City that is sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and that has become embroiled in the politics of the Arab - Israel conflict.
Located in the Judaean mountains, on the water-shed between the Judaean hills and the Judaean desert, Jerusalem (in Hebrew, Yerushalayim; in Arabic, Bayt al-Maqdis or al-Quds al-Sharif ) overlooks the Dead Sea to the east and faces Israel's coastal plain to the west. It has warm, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. Jerusalem was inhabited as far back as the fourth millennium B.C.E. By the late Bronze Age, it was occupied by the Jebusites. The city became the Jewish national and religious center after its conquest by King David (c. 1000 B.C.E.) from the Jebusites until the destruction of the second Jewish temple (70 C.E.) and the rebellions against Roman occupation, which resulted in the Jews' exile from the city and their dispersion. The Western Wall of the temple complex was the only remnant to survive destruction and over the course of time became the focus of Jewish veneration. As the scene of the last ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, Jerusalem emerged as one of the five original Christian patriarchates and has remained a center of Christian pilgrimage since the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine, when it was rebuilt as a Christian city. After the Muslim conquest (638 C.E.), the construction of the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock (part of the complex known as al-Haram al-Sharif) to commemorate the Night Journey of the prophet Muhammad focused Muslim attention on the city. It became the first qibla (direction of prayer), and is the third holiest city of Islam.
Nineteenth-Century Jerusalem
Conquered by the Ottomans in 1517, Jerusalem remained a backwater town in the province of Syria until the nineteenth century, when Europeans and Ottomans refocused on its religious significance. During the brief reign of Ibrahim ibn Muhammad Ali (1832-1840), relaxed restrictions against the dhimmi (non-Muslim) population and renewed interest by Western Christians in the Holy Land resulted in an increase in tourism, the installation of European consulates, the beginnings of biblical archaeology, and the establishment of Protestant institutions adjoining those of the Roman Catholic (Latin), Greek Orthodox, Coptic, Armenian, and other Christian denominations. Communal conflicts over the religious jurisdiction of the Christian holy places led to the Crimean War (1854 - 1856), after which the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre were entrusted to the Muslim Nusayba family.
The city plan at the time remained as it was when it was rebuilt by the Romans as Aelia Capitolina. Walled, with a system of principal streets, it was dominated by the holy sites and divided into Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Armenian residential quarters with maze-like streets, bazaars, churches, synagogues, and mosques. It was the residence of Muslim Arab notables and, later, members of the Ottoman official class. The Khalidi, Nashashibi, and Husayni families played important roles in local politics and Muslim religious administration. The Jewish population included the Mizrahi Jews ( Jews from the Middle East, North Africa, and Western Asia) who had lived there since ancient times or who had migrated after the expulsion of Spanish (Sephardic) Jewry in 1492. Some of their leading families included the Navon, Amzalak, Antebi, and Valero families, who became important as translators, bankers, and merchants. Ashkenazic (European) Jews began to immigrate to Jerusalem during the early nineteenth century, including Hasidim (called haredim in the late twentieth century), who were dependent upon philanthropy from abroad to support them while they lived a life of full-time study. In the 1860s, at the invitation of British consul James Finn and philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore, who donated money for the construction of residential areas outside the walls, Jews, some Muslims, and the Russian Orthodox Church began to build new neighborhoods along the roads to the Old City. By 1860 the city's population stood at approximately 40,000, which grew to 55,000 by 1900.
