Jerusalem
Jerusalem (also named Hiérosolyme, Solyme or Salem as former French, ירושלים - Hebrew Yerushalayim in , rear RTL القدس - Al Quds for the Moslem Arabic-speaking people or اورشليم Ûrshalîm for the Christian Arabic-speaking people; the official Israeli denomination being Yerushalayim ) is a city of the the Middle East which holds a dominating place in the religions Jewish, Christian and Moslem, and in the Israeli national feeling. The State of Israel proclaimed Jerusalem unified as being its “eternal capital”. This designation is not recognized by the international community. Jerusalem-Is, regarded as an occupied territory, is also asserted like capital of a possible future Palestinian State.
Located on the Mount Sion, to 745 m of altitude, the city extends, beginning 2005, out of 200 km2 for a population of: 704,900 inhabitants. The city is very heterogeneous: mingle with it with many religions, people, groups socio-economic. The named part “ old city” is surrounded by ramparts and makes up of two districts with dominant Arab, said Christian quarters and Moslem district, of a district to dominant Armenian and of a district to dominant Jewish.
History
Antiquity (prehistory - 6 av JC)
Imposing fortifications gone back to -1700 show that at that time Jerusalem was a town of important size. It follows a phase of decline very marked as in all the area due to the invasion of the Peuples of the sea. Jerusalem becomes again a small village of mountain of approximately: 1000 inhabitants on a surface of six hectares. The shelves of el-Amarna written in Akkadien name the Ourousalim city (“city of peace”) towards -1300. In -722, Samarie, the capital of the Kingdom of Israel being occupied by the Assyrian , its inhabitants tributary towards the South, in Jerusalem, which was the capital of small the Royaume of Juda. Its population and urban development east then striking down passes to: 12,000 inhabitants on a surface of seventy-five hectares. In -587, Nabuchodonosor takes the city, plunders the temple and off-sets king Yehoïakîn (Joaquin) as well as the notable ones with Babylon. The Babylonians establish Tsidquya (Sédécias) governor of Jerusalem. This one revolts, which involves a new seat, temporarily raised by the intervention of an Egyptian force. Nebouzarradan, general of Nabuchodonosor, return and take definitively the city. But this time, the Temple is completely destroyed, the walls of the city also, and almost all its inhabitants led to Babylon. After a 70 years captivity, the Jews are authorized by Cyrus Persia to regain the Judaea under the control of Ezra and Néhémie. They go back to Jerusalem, bringing back the treasures of the temple there. Under the governor Zorobabel, the temple is rebuilt. Lastly, during the reign of Artaxerxés, Néhémie rebuilds the walls of Jerusalem. The biblical account of the Chroniques stops with this episode.
The city passes under Greek domination and according to the Jewish tradition, Alexandre Large the the visit. Jerusalem falls then to the general Séleucos, but Lagide Ptolémée seizes some and Jerusalem east under Egyptian domination until the battle Pannion into -198, gained by Antiochos III Megas against Ptolémée V. Antiochus IV Epiphane tries helléniser completely the city and dedicates the temple to Zeus, which causes the revolt known as of the Macchabées (Hasmonéens), which leads to the establishment of their dynasty on the ground of Israel. Simon Stiff, after a long war, obtained Démétrios Nicator the recognition of Jewish independence in -141.
However, following internal dissensions, Hasmonéens require the arbitration of the Romans, and in 63 av. J. - C., the troops of Pompée penetrate in the city, quickly placed under Roman “protectorate”.
Those choose to establish as king Antipater Iduméen. His/her son, Hérode, embellish the city and built there a palate. Especially, it renovates the Temple and double the surface of its esplanade. The coupled Forteresse Antonia with the temple shelters the Roman garrison. It is there that the narration begins from the New Testament of the Christian Bible.
Roman period (6 av. J. - C. - 638)
For the Christians, to the neighborhoods of the year 33, Jesus de Nazareth or Jesus-Christ was condemned there to died and carried out on a hill close to the city, Golgotha.
Follows the first revolt of the Jews of 66, told in details by Flavius Josèphe in the Guerre of the Jews . This revolt is repressed and crushed in 70 after J. - C., involving the almost complete destruction of the city by Titus. The Jews massively are exiled and dispersed in the empire: it is the constitution of the Diaspora, and the narration of New Testament finishes on this episode.
