Jerusalem Fact Sheet
The Jewish Presence
Through the Ages
Received from
Israel Hasbara Committee
www.infoisrael.net
1. General Considerations
a. The connection between the Jewish People and the City of Jerusalem
is one of the most well documented facts in world history. In Jewish
traditional sources, the word "Jerusalem" is mentioned over 600
times, at least 140 times in the New Testament, but never in the
Koran. There is a reference in the Koran (17:7) to the destruction
of the First and Second Temples, which were located in Jerusalem.
There is also a reference in the Koran (34:13) to King David and his
son, King Solomon who built the First Temple in Jerusalem. But the
Koran, which is about 1,400 years old, does not explicitly mention
the word "Jerusalem." Considering the word "Jerusalem"
existed for
about 2,000 years prior to the birth of Islam, this is noteworthy.
b. Jerusalem was founded by King David on the former Jebusite city of
Jebus about 3,300 years ago when he renamed it and gave it a Jewish
character. Jerusalem has been both the political and spiritual
capital of the Jewish people, the latter without interruption to the
present through good and bad times.
c. Throughout the past 3,300 years Jerusalem has never been the
capital of any other people, including the Arabs and Muslims, a
remarkable fact considering the city has been conquered by so many
different peoples.
2. Observations of some famous people about the
connection of the
Jewish people to Jerusalem
a) "To a Muslim" observed British writer Christopher
Sykes, "there is a profound difference between Jerusalem and Mecca or
Medina. The latter are holy places containing holy sites." Besides
the Dome of the Rock, he noted, Jerusalem has no major Islamic
significance. (The Dome of the Rock is built on the remains of the
First and Second Jewish Temples.)
b) Sir Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister,
to diplomat Evelyn Shuckburgh, 1955: "You ought to let the Jews have
Jerusalem; it was they who made it famous."
c) Sari Nusseibah, the PA's former representative in
Jerusalem: "I would be blind to disclaim the Jewish connection to
Jerusalem."
(Source: Bard, Mitchell G., Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-
Israeli Conflict, American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise Inc., 2002)
3. Some Records of Jewish Presence in
Jerusalem, 705 CE to 1967 CE
705 CE-"From the time of Caliph Abdel-Malik (d. 705) and henceforth
Jews were among those who guarded the walls of the Dome of the Rock.
In return, they were absolved from paying the poll tax imposed on all
non-Muslims. The Jews were employed in clearing the Haram area of
waste." Mujir al-din in his History of Jerusalem and Hebron.
863-"This is the presumed date of the move of Yeshivat Eretz Israel
from Tiberias to Jerusalem to become the central religious authority
of the whole region. The last of Jerusalem's Ga'ons (sages) was
Evyatar Ben Eliyahu Hacohen (1112)." Nathan Schur, History of
Jerusalem.
1167-"Two hundred of those Jews dwell in one corner of the City,
under the Tower of David." Benjamin of Tudela in his famous Travels.
1395-"The Jews in the Holy City live in their own special residential
areas." Traveler Ogier D'Anglure in Le Saint Voyage de Jerusalem.
1499-"Among the very many Jews in Jerusalem I found several natives
of Lombardy, three from Germany and two monks who had converted to
Judaism." Arnold von Harff's travelogue Die Pilgerfarht 1.
1546/47-"Many Jews dwell in Jerusalem and there is a special street
of the Jews." Ulrich Prefat of Slovenia in his chronicle.
1611-"And in this Land they [the Jews] live as strangers . . . open
to all oppression and deprivation, which they bear with patience
beyond all belief, despised and beaten. In spite of all this, I
never saw a Jew with an angry face." George Sandys, son of the
Archbishop of York in Travails.
1751-"As 4,000 persons arrive yearly besides as many Jews who come
from all quarters of the world." Swedish traveler Frederick
Hasselquist in Voyages and Travels in the Levant.
1860-First Jewish Quarter built outside the walls of Jerusalem.
1889-"Thirty thousand out of 40,000 people in Jerusalem are
Jews . . . at present the Jews are coming here by the hundreds." The
Pittsburgh Dispatch, July 15, 1889.
