History

Backgrounder What Is the “Status Quo”?

The Status Quo agreement on Jerusalem’s holy sites, enacted in the Ottoman era, seeks to prevent conflict between religious groups. Increasingly, it is being violated.

Blog Post Newly Renovated, the Armenian Museum in Jerusalem’s Old City Reopens

A newly renovated museum in Jerusalem’s Old City explores 3,000 years of Armenian art, culture, and history.

Personal Story A Diaspora Jerusalemite Remembers

Philip Farah hasn’t lived in Jerusalem since 1978, but it remains “a huge part of my psyche.”

Bio Nazmi Jubeh

A historian, archeologist, and expert on Palestinian cultural heritage and its preservation, with special expertise on Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron

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. 

Video The Khalidi Library and the Family That Founded It: Knowledge, Place, and Time

The Khalidi Library, founded and maintained by the Khalidis, a Jerusalemite family with centuries of history in the city, is a local treasure.

Graphic Snapshot of Jerusalem’s Diverse History

A look back at Jerusalem’s rulers since ancient times and the city’s population based on more recent censuses

Blog Post Resurrecting Lifta: A Microcosm of Palestine pre-1948

A recent book describes the cultural heritage of the depopulated Jerusalem village of Lifta and the struggle of its displaced residents to thwart state plans to erase its remains.

Short Take Palestinian Villages Depopulated in 1948

An inventory of Palestinian villages in the Jerusalem area pre-1948 and their erasure and replacement