According to an anecdote not validated by the historians, the Colisée builds by Vespasien would have been financed with the spoils coming from Jerusalem. The Arc of Titus to Rome represents the victory of the Romans besides carrying the Ménorah of Jerusalem.
The emperor Publius Ælius Traianus Hadrianus - Hadrian - rebuilds the city for the Romans. The construction of a temple, dedicated to the Roman god Jupiter Capitolin, on the site of the old temple of Hérode, causes an ultimate revolt led from 132 to 135 by Bar-Kokheba. Following the crushing of this revolt, Hadrian re-elects the city Colonia Ælia Capitolina according to his own name of “people” Ælius (for Latin equivalent of current family name), and in the honor of the god Jupiter Capitolinus . “Colonia” means colony, and specifies the statute of the city. The Jews will be prohibited of stay in the city during nearly two centuries.
At the 4th century the mother of Constantin, Helene, Jerusalem visit, trying to identify the holy places there and arrives there, since Hadrian had also built pagan temples on the sites of the the Holy Sepulchre and the Nativité (with Bethlehem). In 324, Constantin restores his name at the Jerusalem city, but the name of the province, Palæstina, does not leave the use.
In 451, the patriarchate of Jerusalem is created. The city Ήὰγία πόλις Ίερουσα ( Hagiapolis Ierusalem , Quoted Holy) or Hierusalem , is represented on several Christian mosaics of Ve in VIIIe century, in particular on the Carte of Madaba (approx. 560-565).
The Middle Ages: Moslem period and crusades (638 - 1516)
The city was taken by the Perses of Chosroès II in 614, taken again by the Byzantine in 629, then conquered by the Arab in 638 after a two year old seat.
The Moslem set up there the Dôme of the Rock under Abd Al-Malik (687-691). Al-Walid builds the Mosquée Al-Aqsa (towards 705-715). Harun Al-Rashid guarantees to Charlemagne the protection of the holy places, which allows the development of the pilgrimage. In 1009, the caliph Al-Hakim destroys the Anastasis, the church of the Holy Sepulchre built under Constantin.
Several Moslem chiefs in turn attacked and conquered Jerusalem. The Turks Seldjoukides controlled the city starting from 1071 and the Fatimides took it in 1098 just a year before it was taken by the Croisés.
As from the 11th century, the Christians launched a series of Croisade S “to release” the city and to have access to their holy places. The first crusade leads to the catch of Jerusalem the July 15th 1099 and massacres it its Muslim population and Jewish. It becomes the capital of the Latin Royaume of Jerusalem.
The city is reconquered by Saladin the October 2nd 1187. It was again opened to the Christians between 1229 and 1244 then passed by again under Moslem exclusive control.
In 1267, Nahmanide or Ramban creates the synagog which always bears its name and which is at the origin of the return of the Jews in this city after the massacres of the first crusade.
In 1342, the Mamelouks authorize the minor Frères there to be reinstalled. The pilgrimages can begin again.
Othoman period (1516 - 1917)
The December 30th 1516, Sélim I {{er}} made its entry in Jerusalem and the city passes under Othoman domination . His/her son Soliman II, known as the Splendid one, provided the town of aqueducts, doors and walls, which exist still today, and gave to the old city the aspect which it kept during four centuries. After its death, the decline of the city starts; the Latin pilgrimages rarefied and the orthodoxe Greek community, whose subjects were Othoman, acquired a stronger position in the holy Places. In 1555, Charles Quint obtained to rebuild the vault of the Holy Sepulchre, which became thus Latin property.
Two works of the Tasse refer to Jerusalem: Jerusalem delivered ( Gerusalemme liberata , 1580) and Jerusalem conquered (1593).
British mandate (1917 - 1948)
In December 1917, the general Allenby enters to foot Jerusalem. The city remains under British mandate until in 1948, in a climate of instability (terrorist attacks, violences). Starting from 1918, Jewish districts transfer the day in the west and with the south of the old city and the number of the Jewish refugees of Central Europe increases appreciably. This increased Jewish establishment caused Arab reactions, which burst in Jerusalem in 1920 and 1928. The English High-Commissioner Herbert Samuel slowed down Jewish immigration to a certain extent. In 1933, with the rise of the Nazism, the British started to direct themselves towards a division of the country, Jerusalem having to be on the line border, as open city.
