East Jerusalem - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...

and then captured and annexed by Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

in the 1967 Six-Day War

Six-Day War

The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...

. It includes Jerusalem's Old City and some of the holiest sites of Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, and Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, such as the Temple Mount

Temple Mount

The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...

, Western Wall

Western Wall

The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...

, Al-Aqsa Mosque

Al-Aqsa Mosque

Al-Aqsa Mosque also known as al-Aqsa, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem...

, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....

. The term "East Jerusalem" may refer to either the area under Jordanian rule between 1949 and 1967 which was incorporated into the municipality of Jerusalem after 1967, covering some 70 km² (27 sq mi) (much of which is geographically north and south of the city center as well as east), or the territory of the pre-1967 Jordanian controlled part of the Jerusalem municipality, covering 6.4 km² (2.5 sq mi) (only geographically east of the city center, mainly the predominantly Arab business district, the Old City and surrounding neighborhoods). East Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital of the proposed Palestine

State of Palestine

Palestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...

although Ramallah

Ramallah

Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...

serves as the administrative capital. Israel has declared all of Jerusalem, both East and West sections, as its undivided eternal capital.

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

, Jerusalem was divided into two parts—the western portion, populated primarily by Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

, came under Israeli rule, while the eastern portion, populated mainly by Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

and Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

Palestinians, came under Jordanian rule. Arabs living in such western Jerusalem neighbourhoods as Katamon or Malha were forced to leave; the same fate befell Jews in the eastern areas, including the Old City and Silwan

Silwan

Silwan or Wadi Hilweh is a predominantly Palestinian village adjacent to the Old City of Jerusalem. In recent years a small Jewish minority of 40 families has settled in the area. The village is located in East Jerusalem, an area occupied by Jordan from 1948 until the 1967 Six-day War and by Israel...

. The only eastern area of the city that remained in Israeli hands throughout the 19 years of Jordanian rule was Mount Scopus

Mount Scopus

Mount Scopus , جبل المشهد , جبل الصوانة) is a mountain in northeast Jerusalem. In the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Mount Scopus became a UN protected Jewish exclave within Jordanian-occupied territory until the Six-Day War in 1967...

, where the Hebrew University is located, which formed an enclave during that period and therefore is not considered part of East Jerusalem.

Following the 1967 Six-Day War

Six-Day War

, the eastern part of Jerusalem came under Israeli rule, along with the entire West Bank. Shortly after the Israeli takeover, East Jerusalem was annexed, together with several neighboring West Bank villages. In November 1967, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 242

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 22, 1967, in the aftermath of the Six Day War. It was adopted under Chapter VIof the United Nations Charter...

was passed, calling for Israel to withdraw "from territories occupied in the recent conflict". In 1980, the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

passed the Jerusalem Law

Jerusalem Law

The Jerusalem Law is a common name of Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel passed by the Knesset on July 30, 1980 .It began as a private member's bill proposed by Geula Cohen, whose original text stated that "the integrity and unity of greater Jerusalem in its boundaries after the Six-Day War...

, which declared that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel", thus formalizing Israel's unilateral annexation. This declaration was declared "null and void" by United Nations Security Council Resolution 478

United Nations Security Council Resolution 478

United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, adopted on August 20, 1980, declared Israel's 1980 Jerusalem Law a violation of international law, and states that the Council will not recognize this law, and calls on member states to accept the decision of the council. This resolution also calls...

Political term

East Jerusalem is an ambiguous term with heavy political implications. The term Arab Jerusalem is used in official English language documents by Arabs emphasizing the Arabic speaking Palestinian population and distinguishing it from the Hebrew speaking parts of the city. Israelis call the Arab populated part of the city East Jerusalem because of its location in the eastern part of the single larger Jerusalem city unit.

The term East Jerusalem is misleading and may be used to refer to either of the following:

From 1948 to 1967 it referred to the 6.4 km² (2.5 sq mi) Jordanian part of the city, just as “West Jerusalem
West Jerusalem
West Jerusalem refers to:*The section of Jerusalem captured by Israel following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.*The western neighborhoods of Jerusalem today.-Division in 1948:...

