Jerusalem Story - The City Retold

Featured Topics

Land

In Jerusalem as in the rest of the country, land is the locus of the struggle for control. Here we explore the status of land in Jerusalem and its environs.

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Who Are the Palestinians of Jerusalem?

Palestinians comprise nearly half the population of Jerusalem and have built, and shaped, the city for centuries, yet their stories are rarely told.

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Precarious Status

Most Palestinian Jerusalemites have a legal status that is unique in the world: Although they are indigenous, they are stateless.

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Settlements

Israel has used Jewish settlement as a pivotal strategy to control, disrupt, and radically transform the Jerusalem geopolitical landscape.

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Forcible Home Expulsions

How the city of Jerusalem works in tandem with the settler organizations to take away Palestinians’ private homes by force.

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The Separation Wall

Israel's Separation Wall, called al-jidar by Palestinians, has drastically reshaped the geopolitical fabric of Jerusalem.

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Closure and Access to Jerusalem

Jerusalem is known as an open, international, “city of peace.” For millions of Palestinians, however, it is a closed, virtually unreachable, city.

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Announcement

Huna Al Quds: Palestinian Art and Culture in Jerusalem during the Early 20th Century—Opening Night

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6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Museum of the Palestinian People
1900 18th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
USA

The exhibition will present an overview of cultural and artistic life in Jerusalem during the British Mandate years (1917–1948). Curated by Rula Dughman, “Huna Al Quds” invites visitors to explore the rich heritage and lives of Jerusalemites before The Nakba through a diverse collection of paintings, photos, and more.

The work of Jerusalem Story is featured as part of the exhibit. 

OPENING NIGHT: Curator Rula Dughman will lead a ticketed curatorial tour of the exhibition at 6:00 p.m. The museum will be open to visitors with reserved tickets from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m., followed by a casual reception. Ticket prices range between $10 and $25.

SEPT 30: There is also a Curatorial Tour on Saturday September 30, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

Land
Feature Story Palestinian Jerusalemites Organized for 15 Years to Build a New Neighborhood on Their Own Land—Israeli Authorities Refused

Palestinian landowners were crushed when Israeli officials refused to authorize a neighborhood on their own land—the first in East Jerusalem since 1967.

Interactive Map Jerusalem Post-Oslo

An interactive map of Jerusalem and the region around it as divided among Areas A, B, and C after the Oslo Accords of the mid-1990s

Blog Post Israeli Government Bill Aims to Deny Funding to Palestinian Schools in East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem schools may soon be given two bad options and forced to choose one: Teach the Israeli curriculum or lose funding.

Feature Story The Settlement of Land Title (SOLT) in East Jerusalem: “The Most Acute Threat Facing Palestinian Residents of Jerusalem Today”

Israel is ramping up the settlement of land title (SOLT) in East Jerusalem, and especially in the Holy Basin, dispossessing Palestinians and Judaizing the city as a result.

Feature Story Israel’s Disneyfication of Jerusalem Seeks to Erase Palestinians’ Historic Presence

Israel’s tourist projects ringing Jerusalem’s Old City threaten to diminish the area and transform it into a Disneyfied tourist space serving Jews and their narrative.

Blog Post In Sufism, Food Is a Divine Gift—Izzeldin Bukhari Offers It to Celebrate the Heritage of His People and His City

Izzeldin Bukhari founded Sacred Cuisine to celebrate Palestinian culinary heritage and his city, Jerusalem, and to express the essence of his Sufi religion, which views feeding others as a form of love. 

Photo Essay Soup for All: A Centuries-Old Tradition of Community Care

Palestinian photographer Muath al-Khatib visits a community kitchen that warms his heart as part of our series on Jerusalemites’ favorite places in the city.

 

Blog Post Ka‘ek al-Quds: What’s the Secret?

Ka‘ek al-Quds is not just a special bread—it is part and parcel of the personality of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Video Behind the Wall

Teresa, 22, lives in Ramallah, but she’s never seen nearby Jerusalem due to Israel’s Separation Wall and permit regime. What lies behind the wall?

