Everything about Jerusalem totally explained
Jerusalem (
, ;
Arabic:
, ) is the
capital of Israel.
Including both Israeli citizens and Arab non-citizens, Jerusalem is the largest city in
Israel in both population and area, with 732,100 residents in an area of 125.1
square kilometers (49
sq mi). Located in the
Judean Mountains, between the
Mediterranean Sea and the northern tip of the
Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown up around the Old City. Its Jewish neighborhoods, circled around its civic and cultural hub, extend westward toward Israel's urban core in
Gush Dan (Tel Aviv region). The
Arab population stretches from the Old City to the East, towards Ramallah in the North, and towards Bethlehem in the South.
The city has a history that goes back as far as the
4th millennium BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.
Jerusalem has been the holiest city in
Judaism and the spiritual center of the
Jewish people since the 10th century
BCE, contains a number of significant ancient
Christian sites, and is widely considered the
third-holiest city in
Islam. Despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometer (0.35 square mile), the Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the
Temple Mount and its
Western Wall for
Jews, the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre for
Christians, and the
Dome of the Rock and
al-Aqsa Mosque for
Muslims. The walled area of Jerusalem, which constituted the entire city until the 1860s, is now called the
Old City, and was added to the
List of World Heritage Sites in danger in 1982. The Old City has been traditionally divided into four quarters, although the names used today—the
Armenian,
Christian,
Jewish, and
Muslim Quarters—were only introduced in the early 19th century.
Today, Jerusalem remains a bone of contention in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israel's
annexation of
East Jerusalem (captured in the 1967
Six-Day War) has been particularly controversial. Jerusalem hasn't been internationally recognized as Israel's capital, and no embassies are located in Jerusalem-proper.
Palestinians view the eastern part of the city in which the Arab population resides as Occupied and consider East Jerusalem the capital of a
potential Palestinian state.
Etymology
Although the precise origin of the Hebrew name for Jerusalem,
Yerushalayim remains uncertain, scholars have come up with a variety of interpretations. Some say it means "legacy of peace" — a combination of
yerusha (legacy) and
shalom (peace). "Shalom" is a cognate of the Hebrew name "Shlomo," for example, King Solomon," the builder of the First Temple. Alternatively, the second part of the word could be
Salem (
Shalem literally "whole" or "in harmony"), an early name for Jerusalem that appears in the Book of
Genesis. Others cite the
Amarna letters, where the
Akkadian name of the city appears as
Urušalim, a cognate of the Hebrew
Ir Shalem. Some believe there's a connection to
Shalim, the beneficent deity known from
Ugaritic myths as the personification of dusk.
A
Midrashic interpretation in
Genesis Rabba explains that
Abraham came to the city that was then called
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
God (indicating that he, like Abraham, was a
monotheist). This encounter between Melchizedek and Abraham was commemorated by renaming the city in their honor: the name
Yeru (derived from
Yireh, the name Abraham gave to the
Temple Mount) was combined with
Shalem, The ending
-im indicates the plural in Hebrew grammar and
-ayim the dual, leading to an interpretation of the name as representing two facets of the city, such as two hills. The pronunciation of the last syllable as
-ayim appears to be a late development, which hadn't yet appeared at the time of the
Septuagint.
A city appears in ancient
Egyptian records called Rushalimum, which many scholars believe to be the first reference to the modern day city of Jerusalem.
History
Ceramic evidence indicates the occupation of
Ophel, within present-day Jerusalem, as far back as the
Copper Age, c.
4th millennium BCE, The earliest written references to the city are probably in the Berlin and Brussels groups of
Execration Texts (
c. 19th century BCE) (which refer to a city called
Roshlamem or
Rosh-ramen) Some archaeologists, including
Kathleen Kenyon, believe Jerusalem as a city was founded by
West Semitic people with organized settlements from around
2600 BCE. According to Jewish tradition the city was founded by
Shem and
Eber, ancestors of
Abraham. The
Biblical account portrays the
Jebusites as having control of the city, inhabiting the area around the present-day city until the late 11th century BCE when
David is said to have invaded and conquered their city,
Jebus, and established it as the capital of the
United Kingdom of Israel and Judah (c. 1000s BCE). Recent excavations of a
large stone structure are interpreted by some archaeologists as lending credence to the biblical narrative.
