Jerusalem: Isreal

Jerusalem (31°46′N 35°14′E) is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meter. It is located east of Tel Aviv, south of Ramallah, west of Jericho and north of Bethlehem.

Jerusalem was the capital of ancient Jewish kingdoms and is the capital of the modern State of Israel. It is the holiest city of Judaism and is of key importance to Christianity and Islam. The status of the eastern part of Jerusalem as part of the Israeli capital, and the control over that part of the city and its holy places, are internationally debated.

With a population of 704,900 (as of December 31, 2004 [1]), it is a richly heterogeneous city, representing a wide range of national, religious, and socioeconomic groups. The section called the “Old City” is surrounded by walls and consists of four quarters: Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. The current mayor of Jerusalem is Uri Lupolianski.

Name

The origin of the name of the city is uncertain. It is possible to understand the name (Hebrew Yerushalayim) as either “Heritage of Salem” or “Heritage of Peace” - a contraction of “heritage” (yerusha) and Salem (Shalem literally “whole” or “in harmony") or “peace” (shalom). (See the Biblical commentator the Ramban for explanation.) “Shalem” is the original name used in Genesis 14:18 for the city. Similarly the Amarna Letters call the city Uru Salim in Akkadian, a cognate of the Hebrew Ir Shalem ("city of Salem"). Some consider a connection between the name and Shalim - the deity personifying dusk known from Ugaritic myths and offering lists.

The ending -ayim or -im has the appearance of the Hebrew dual or plural suffix respectively. It has been argued that it is a dual form representing the fact that the city lies on two hills however the treatment of the ending as a suffix makes the rest of the name incomprehensible in Hebrew. A Midrashic interpretation comes from Genesis Rabba, which explains that Abraham came to “Shalem” after rescuing Lot.

Upon arrival, he asked the king and high priest Melchizedek to bless him, and Melchizedek did so in the name of the Supreme God (indicating that he, like Abraham, was a monotheist). According to exegetes, God immortalizes this encounter between Melchizedek and Abraham by renaming the city in honor of them: the name “Yeru” (derived from “Yireh", the name Abraham gives to Mount Moriah after unbinding Isaac, and explained in Genesis as meaning that God will be revealed there) is placed in front of “Shalem". The plural ending implies the community of all believers in the One God who testify to the city’s holiness.

Jerusalem and the Old City. View from the Mount of Olives

History
According to one Jewish tradition, Jerusalem was founded by Shem and Eber, ancestors of Abraham. It has played an important historical role at various times over the past several millennia.

The 1949 cease-fire line between Israel and Jordan, also known as the Green Line, cuts through the city. From 1949 until 1967, western Jerusalem was part of Israel and East Jerusalem was part of Jordan, as an integral part of the West Bank. From 1950 to 1967, the Israeli capital comprised solely of western Jerusalem. Since the 1967 Six-Day War, during which Israel occupied eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank, Israel has administered the eastern portion of the city and has asserted sovereignty over the entire city.

The status of the eastern part of the city, which Israel captured during the Six-day War in 1967, is disputed. According to an Israeli law from January 1950, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. At the time, this law referred to western Jerusalem, which was the part of the city incorporated in the state of Israel in 1948-1949. In 1967 the city was reunified and the eastern part was immediately separated administratively from the occupied West Bank and annexed to Israel. A Basic Law of Israel enacted in 1980 (the Jerusalem Law) reaffirmed Israel’s contention that unified Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, is the capital of Israel and the center of Jerusalem District. Since 1950, the city serves as the country’s seat of government and its capital.

In 1980, the Israeli Knesset passed the Basic Law: Jerusalem - Capital of Israel reaffirming the status of Jerusalem as Israel’s “eternal and indivisible capital". The UN Security Council Resolution 478 condemned the Jerusalem Law as “a violation of international law” and most countries prefer to keep their embassies in Tel Aviv. According to the United States Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 1) Jerusalem should remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected; (2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and (3) the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999.

Status of Jerusalem

Religious significance

Jerusalem plays an important role in three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as in a number of smaller religious groups. A large number of places of have religious significance for these religions, among which the Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Jerusalem as Israeli capital

Israel regards Jerusalem as its capital. This designation is internationally debated. All the branches of Israeli government (Presidential, Legislative, Judicial, and Administrative) are seated in Jerusalem. It is home to a number of key Israeli government buildings, including the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court and the houses of the President and Prime Minister. With the exception of the house of the premier (a regular apartment), these buildings can be visited in the framework of tours. Most government ministries are located to the west of the Knesset (the Israel Museum and part of the Hebrew University to the southwest).

The Palestinian Authority demands that the capital of a future Palestinian state should be situated in East Jerusalem. The position of the United Nations on the question of Jerusalem is contained in General Assembly resolution 181(11) and subsequent resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council concerning this question. According to the Oslo Agreements the discussion on Jerusalem was to be part of the permanent status negotiations.

Physical geography

Jerusalem is situated in 31°46′45?N, 35°13′25?E, upon the southern spur of a plateau the eastern side of which slopes from 2,460 ft. above sea-level north of the Temple area to 2,130 ft. at the southeastern extremity. The western hill is about 2,500 ft. high and slopes southeast from the Judean plateau.

Topography

Jerusalem is surrounded upon all sides by valleys, of which those on the north are less pronounced than those on the other three sides. The principal two valleys start northwest of the present city. The first runs eastward with a slight southerly bend (the present Wadi al-Joz), then, deflecting directly south (formerly known as “Kidron Valley", the modern Wadi Sitti Maryam), divides the Mount of Olives from the city. The second runs directly south on the western side of the city, turns eastward at its southeastern extremity, then runs directly east, and joins the first valley near Bir Ayyub ("Job’s Well"). It was called in olden times the “Valley of Hinnom", and is the modern Wadi al-Rababi, which is not to be identified with the first-mentioned valley.

A third valley, commencing in the northwest where is now the Damascus Gate, ran south-southeasterly down to the Pool of Siloam, and divided the lower part into two hills (the lower and the upper cities of Josephus). This is probably the later Tyropoeon ("Cheese-makers’") valley. A fourth valley led from the western hill (near the present Jaffa Gate) over to the Temple area: it is represented in modern Jerusalem by David Street. A fifth cut the eastern hill into a northern and a southern part. Later Jerusalem was thus built upon four spurs. Today, neighboring towns are Bethlehem and Beit Jala at the southern city border, and Abu Dis to the East.