The Western Wall, which is 488 meters (1600 feet) long and 56 meters (184 feet) high, ends at the Al-Mughrabi Gate and has played a key role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over Jerusalem.^[1] While Muslims believe the wall is part of Al-Aqsa Plaza, ^[2]Israelis believe it is part of the Second Temple and, thus, the holiest place on earth for the Jewish population, subsequently making it the place they pray three times a day .^[3]

History and Names
Because Muslims believe part of that wall.^{[4]was used by the Islamic Prophet Mohammad to tie Al-Buraq, his animal, down while he accompanied Gabriel on the journey of Al-Israa and Al-Miraj, it is commonly referred to as the Al-Buraq Wall.[5]} On the other hand, Israelis believe that the wall is part of their Second Temple.^[6] built by Herod 18 B.C. and destroyed by Titus 70 A.D. whenever they pray next to the wall they cry and therefore call it the Wailing Wall.^[7]However, in 2011, archeological excavations in line with the Western Wall and near the drainage system of the Old City uncovered an ancient ritual bath that was built after the Herodian era, which casts doubts on the historical origins of the wall.^[8]

Al-Buraq Riots

Jews did not consider the wall to be part of the temple until after Balfour Declaration in 1917, and they started demanding that they be given ownership of the wall. Early clashes between Arabs and Jews sparked in 1928 over this issue. Great Britain, the Mandatory authority at the time, issued a report called the White Book in which it confessed that the wall belonged entirely to Arabs.^[9] This, however, led to other more violent clashes between the two sides that ended up in what was known as “Al-Buraq Revolution” on the 23rd of August 1929. The clashes resulted in dozens of deaths on both sides and more than a 1000 people were tried in British Mandatory Courts. Of those tired, 26 were sentenced to death, but only three of them were actually executed.^[10]

Following these clashes, the League of Nations formed an international committee under the presidency of the Swedish Minister of Exterior, Lil Lovegren. The committee studied documents and listened to witnesses and, in 1930, introduced its report to the League of Nations, which concluded that the wall belonged entirely to Arab Muslims as part of the Islamic endowment, along with the Moroccan neighborhood in front of it.^[11]

Judization Policy

The wall and the area around it were subject to extensive Judization policies. This started with taking over the wall itself and extended to demolishing the Mughrabi (Moroccan) neighborhood in front of it. In June 1967, the site was captured by Israel after the Six Day War. Israel destroyed the Moroccan neighborhood displacing more than 100 Arab families.^[12] The neighborhood that was dubbed Moroccan due to the historic presence of Moroccans, was an Islamic endowment that dates back to Saladin era in the eleventh century,^[13]was completely destroyed in an operation that lasted three days and left a number of Palestinians killed as they refused to evacuate. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the Buraq Arena did not stop there; Israel continued demolishing homes in the nearby Abu Al-Saoud neighborhood until July 2007, when the last house in the Buraq Arena was demolished.^[14]

In trying to change the wall’s Arab character into a Jewish one, Israel has established religious centers and museums in the area.^[15]It also has dug many tunnels near the wall, the most famous of which is the tunnel that extends along the wall with a length of 488 meters and ends in Al-Aqsa Plaza..^[16]The tunnel connects with an ancient Roman tunnel that is 80 meters long and has its entrance next to the wall.^[17]

International Confession of the Arab Ownership

In addition to the many reports that date back to the last century, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued a resolution concerning the Western Wall in which it stressed the Arab character and ownership of the wall and the area around it as a part of the Islamic endowment.^[18]

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The Yabous Cultural Center^[1] (YCC) is a Palestinian non-governmental organization based in Jerusalem. The YCC was established in 1995 when a number of artists and cultural enthusiasts thought about centralizing the movement of performing arts in Jerusalem. Suhail Khoury, a Palestinian musician and the Director General of Edward Said National Conservatory of Music , was at the forefront of the idea and founded the center in 1997.

The center aims at reviving the cultural scene in Jerusalem and supporting Arab art that reflects its historical, cultural, religious, and political character.

Today, YCC is considered the largest cultural center in Jerusalem. Since its establishment, the YCC has been engaged in producing and organizing cultural events in different genres of the performing arts, including the musical, literary, cinematic, and choreographic arts, and creating spaces for art and other exhibitions and special programs for youth, kids, and women.

In addition to its own programs that focus on Jerusalem and its people, the center also hosts events and programs for other Palestinian organizations.

The center’s activities and events can further be explored here.

