East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem is a part of the city of Jerusalem.

It has an area called the Old City. This place is very old.

Many people visit to pray. It is important to Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

People have lived there for a long time. Some lived there a long time ago.

Many people want it to be a capital. It is a very special place.

East Jerusalem is a part of the city of Jerusalem.

It sits on the eastern side of the city. This area contains the famous Old City. The Old City is a very special place. It has holy sites for Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

You can see the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock there.

The history of this place is very complex. After a war in 1948, Jordan held the eastern side. Then, Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967. Many countries see this area as part of Palestinian lands. Some nations say East Jerusalem should be the capital of Palestine. Others say it is the capital of Israel.

In 2020, about 595,000 people lived there. Most of them were Palestinian Arabs. About 39 percent were Jewish Israelis. People have lived in this area for a very long time. Some people lived there as far back as 5000 BCE. This makes it one of the oldest places in the world.

East Jerusalem is a very important part of the city of Jerusalem.

It sits on the eastern side of the city. This area contains the famous Old City, which is a very special place. The Old City holds many holy sites for three major religions. These are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

You can see the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock there. These sites make the area a center for people from all over the world.

This area has a very long history of people living there. Settlement in this part of the world began as far back as 5000 BCE. Long ago, people lived near the City of David. They chose this spot because it was near the Gihon Spring.

Ancient builders even made water channels out of rock. They used huge rocks that weighed up to three tonnes. This shows how people have worked to live here for thousands of years.

Modern history has seen many changes in who controls this land. After a war in 1948, the city was divided into two parts.

The western part went to Israel, but the eastern part went to Jordan. This included the Old City and most of the holy places. Later, in the 1967 war, Israel captured East Jerusalem. Since then, Israel has had control over the whole city. In 1980, Israel made a law to say Jerusalem is its unified capital.

Today, many different groups of people have different ideas about this place. The United Nations and many other groups see it as occupied Palestinian territory. Some countries, like China and Russia, say East Jerusalem should be the capital of Palestine. Other countries, like France and Australia, say it will be a future capital. In 2020, about 595,000 people lived in East Jerusalem. Most of these people, about 61 percent, were Palestinian Arabs. The other 39 percent were Jewish Israelis.

Because of these different views, the area can be a hard place to manage.

People often have strong feelings about who owns the land and the holy sites. The area has many different neighborhoods and some new areas built recently.

Some of these neighborhoods are seen as illegal by the international community. Yet, many residents are becoming part of Israeli society through school and work. It remains a place where history and modern life meet in many ways.

East Jerusalem is a territory with a highly disputed status.

It is the portion of Jerusalem located east of the Green Line. This line was established by armistice agreements following the 1948 Palestine war. The area is globally significant because it contains the Old City. This historic center holds many sites of religious importance for Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

Because of these holy sites, the region is a central focus of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

The history of the area involves many shifts in control. Settlement in this region dates back to the Chalcolithic period around 5000 BCE. In the late second millennium BCE, people concentrated near the City of David. They settled there due to its proximity to the Gihon Spring. Ancient Canaanite builders even excavated water channels through rock. They used massive stones weighing up to three tonnes for their constructions. This long history of habitation has made the land deeply meaningful to many cultures.

Modern political boundaries changed significantly during the 20th century. In 1947, the United Nations proposed a partition plan. This plan envisioned Jerusalem as an international city called a corpus separatum. However, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War prevented this. The 1949 Armistice Agreements divided the city into two sectors. The western half came under Israeli control. The eastern half, containing the Old City, fell under Jordanian rule.

The only eastern area remaining in Israeli hands during this time was the Mount Scopus enclave.

A major turning point occurred during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel captured and occupied East Jerusalem during this conflict. Following this, Israel unilaterally annexed the territory. In 1980, the Jerusalem Law declared the entire city to be the unified capital of Israel.

This annexation is not recognized by much of the international community. The United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations consider East Jerusalem to be part of the Palestinian territories. They describe the situation as an illegal occupation under international law.

The demographic makeup of East Jerusalem is diverse. In 2020, the population was approximately 595,000 inhabitants.

Of these people, 361,700, or 61 percent, were Palestinian Arabs. The remaining 234,000, or 39 percent, were Jewish Israelis. Many Arab residents are increasingly integrated into Israeli society through education and national service. However, the political status of these residents remains a subject of intense debate. Different groups use different names for the area, such as "Arab Jerusalem" or "Occupied East Jerusalem."

International recognition of the city's status varies by country. Many states recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine. For example, China and Russia have expressed support for this position. All 57 members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation hold this view. Other nations, such as France and Australia, describe the area as occupied territory. They suggest that East Jerusalem will eventually become the capital of Palestine. Most countries currently maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv instead of Jerusalem.

The physical landscape has also been transformed by modern development. After the 1967 war, municipal boundaries were extended. This made the city area three times larger than the pre-war West Jerusalem. This expansion included several West Bank villages and eight suburban neighborhoods.

The international community considers these new settlements to be illegal. The Israeli government disputes this, citing the extended municipal boundaries. These changes continue to impact the relationship between the different populations living in the region.