The shortly after the Second world war, the Great Britain wanting to limit the entry in Palestine of the many Jewish survivors of the camps hitlériens the more so as the claims Arab became more sharp, the tension against the English government went up quickly on the two sides. July 22nd, 1946, the Irgoun, clandestine Jewish organization, made jump a wing of the Hôtel King David, seat of the British administration. Engagements in Jerusalem between Jews and Arabs started as of November 1947.
Modern history (1948 at our days)
The afternoon of May 14th, 1948, David Ben Gourion proclaims the independence of the State of Israel. The May 27th, the Arab Legion constrained Israelis to evacuate the Old city. The June 6th, the Israelis manage to connect the city to the remainder of the country (the road of Burma). In July, Arab aviation bombards the city. January 7th, 1949, the Safety advice of the United Nations imposes the end of the engagements.
Consequently, the city is found divided between a Western part controlled by Israel and an oriental party (including all the old city) controlled by the Jordan, separated by a No man' S Land . Circulation between the two parts is quasi-impossible. Majority of the holy places, as well as the Jewish district of the old city (emptied its inhabitants) are then under Jordanian control. All the Synagog S of the old city are ransacked as well as the cemetery of the Mount of Olives (of which part of the tomb stones are used to build latrines).
In 1967, following the War the Six Day old, Israel controls the whole of Jerusalem. The Jews find their holy places, while for the majority of the Arabs (Christian or Moslem, of the Arab States or the occupied territories), the access to Jerusalem and its holy places becomes more difficult de facto.
Israel proclaims Jerusalem “capital eternal and indivisible of the State of Israel” and appendix in 1982 then in 1993 of the additional territories within the limits of the State of Israel and the municipality of Jerusalem. More recently, of the establishments in the East of Jerusalem and the layout of the “fence safety” also contribute to modify demographic balance and the economic structure in favor of the Jewish character of Jerusalem.
The holy city “three times”
The town of Jerusalem is regarded as “three times holy” because it contains the most crowned places religions Jewish and Christian and the third holy place of Islam:
- Wailing Wall, vestige of the Temple;
- Church of the the Holy Sepulchre;
- Dome of the Rock and Mosque Al-Aqsa.
Jerusalem is a privileged site:
- for the Jews for more than 2500 years because Jerusalem has been regarded at the same time as an important place of the biblical peregrinations of the Hebrew patriarchs; the capital of the king David and later of the Jewish kingdom Hasmonéen; the city where the religious worship was returned at the time from both Temples and where remains the Wailing Wall, vestige of the Temple and place of prayer; a religious place of pilgrimage during the three festivals of pilgrimage ; and the symbol maintained during the centuries a return the dispersed Jewish people, the next year in Jerusalem ;
- by the Christians since and the accounts of the life of Jesus de Nazareth as described in the Gospels, since its rise with the Temple of Jerusalem until its Crucifixion and its Resurrection, according to the Christian dogma; consecutively, one finds there and one venerates there also memories of Marie de Nazareth, saints Etienne and Jacques who there were martyrisés, etc Sainte Helene, mother of Constantin, and the Byzantine emperors set up sumptuous sanctuaries there on the holy spot. This bond between the Christians and Jerusalem was also maintained by the successive Croisades out of Holy Land with the Moyen-âge. Jerusalem was the capital of the Latin Royaume of Jerusalem of 1099 to 1187. It is one of the historical patriarchates (with Rome, Antioche, Alexandria, Constantinople);
- by the Moslems since the 7th century, at the same time for all the reasons previously quoted and also because the tradition makes of Jerusalem the place from where Mahomet would have carried out its night voyage . It should be noted that the Coran never mentions explicitly the name of the city, but described how Mahomet, having arrived at the most remote Mosquée , goes up to Sky (Al Semi `raj: the rise) accompanied by the angel Gabriel. Of 638 with 1917, Jerusalem was several times dominated by Islamic dynasties without none taking it for capital. It was a place of pilgrimage, in particular when architectural great projects were carried out by the Omeyyades and later by the Mamelouks.
