Jerusalem: City of Peace

Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives 

Introduction

by Housewife4Palestine

Their seems to be a lot of misinformation about the history of Jerusalem and many in the West have been taught it was founded and always was a Jewish city. This is a misconception to the real history of this region. Myself, I yet to completely understand where these misconceptions came from; I can only say I have and idea.

I am going to try to clarify these misconceptions, so people get a clearer view of the truth about Jerusalem; the city originally founded for Peace.


Common History

Jerusalem (31°46′N 35°14′E; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القُدس al-Quds; Greek Ιεροσόλυμα) is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meters. It is located east of Tel Aviv, south of Ramallah, west of Jericho and north of Bethlehem. From 1948 until 1967, the Western part of Jerusalem was administered by Israel as its capital, while East Jerusalem was administered by Jordan. The city was reunited by the Israeli victory in the Six-Day War, although its status remains disputed. An Israeli law of 1980 declared Jerusalem to be the 'eternal, undivided' capital of Israel, while East Jerusalem is being claimed as the intended capital of a future Palestinian state. The status of the city's holy places is also disputed.

Jerusalem has a long history. Archaeological findings indicate the existence of a settlement in Jerusalem in the 3rd millennium BCE. The first mention of the city in historic sources begins in the 2nd millennium BCE. First built and founded by Canaanite peoples (possibly, but not necessarily the Jebusites who occupied the city during the late Bronze Age), it became the capital of the Jewish kingdoms of Israel, Judah and Judea in the First Temple and Second Temple periods. It continued to be an important city in the Holy Land during the Muslim rule. It is the holiest city of Judaism, and is of special significance to Christianity and Islam.

With a population of 704,900 (as of December 31, 2004, Jerusalem is a 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, the first Haredi to ever hold such position.

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 Ramban for explanation.) "Shalem" is the original name used in Genesis 14:18 for the city. Similarly the Amarna Letters call the city Urušalim 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.

History

According to Jewish mythology and tradition, Jerusalem was founded by Shem and Ever, ancestors of Abraham. Modern archaeology traces the earliest written record of the city to Egyptian records of the Bronze Age. It is thought that the city existed at least as long ago as 3000 BCE. It was first built and founded by the Canaanites, who gave it the name Uru Salim, meaning "the city of peace".

From about 1600 to 1300 BCE, the city came under Egyptian suzerainty, though continued to be governed by Canaanite rulers who paid tribute to the Pharaohs. During this period, the city increasingly came under attacks from the Habiru, who possibly were the ancestors of the Hebrews.

According to Biblical tradition, the city was controlled by the Jebusites until its conquest by David, c. 1000 BCE. David expanded the city to the south, and declared it the capital city of the united Kingdom of Israel. In c. 960 BCE, Solomon built the First Jewish Temple. For about four centuries after the ten tribes split off to form the northern Kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem served as the capital of the southern Kingdom of Judah.

By the end of the First Temple period, Jerusalem was the sole acting religious shrine in the kingdom, and a center of regular pilgrimage. Historical records corroborate some of the Biblical history from around the 9th century BCE, and attest the significance of the Temple in Jewish religious life. In 597 BCE, the city was overcome by the Babylonians under Nebuchadrezzar, and in 586 BCE, the city's walls were ruined and the Temple was burnt. After several decades of captivity, the Jews were allowed by Cyrus II of Persia to return to Judah and rebuild the city and the Temple. It continued to be the capital of Judah and center of Jewish worship for another four centuries under the Hasmonean Kingdom.

By 19 BCE, the Temple Mount was elevated and the Second Temple was expanded under Herod the Great, a Jewish client-king under Roman rule. In 6 CE, the city and Iudaea Province came under direct Roman rule. The Great Jewish Revolt resulted in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The city served as the national capital again for almost 3 years during the Bar Kokhba's revolt against Rome; it was sacked in 135 CE. For almost two millennia thereafter, Jerusalem did not serve as the national capital of any independent state, until the renewed independence of Israel in 1948.

In 638, the city was taken by the advancing Muslim forces. The rights of the non-Muslims under Islam were governed by the Pact of Umar, and Christians and Jews living in the city were granted autonomy in exchange for a required poll tax. Whereas the Byzantine Christian authorities had not tolerated the presence of Jews within the walls of the city, the Muslim rulers allowed the reestablishment of a Jewish community.[2] After the treaty of Capitulation signed with the Byzantines, Umar ordered the Patriarch Sophronius to guide him and those who accompanied him to the sanctuary of King David, where he later decided to build a mosque in front of the Rock. The mosque became known as Masjid al Aqsa.

In 1099, the city was conquered by the First Crusaders, who slaughtered most of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. A series of conquests followed: in 1187 the city was taken from the Crusaders by Saladin. From 1228 to 1244, it was given by Saladin's descendant al-Kamil to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, but it fell again to the Ayyubids of Egypt in 1244. The Ayyubids were replaced in 1260 by the Mamelukes, and in 1517, Jerusalem and its environs fell to the Ottoman Turks. In 1917, the British Army led by General Allenby captured the city.

As the British Mandate of Palestine was expiring, the 1947 UN Partition Plan (Part III) recommended that "The City of Jerusalem shall be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations."

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. From 1950 to 1967, the capital claimed by Israel comprised Western Jerusalem. Ever since Israel captured Eastern Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel has administered and has asserted sovereignty over the entire city. The status of the city is disputed.

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, Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Al-Aqsa Mosque.


Security Presence in Jerusalem 

Modern Culture


View of the Modern Section of Jerusalem 

Jerusalem houses many museums. The Israel Museum is one of the most famous. It includes a large collection of art and archaeological artifacts. In the "Shrine of the Book", it exhibits the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Rockefeller Museum is the city's specific museum for archeology. The Ticho House provides an art collections in a historical building. The Tower of David Museum is the main municipal museum, it includes models of the city and changing exhibits. Yad Vashem is the national Holocaust museum and monument. The Islamic Museum in the Old City and Islamic Art Museum near the President's house both have collections of Islamic art, holy scripts and artifacts.

The city has two professional orchestras, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra-IBA and the Israel Camerata Jerusalem. In walking distance from the old city (southwest) is a cluster of cultural institutions. The Khan Theater is Jerusalem's only repertory theater. The Jerusalem Cinematheque is the venue in Jerusalem to watch non-commercial movies. It houses annually an international film festival and a Jewish film festival. In the Sultan Pool open air concerts are held, by Israeli artists and guests from abroad. The Jerusalem Music Center in Mishkanot Sheananim hosts chamber music concerts and workshops.

Adjacent to the Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus are the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. The Givat Ram campus is also the home to the Jewish National and University Library, itself home to the Albert Einstein archives and the Eran Laor Cartographic Collection. The Synagogue of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center is home to the Marc Chagall windows depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

The main cultural event of the year is the Israel Festival, with international and local street performances and repertory and alternative musicians and theater groups.