Temple periods
According to the
Hebrew Bible,
David reigned until 970 BCE, when his son
Solomon became
king of Israel. Within a decade, Solomon began to build the
Holy Temple on
Mount Moriah inside the city.
Solomon's Temple (later known as the
First Temple), went on to play a pivotal role in
Jewish history as the repository of the
Ark of the Covenant. The next four centuries, up until the destruction of Solomon's Temple (c. 586 BCE), are known in history as the
First Temple Period. Upon Solomon's death (c. 930 BCE), the
ten northern tribes split off to form the
Kingdom of Israel. Under the leadership of the House of David and Solomon, Jerusalem remained the capital of the
Kingdom of Judah. When the
Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, Jerusalem was strengthened by a great influx of refugees from the northern kingdom. The First Temple period ended around 586 BCE, as the Babylonians conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and laid waste to Solomon's Temple. Jerusalem resumed its role as capital of Judah and center of Jewish worship. When Macedonian ruler
Alexander the Great conquered the
Persian Empire, Jerusalem and Judea fell under
Macedonian control, eventually falling to the
Ptolemaic dynasty under
Ptolemy I. In 198 BCE,
Ptolemy V lost Jerusalem and
Judea to the
Seleucids under
Antiochus III. The Seleucid attempt to recast Jerusalem as a
Hellenized polis came to a head in 168 BCE with the successful
Maccabean revolt of
Mattathias the
High Priest and his five sons against
Antiochus Epiphanes, and their establishment of the
Hasmonean Kingdom in 152 BCE with Jerusalem again as its capital.
As
Rome became stronger it installed
Herod as a Jewish
client king. Herod the Great, as he was known, devoted himself to developing and beautifying the city. He built walls, towers and palaces, and
expanded the Temple Mount, buttressing the courtyard with blocks of stone weighing up to 100 tons. Under Herod, the area of the
Temple Mount doubled in size. and Herod's descendants through
Agrippa II remained client kings of Judea until 96 CE. Roman rule over Jerusalem and the region began to be challenged with the first
Jewish-Roman war, the
Great Jewish Revolt, which resulted in the destruction of the
Second Temple in 70 CE. In 130 CE
Hadrian Romanized the city, and renamed it
Aelia Capitolina. Jerusalem once again served as the capital of Judea during the three-year rebellion known as the
Bar Kochba revolt. The Romans succeeded in recapturing the city in 135 CE and as a punitive measure Hadrian banned the Jews from entering it. As a result the city became entirely pagan (non-Jewish). Hadrian proceeded to rename the entire
Iudaea Province to
Syria Palaestina after the Biblical
Philistines in an attempt to thwart future rebellion and to de-Judaize
Judea. Enforcement of the ban on Jews entering
Aelia Capitolina continued until the 4th century CE.
In the five centuries following the
Bar Kokhba revolt, the city remained under
Roman then
Byzantine rule. During the 4th century, the
Roman Emperor Constantine I constructed Christian sites in Jerusalem such as the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Jerusalem reached a peak in size and population at the end of the Second Temple Period: The city covered two square kilometers (0.8 sq mi.) and had a population of 200,000
Within the span of just a few decades, Jerusalem shifted from Roman to Persian rule and returned to Roman dominion once more. Following
Sassanid Khosrau II's early seventh century push into
Byzantine and advancing through Syria, Sassanid Generals
Shahrbaraz and
Shahin decided to attack the famous Byzantine-controlled city of Jerusalem (
Persian: Dej Houdkh).
Providing access to the
Mediterranean Sea, the city would provide a strategic location for the Sassanids to begin constructing a naval fleet and its capture would undoubtedly weaken the Byzantine-Empire's overseas strength. In the
Siege of Jerusalem (
614), after 21 days of relentless
siege warfare, Jerusalem was captured and the Persian victory resulted in the territorial annexation of Jerusalem. After the
Sassanid army entered Jerusalem, the holy "
True Cross" was stolen and sent back to the
Sassanian capital as a battle-captured holy relic, and the Jewish rebels joined the Persians. General Shahrbaraz ordered a swift razing and looting of Jerusalem. Having recognized the assistance of the Jews in the significant capture, he even gave them the opportunity to personally massacre their Christian enemies. The conquered city and the Holy Cross would remain in Sassanid hands for some fifteen years until the Byzantine Emperor
Heraclius recovered them in 629. The
Rashidun caliph
Umar ibn al-Khattab signed a treaty with
Monophysite Christian Patriarch
Sophronius, assuring him that Jerusalem's Christian holy places and population would be protected under Muslim rule. Umar was then led to the
Temple Mount, where the
Foundation Stone laid and he and other Muslims began cleaning up the site to build the
al-Aqsa Mosque. Umar was invited by Sophronius to pray at the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but refused fearing future generations of Muslims would claim the church as their own. Instead, however, he arranged the construction of the
Mosque of Umar across from the church.