The question of the statute of Jerusalem
The statute of the city, under Israeli civil administration since the War the Six Day old, is disputed. The “green line” separates Jerusalem-West (Israel) and Jerusalem-Is (occupied territory). For the involved parts, the statute of Jerusalem remains a key question of the resolution of the israélo-Palestinian Conflit. The Israeli fundamental law of 1980, which ratifies the statute of the city in “eternal and indivisible” capital, is described by resolution 478 of the Safety advice of UNO like a “violation of the international law”. In 2000, the Palestinian Authority vote a capital law establishing Jerusalem of a future State, this law is ratified in 2002.
First proposal of UNO
With the expiry of the British mandate, the Plan of division of Palestine of 1947 provided that Jerusalem becomes a Corpus Separatum under international control and independent of what were to become an Arab State Palestinian and an Hebrew State. This separation was to thus guarantee to all the worships the free access to all the holy places in safety.
Armistice of 1949
After the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel in 1948 and the war which follows, the city is found divided between a Western part annexed by Israel and an oriental party (including/understanding all the old city) annexed by the Jordan, separated by a No man' S Land . In 1949, Jerusalem-West is proclaimed capital of Israel. In 1967, Tsahal conquers Jerusalem-Is and Israel declares Jerusalem reunified, its “eternal and indivisible” capital. However, the near total of the States maintained so far their embassies with Tel-Aviv (for Israel) because the international law considered to be null this modification of the statute of the city.
Situation after 1967
In 1967, Israel reunifies the town suit of Jerusalem at the conclusion of the Guerre the Six Day old. The Jews then have again access to their holy places, while the access to the Esplanade of the Mosques and the Moslem holy places is regulated. The management of the esplanade was entrusted later at a Palestinian organization, WAQF. At the conclusion of the War the Six Day old, the Safety advice of UNO voted the resolution 242 (1967) which, according to interpretations, can relate to or not the statute of Jerusalem-Is.
Israeli proclamations
In 1980, the Knesset declares Jerusalem capital “eternal and indivisible” at the time of a Israeli Fundamental law: the Law of Jerusalem. The various Israeli capacities, legislature, executive, legal and administrative, are gathered in Jerusalem.
Palestinian declarations
Certain Palestinian movements proclaimed Jerusalem, or its only oriental party, like capital of a future State, or capital of the State not recognized universally and proclaimed in 1988.
Position of UNO
The position of UNO relating to Jerusalem is related to resolution 181 of the General meeting as well as the resolutions of the General meeting and the Safety advice which result from this.
The Safety advice, in his resolution 478, declares that the Israeli law establishing Jerusalem capital “eternal and indivisible” is null and not avenue, and constitutes a violation of the international law. The resolution invites the Member States to withdraw their diplomatic mission of the city.
The following resolutions were adopted by the safety advice of the United Nations. They relate to Jerusalem in an explicit and tacit way according to interpretations:
- 1968 : resolution 252
- 1969: resolutions 267 and 271
- 1971: resolution 298
- 1980: resolutions 465,476 and 478
- 1990: resolution 681
- 1996: resolution 1073
International positions
Before the resolution 478,13 countries had an embassy in Jerusalem: the Bolivia, the Chile, the Colombia, the Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, the Ecuador, the El Salvador, the Guatemala, Haiti, the Netherlands, the Panama, the Uruguay, the Venezuela. According to the terms of this resolution, the 13 embassies were moved with Tel-Aviv. The respective embassies of Costa Rica and El Salvador were moved again for Jerusalem in 1984. In 2004, only these two States have an embassy in Jerusalem. But in 2006, these two States also decide to transfer their embassies to Tel Aviv. Other foreign consulates, like the consulate-general of Greece, the French consulate, like those of the United Kingdom and the United States located at Jerusalem have as an attribution the occupied Palestinian Territoires, whose Jerusalem-Is. The embassies of the Bolivia and the Paraguay are as for them in the suburbs of Jerusalem, with Mevasseret Zion. The Netherlands have an office in Jerusalem which almost exclusively treats businesses concerning the Israelis.