” referred to the Israeli part of the city.
It may be applied to the area that Israel annexed and included in municipal Jerusalem following its capture by Israel from Jordan in 1967, which lies north, east and south of the former East Jerusalem. This area includes an additional approximate 64 km² (25 sq mi) of the West Bank, including territory which previously included 28 villages and areas of the Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...

and Beit Jala
Beit Jala
Beit Jala is an Arab Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank. Beit Jala is located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at altitude...

municipalities.

Jordanian rule

Jerusalem was to be an international city under the 1947 UN Partition Plan

1947 UN Partition Plan

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was created by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947 to replace the British Mandate for Palestine with "Independent Arab and Jewish States" and a "Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem" administered by the United...

. It was not included as a part of either the proposed Jewish or Arab states.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

, the western part of Jerusalem was captured by Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, while East Jerusalem (including the Old City) was captured by Jordan. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

came to an end with the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements

1949 Armistice Agreements

The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...

.

According to Mike Evans, a Zionist Christian Evangelist, upon its capture, the Jordanians immediately expelled all the Jewish residents of the Jewish Quarter. 58 synagogues were destroyed

Hurva Synagogue

The Hurva Synagogue, , also known as Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid , is a historic synagogue located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem....

, and the Jewish Quarter was bulldozed. The ancient Jewish cemetery on Mount of Olives

Mount of Olives

The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes...

was desecrated, and the tombstones there were used for construction and paving roads. Jordan also destroyed the Jewish villages of Atarot

Atarot

Atarot was a moshav in Mandatory Palestine, north of Jerusalem along the highway to Ramallah. The village was captured and destroyed by the Jordanian Arab Legion during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...

and Neve Yaakov

Neve Yaakov

Neve Yaakov also Neve Ya'aqov, , is a neighborhood located in northeastern Jerusalem, north of Pisgat Ze'ev and south of al-Ram. Established in 1924 during the period of the British Mandate, it was abandoned during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...

just north of Jerusalem (their sites became Jerusalem neighborhoods after 1967).

East Jerusalem absorbed some of the refugees from West Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods that came under Israeli rule. Thousands of Arab refugees who were displaced from their homes in Israeli-held West Jerusalem were settled in the previously Jewish areas of East Jerusalem.

In 1950 East Jerusalem, along with the rest of the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

, was annexed by Jordan. However, the annexation of the West Bank

West Bank

was recognized only by the United Kingdom, although the Israeli and Jordanian annexations of the two parts of Jerusalem were given only de facto recognition. During the period of Jordanian rule, East Jerusalem lost much of its importance, as it was no longer a capital, and losing its link to the coast diminished its role as a commercial hub. It even saw a population decrease, with merchants and administrators moving to Amman

Amman

Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...

. On the other hand, it maintained its religious importance, as well as its role as a regional center. Reaffirming a 1953 statement, Jordan in 1960 declared Jerusalem its second capital. The USA (and other powers) protested this plan, and stated it could not "recognize or associate itself in any way with actions which confer upon Jerusalem the attributes of a seat of government . . ."

During the 1960s Jerusalem saw economic improvement and its tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

industry developed significantly, and its holy sites attracted growing numbers of pilgrim

Pilgrim

A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...

s, but Israelis of all religions were not allowed into East Jerusalem.

The Kendall Town Scheme was commissioned by the Jordanian government in 1966 to link East Jerusalem with the surrounding towns and villages, integrating them into a metropolitan area

Metropolitan area

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

. This plan was not implemented, as East Jerusalem came under Israeli rule the following year.

Israeli rule

During the Six-Day War

Six-Day War

of 1967 Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and eventually incorporated Eastern Jerusalem and its surroundings into the municipality of Jerusalem, including several neighboring villages. This move, amounting to 111 km² (42.9 sq mi) of West Bank territory, excluded many of East Jerusalem's suburbs and divided several villages.

