Foundations
What Is Jerusalem?
Today’s Jerusalem is a city that remains undefined in any official sense that would be considered legitimate by all its residents. Residents must navigate an imposed labyrinthine maze of borders, jurisdictions, and fragmented spaces that is difficult for non-natives to fathom. Understanding these complexities is the starting point for anyone wanting to grasp the realities faced by Jerusalem’s Palestinians.
Featured in This Topic
The city notifies Silwan residents of its planned confiscation of private lands as cable car project gets underway.
Israel is spending millions on a Judeo-centric “Jerusalem Heritage” program for the Holy Basin.
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.
Where is Jerusalem? The answer is a lot more complex and unclear than you might think.
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.
An introduction to the applications of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) within the context of the occupied Palestinian Territory (oPT), including East Jerusalem.
Is this a fleeting moment or a new reality?
A glimpse of Jerusalem at the point when the New City was just beginning to breach the walls of the Old City
This definitive history of Jerusalem’s iconic Moroccan Quarter explains its significance over centuries, how Israel destroyed it overnight, and why it still matters. A book review.
Palestinian Jerusalemites view the history of their city through a different lens. A conversation with Palestinian historian Nazmi Jubeh.
Colonial Jerusalem, written by Thomas Abowd in 2014, seems more relevant today than ever. A book review.
The Story in Numbers
10
Number of times the official Jerusalem municipal boundaries have changed since 1917 [1]
19.2 sq km
The area of the city of Jerusalem under the British Mandate period, 1917–47 [2]
28
Number of Palestinian localities that Israel unilaterally incorporated into the city upon expanding the municipal boundaries in 1967 to add areas on the (Arab) eastern side of the city that had not previously belonged to it [3]
70 sq km
Newly expanded area of East Jerusalem after Israel unilaterally expanded the boundaries in June, 1967, de facto annexing an additional 64 sq km to East Jerusalem from the original 6 sq km, including many Palestinian villages that had not previously been in the city [4]
126.4 sq km
The total area of the city of Jerusalem today [5]
440 sq km
The area of “Greater Jerusalem,” the expanded, Jewish-majority Jerusalem that Israel envisions and is rapidly developing [6]
0
Number of times the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem have been consulted or given an opportunity to influence where the official municipal boundaries of Jerusalem should be [7]
Notes
1. See Table 1 in Where Is Jerusalem?.
2. See Table 1 in Where Is Jerusalem?.
3. See Table 1 in Where Is Jerusalem?.
4. See Table 1 in Where Is Jerusalem?.
5. See Table 1 in Where Is Jerusalem?.
6. See Israel’s Vision of a Greater [Jewish] Jerusalem
7. See Where Is Jerusalem?.
The mufti’s luxurious home in Sheikh Jarrah is a microcosm of the city’s rich and vibrant Palestinian past—and of its erasure by Israeli authorities.
Under the radar, Palestinian Jerusalemites are also feeling the brunt of Israel’s fury in the wake of October 7. A community at risk takes stock.