Position of the United States
The the United States made pass a law to the Congrès in 1995 establishing that “Jerusalem should be recognized capital of the State of Israel”, and that the American embassy should be moved in Jerusalem at the latest on May 31st, 1999. Since, the removal of the embassy was systematically deferred, twice a year, by the US president. The terms of these carryforwards specify however that the administration is committed in the process of displacement of the embassy in Jerusalem. One of the consequences of the law of 1995 is that the American official documents approach Jerusalem like the capital of Israel.
Position of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom considers that the statute of Jerusalem must be defined by negotiations between the parts Israeli and Palestinian. This country recognizes the control in fact of Israel on the Western part of the city but considers Jerusalem-Is like occupied territory and does not recognize any sovereignty on the city.
Claims for an internationalization of the city
Representatives of the Christian population of the city express the wish regularly to make of Jerusalem an international city.
To become of Jerusalem
Bonds between Jerusalem, Judaism and the State of Israel
Since the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jewish people, the Judaism always evoked a return to Jerusalem, old capital of the Royaume of Israel of David. The Jewish identity remained related to Jerusalem through the biblical heritage and history which continued to be transmitted and taught generations in generations since the second exile known as “of Rome” of the Jewish People. The first Babylonian exile had already involved a first return of the Jews on the Promised land to rebuild the Temple. Thus, every year during the festival of Pessa' H (Jewish Passover), the words the next year in Jerusalem come to enclose the ceremonies. The traditional daily prayer blesses the construction of Jerusalem and calls with the return of exiled. This aspiration with the return to Sion remained sharp with the wire of the centuries and became a political claim with the birth of the political Zionism at the end of the 19th century as solution with the European anti-semitism. From a political point of view, Jerusalem was proclaimed capital Israeli State in 1949. But Israel then did not have access to the Wailing Wall under Jordanien control. It will be necessary to await the Six Day old war so that the part Is of Jerusalem (which includes the holy places) is taken militarily with Jordanian and the Arab legion: the old city passes thus entirely under Israeli control. International community forever recognized the annexation of Jerusalem. They are resolutions 242 and 478 of the Safety advice condemning the action of Israel in the occupied territories lasting this conflict. The interpretation of this resolution is discussed. Israel stuck between 1967 and 1988 to the restoration of the Jewish district devastated by the Arab occupation but also to increase the Jewish population in the city.
Bonds between Jerusalem, Islam, Christianity and Palestinians
Jerusalem is the meeting place of the three great religions monotheists, as higher developed. The Palestinians include/understand two principal religious communities, Christian woman and Moslem woman. The Christians of the East did not emit claims any more on Jerusalem since the end of the Royaume of Jerusalem. They however continued to live in Palestine, to maintain certain important places of pilgrimage and they lived the creation of the State of Israel like a rupture. It among the Christian Arabs that one finds the most enthusiastic supports for an internationalization of Jerusalem, like is proposed in 1947. Islam declared Jerusalem like its third Holy City for religious reasons: it is there that the Moslems will meet the day of the Last Judgment. Interpretations established that Jerusalem was the place from where Mahomet would have carried out its night voyage. The mosque of Jerusalem is called El Aksa, which wants to say “most distant”. It is from there that confusion comes: the night voyage towards a place of the worship “most distant” from Mahomet is named in the Hadith S. Mahomet changes the direction of the prayer from Jerusalem at the beginning of Islam towards Mecque, probably to dissociate Christian and Jewish traditions.
The Palestinian organizations asserted for the first time this city in 1968, in the pact of the PLO, like the third Holy City of Islam. It was absent from pact of the PLO of 1964. “Laic” PLO of Yasser Arafat often positioned in the direction of these claims. He always refused during the negotiations to have another capital that Jerusalem. The Palestinian Autorité has today as a principal seat the town of Ramallah. The PLO had in Jerusalem a semi-official seat, the “House of the East”, directed by Fayçal Husseini; in 2001, this institution was closed of force. Jerusalem is the town of origin of Palestinian refugees who wish to return there to live. The question of the final status of the city is thus closely related to the question of the Palestinian Réfugiés.