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The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, or the Church of Resurrection according to the Eastern Orthodox Church,^[1] is located in the Christian Neighborhood in the northeastern quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem.,^[2] It lies on the hill of Golgotha where, according to Christians, Jesus was crucified and buried.^[3]

Importance of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Since 1810, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has been home to the Stone of Anointing. Christians believe that Joseph prepared the body of Jesus was for burial by Joseph on this stone.^[4]

The building serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and has been a place of pilgrimage since the fourth century AD.^[5]

In the second century AD, before the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its formal religion, one of the temples of Aphrodite existed at the site instead of the Church.^[6] When, in 325 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and declared it the official religion of the empire,^[7] his mother, the Empress Helena, ordered that a church be built there. She visited Jerusalem to supervise the process of construction.^[8] Some historians even claim that she engaged personally in the work and thereby discovered what is known as the True Cross upon which Jesus was believed to have been crucified.^[9]

In 614 AD, Persian empire sent forces to raid Jerusalem. They burnt the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and captured the True Cross and took it to Persia.^[10] Fifteen years later, in 629 AD, the Byzantine Emperor Hercules recaptured the city and the cross was returned as part of the conditions agreed upon in the peace treaty that ended the war between the Persian and Byzantine empires.^[11]

The Church after the Muslim Conquest

Churches remained protected institutions following the Muslim conquest of the city in The Umari covenant guaranteed the safety of the Christian citizens in the city and their freedom to worship. In general under Muslim rule, Christian-Muslim relations in the city were peaceful and tolerant–with few notable exceptions. At the end of the tenth century, during riots caused by some Fatimids followers, the roof and doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher were burnt and damaged.^[12]

Destruction and Renovation

In 1009, in the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was completely destroyed. ^[13] Christian Europe was enraged, but an agreement was reached between the new Fatimid Caliph, Al-Zaher who was the son of Al-Hakim and took over after his father’s death, to rebuild The Church and restore the damaged churches in the time of his father in addition to re-establish the patriarchate in Jerusalem in exchange for the of release of five thousand Muslim prisoners in Byzantium, and the re-opening of all the mosques that were closed in Europe.^[14] The agreement was reached in 1027-1028 but the re-construction continued until 1048. When the Turkish Seljuk dynasties took over the rule of Jerusalem after the Fatimids, relations between Christians and Muslims improved..^[15]

When the Crusaders took over Jerusalem, a series of renovations were undertaken, and The Church became the seat of the Latin Patriarchate.^[16] When Salah Al-Din recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, the Church remained a protected place and was a popular destination for pilgrims .^[17] Salah Al-Din then entrusted the keys of the Church to two Muslim families: Al-Nuseibah, and Al-Huseini who still hold them, and are responsible for opening The Church and closing on a daily basis.^[18] The Church was renovated many times after that, most notably in 1555 and 1808 when fire damaged the structure.^[19]

Control over the Church

Many churches, including the Catholic, Orthodox, Latin, and Armenian churches, have monasteries inside the Church itself. The Coptic church has one beside the Holy Sepulcher itself.^[20] Occasional violence and riots occur among different Christian communities over control of the Church. In the beginning of the Ottoman era, control over the church alternated between Franciscans and the Orthodox Church, depending on which part obtained the favor of the ottoman authorities. However, towards the end of the Ottoman era, in 1853, a decree was issued by the Ottoman Sultan to divide the territories of the church between the different Christian communities present within in the city. Periodic clashes continued to occur every once a while after.^[21]

The Church under the Israeli Occupation

Since the Israeli occupation, Arab Jerusalemites and Palestinians in general–regardless of religion, have sought to protect the Church and emphasize its importance as a historical and religious landmark.The Church is a primary target for the Israeli occupation. On February 25th, 2018, the Church was closed in protest against the Israeli policy of imposing arnona taxes (municipality taxation) on the church’s owned-prosperities that do not have worship houses on.^[22] This was the second time the church was closed–the first was in 1990, also under the Israeli occupation,^[23] the first closure was imposed by Palestinian Christians to protest a Jewish settlement in Jerusalem’s old city.^[24]

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As Old as the City

The Castle of Jerusalem is the best witness of the old history of the city. The building that lies on the western side of the Old City wall next to Hebron Gate^[1] is believed to be constructed by the Romans in the second century BC.^[2]

Many Hands, Many Eras

However, the original building was destroyed and rebuilt many times since the Roman era up until the Ottoman Empire.^[3] Most of the current building date back to the Mamluk era and more specifically to the time of Al-Nasser Mohammad Bin Qalawun’s reign. Qalawun ordered the castle to be rebuilt in AD 1310,^[4] while the gates, the niche and the platform were added by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.^[5]