Under Israeli rule, members of all religions are largely granted access to their holy sites, with the Muslim Waqf

Waqf

A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...

maintaining control of the Temple Mount

Temple Mount

and the Muslim holy sites there. The old Mughrabi Quarter (Moroccan) in front of the Western Wall

Western Wall

The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...

was bulldozed three days after its capture, leading to the deaths of several residents in the forced resettlement of its 135 families. It was replaced with a large open air plaza. The Jewish Quarter, destroyed in 1948, was depopulated, rebuilt and resettled by Jews.

With the stated purpose of preventing infiltration during the Second Intifada, Israel decided to surround Jerusalem's eastern perimeter with a security barrier

Israeli West Bank barrier

The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...

. The structure has separated East Jerusalem neighborhoods from the West Bank suburbs, all of which are under the jurisdiction of Israel and the IDF

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

. The planned route of the separation barrier has raised much criticism, with the Israeli Supreme Court ruling that certain sections of the barrier (including East Jerusalem sections) must be re-routed.

In the January 25, 2006 Palestinian Legislative Elections

Palestinian legislative election, 2006

On January 25, 2006, elections were held for the Palestinian Legislative Council , the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority . Notwithstanding the 2005 municipal elections and the January 9, 2005 presidential election, this was the first election to the PLC since 1996; subsequent...

, 6,300 East Jerusalem Arabs were registered and permitted to vote locally. All other residents had to travel to West Bank polling stations. Hamas won four seats and Fatah two, even though Hamas was barred by Israel from campaigning in the city. Fewer than 6,000 residents were permitted to vote locally in the prior 1996 elections.

In March 2009, a confidential "EU Heads of Mission Report on East Jerusalem" was published, in which the Israeli government was accused of "actively pursuing the illegal annexation" of East Jerusalem. The report stated: "Israeli 'facts on the ground

Facts on the ground

Facts on the ground is a diplomatic term that means the situation in reality as opposed to in the abstract. It originated in discussions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, where it was used to refer to Israeli settlements built in the occupied West Bank, which were intended to establish permanent...

' - including new settlements, construction of the barrier, discriminatory housing policies, house demolitions, restrictive permit regime and continued closure of Palestinian institutions - increase Jewish Israeli presence in East Jerusalem, weaken the Palestinian community in the city, impede Palestinian urban development and separate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank

West Bank

Demographics

A census conducted by the Israeli authorities in 1967 registered 66,000 Palestinian residents (44,000 residing in the area known before the 1967 war as East Jerusalem; and 22,000, in the West Bank area annexed to Jerusalem after the war). Only a few hundred Jews were living in East Jerusalem at that time. By June 1993, a Jewish majority was established in East Jerusalem: 155,000 Jews were officially registered residents, as compared to 150,000 Palestinians.

At the end of 2008, the population of East Jerusalem was 456,300, comprising 60% of Jerusalem's residents. Of these, 195,500 (43%) are Jews, (comprising 40% of the Jewish population of Jerusalem as a whole), 260,800 (57%) are Muslim (comprising 98% of the Muslim population of Jerusalem). The size of the Palestinian population living in East Jerusalem is controversial because of political implications. In 2008, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics is the statistical organization under the umbrella of the Palestinian Cabinet of the Palestinian National Authority....

reported the number of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem was 208,000 according to a recently completed census.

At the end of 2008, East Jerusalem's main Arab neighborhoods include Shuafat

Shuafat

Shu'fat , also Shuafat and Sha'fat, is a Palestinian Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, forming part of north-eastern Jerusalem. Located on the old Jerusalem-Ramallah road about three miles north of the Old City, Shuafat has a population of 35,000 residents...

(38,800), Beit Hanina

Beit Hanina

Beit Hanina is a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem on the road to Ramallah. It is bordered by Hizma to the east, Shuafat to the south, Beit Iksa and Nabi Samwil to the west, and Bir Nabala, al-Jib, Kafr Aqab and ar-Ram to the north. The total area of Beit Hanina is 20 sq. kilometers...

(27,900), Muslim Quarter

Muslim Quarter

The Muslim Quarter is one of the four quarters of the ancient, walled Old City of Jerusalem. It covers 31 hectares of the northeastern sector of the Old City. The quarter is the largest and most populous and extends from the Lions' Gate in the east, along the northern wall of the Temple Mount in...