By the end of the 7th century, the
Umayyad caliph
Abd al-Malik had commissioned and completed the construction of the
Dome of the Rock over the
Foundation Stone. In the four hundred years that followed, Jerusalem's prominence diminished as Arab powers in the region jockeyed for control.
Shifts in control: The Crusades, Saladin, and the Mamluks
In 1099, Jerusalem was
besieged by the
First Crusaders, who massacred most of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants, apart from many Christians. That would be the first of several conquests to take place over the next four hundred years. In 1187, the city was taken from the Crusaders by
Saladin. Between 1228 and 1244, it was given by Saladin's descendant
al-Kamil to the
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Jerusalem fell again in 1244 to the
Khawarizmi Turks, who were later, in 1260, replaced by the
Mamlukes led by
Baibars.
Ottoman rule
In 1517, Jerusalem and its environs fell to the
Ottoman Turks, who would maintain control of the city until the 20th century.. Later, Bukhari Jews formed the Bukhari Compound, and poor Middle Eastern Jews moved out of the Old City to form the neighborhood of Nakhlaot. The era saw a building boom and cultural efflorescence that continued without interruption until World War One.
British Mandate transition period
In 1917 after the
Battle of Jerusalem, the
British Army, led by
General Edmund Allenby, captured the city. The
League of Nations, through its 1922
ratification of the
Balfour Declaration, entrusted the
United Kingdom to administer the
Mandate for Palestine and help establish a "
Jewish National Home" in the region. The period of the Mandate saw the construction of new garden suburbs in the western and northern parts of the city and the establishment of institutions of higher learning such as the
Hebrew University, founded in 1925.
Eric H. Cline, author of
Jerusalem Besieged, notes that Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked an additional 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.
As the
British Mandate for Palestine was expiring, the
1947 UN Partition Plan (Part III) recommended "the creation of a special international regime in the City of Jerusalem, constituting it as a
corpus separatum under the administration of the
United Nations." The international regime was to remain in force for a period of ten years, whereupon a referendum was to be held in which the residents of Jerusalem were to decide the future regime of the city. (Jerusalem had a Jewish majority both in 1948 and in 1958.) However, this plan wasn't implemented as the
Haganah and the
Jordanian Arab Legion fought for control of the city. On
May 28, the Arab Legion gained control over the Old City; all of its Jewish inhabitants were either taken prisoner or handed over to the Red Cross to be permanently transferred to Israeli-controlled areas.
The 1948 War occasioned massive displacement of Arab and Jewish populations shifting space in conjunction with shifts in control. Due to mob and militia violence on both sides, 1,500 of the 3,500 (mostly ultra-Orthodox) Jews in the Old City moved to west Jerusalem as a unit. The ancient village of
Lifta (today within the bounds of Jerusalem) was captured by the nascent Israeli troops in 1948, and its residents were loaded on trucks and taken to East Jerusalem. In addition to the depopulation of thousands of Arabs from Jerusalem's surrounding villages of Lifta,
Deir Yasin, Ein Karem, and Al-Maliha, all predominantly Arab urban centers ringing the western side of Jerusalem's old city were transferred to Israeli control (for example Talbiya, Al-Qatamon, upper and lower Baqa'a, Mamila, and Abu-Tour-Musrara).
After 1948: Establishment of the State of Israel
At the end of the
1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jerusalem found itself divided between Israel and
Jordan (then known as
Transjordan). The
ceasefire line established through the
Armistice Agreement of 1949 between Israel and Jordan, cut through the center of the city from 1949 until 1967, during which time West Jerusalem was part of Israel and
East Jerusalem was part of Jordan. In 1949, Israel designated West Jerusalem as its capital. Contrary to the terms of the
Armistice Agreement of 1949 between Jordan and Israel, Israelis were denied access to Jewish holy sites, many of which were desecrated, and only allowed extremely limited access to Christian holy sites.
