Encyclopedia of Islam

Jerusalem

  

395  J

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quarters), and other Christians (Greeks, Latins, 

and Copts) before the end of the 18th century. By 

1850, Jerusalem had an estimated total popula-

tion of 15,000, with Jews becoming the largest 

group (6,000) for the first time since the Roman 

period. By the turn of the century, the city had 

55,000 residents, including a large Jewish major-

ity (35,000).

CONTEMpOrAry JEruSAlEM

As the Ottoman Empire collapsed from internal 

and external forces, Jerusalem became subject 

to increasing involvement by European powers 

and growing tensions among the different com-

munities that lived in it. European governments 

opened consulates there, and missionaries opened 

schools and churches to win converts. European 

Jewish philanthropists such as the Montefiores 

and the Rothschilds supported the building of 

schools, clinics, and hospitals for the city’s Jewish 

population. Meanwhile, Jerusalem had become 

the focal point of a worldwide Zionist movement 

that sought to create a modern national home-

land for all Jews. After World War I, the Ottoman 

Empire collapsed. Its holdings in Syria, Transjor-

dan (later Jordan), and Palestine were divided 

between France and Britain, the two main victors 

in the war. Transjordan and Palestine (including 

Jerusalem) fell under the British mandate, which 

remained in effect until 1948, when the modern 

state of Israel was created. During the mandate 

period, Palestinian Arab nationalism was also 

stirred, and Jerusalem became a major center for 

the Palestinian nationalist movement, a largely 

secular movement that included Arab Christians 

as well as Muslims.

Conflict between Jewish and Arab nationalisms 

led to the division of Jerusalem into two parts in 

the war of 1947–48. Although the United Nations 

recommended that the city be internationalized, 

Jews claimed control of West Jerusalem and Arabs 

claimed East Jerusalem. The dividing line ran 

north to south in line with the western wall of the 

Old City. Israel made West Jerusalem its capital, 

despite international objections. Jordan ruled East 

Jerusalem until the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when 

the entire city came under Israeli control. Today 

Jerusalem remains a much-contested holy city—a 

focal point of religious violence, nationalist aspi-

rations, and messianic expectations that extend all 

the way to the evangelical Christian communities 

of the United States. Its status as Israel’s capital 

remains controversial. Calls for its internation-

alization continue, but there is also support for 

making it the shared capital of both Israel and a 

Palestinian state that has yet to be realized. Mean-

while, the city has grown in size and population. 

It is Israel’s largest city, followed by Tel Aviv-Jaffa 

and Haifa. In 2007, according to the Israeli Cen-

tral Bureau of Statistics, it had more than 732,000 

inhabitants (65 percent Jews, 32 percent Muslims, 

and 2 percent Christians), including those living 

in outlying towns and settlements.

See also a

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aliphate

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rab

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sraeli

 

con

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Flicts

;  c

hristianity

 

and

  i

slam

; F

atimid

 

dynasty

; 

J

Udaism

 

and

 i

slam

; m

amlUk

; o

ttoman

 

dynasty

.