Backgrounder Al-Jidar: An Instrument of Fragmentation

Twenty years on, Israel’s Separation Wall has wholly reconfigured the geopolitical fabric of Jerusalem and its hinterland, shattering Palestinian communities, families, and lives.

Blog Post Yesterday, I Was a “Security Threat”—Today, I Am Welcome in Jerusalem

Israel tried treating Palestinian Americans like other US tourists, and I was finally able to visit my capital city.

Blog Post In the Heart of the Old City, the African Community Society Unites Jerusalem’s Afro-Palestinians

The society brings together Jerusalemites of Chadian, Senegalese, Nigerian, and Sudanese descent to build communities and provide opportunities.

Who Are the Palestinians of Jerusalem?
Video Hagop Karakashian on How the Art of Armenian Ceramics—Unique to Jerusalem—Came to Be

Hagop Karakashian’s grandfather was one of a trio of artists who originated the art of Armenian ceramics in the city of Jerusalem over a century ago. How did this come about?

Announcement

Nights of Tarab in the Jerusalem of Arabs (Layali al-Tarab fi Quds al-‘Arab)

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Various - see schedule

Garden of the National Conservatory of Music
11 al-Zahra Street, Shihabi Building
East Jerusalem

 

Yabous Cultural Centre in Jerusalem
10 al-Zahra Street
East Jerusalem

The National Conservatory of Music and Yabous Cultural Centre are launching the 11th edition of the music festival Layali al-Tarab fi Quds al-‘Arab (Nights of Tarab in the Jerusalem of Arabs), with the support of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.

 

While focusing on Tarab, the festival will feature a variety of musical genres that are not limited to traditional Arabic music. Performances will run over the course of three months, hosting young talents and music bands, including Nai Barghouti’s band, Faraj Suleiman, DAM band, and Banat al-Quds.

 

The festival was launched in 1993, and takes Jerusalem as its capital to emphasize its national importance and centrality.

For detailed program information:
National Conservatory of Music website
Yabous website

Blog Post One East Jerusalem Neighborhood Boasts Two Muay Thai Champions

Meet the Palestinian champions of the martial art and combat sport of Muay Thai in East Jerusalem.

Bio Salvador ‘Arnita

A leading Jerusalemite musician and composer whose output in Palestine and Lebanon includes at least 200 compositions—symphonies, concerts, orchestra works, and anthems

Roundtable Thirty Years On, Palestinian Jerusalemites Reflect on the Impact of the Oslo Accords on Their City and Community

The Oslo Accords were supposed to launch an interim five-year stage until final negotiations. Thirty years later they are still technically in effect. What has happened to Palestinian East Jerusalem?

Short Take Thirty Years Post-Oslo, Palestinian Jerusalemites Feel Orphaned and Leaderless

Four prominent Palestinian Jerusalemites share their thoughts about how the Oslo Accords devastated East Jerusalem.

Blog Post Hallaq Family Takes Murder Case against Israeli Police to Supreme Court

After the policeman charged with killing Eyad Hallaq was acquitted in July 2023, prosecutors declined to appeal. Now Hallaq’s family is taking them to court.

Blog Post Eyad al-Hallaq: The Last Hour

What happened to Eyad al-Hallaq, 32, an autistic man who was just walking to his special needs school in Jerusalem’s Old City with his caretaker?

Photo Essay The YMCA: A Cherished Social Hub during the Mandate Years

The Jerusalem YMCA was the social, athletic, and cultural hub for Jerusalemites during the British Mandate years.

Video Sharing Our House with Israeli Settlers in Sheikh Jarrah

A twin brother and sister offer the viewer a glimpse of life in Sheikh Jarrah, where Jewish settlers are aggressively targeting Palestinian homes for forcible expulsions.

Blog Post The Many Missions of the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)

Since 1991, the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) has tackled discrimination and violence against women within Palestinian society in East Jerusalem and beyond.