Following the 1967
Six-Day War Israel captured East Jerusalem, asserted sovereignty over the entire city, and later in 1980 declared Jerusalem, "complete and united", to be the capital of Israel. This action, however, was criticised in the non-binding
UNSC resolution 478, which declared the assertion of sovereignty to be "null and void." Further, East Jerusalem has been seen by the
Palestinian Arabs as a possible capital of a proposed
Palestinian state. They also refer to Security Council resolution 252, which considers invalid expropriation of land and other actions that tend to change the legal status of Jerusalem. The status of the city and of its holy places remains disputed to this day.
Geography
Jerusalem is situated around on the southern spur of a
plateau in the
Judean Mountains, which include the
Mount of Olives (East) and
Mount Scopus (North East). The elevation of the Old City is approximately 760 m. The whole of Jerusalem is surrounded by valleys and dry
riverbeds (
wadis), although those to the north are less pronounced than those on the other sides.
Three of the most prominent valleys in the region, the
Kidron,
Hinnom, and
Tyropoeon Valleys, intersect in an area just south of the Old City of Jerusalem. The
Kidron Valley runs just to the east of the Old City and separates the
Mount of Olives from the city proper. Along the southern side of old Jerusalem is the
Valley of Hinnom, a steep ravine associated in Biblical
eschatology with the concept of
Gehenna or
hell. A third valley commenced in the northwest near the present-day location of
Damascus Gate, ran south-southeasterly through the center of the Old City down to the
Pool of Siloam, and divided the lower part into two hills, the Temple Mount to the east, and the rest of the city to the west (the lower and the upper cities described by
Josephus). Today, this valley, the Tyropoeon Valley, is mostly hidden from view due to the amount of debris that has accumulated within the ravine over the past few millennia. east of
Tel Aviv and the
Mediterranean Sea. On the opposite side of the city, approximately away, is the
Dead Sea, the
lowest body of water on Earth. Neighboring cities and towns include
Bethlehem and
Beit Jala to the south,
Abu Dis and
Ma'ale Adumim to the east,
Mevaseret Zion to the west, and
Ramallah and
Giv'at Ze'ev to the north.
Climate
The city is characterized by a
Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers, warm to cool spring and autumn, and cool, wet winters. Significant snowfall occurs every couple of winters, with trace snow in 4 out of 5 winters on average. January is the coldest month of the year, with an average monthly temperature of 8 °C (46 °F). July and August are the hottest months, with an average monthly temperature of 23 °C (73 °F). Temperatures vary widely from day to night, and Jerusalem evenings are typically cool even in summer. The average annual precipitation is close to 590 millimetres (23 in) with rain occurring mostly between October and May. Many main streets in Jerusalem were not built to accommodate such a large volume of traffic, leading to traffic congestion and more
carbon monoxide released into the air. Industrial pollution inside the city is sparse, but emissions from factories on the
Israeli Mediterranean coast can travel eastward and settle over the city.
Demographics
In May 2007, Jerusalem had a population of 743,000, of whom 68% were
Jewish, 30% were
Muslim, and 2% were
Christian, and a
population density of . In 2005, Jerusalem received 2,850 immigrants, with nearly three quarters of them arriving from the
United States,
France, and former members of the
Soviet Union. Within Israel, emigrants from Jerusalem outnumber immigrants to the city. In 2005, over ten thousand Israelis migrated to Jerusalem while over sixteen thousand left the city. Explanations for this decline are the soaring cost of housing in Jerusalem, the smaller job market and the growing religious character of the city. Many young people are moving to the suburbs and coastal cities in search of cheaper housing and the more secular lifestyle offered by other cities.
Demographics and the Jewish-Arab population divide continue to play a major role in the dispute over Jerusalem. In 1998, the Jerusalem Development Authority proposed expanding city limits to the west to include more areas heavily populated with Jews.
Local government
The Jerusalem
City Council has thirty-one elected members, one of whom is the mayor. The mayor serves a five-year term and appoints six deputies. The current mayor of Jerusalem,
Uri Lupolianski was elected in 2003. Apart from the mayor and his deputies, City Council members receive no salaries and work on a voluntary basis. The longest-serving Jerusalem mayor was
Teddy Kollek, who spent twenty-eight years — six consecutive terms — in office. Most of the meetings of the Jerusalem City Council are private, but each month, it holds a session that's open to the public.