In 1873 Jerusalem was placed under direct Ottoman rule from Constantinople (now Istanbul), and during the reign of Abdülhamit II, who championed its Islamic significance, it underwent major expansion. A municipal council, dominated by Muslim Arabs, was established. Jerusalem became a major provincial city with new courts, a modern water system, mosques, and public offices. New residential and commercial construction, both inside and outside the walls, was undertaken by the local population and by Europeans who established banks and built schools, hospitals, and hospices. Roads were paved, the city was linked by rail to Jaffa on the Mediterranean coast, and Ottoman secondary schools were set up close to new Muslim neighborhoods. The visit to Jerusalem by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany (1898) heralded the city's emerging importance in the Ottoman Empire. In 1917 Jerusalem was occupied by the British army under the command of General Edmund Allenby; it later became the capital of what the British called Palestine. The British ruled Palestine within the rubric of the mandate system from 1922 to 1948. The New City
expanded with the development of additional Palestinian Arab and Jewish neighborhoods. The British improved the water-supply system, paved roads, planted gardens, and encouraged the repair and construction of buildings. More significantly, they allowed large-scale Jewish immigration into Palestine. Indeed, the terms of the mandate included the Balfour Declaration (1917), which obligated Britain to foster Jewish immigration, land purchases, and institution building. This quickly led to a growth in the population in the city from just over 91,000 in 1922 to almost 133,000 in 1931. By 1944, according to the American Committee of Inquiry, the Jewish population in the city was 97,000, with 30,630 Muslims and 29,350 Christians (the overwhelming majority of Muslims and Christians were Palestinians).
Zionism and Palestinian Nationalism under British Mandate
Jerusalem became the center of both Zionist and Palestinian nationalist institutions and aspirations during the British mandate. The Supreme Muslim Council was located in Jerusalem, headed by the Jerusalem mufti, Hajj Muhammad Amin alHusayni (who then also controlled the considerable waqf income that under Ottoman rule had gone directly to Constantinople). Palestinian political life was complicated by the bitter rivalry between the Husaynis and the Nashashibis for control of the Palestinian nationalist movement. Jerusalem's mayors were Arab notables active in the nascent Palestinian nationalist movement, and once again included members from the Husayni and Nashashibi families, including Musa Kazim al-Husayni, Raghib alNashashibi, Husayn Fakhri al-Khalidi, and Mustafa al-Khalidi. The Arab Executive was also headed by Musa Kazim al-Husayni. With the Arab and Jewish populations governed by the British under separate systems, the Zionists developed economic, social, educational, and political institutions of their own, including the Hadassah Hospital and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Jewish Agency was headquartered in the city as well. Nationalist passions, and Palestinian fears of political and demographic displacement in the face of continued Zionist immigration, led to violence as early as April 1920. The more serious Western (Wailing) Wall Disturbances of 1929 were a result of the politicization of religious shrines. During the Palestine Arab Revolt (1936 - 1939) Palestinian guerrillas actually occupied the Old City for a time. Both incidents were suppressed by overwhelming British police and military force.
The Arab - Israel Wars and Aftermath
During the Arab - Israel War of 1948, Jerusalem was the scene of bitter fighting. Fighting between Palestinians and the Jewish Haganah began in late November 1947, and by late April 1948, 1most Palestinian neighborhoods in West Jerusalem had been captured by Jewish forces and depopulated, and the vacant houses handed over to Jews. Jordan and other Arab states entered the fray on 15 May 1948. Although the Jordanian Arab Legion waited three days to enter Jerusalem, it ended up engaging in fierce fighting with Jewish forces for control of the Old City. The surrender of the Jewish Quarter after ten days' fighting, and the expulsion of its remaining Jewish population, left the city divided into Israeli-controlled West Jerusalem and Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem, including the Old City. Despite United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947, that called for the city to be controlled neither by Jews nor Arabs, as well as later proposals for its internationalization supervised by the United Nations Trusteeship Council, the city remained divided between Jordan and Israel. Access between the two sectors was via the Mandelbaum gate. Both sectors of the city had been emptied of inhabitants belonging to the other side, and both the Jordanian and Israeli governments neglected, destroyed, and/or allowed the desecration of captured cemeteries and religious sites.
East Jerusalem was officially incorporated into Jordan in 1950 and remained subordinate to Amman throughout the period of Jordanian rule, despite protestations by mayors Arif al-Arif and Ruhi al-Khatib. Requests to establish an Arab university in Jerusalem were denied. Many of the Palestinian elite left the city; they were replaced by notables from Hebron invited to the city by Jordan. Though the city expanded northward, plans to incorporate the neighboring villages in the direction of Ramallah into the city never crystallized. Hotels were built, and construction began on a royal palace at Tall al-Full.