(26,300) A-Tor incl. A-Sawana (24,400). East Jerusalem's main Jewish neighborhoods include Ramot Alon (42,200), Pisgat Ze'ev

Pisgat Ze'ev

Pisgat Ze'ev , is an Israeli settlement and a residential neighborhood with a population of 50,000 located in northern East Jerusalem. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, although the Israeli government disputes this...

(42,100), Gilo

Gilo

Gilo is a neighborhood in southern East Jerusalem with a population of 40,000, mostly Jewish. It is one of the five ring neighborhoods of Jerusalem and is built on land in the West Bank that was annexed to Israel in 1980 under the Jerusalem Law. The international community regards it as an...

(26,900), Neve Yaakov

Neve Yaakov

(20,400), Ramat Shlomo

Ramat Shlomo

Ramat Shlomo Heights) is a large Jewish housing development in northern East Jerusalem. The population, mostly ultra-Orthodox, is 18,000-20,000....

(15,100) and East Talpiot

East Talpiot

East Talpiot is a neighborhood in southeastern Jerusalem, established in 1973 in the upswing of building that followed the Six-Day War. The neighborhood is located in East Jerusalem, unilaterally annexed to Israel but internationally recognized as being a part of the West Bank...

(12,200). The Old City has an Arab population of 36,681 and a Jewish population of 3,847.

Status

East Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital of Palestine

State of Palestine

. Ramallah

Ramallah

serves as the administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority

Palestinian National Authority

The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

Sovereignty

On June 28, 1967, Israel incorporated East Jerusalem into one administrative and municipal area, and placed it under the law, jurisdiction, and administration of the State of Israel, under order. The international community regarded the move as a de facto annexation

Annexation

Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...

, and deemed Israeli jurisdiction invalid in a subsequent non-binding United Nations General Assembly

United Nations General Assembly

For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...

resolution. In a reply to the resolution, Israel denied that these measures constituted annexation, but the Israeli Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Israel

The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...

later ruled that the Jerusalem's eastern sector had become a part of Israel. In 1980, the Knesset

Knesset

adopted the "Jerusalem Law

Jerusalem Law

" as a Basic Law

Basic Laws of Israel

The Basic Laws of Israel are a key component of Israel's constitutional law. These laws deal with the formation and role of the principal state's institutions, and the relations between the state's authorities. Some of them also protect civil rights...

, declaring Jerusalem "complete and united", to be "the capital of Israel". The new law formally annexed East Jerusalem to Israel. Boundaries were not mentioned in the law, therefore applying the law to Jerusalem's eastern municipal boundaries. In response, the United Nations Security Council

United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...

unanimously adopted Resolution 478

United Nations Security Council Resolution 478

(the U.S. abstained), declaring the law to be "null and void" and a violation of international law. In 1988, Jordan, while rejecting Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem, renounced its territorial claims to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles

Oslo Accords

The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...

, signed September 13, 1993, deferred the settlement of the permanent status of Jerusalem to the final stages of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinian National Authority

Palestinian National Authority

The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

views the future permanent status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state. The possibility of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem was considered by Israel for the first time in the Taba Summit

Taba Summit

The Taba summit were talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, held from January 21 to January 27, 2001 at Taba in the Sinai peninsula...

in 2001, though these negotiations ended without an agreement and this possibility has not been considered by Israel since.

In 1990 the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

adopted a resolution "acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel's capital" and stating that it "strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city." In 1991 however, United States Secretary of State

United States Secretary of State

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...