The headquarters of the Jerusalem Municipality and the mayor's office are at
Safra Square (
Kikar Safra) on
Jaffa Road. The new municipal complex, comprising two modern buildings and ten renovated historic buildings surrounding a large plaza, opened in 1993. The city falls under the
Jerusalem District, with Jerusalem as the district's capital.
Capital of Israel
On
December 5,
1949, the State of Israel's first
Prime Minister,
David Ben-Gurion, proclaimed Jerusalem as Israel's
capital At the time of the proclamation, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and
Jordan and thus only West Jerusalem was considered Israel's capital. Immediately after the 1967 Six-Day War, however, Israel annexed
East Jerusalem, making it a
de facto part of the Israeli capital. Israel enshrined the status of the "complete and united" Jerusalem — west and east — as its capital, in the 1980
Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel. has been a matter of immense controversy within the international community. Although some countries maintain consulates in Jerusalem, and two maintain embassies in Jerusalem suburbs, all
embassies are located outside of the city proper, mostly in
Tel Aviv.
The
non-binding United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, passed on
August 20,
1980, declared that the Basic Law was "null and void and must be rescinded forthwith." Member states were advised to withdraw their diplomatic representation from the city as a punitive measure. Most of the remaining countries with embassies in Jerusalem complied with the resolution by relocating them to
Tel Aviv, where many embassies already resided prior to Resolution 478. Currently there are no embassies located within the city limits of Jerusalem, although there are embassies in
Mevaseret Zion, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and four consulates in the city itself. However, U.S. presidents, including
President Bush and
President Clinton, have argued that Congressional resolutions regarding the status of Jerusalem are merely advisory. The Constitution reserves foreign relations as an executive power, and as such, the US embassy is still in Tel Aviv.
Israel's most prominent governmental institutions, including the
Knesset, the
Supreme Court, and the official residences of the
President and
Prime Minister, are located in Jerusalem.
Palestinian claims
Prior to the creation of the State of Israel, Jerusalem served as the administrative capital of the
British Mandate of Palestine, which included present-day
Israel and
Jordan. From 1949 until 1967, West Jerusalem served as Israel's capital but wasn't recognized internationally as Israel's capital, because
UN General Assembly Resolution 194 ruled Jerusalem an international city. As a result of the
Six-Day War in 1967, the whole of Jerusalem came under Israeli control. According to the
Oslo Accords, the final status of Jerusalem should be determined by peaceful negotiations, as the
Palestinian National Authority sees East Jerusalem as the capital of a future
Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials have encouraged Arabs over the years to stay in the city to maintain their claim. Jerusalem has been a magnet for Arab migrants, offering more jobs than any city in the
West Bank or
Gaza Strip. Palestinians are attracted to the access to
jobs,
healthcare,
social security, other benefits, and overall
quality of life Israel provides to Jerusalem residents. Arab residents of Jerusalem who choose not to have Israeli citizenship are granted an Israeli identity card that allows them to pass through checkpoints with relative ease and to travel throughout Israel, making it easier to find work. Residents also are entitled to the subsidized healthcare and social security benefits Israel provides its citizens. Palestinians in Jerusalem can send their children to Israeli-run schools, although not every neighborhood has one, and universities. Israeli doctors and highly regarded hospitals such as
Hadassah Medical Center are available to residents.
Culture
Although Jerusalem is known around the world for its
religious significance, the city is also home to many artistic and cultural venues. The
Israel Museum, Jerusalem's premier art museum, annually attracts nearly one million visitors, approximately one-third of them international tourists. The twenty-acre museum complex comprises several buildings featuring special exhibits and extensive collections of Judaica, archaeological findings, and Israeli and European art. The
Dead Sea scrolls, discovered in the mid-twentieth century in the
Qumran caves near the Dead Sea, are housed in the Museum's
Shrine of the Book. The Youth Wing, which mounts changing exhibits and runs an extensive art education program, is visited by 100,000 children a year. The museum has a large outdoor sculpture garden, and a scale-model of the Second Temple was recently moved from the Holyland Hotel to a new location on the museum grounds. Ticho House, in downtown Jerusalem, houses the paintings of
Anna Ticho and the Judaica collections of her husband, an ophthalmologist who opened Jerusalem's first eye clinic in this building in 1912.
