Who is Jerusalem?
Jerusalem ( jə-ROO-sə-ləm, -zə-; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushaláyim, pronounced [jeʁuʃaˈlajim] ; Arabic: القُدس al-Quds, pronounced [al.quds] , local pronunciation: [il.ʔuds]) is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both the State of Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital. Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, and Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power. Neither claim is widely recognized internationally. Throughout its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, and attacked 52 times. The part of Jerusalem called the City of David shows first signs of settlement in the 4th millennium BCE, in the shape of encampments of n...