Military Purposes

The building was used for military purposes, which is shown in the high walls, many towers, external fortifications, and trench around it.^[6] Ever since the Roman construction, the castle has been used for defensive goals and was the headquarters for the administration and military.^[7]

Israeli Hijack

In addition to its military use, the castle was used as a place for prayer during the different Islamic dynasties. However, the Israeli occupation tried to connect it to Jewish history by calling it the Castle of David.^{[8] [9]}

The Israeli government is now using the castle as a Jewish museum. Dedicating parts of it as an exhibition for Jewish history showing the Temple in the place of Al-Aqsa and displaying Jewish pilgrims around it.^[10]

Excavations Beneath but No Jewish History

During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the British government asked for excavations permit under the castle to determine its history. However, after the Israeli occupation of the eastern part of the city in 1967 up until now, the excavations increased dramatically. Now there are excavations under the castle more than 80 meters long and 15 meters deep.^[11] Although the excavations uncovered remnants that date back to Roman, Umayyad, and Mamluk dynasties^[12], no Jewish related remnants were found which again proves that Jerusalem has never been for Israelis and that they have no historical relation with the city.

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As Old as the City

The Castle of Jerusalem is the best witness of the old history of the city. The building that lies on the western side of the Old City wall next to Hebron Gate^[1] is believed to be constructed by the Romans in the second century BC.^[2]

Many Hands, Many Eras

However, the original building was destroyed and rebuilt many times since the Roman era up until the Ottoman Empire.^[3] Most of the current building date back to the Mamluk era and more specifically to the time of Al-Nasser Mohammad Bin Qalawun’s reign. Qalawun ordered the castle to be rebuilt in AD 1310,^[4] while the gates, the niche and the platform were added by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.^[5]

Military Purposes

The building was used for military purposes, which is shown in the high walls, many towers, external fortifications, and trench around it.^[6] Ever since the Roman construction, the castle has been used for defensive goals and was the headquarters for the administration and military.^[7]

Israeli Hijack

In addition to its military use, the castle was used as a place for prayer during the different Islamic dynasties. However, the Israeli occupation tried to connect it to Jewish history by calling it the Castle of David.^{[8] [9]}

The Israeli government is now using the castle as a Jewish museum. Dedicating parts of it as an exhibition for Jewish history showing the Temple in the place of Al-Aqsa and displaying Jewish pilgrims around it.^[10]

Excavations Beneath but No Jewish History

During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the British government asked for excavations permit under the castle to determine its history. However, after the Israeli occupation of the eastern part of the city in 1967 up until now, the excavations increased dramatically. Now there are excavations under the castle more than 80 meters long and 15 meters deep.^[11] Although the excavations uncovered remnants that date back to Roman, Umayyad, and Mamluk dynasties^[12], no Jewish related remnants were found which again proves that Jerusalem has never been for Israelis and that they have no historical relation with the city.

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Mount Olive in Jerusalem has many breathtaking views. Most of which oversee the Old City of Jerusalem within the walls and parts of the city located outside the wall.^[1]

The Eastern Overlook of the mountain that views Al-Aqsa mosque became a focus of attention for Jerusalemites and tourists and visitors of the city; as from there the land of Jerusalem, its topographic formation and its architecture can be clearly seen and observed.^[2] Other surrounding scenes can also be seen from the overlook, such as the valley of Qadron, the neighborhoods of Silwan, and the valley of Al-Jouz.^[3]

The Eastern Overlook on a height of 826 meters above the sea level^[4] oversees the Asian-African pitfall known as the Great Groove. While it connects between two foothills; that of Al-Tour and that of Al-Masharef, any Jerusalemite towns can be seen from there; such as Issawiya and Ezzariya.^[5]

The overlook on the other hand exposes the colonization activities of the Israeli occupation. It shows settlement activities and the apartheid wall. Many settlements can be seen from the overlook such as Ma’ali Adomim, one of the biggest settlements around Jerusalem.^[6]

There is a difference between the vegetation on the Western and the Eastern sides of the mountain due to different rain rate. The Western side receives more annual rain rates hence it is covered with olive trees, while the Eastern side receives less rain and is covered with desert flora.^[7]

When clear, the overlook grants its visitors a beautiful view of Amman-Jordan and the Salt mountains. It also grants them an opportunity to watch the sunrise over the holy city.^[8]

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