Another prominent cultural institution in Jerusalem is
Yad Vashem, Israel's national memorial to the victims of
the Holocaust. Yad Vashem houses the world's largest library of Holocaust-related information, with an estimated 100,000 books and articles. The complex contains a state-of-the-art museum that explores the genocide of the Jews through exhibits that focus on the personal stories of individuals and families whose lives were torn asunder, and a gallery displaying permanent and changing exhibits of work by artists who died in the Holocaust. The Orchestra has held performances in cities around the world, including
Vienna,
Frankfurt, and
New York City. and the Jerusalem Cinematheque. The
Jerusalem Theater, located in the
Talbiya neighborhood, hosts over 150 concerts a year, as well as theater and dance companies and performing artists from overseas. Other prominent facilities for the
performing arts include the
International Convention Center (
Binyanei HaUma) near the entrance to city, where the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra plays, the Gerard Behar Center in downtown Jerusalem, the
Jerusalem Music Center in
Yemin Moshe, and the Targ Music Center in
Ein Kerem. The
Palestinian National Theatre, founded in 1984 and once the only center for art and culture in East Jerusalem, today presents art from the
Palestinian perspective. The
Israel Festival, featuring local and international vocal artists, concerts, plays and street theater, has been held annually since 1961. For the past 25 years, Jerusalem has been the major organizer of this event, which takes place in May-June, and most of the performances take place at venues around the city.
Religious significance
Jerusalem plays an important role in the three
monotheistic religions —
Judaism,
Christianity, and
Islam. The 2000 Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem lists 1204
synagogues, 158
churches, and 73
mosques within the city. Despite efforts to maintain peaceful religious coexistence, some sites, such as the
Temple Mount, have been a continuous source of friction and controversy.
Jerusalem has been sacred to the Jews since the 10th century BCE, Synagogues around the world are traditionally built with the Holy Ark facing Jerusalem, and Arks within Jerusalem face the
"Holy of Holies". As prescribed in the
Mishna and codified in the
Shulchan Aruch, daily prayers are recited while facing towards Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Many Jews have "
Mizrach" plaques hung on a wall of their homes to indicate the direction of prayer.
Christianity reveres Jerusalem not only for its role in the
Old Testament but also for its significance in the life of
Jesus. According to Biblical accounts, Jesus was brought to the city of Jerusalem not long after his birth and later in his life cleansed the Second Temple. The
Cenacle, believed to be the site of Jesus'
Last Supper, is located on
Mount Zion in the same building that houses the
Tomb of King David. Another prominent Christian site in Jerusalem is
Golgotha, the site of the
crucifixion. The
Gospel of John describes it as being located outside Jerusalem, but recent archaeological evidence suggests Golgotha is a short distance from the Old City walls, within the present-day confines of the city. The land currently occupied by the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre is considered one of the top candidates for Golgotha and thus has been a Christian pilgrimage site for the past two thousand years.
According to tradition, Jerusalem is widely considered the
third-holiest city in Islam. The city's lasting place in Islam, however, is primarily due to
Muhammad's
Night of Ascension (c. 620 CE). Muslims believe Muhammad was miraculously transported one night from
Mecca to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, whereupon he ascended to
Heaven to meet previous
prophets of Islam. The first verse in the
Qur'an's Surat al-Isra notes the destination of Muhammad's journey as
al-Aqsa (the farthest) mosque, in reference to the location in Jerusalem. Today, the Temple Mount is topped by two Islamic landmarks intended to commemorate the event —
al-Aqsa Mosque, derived from the name mentioned in the Qur'an, and the
Dome of the Rock, which stands over the
Foundation Stone, from which Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to Heaven.
Sports
The two most popular sports in Jerusalem, and Israel as a whole, are
football (soccer) and
basketball.
Beitar Jerusalem Football Club is one of the most popular teams in Israel. Fans include several former and current political figures who make a point of attending its games. Jerusalem's other major football team, and one of Beitar's top rivals, is
Hapoel Jerusalem Football Club. Whereas Beitar has been
Israel State Cup champion five times, Hapoel has only won the Cup once. Also, Beitar plays in the more prestigious
premier league, while Hapoel is in the third division
national league.
In basketball,
Hapoel Jerusalem is higher up on the scale. In
a league dominated by
Maccabi Tel Aviv it has yet to win a championship, but it has won the Israeli Cup three times, and it took the European
ULEB Cup in 2004. Since its opening in 1992,
Teddy Kollek Stadium has been Jerusalem's primary football stadium, with a capacity of 21,000.
