East Jerusalem refers to the part of Jerusalem that was captured by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. It includes Jerusalem's Old City and some of the holiest sites of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, such as the Temple Mount, Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jerusalem was divided into two parts - the western portion, populated mainly by Jews, came under Israeli sovereignty, while the eastern portion, populated mainly by Arabs, came under Jordanian rule. Arabs living in such western Jerusalem neighbourhoods as Katamon or Malha were forced to leave; the same fate befell Jews in the eastern areas, such as the Old City and the City of David. The only eastern area that had remained in Israeli hands throughout the 19 years of Jordanian rule was Mt. Scopus where the Hebrew University is located. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, the eastern part of Jerusalem came under Israeli rule and was merged with the western municipality, together with several neighboring Palestinian villages. Since then Israel has attempted to incorporate the area into the rest of Jerusalem, establishing settlements and restricting Arab activities. Resolution 242 calls for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967, including, it has been argued, East Jerusalem.
The term "East Jerusalem" usually refers to the entire area that had been under Jordanian rule and came under the administration of the Jerusalem municipality in 1967, covering some 70 km², or it may sometimes refer just to the territory of the pre-1967 Jordanian municipality, covering 6.4 km². Mount Scopus, which was an Israeli enclave inside Jordanian territory before 1967, is not considered part of East Jerusalem.
      Israel
      The West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights The Golan Heights are not part of Israeli-Palestinian track

History

Main article: Rule of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan Jordanian Rule
During the Six-Day War of 1967 Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and eventually incorporated 6.4 km² of Jordanian Jerusalem and 64 km² of the nearby West Bank into the municipality of Jerusalem, including several villages and lands from neighboring villages and towns. This move excluded many of East Jerusalem's suburbs and divided several villages.
Under Israeli rule, members of all religions were largely granted access to their holy sites, with the Muslim Waqf maintaining control of the Temple Mount and Muslim holy sites there. The old Mughrabi Quarter (Morrocan) neighborhood in front of the Western Wall was demolished and replaced with a large open air plaza. The Jewish Quarter, destroyed in 1948, was rebuilt and settled.
With the stated purpose of preventing infiltration during the Second Intifada, Israel has decided to surround Jerusalem's eastern perimeter with a security barrier. The planned structure has separated East Jerusalem from its West Bank suburbs, some of which are under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. The separation barrier has raised much criticism, and the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the alignment of sections of the barrier (including East Jerusalem sections) must be amended.
In the January 25, 2006 Palestinian Legislative Elections, 6,300 East Jerusalem Arabs were registered and permitted to vote locally. All other residents had to travel to West Bank polling stations. Hamas won four seats and Fatah two, even though Hamas was barred by Israel from campaigning in the city. Fewer than 6,000 residents were permitted to vote locally in the prior 1996 elections.

Israeli Rule
See also: Demographics of Jerusalem
The population of East Jerusalem as of 2004 was 403,333, (comprising 38% of the Jewish population of Jerusalem) and 223,752 (55%) are Arabs.
East Jerusalem's main Arab neighborhoods include Shuafat (32,357), Beit Hanina (22,685), a-Sawana (18,833), Jabal Mukabar (14,599), Ras al-'Amud (13,598) and A-Tur (12,565). East Jerusalem's main Jewish neighborhoods include Pisgat Ze'ev (39,747), Ramot Alon (39,383), Gilo (27,425), Neve Yaakov (20,306), and East Talpiyot (12,439). The Old City has an Arab population of 31,405 and a Jewish population of 3,965.

Demographics

Status
See also: Positions on Jerusalem
Since June 28 1967, East Jerusalem has been under the law, jurisdiction, and administration of the State of Israel.

Residency
See also: List of mayors of Jerusalem

Anwar Al-Khatib (1948-1950)
Aref al-Aref (1950-1951)
Hanna Atallah (1951-1952)
Omar Wa'ari (1952-1955)
Ruhi al-Khatib (1957-1967)
Amin al-Majaj (1967-1999; titular) Footnotes

Bregman, Ahron (2002). Israel's Wars: A History Since 1947. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-28716-2
Cohen, Shaul Ephraim (1993). The Politics of Planting: Israeli-Palestinian Competition for Control of Land in the Jerusalem Periphery. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226112764
Ghanem, As'ad (2001). The Palestinian-Arab Minority in Israel, 1948-2000: A Political Study. SUNY Press. ISBN 0791449971
Israeli, Raphael. Jerusalem Divided: the armistice regime, 1947-1967, Routledge, 2002, ISBN 0714652660, p. 118.
Rubenberg, Cheryl A. (2003). The Palestinians: In Search of a Just Peace. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1588262251