Jerusalem: A Brief Introduction
Jerusalem is holy to the three major monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – and iconic for much of the world. Divided between 1948 and 1967, it has since then been nominally unified as the capital of Israel, but the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is deeply imprinted in the physical and social fabric of the city. After the 1967 war, Israel annexed Jordanian East Jerusalem along with 64 square kilometres of territory from the surrounding West Bank, unilaterally claiming this 108 square kilometre area as the expanded Jerusalem municipality. The annexation has not been recognised by any other state or international body. Despite the attempts to unify the city under Israeli hegemony, two contested political realities – Israeli and Palestinian - have emerged. The majority of Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Through the 1967 annexation, 66,000* Palestinians were drawn into the newly expanded municipal boundaries and granted residency permits. Today approximately 253,000 Palestinians are officially permanent residents in East Jerusalem, constituting about one third of the city’s total population. East Jerusalem is also home to about 190,000 Israelis who live in settlements built since 1967 (estimate from 2005); these areas are known as ‘new’ or ‘satellite neighbourhoods’ by Israelis and ‘colonies’ by Palestinians. This situation has been exacerbated by the recent building of a 168 km long barrier (consisting of concrete and fenced sections), which when complete will separate and effectively seal East Jerusalem from the West Bank. The Israeli government states that the purpose of this barrier is to protect Israeli citizens from terrorist attacks. Palestinians denounce the separation barrier as apartheid and a mechanism of land-grabbing, control and oppression.
Today, Jerusalem is divided and damaged, and even if there were to be an immediate peace agreement it is unclear how such a city could be viable for both Palestinians and Israelis. At the same time, and despite the current political deadlock, violent outbursts, and daily misery, both populations continue to function with some degree of co-existence and social, economic and cultural exchange. Such phenomena are mostly unplanned and uncontrolled, and they undermine the official politics of security through planning and segregation.
*All figures are quoted from UN OCHA reports of 2007 (http://ochaonline.un.org/)