Economy
Jaffa and
Gaza. Jerusalem's religious landmarks today remain the top draw for foreign visitors, with the majority of tourists visiting the
Western Wall and the
Old City, In 2006, the average monthly income for a worker in Jerusalem was
NIS5,940 (
US$1,410), NIS1,350 less than that for a worker in Tel Aviv. Although Tel Aviv remains Israel's financial center, a growing number of
high tech companies are moving to Jerusalem, providing 12,000 jobs in 2006. Northern Jerusalem's
Har Hotzvim industrial park is home to some of Israel's major corporations, among them
Intel,
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and
ECI Telecom. Expansion plans for the park envision one hundred businesses, a fire station, and a school, covering an area of 530,000 m² (130 acres).
Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the national government has remained a major player in Jerusalem's economy. The government, centered in Jerusalem, not only generates a large number of jobs, but also offers
subsidies and incentives for new business initiatives and start-ups.
Egged Bus Cooperative, the second-largest bus company in the world, handles most of the local and intercity bus service out of the city's
Central Bus Station on
Jaffa Road near the western entrance to Jerusalem from
highway 1.
Israel Railways runs a limited rail service to
Malha train station, from Tel Aviv via
Beit Shemesh.
Begin Expressway is one of Jerusalem's major north-south thoroughfares; it runs on the western side of the city until its northern end merges with
Route 443, which continues toward Tel Aviv.
Route 60 runs through the center of the city near the
Green Line that,
de facto, separates East Jerusalem from West Jerusalem. Construction is progressing on parts of a 35-
kilometer (22-
mile)
ring road around the city, fostering faster connection between the
suburbs. The eastern half of the project was conceptualized decades ago, but reaction to the proposed highway is still mixed. The rail system will be capable of transporting an estimated 200,000 people daily. It will have twenty four stops, and is scheduled for completion in January 2009. is the new
high-speed rail line from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which is scheduled to be completed in 2011. Its terminus will be an underground station (80m deep) serving the national Convention centre and the Central Bus Station, and is planned to be extended eventually to
Malha station.
Education
Jerusalem is home to several prestigious universities, with courses offered in
Hebrew,
Arabic, and
English. Founded in 1925, the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem is one of the most respected institutions of higher learning in Israel. The Board of Governors has included such prominent Jewish intellectuals as
Albert Einstein and
Sigmund Freud.
David Gross, and
Daniel Kahneman. One of the university's major assets is the
Jewish National and University Library, which houses over five million books. The library opened in 1892, over three decades before the university was established, and is one of the world's largest repositories of books on Jewish subjects. Today it's both the central library of the university and the national library of Israel. The Hebrew University operates three campuses in Jerusalem, on
Mount Scopus, on
Giv'at Ram and a medical campus at the
Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital.
Al-Quds University was established in 1984, to serve as a flagship university for the Arab and Palestinian peoples. It describes itself as the "only Arab university in Jerusalem". Al-Quds University resides southeast of the city proper on a campus encompassing 190,000 square metres (47 acres). and
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, whose buildings are located on the campuses of the Hebrew University.
The
Jerusalem College of Technology, founded in 1969, combines training in
engineering and other high-tech industries with a Jewish studies program. It is one of many schools in Jerusalem, from elementary school and up, that combine secular and religious studies. Numerous religious educational institutions and
Yeshivot are based in the city, with the
Mir yeshiva claiming to be the largest. There were nearly 8,000 twelfth-grade students in Hebrew-language schools during the 2003–2004 school year.
Schools for
Arabs in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel have been criticized for offering a lower quality education than those catering to Israeli Jewish students. While many schools in the heavily Arab
East Jerusalem are filled to capacity and there have been complaints of overcrowding, the Jerusalem Municipality is currently building over a dozen new schools within the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of
Sheikh Jarrah,
Issawiya,
Sur Baher, Umm Lison,
Beit Hanina, and
Wadi Joz. In March 2007, the Israeli government approved a 5-year plan to build 8,000 new classrooms in the city, 40 percent in the Arab sector and 28 percent in the Haredi sector. A budget of 4.6 billion shekels was allocated for this project. Because Arab high school students take the
Bagrut matriculation exams, much of their curriculum parallels that of other Israeli high schools, including certain Jewish subjects.
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