Why Is the Palestinian Population of Jerusalem’s Old City Shrinking?

“I had to move from the family home in Haret al-Sa‘diyya in the Old City to live in an apartment in Shu‘fat refugee camp after I decided to get married. My wife and I couldn’t live in the house, which now has more than ten people living in only two rooms.”1

This is what Raed Mahmoud, 34, a resident of Shu‘fat refugee camp (see After Four Days of Lockdown, a Jerusalem Refugee Camp Calls for Civil Disobedience), told Jerusalem Story, noting that he is not the only one who left his home in Jerusalem’s Old City in search of more spacious habitation to start his new family. He is one of thousands of Jerusalemites who left the Old City to live in one of the most densely populated Palestinian neighborhoods of the city that lie behind the Separation Wall, namely, al-Ram, Kufr ‘Aqab, Shu‘fat refugee camp, and ‘Anata (see Neighborhoods beyond the Wall and The Separation Wall).

Sources estimate that the number of Palestinians living in neighborhoods behind the wall surpasses 150,000.2 Many hold Israeli-issued permanent-resident status, which means they are tax-paying residents of Jerusalem entitled to municipal services and benefits, but they live in an entirely different and abysmal world where said services are at bare minimum levels or nonexistent.

Raed confirms that despite his departure from the city, his official address as recorded on his ID is still in the al-Sa‘diyya neighborhood of the Old City. He does not intend to change it in the future.

Umm Asaad, 45, a resident of Kufr ‘Aqab, is in a similar position.3 She told Jerusalem Story that she, her husband, and their children had to move from their home in Bab Khan al-Zayt because of the difficulty of living in the small house. This was on top of the increasing suppression they were experiencing by Israeli measures, especially targeting young people. She said that she fears her children will be beaten, arrested, or killed by Israeli police and border guards who roam the alleys of the Old City morning and evening, abusing young Palestinians.

Umm Asaad added, “I will not change my original address, the address of my family home in Bab Khan al-Zayt. It is my identity and my life. It is where I was born and where I lived, and where, God willing, I will die and be buried, near the walls of Jerusalem.” She confirmed that “the circumstances of life indeed pushed us out of the Old City, but this is temporary.”

But Hajj Abu Jawad, 75, is not concerned. He and his wife live in their home in the al-Qarmi neighborhood of the Old City. He explained that their children and grandchildren moved to Dahiyat al-Salam near the Shu‘fat refugee camp behind the wall, but he told Jerusalem Story that he is not worried that Jerusalemites will abandon their homes in the Old City: “They will come back if they feel that their survival as citizens in Jerusalem is in danger, as happened many years ago.”4

Israel’s policy is to revoke the residency status of anyone who lives outside the official municipal borders of Jerusalem (see Precarious, Not Permanent: The Status Held by Palestinian Jerusalemites (Pt. 2)). This policy drove tens of thousands of Palestinians to move to those neighborhoods beyond the wall rather than living outside the boundaries in areas Palestinians traditionally considered to be part of it. However, some years ago, Israel advanced laws for consideration in the Knesset that would remove these neighborhoods beyond the wall from the municipality administratively by compelling them to form their own local councils and administer their own affairs (see Israel’s Vision for a Greater [Jewish] Jerusalem). This development prompted a reverse effect: Those who had moved beyond the wall moved back to the Jerusalem side of it out of fear that they would be severed from the city and potentially forced to give up their legal status. They moved back and lived anywhere they could in the center of Jerusalem, including the Old City. Many had few options, so they converted their shops into living quarters, and in some cases, turned wells located under the houses into sleeping spaces. Some even used the area designated for animals, known as al-yakhur, for sleeping due to overcrowding in the Old City.

As Umm Asaad explained, many choose to leave to escape abuse, arrest, and possible killing by Israeli security forces. Ziad adds, “These Israeli measures are a major reason for Palestinians moving out of the Old City, which is what the Israelis want.” In addition to oppressive policing, Ziad explains that Israeli authorities also often “buy Palestinian properties by forging papers and harassing people until they give up and leave.”

Dr. Rami Nasrallah, a Jerusalemite who founded and directs the International Peace and Cooperation Center in Sheikh Jarrah, specializes in urban planning and monitoring population shifts in Jerusalem.6 He told Jerusalem Story that Israel’s war on Gaza has contributed significantly to demographic changes in the Old City. Since the war began on October 7, 2023, the Old City has become increasingly vulnerable, facing a significant onslaught from extremist Zionist settlers working hand in glove with the state (see Under Cover of War, Israel Charges Ahead with Severing East Jerusalem from the West Bank through Settlements).

“They view the war as an opportunity to expedite their agenda of reshaping the demographic, economic, institutional, spatial, and cultural-religious fabric of the Old City to cement their exclusive control,” Rami explained. “Their intentions to displace Palestinians and alter the city’s landscape and multicultural essence are transparent.”

Rami told Jerusalem Story that the campaign of marginalization, coupled with the military restrictions, economic downturn, and daily struggles, poses a grave threat to the lives and institutions of the Palestinian Christian and Muslim communities of Jerusalem:

According to the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, the population of the Old City in 2022 dropped by 8,650 residents.7 Between 2011 and 2020, the various Palestinian quarters of the Old City lost 8,565 residents, equivalent to a 24 percent reduction in population, while the Jewish Quarter decreased by 3 percent. Nonetheless, the various Palestinian quarters still house an estimated 27,880 Palestinians compared to 3,240 Jewish Israelis in the Jewish Quarter. The only quarter that increased in population is the Armenian Quarter, which rose by 24 percent, although its population in 2020 was only 2,160 residents (see Table 1).

Bishop Atallah Hanna explained to Jerusalem Story that there has been a depletion of the Palestinian Christian presence within the Old City, and that this has many reasons:8 “The main reason is the policy of the occupiers, as they make life difficult for all Jerusalemites, whether Christian or Muslims, and in Palestinian neighborhoods, there are constant oppressive measures like checkpoints, closures, and restriction of movement.”

Atallah elaborated that the situation is especially dire during religious holidays, and the worst is during the Jewish holidays, when Israeli forces routinely harass, beat, and detain Palestinians. As a result, many Palestinian Christians have opted to relocate outside the Old City to areas like Beit Hanina and Beit Safafa so they can move around with less difficulty. Atallah asserted that “the retraction of the Palestinian population in the Old City is the direct result of policies aimed at weakening the Palestinian presence in the Old City of Jerusalem.”

Jack Sara, president of the Bethlehem Bible College, who was born in the Christian Quarter, told Jerusalem Story that the decline of the Old City’s Palestinian residents is also due to overpopulation and lack of livable housing.9 There is also a major shortage of parking space, making the ability to enter and exit the Old City even harder.

Jack says that people, especially young couples who do not have the means to own a car and face increasing responsibilities associated with childrearing and work, are forced to live in relatively more affordable housing outside the walls of the Old City. They also seek safety and more spacious living quarters, he told Jerusalem Story. Their only options are often in ghettoized neighborhoods behind the Separation Wall targeted for de-development.

Experts in Jerusalem agree that what is urgently needed is to work on the recovery of the city’s Palestinian Christian and Muslim presence in order to safeguard the city’s multicultural identity and heritage.