In 1950 Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital even though almost all governments maintained embassies in Tel Aviv, where the real work of the state was done. Institutions such as the Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital, which had come under Jordan's rule, were rebuilt in West Jerusalem. Christians, including Palestinian Christian citizens of Israel, were allowed to cross through the gate to visit the shrines in East Jerusalem on Christmas. Jews, however, were denied access to their holy places. In general, Jerusalem became a backwater for both Palestinians and Israelis alike.
In the Arab - Israel War of June 1967 another round of fierce fighting broke out. Jordanian forces shelled West Jerusalem on 5 June and two days later Israeli paratroopers assaulted East Jerusalem, including the Old City. The Arab Legion and local Palestinians put up a stiff resistance, but were defeated. Israelis were jubilant at being able to pray at the Western Wall for the first time since 1948; Palestinians were mortified to see Muslim and Christian holy sites under Jewish control. Israel immediately began effecting significant changes to the newly unified city. It placed East Jerusalem under its legal and administrative jurisdiction on 28 June, thereby effectively annexing it and uniting it with West Jerusalem. Following on Jordanian procedure, Israel dramatically expanded the municipal city limits into the West Bank. On 30 July 1980 the Israeli Knesset declared the newly expanded city to be the "eternal" capital of Israel. Israeli authorities also confiscated Palestinian land in the Old City to rebuild the destroyed Jewish Quarter, and destroyed 135 Palestinian homes and two historic mosques to build an expansive pilgrims' plaza facing the Western Wall. Finally, new Jewish settlements like Pisgat Zeʾev were constructed in East Jerusalem surrounding the Old City. The acceleration of settlement building for Jews under the Likud governments starting in 1977 resulted, by the mid-1980s, in 12 percent of the Jewish population of Jerusalem residing in East Jerusalem beyond the 1948 armistice line (Green Line). By contrast, the Palestinian neighborhoods in West Jerusalem that were captured in 1967 were not resettled, and remain inhabited by Jews. By 2000, the city's population stood at 670,500 in the expanded city: 454,600 Jews and 215,400 Palestinians. Under the administration of Jewish mayor Teddy Kollek (1965 - 1992), all barriers dividing the city were removed. The city underwent a major beautification program that included the construction of a ring of parks around the Old City. Other green spaces, combined with zoning regulations, also served to prevent the expansion of Palestinian built-up areas while Jewish settlement construction continued and, in general, Kollek neglected development of the Palestinian parts of the city.
Unified Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the seat of the government of the state of Israel, and the site of the Knesset, Supreme Court, Chief Rabbinate, and the offices of many Jewish institutions. Most countries of the world,
however, maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv, in deference to United Nations General Assembly Resolultion 181 (II) of 1947 and the unsettled international legal status of the city. Since 1967, Muslim and Christian holy places have been under the jurisdiction of their respective religious authorities, with the al-Haram al-Sharif under the administration of the waqf and shariʿa courts. Jerusalem Palestinians were also granted Israeli permanent residency cards, and thus treated differently from West Bank Palestinians.
The unification of Jerusalem in 1967 revived the religious and political competition for control of the city. Some of the new Israeli neighborhoods in East Jerusalem have been settled by haredi (ultra-orthodox) Jews, for whom Jerusalem is the center of their religious worldview that calls for strict observance of the Sabbath rest. Their opposition, at times violent, to secular vehicular traffic through these neighborhoods has renewed the religious-secular conflict among Jews in Israel. Haredi votes enabled the Likud candidate, Ehud Olmert, to become mayor of Jerusalem in 1993 and to place haredi members on the Municipal Council. In 2003 the city voted in its first haredi mayor, Uri Lupolianski. Through immigration and natural increase, the haredi population will soon exceed that of the secular Jewish residents of the city. For the Jewish religious nationalist settlers, who also have a presence in these neighborhoods and have bought or leased housing in Palestinian neighborhoods in the Old City or in villages such as Silwan that have Jewish historic significance, Jerusalem is holy land never to be relinquished.
