The following paper will examine the origins of this conflict, describe

Its impact on the everyday life in Jerusalem and try to find out why it still can’t be solved.

To completely understand the struggle for the Old City of Jerusalem

It is necessary to know about its importance to the two main religious groups

There. Although Abraham is considered the father of the Islam as well as of

the Judaism, the two religions developed different historical views, which

lead to conflicts about holy places and events. King David made Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom in 1000 BC and since then it has been the centre for religious and political

activities for Jews. (Reich, 2003) David brought the Ark of the Covenant (a sacred

wooden chest that represents God’s presence and enclosed the Ten Commandments received on Mount Sinai) to Jerusalem and according to the Jewish religion it was Solomon’s, David’s son’s task to build a temple for it. He therefore

independent state. However, Jerusalem is still divided. Jordanians control east-Jerusalem and the Old City while the Israelis hold West-Jerusalem. During the Six-Day War in 1947 they defeat the Jordanians and enter back into their city. (Stern, 2003) Only slowly Jerusalem is recognized as the official capital if Israel and only slowly life can be called normal in a city, where so many different views of religion, politics, history and lifestyle come together. Based on historical events and the wish to avoid too many conflicts, the city is divided between the different groups of people. Unfortunately it is not only a division regarding streets, places and districts, but also a huge social difference between Muslims and Jews. Jerusalem is actually divided into three sections, which are the Old City, the New City in Jerusalem’s west and East-Jerusalem. The last is considered the modern Arab district, while Jews, Muslims and Christians life mostly in the Old City (Religion in Jerusalem, 2001). Many Jewish sections are also placed close to the actual downtown area of Jerusalem in theist. After Israel took over the entire Jerusalem in 1967, it helped to build some quite modern Jewish neighbourhoods. Still today the Arab housings, shops and restaurants look poor compared to these. There are huge differences between Jewish and Muslim hospitals, canalizations, schools, libraries and many other public institutions. (Johannsen, 2001) according to The Encyclopedia of religion, the Jews always regarded themselves as the single historical people and therefore they alone were capable of possessing Jerusalem as their capital. The article says further that the Muslims, based on their religion and its framework, the Qur’an, can’t exist as a minority either. Although the Qur’an suggests peace by saying: “O people of the Book! Let us come together on a platform that is common between us, that we shall serve naught save God.”(3:64), confrontations can’t be totally avoided. Jerusalem has to balance three different Sabbaths: the Islamic one Friday, the Jewish from Friday night to Saturday and the Christian on Sunday. This leads to friction even between Jews themselves. Since most of the restaurants in West-Jerusalem are closed on Friday and Saturday nights, the less Jews people go out for supper in East-Jerusalem. The extreme

Some topics in this essay:
Jewish Muslim, Israelis Arabs, Six-Day War, Mount Temple, Israeli Peace, Religion Jerusalem, Islamic Jewish, Jews Muslims, Daniel Ben-Simon, Saladin Muslim, stern 2003, temple jerusalem, jerusalem capital, politicians world, symbolic value, muslims jews, jews muslims, holy city, mount temple, 1000 bc,