James Baker

James Addison Baker, III is an American attorney, politician and political advisor.Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush...

stated that the United States is "opposed to the Israeli annexation of east Jerusalem and the extension of Israeli law on it and the extension of Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries". Historically, the US had viewed East Jerusalem as forming part of the West Bank, a territory under belligerent occupation. However, the subsequent Clinton Administration refused to characterise East Jerusalem as being under occupation and viewed it as a territory over which sovereignty was undefined. Vice President Gore stated that the US viewed "united Jerusalem" as the capital of Israel. In light of this designation, the US has since abstained from Security Council resolutions which use language which construes East Jerusalem as forming part of the West Bank. In 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act

Jerusalem Embassy Act

The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is a public law of the United States passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995. It was passed for the purposes of initiating and funding the relocation of the Embassy of the United States in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no later than May 31, 1999, and...

which declared that Jerusalem should remain undivided and that it should be recognized as Israel's capital.

Some international law experts, such as Julius Stone

Julius Stone

Julius Stone was Challis Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Sydney from 1942 to 1972, and thereafter a visiting Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales and concurrently Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the Hastings...

, have argued that Israel has sovereignty over East Jerusalem under international law, since Jordan

Jordan

did not have legal sovereignty over the territory, and thus Israel was entitled in an act of self-defense during the Six Day War to "fill the vacuum".

Some international law experts such as Howard Grief have argued that Israel obtained de jure sovereignty over Palestine under the San Remo Agreement which transformed the Balfour Declaration into International Law. Grief states that under the International law doctrine of acquired rights, codified in the 1969 Vienna Convention on Treaties, when England abandoned its League of Nations "mandate" or trusteeship as the arrangement is now referred to by the UN, Israel, the beneficiary of the political rights over Palestine kept the sovereignty promised under the agreement when the Jews were able to exercise it. Under Article 80 of the UN Charter, the rights awarded by the San Remo Agreement and the League of Nations Mandate, were preserved in full. For more detail, see: Legal Foundation and Borders of Israel under International Law.

Residency

Following the 1967 war, Israel conducted a census in East Jerusalem and granted permanent Israeli residency to those Arab Jerusalemites present at the time of the census. Those not present lost the right to reside in Jerusalem. Jerusalem Palestinians were permitted to apply for Israeli citizenship, provided they met the requirements for naturalization—such as swearing allegiance to Israel and renouncing all other citizenships—which most of them refused to do. At the end of 2005, 93% of the Arab population of East Jerusalem had permanent residency and 5% had Israeli citizenship.

As residents, East Jerusalemites rejecting Israeli citizenship have the right to vote in municipal elections and play a role in the administration of the city. Residents pay taxes, and following a 1988 Israeli Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Israel

ruling, East Jerusalem residents are guaranteed the right to social security benefits and state health care.

Until 1995, those who lived abroad for more than seven years or obtained residency or citizenship in another country were deemed liable to lose their residency status. In 1995, Israel began revoking permanent residency status from former Arab residents of Jerusalem who could not prove that their "center of life" was still in Jerusalem. This policy was rescinded four years later. In March 2000, the Minister of the Interior, Natan Sharansky, stated that the "quiet deportation" policy would cease, the prior policy would be reverted, and Arab natives to Jerusalem would be able to regain residency if they could prove that they have visited Israel at least once every three years. Since December 1995, permanent residency of more than 3,000 individuals "expired," leaving them with neither citizenship nor residency. Despite changes in policy under Sharansky, in 2006 the number of former Arab Jerusalemites to lose their residency status was 1,363, a sixfold increase on the year before. The loss of status is automatic and sometimes occurs without their knowledge.

According to the Israeli non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

B'Tselem, since the 1990s, policies that made construction permits harder to obtain for Arab residents have caused a housing shortage that forces many of them to seek housing outside East Jerusalem. Furthermore, East Jerusalem residents that are married to residents of the West Bank

West Bank

and Gaza

Gaza

Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...

have had to leave Jerusalem to join their husbands and wives due to the citizenship law. Furthermore, many have had to leave Jerusalem in search of work abroad since, in the aftermath of the Second Intifada East Jerusalem has increasingly been cut off from the West Bank and thereby has lost its main economic hub. Israeli journalist Shahar Ilan argues that this outmigration has led many Palestinians in East Jerusalem to lose their permanent residency status.