Israeli policy with Jerusalem-Is
Since 1967, the successive Israeli governments, whatever the party in power, are évertuent to transform the aspect of Jerusalem. There exists a political will to modify the demographic variation in the East, populated primarily by the Palestinians (: approximately 55,000 in 1967). The State of Israel always categorically refused any policy of expulsion of the Arabs. In addition to humanistic legal reasons, it is always a question of proposing a search of international recognition. In the place of this primary policy, Israel drew up a project of enlarging of the city by the construction of Jewish districts. The political economist Frederic Encel includes/understands it like a way “of destroying the Palestinian influence by modifying the geographical balance of the city”. The French Sénat noted that the demographic variation progressed in favor of the Israelis. The ambition consists in encircling the Arab districts by a policy of expropriation of the grounds surrounding the municipal limits of 1967. This irrefutable fact is accentuated by the layout of the project of barrier of separation which should surround the colonies of settlement of Adounim to 11 km in the east of Jerusalem and intended, according to Israel, to decrease the number of Palestinian terrorist attacks. Moreover, according to the Economic and Social Council of the Nations, there exists a policy of discrimination on the permits building, supporting constructions for the Jews. Some figures propose this reality:
- Jerusalem-Is made 38 km2 in 1967. And by the effect of this policy, 108 km2 by the construction of Jewish districts.
- in 1967, there is: 263,307 inhabitants =: 195,700 Jews (74%) and: 54,963 Arabs (21%).
- in 2004, there is: 706,000 inhabitants =: 458,000 Jews (65%) (of which: 200,000 in the East) and: 225,000 Arabs (32%).
Future of Jerusalem in the peace process
The proposals on Jerusalem belong to the political debate in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian Territoires. If the proposals made by Ehoud Barak with the Summit of Camp David II into 2000 divide the city were refused by Yasser Arafat and probably led Israeli the Prime Minister to the defeat with the anticipated elections which followed, the same difficulties are felt by the Palestinian leadership. Arafat then of Mahmoud Abbas cannot in no case to yield on the question of Jerusalem, of fear of being taken speed by the islamist movements like the Hamas. Any solution which would not include Jerusalem (at least its oriental party) as capital of a future State would be perceived like a defeat. In the same way, the Israeli popular base cannot support, according to surveys dating from the beginning of the the Second Intifada, to call in question Israeli sovereignty about Jerusalem.
The question of the legitimacy of each of the two parts about Jerusalem also involves debates of an archaeological nature. The Israelis started since 1967 of research to bring the evidence of the existence of the Temple of Jerusalem. Palestinians and Israelis reciprocally show themselves to undertake work the ones to destroy new evidence of this existence, the others to weaken the foundations of the mosques of the old city. (According to the Israeli experts, the foundations of the mosques were weakened by several earthquakes during the last centuries.) The discussion on the use of the expressions Mount of the Temple/Esplanade of the mosques is significant compared to the concern of the two parts of gaining the battle of legitimacy on Jerusalem.
In 2005, the question of the statute and possible division of Jerusalem remain in the middle of the future peace process but no attempt at negotiations was started more on this point since the Sommet of Taba.
Geography and demography
Geography
Jerusalem is localized at, on the end of a plate to 800 m of altitude between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea and covers 126 km2.
The city is surrounded by all shares of several valleys, among which those in north are less marked than those located in the other directions. The two principal ones are in the North-West of the current city.
Economy
Although Tel Aviv remains the financial center of Israel, a growing number of companies high tech leave Tel Aviv for Jerusalem. The industrial park Har Hatzvin located at the north of the city accommodates several large Israeli companies like Intel, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and ECI Télécom. Since the creation of the State of Israel, the government is remained a major actor in the economy of the city. The government does not generate only one great number of employment but work to offer the favorable conditions to the creation of companies.Among the principal productions of Jerusalem: factories of shoes, textiles, pharmaceutical, produced metals, and articles print. The factories are located mainly in the industrial park of Atarot at the North of Jerusalem, along the road of Ramallah.
The saving in Jerusalem remains however centered on tourism and the state enterprises.
| Random links: | Turn of the Benelux countries | Sonic | Coil karmic existence | Carlos Lavado | FX2LP controller USB: CY7C68013 | Lollardy |