end up preaching to the crowds, waving bibles and singing psalms as though their lives depended on it.

Around 100 tourists a year are admitted for psychological treatment after having heard the word of God, angels or holy spirits and nearly half of these need to be taken into care. It’s debated whether they were already psychotic when they arrived in Jerusalem or whether there really is something in the air in the most polemic city in the world that brings out the prophet in anyone.

Louis Theroux gives us a brief look at some of the more entertaining characters with Jerusalem syndrome to be found wandering the streets. It takes 30 seconds or so to begin:

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