The Old City - Jerusalem Initiative for Peace

The ancient city of Jerusalem is known worldwide both in history and our modern times as central issue to the religion and the nationalism of Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, both Muslim and Christian, alike in which it makes it the most emotional and volatile of all the issues in dispute between the two parties. The heart of the dispute over Jerusalem is known widely as the Old City. It is there we find the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif Beyond the religious significance, the city of Jerusalem is also seen as the national capital of both Jews and Palestinian Arabs. It was the central city in the Kingdom of Judah, and thus the only identifiable capital Jews have had in their history¿ The international community does not technically recognize either Israeli or Palestinian sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem. The 1947 United Nations plan to partition Palestine stipulated that Jerusalem would be under international jurisdiction, providing for the protection of the people and sites in the contested city. None of the events since then have been recognized by the international community as changing that status.