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Jerusalem and Occupation

Al Quds Index

In 1917, Jerusalem was captured by British forces under General Edmund Allenby. After the war it was made the capital of the British mandate. As the end of the mandate approached, Arabs and Jews both sought to hold sole possession of the city.

Most Christians favored a free city open to all religions. This view prevailed in the United Nations, which, in partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, declared that Jerusalem and its environs (including Bethlehem) would be an internationally administered enclave in the projected Arab state. Even before the partition went into effect (May 14, 1948), fighting between Jews and Arabs broke out in the city.

In 1948, the Zionists realized their first dream by creating a Jewish State in 80% of the territory of Palestine.

By force they expelled from the area they occupied over 800,000 Palestinians. They destroyed over 492 Arab villages in order to erase the Arab identity of the land.

According to the record of the Islamic Higher Council in Jerusalem, Zionists destroyed and erased 480 Muslim Mosques and 14 of those mosques were converted to secular control as factories, clubs, or other nonreligious purposes. They also destroyed 410 Muslim cemeteries. They occupied all Muslim religious properties (Waqf property) in the twelve cities they occupied and in many villages.

On May 28, the Jews in the Old City surrendered. The New City remained in Jewish hands. The Old City and all areas held by the Arab Legion (East Jerusalem) were annexed by Jordan in Apr. 1949. Israel responded by retaining the area it held. On Dec. 14, 1949, the New City of Jerusalem was made the capital of Israel.

In the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, Israeli forces took the Old City. The Israeli government then formally annexed the Old City and placed all of Jerusalem under a unified administration. Arab East Jerusalemites were offered regular Israeli citizenship but chose to maintain their status as Jordanians. Israel transferred many Arabs out of the Old City but promised access to the holy places to people of all religions. In July 1980, Israel's parliament approved a bill affirming Jerusalem as the nation's capital. With suburbanization and housing developments in formerly Jordanian-held territory, Jerusalem has become Israel's largest city. Strife between Arabs and Jews persists. The issue of the status of East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel but regarded by Palestinians as the eventual capital of their own state, remains difficult. In 1998, Israel announced a controversial plan to expand Jerusalem by annexing nearby towns.