According to the American Friends Service Committee

American Friends Service Committee

The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...

and Marshall J. Breger, such restrictions on Palestinian planning and development in East Jerusalem are part of Israel's policy of promoting a Jewish majority in the city. On May 13, 2007, the Israeli Cabinet began discussion regarding a proposition to expand Israel's presence in East Jerusalem and boost its economy so as to attract Jewish settlers. To facilitate more Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, the Cabinet is now considering an approximately 5.75 billion NIS plan to reduce taxes in the area, relocate a range of governmental offices, construct new courthouses, and build a new center for Jerusalem studies. Plans to construct 25,000 Jewish homes in East Jerusalem are in the development stages. As Arab residents are hard-pressed to obtain building permits to develop existing infrastructure or housing in East Jerusalem, this proposition has received much criticism.

Israeli-American human rights lawyer Justus Weiner

Justus Weiner

Justus Reid Weiner is an Israeli-American lawyer at the firm of Geraldson, Marks and Xeno in Jerusalem and scholar. He is a UC Berkeley law school graduate, a Boston native, and a member of the Israel and New York Bar Associations. According to an interview by Salon books, Weiner worked at the...

contradicts the claim the distribution of building permits are applied in a discriminatory manner against Arabs, writing that the Jerusalem municipality granted the Arab sector 36,000 building permits, "more than enough to meet the needs of Arab residents through legal construction until 2020". Both Arabs and Jews "typically wait 4-6 weeks for permit approval, enjoy a similar rate of application approvals, and pay an identical fee ($3,600) for water and sewage hook-ups on the same size living unit". Weinser writes that while illegal Jewish construction typically involves additions to existing legal structures, illegal Arab construction involves the construction of entire multi-floor buildings with 4 to 25 living units, built with financial assistance from the Palestinian National Authority

Palestinian National Authority

The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

on land not legally owned by the builder.

Culture

Jerusalem was designated the Arab Capital of Culture in 2009. The festival was organized as a series of events to be held throughout the Arab world. The opening event was scheduled to be held on January 2009, but was delayed until March due to the Gaza War. Israel's Internal Security Minister instructed Israel Police to "suppress any attempts by the PA [Palestinian Authority] to hold events in Jerusalem and throughout the rest of the country." The minister issued the ban on the basis that the events would be a violation of a clause in the interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinians that forbids the PA from organizing events in "Israeli territory".

Mayors of East Jerusalem

Anwar Al-Khatib (1948–1950)
Aref al-Aref
Aref al-Aref
Aref al-Aref was a Palestinian journalist, historian and politician who served as mayor of East Jerusalem in the 1950s.-Biography:...

(1950–1951)
Hanna Atallah (1951–1952)
Omar Wa'ari (1952–1955)
Ruhi al-Khatib
Ruhi al-Khatib
Ruhi al-Khatib was the mayor of Al-Quds from 1957 to 1994.His term of service officially came to an end on 29 June 1967, after Israel annexed East Jerusalem and dissolved the city council of East Jerusalem...

(1957–1994; titular)
Amin al-Majaj
Amin al-Majaj
Dr Amin Saleh Majaj was a titular mayor of Jerusalem, formerly the neighborhoods of East Jerusalem which were occupied and annexed by Jordan during the years 1949-1967, and later occupied and annexed by Israel in the six-day war....

(1994–1999; titular)
Zaki Al-Ghul (1999–date, titular)

External links

The Legal Status of East Jerusalem Under International Law by David Storobin
Legal status of East Jerusalem and its residents (from B'Tselem)
History of Jerusalem (from Jewish Virtual Library)
Jordan to reject any Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem, King tells Arafat (from Jordanian Embassy in Washington)
One Jerusalem - supportive of Israel's unification of the city
East Jerusalem and the Politics of Occupation AFSC
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...

Middle East Resource Series
Ir Amim: For an Equitable and Stable Jerusalem with an Agreed Political Future
State of Affairs: Jerusalem 2008 (from Ir Amim)
Publications about the status of East Jerusalem (from Ir Amim)
Maps of East Jerusalem (from Ir Amim)

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Political term

Jordanian rule

Israeli rule

Demographics

Status

Sovereignty

Residency

Culture

Mayors of East Jerusalem

See also

External links