MUSLIM RULE AND THE CRUSADES. Following a brief period of Persian rule
in the early 7th century, Muslim Caliph Omar conquered Aelia in 638 (see Early
Arabs, ). The Temple Mount was cleansed and hallowed anew as a center of
When the 1967 (Six-Day) War broke out, Israel requested that Jordan not get
involved; King Hussein attacked West Jerusalem anyway. In the course of the war,
Israel captured East Jerusalem, the Old City, and the West Bank from the Jordani-
ans. On June 29 of that year, Israel declared the newly unified Jerusalem its "eter-
nal capital." The walls separating the Israeli and Arab sectors were torn down, and
life under Israeli rule began for Jerusalem's Arabs.
The 25 years following the 1967 War saw large scale construction outside the
Old City. Land owned by Palestinians who had fled during the war was taken over
by Israel (see PLO and Jordan, 2). Vast new Israeli housing developments were
built north and south of the city, assuring a Jewish presence in areas previously
under Jordanian rule. The old campus of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus,
maintained as a military post since 1948, was expanded. Intensive gardening
projects blossomed throughout the city, including parks that encircle the Old City.
The 1987 outbreak of the Intifada (uprising) of Palestinians protesting Israeli
occupation had some effect on Jerusalem, though demonstrations were more
common in West Bank towns (see Intifada, 4). The Palestinians made it clear
that they regarded East Jerusalem as a part of the West Bank and the future capital
of their desired state. Meanwhile, clashes between the Israeli army and stone-
throwing Palestinians, as well as occasional stabbings of Jews in the Old City,
turned East Jerusalem and the Old City into alien territory for Jewish Israelis and
visitors. Matters were made worse in October 1990 when fighting broke out
between Jews and Palestinians at the Western Wall. Israeli police killed 17 Pales-
tinians and wounded almost 150 others during the ensuing crackdown. In Febru-
ary 1996, the militant Palestinian group Hamas brought bloodshed to West
Jerusalem in two bus bombings that killed dozens; the following summer, a pair of
suicide bombings only weeks apart caused the deaths of 20 bystanders. The sec-
ond Intifada, which began in early 2001, has seen a similar wave of violence in
Jerusalem, as well as throughout Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The future of Jerusalem is perhaps the most sensitive issue of the current
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Israel adamantly refuses to discuss withdrawing
from its capital, while Palestinians fervently oppose abandoning claims to their
most important city.
HSAFETY WARNING. Tensions sometimes make East Jerusalem and parts
of the Old City unfriendly to Israelis and Jewish foreigners. Jewish travelers should
make their tourist status as pronounced as possible and speak English. Wearing
a kippah is a bad idea in Arab parts of town (cover it with a baseball cap).
В getting there and away
Flights: Ben-Gurion Airport (Info for all airlines m03 972 33 44. El Al English info m03
972 33 88. Automated flight reconfirmation иОЗ 972 23 33.) is only an hour from
Jerusalem and easily accessible; you do not need to go to Tel Aviv first, no matter how
early your flight, thanks to the 24hr. sherut service offered by Nesher (see Taxis, below).