Jerusalem

As the ancient capital of the three Abrahmic faiths, Old Jerusalem is today at the center of a sprawling metropolis, sitting on the very line that divides Israelis from Palestinians. Until 1967, the city was divided between Israel and Jordan, with the border running through its central street. In the Six Day War, Israeli forces occupied its Eastern side, and pushed back the Jordanians to the Eastern Bank of the Jordan river. Since, the Israeli government has annexed the Eastern part of the city and officiated it as such in its legislature in 1980. The Palestinians living there however, as well as the rest of the world world, have rejected this annexation and consider East Jerusalem occupied. Indeed, the process through which they have gone under Israel's control examplifies many of the central issues of the Occupation at large - home demolitions, mass imprisonment, land confiscations, settler take-overs, and an incomprehensible administrative matrix of control.   Most significant is the East Jerusalem Palestinians' status as they were never made citizens.  Instead, they were given a permanent residency card which allows them the right to vote for the city's mayor, but not the country's government. The card is conditioned on them not leaving the city for longer than seven years, and if, like tens of thousands in A-Tur, HIzmeh, and Abu Dis neighborhoods, they were effectively annexed by Israel's segregation wall, they too lose their status and access to the city.  

Jerusalem has therefore become one of the corner stones of the so-called Peace Process, as well as resistance to the Occupation, and continues to be one of the most intractable elements of the conflict. For more information, see Ir Amim, OCHA, B'Tselem, or take a tour with ICAHD.