1925-Hebrew University opened at Mount Scopus, Jerusalem.
1967-Arabs defeated in their new war against Israel - the Six Day
War. Jerusalem reunited. Western Wall and Temple Mount liberated.
(Source: Tal, Eliyahu, Whose Jerusalem, International
Forum For A United Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, 1994)
4. Israel's Respect for Places of Worship of
All Religions
With the exception of the period 1948-1967, Jerusalem has never been
a physically divided city. In 1948, the Jordanian Arab Legion under
Glubb Pasha (really John Bagot, an Englishman) overran and
controlled, until 1967, the area which is now known as the eastern
part of Jerusalem. This included the walled Old City. The
Jordanians then expelled all the Jews, and made the ancient City of
Jerusalem judenrein. Under Jordanian rule the following occurred:
· Fifty-eight synagogues in the ancient Jewish Quarter –some
centuries old- were destroyed and desecrated. The Jordanians turned
some of them into stables and chicken coops.
· The Jordanian Arab Legion desecrated the ancient 2500-year-
old Jewish cemetery on the nearby Mount of Olives. A road was built
across the ancient cemetery to connect the Intercontinental Hotel to
a highway. The Jordanian Arab Legion used tombstones of saintly
rabbis for pavement and latrines.
· Despite a provision in the 1949 Armistice Agreement between
Israel and Jordan, permitting Jews to visit their holy places, the
Jordanians prohibited Jews from visiting the Western Wall in the Old
City or the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. The
Hebrew University on Mount Scopus and the Hadassah Hospital were all
but cut off and the buildings left derelict.
· Despite Jordan's dismal record of complete disrespect for
hallowed Jewish holy places, the U.N. did not pass a single
resolution decrying it. Compare this to the U.N.'s record of
resolutions against Israel.
In contrast, Israel's treatment of all holy places in Jerusalem and
her surroundings since 1967 has been exemplary. Former President
Jimmy Carter said there is "no doubt" that Israel did a better job
safeguarding access to the city's holy places than did Jordan.
5. Jerusalem Population
Many are unaware that since around 1840, the Jews have constituted
the majority of Jerusalem's population.
Year
Jews Muslim
Christians
Total
1844
7,120
5,000
3,390
15,510
1876 12,000
7,560
5,470
25,030
1896
28,112
8,560
8,748
45,420
1922
33,971
13,411
4,699
52,081
1931
51,222
19,894
19,335
90,451
1948
100,000
40,000
25,000
165,000
1967
195,700
54,963
12,646
263,309
1987
340,000
121,000
14,000
475,000
1990
378,200
131,800
14,400
524,400
2000
530,400
204,100
14,700
758,300
(Source: Bard, Mitchell G., Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-
Israeli Conflict, American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise Inc., 2002)
6. Conclusion
When the Jewish people claim Jerusalem as their Eternal City they are
on solid ground with the strongest case possible. No other people
have claims to Jerusalem as strong as the Jewish people have. The
Jewish claim is the longest unbroken claim. Jerusalem is the one and
only spiritual center of Judaism. Jerusalem, in all its long history,
has only been the capital of one people – the Jewish People. Jews
have constituted the majority of Jerusalem's population for the last
160 years. And, most importantly for the international community,
Israel has by far the best record of protecting the holy places of
all faiths, and in Jerusalem, the holy places of all religions are
accorded proper respect. Jerusalem is the logical capital of the
State of Israel and all men of truth and good faith should recognize
this as such.
Sources:
Bard, Mitchell G., Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli
Conflict, American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise Inc., 2002.
Ben Gad, Yitschak, Politics, Lies and Videotape, Shapolsky
Publishers, Inc., New York, 1991.
Cohen, Saul B., Jerusalem: Bridging the Four Walls, Herzyl Press, New
York, 1977.
Gilbert, Martin, Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century, Chatto and
Windus Ltd., London, 1996.
Tal, Eliyahu, Whose Jerusalem, International Forum for a United
Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, 1994