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Jerusalem....
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Jerusalem and
the Old City. View from the Mount of Olives
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Jerusalem (31°46′ N 35°14′ E;
Hebrew: Yerushalayim;
Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle
Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam.
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: Jewish,
Christian, Armenian, and
Muslim.
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The status of the city is hotly disputed. The 1949
cease-fire line between Israel and Jordan, also
known as the Green Line, cuts through the city. Since Israel's invasion in the
1967 Six-Day War, it
has controlled the entire city and claims sovereignty over it. According to
Israeli Jerusalem Law, Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel, and
is the center of Jerusalem District; it serves as the country's seat of
government and otherwise functions as capital. Many countries do not
recognize Israeli sovereignty over some or all of the city and enforce this
view by maintaining their embassies in
Tel Aviv or in the suburbs.
Palestinians also claim all or part of Jerusalem
as the capital of a future
Palestinian state. |
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This city has known many wars and various periods of
occupation. According to Jewish tradition it was founded by
Abraham's
forefathers Shem and Eber. In Genesis it was ruled by Melchizedek, regarded
in Jewish tradition as being a priest of God and identical to Shem. Later it
was conquered by the Jebusites. After this it came under Jewish control. The
Bible records that King David defeated the Jebusites in war and captured the
city without destroying it. David then expanded the city to the south, and
declared it the capital city of the united Kingdom of Israel. |
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Map
Middileages showing
Jerusalem the center of the world
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Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when a
Palestinian-Arab state failed to materialize and the
British Mandate of
Palestine was invaded by Egypt and
Jordan, Jerusalem was divided. The
Western half of the New City became part of the new state of Israel, while
the eastern half, along with the Old City, was annexed by Jordan. Jordan
did not allow Jewish access to the Western Wall (also known to non-Jews as
the Wailing Wall) and Temple Mount,
Judaism's holiest sites, in the
Old
City. |
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