For the Palestinians, Jerusalem remains their spiritual and national capital. They have viewed these political and demographic changes with great alarm, and have been angered by violent threats to their shrines. In August 1969 an Australian Christian set fire to the al-Aqsa mosque, destroying a twelfth-century pulpit. Israeli police thwarted several Jewish attempts to blow up the shrines in alHaram al-Sharif in the early 1980s. In April 1982 a U.S.-born Israeli began shooting inside the Dome of the Rock, killing two Palestinians.
To bolster the Arab-Islamic nature of East Jerusalem, the Jordanian and Saudi governments have helped to fund the more than 2,000 Muslim endowments in the city - Islamic schools, colleges, mosques, welfare services, and commercial enterprises, as well as the repair of Islamic holy sites. Archaeological excavations also carry political ramifications in Jerusalem and have led to violence. Palestinian disturbances broke out in September 1996, prompted by Israel's opening of an ancient tunnel running adjacent to al-Haram al-Sharif. Intra-Jewish confrontations sometimes occur over archaeological digs that haredi Jews claim desecrate ancient Hebrew burial grounds.
The signing of the Oslo Accord in 1993 has accelerated the political struggle over the city as both Israel and the Palestinians prepare for the "final status talks" that were slated to determine the future of the city. Despite Israel's insistence that the unified city is its eternal capital, Palestinians continue to maintain that it (or at least East Jerusalem) is the capital of a future Palestinian state, as stated in the 1988 declaration of independence by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Indeed, the city has become the Palestinian religious, cultural, and intellectual center, and, through the establishment of the Arab Studies Society (1979) by Faysal alHusayni at Orient House, the site of Palestinian archives collected to build and transmit Palestinian nationalism. After the onset of the Israeli - Palestinian peace process after 1993, the PLO gave al-Husayni responsibility for assessing municipal functions of a Palestinian part of the city, and the Orient House began to play the de facto role of a municipal institution with national functions. For their part, Israeli authorities in the 1990s began tightening residency requirements for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a process that led to hundreds of them losing their residency rights. Israel's decision to build a Jewish settlement at Har Homa (in Arabic, Jabal Abu Ghunaym) in Jerusalem's southern suburbs angered Palestinians and threatened the peace process. Even Arab-Arab friction grew in 1994 when Israel's peace treaty with Jordan maintained Jordan's role in Islamic religious affairs in the city, to the outrage of Palestinians.
These political struggles witnessed the intensification of the level and degree of violence in the city. In October 1990 Israeli security forces opened fire on Palestinians in al-Haram al-Sharif who were stoning Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall below, killing seventeen. The violent opposition to the peace process by Islamic fundamentalist groups such as HAMAS and Islamic Jihad, who operated within the Palestinian Authority, led to numerous terrorist attacks on Jewish civilian targets that killed dozens. An unnerving development in this regard was the beginning of suicide bombings by members of the two groups. These suicide bombings on buses in Jerusalem led directly to the election victory of the Likud in 1996, and soured many Israelis to the idea of the peace process. The visit of the controversial Likud politician Ariel Sharon to al-Haram al-Sharif in September 2000 led to a particularly intense outbreak of the violence of the al-Aqsa Intifada, which has prompted Israeli authorities to close Orient House and restrict non-Jerusalem resident Palestinians from entering the city, while HAMAS and Islamic Jihad carry out more suicide bombings, including in non-Zionist religious Jewish neighborhoods. In response, Israel began constructing a barrier cutting off Palestinian population centers from Jewish areas. In January 2004, Israeli authorities began extending the wall so that it cut off the Palestinian suburb of Abu Dis from the city proper. Jerusalem remained a city on the edge by early 2004.
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— REEVA S. SIMON
UPDATED BY MICHAEL R. FISCHBACH
