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Q+A-Jerusalem: What's at stake? Why does it matter?

Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:37am EDT

JERUSALEM, March 24 (Reuters) - Jerusalem is always a centre of attention at this time of year, as Christians and Jews both mark high points in their calendars with Easter and Passover.

This year, however, it is also -- not for the first time -- the focus of argument over peacemaking in the Middle East. Why?



WHY IS IT SO SENSITIVE?

Jerusalem is a combustible melting pot of religion and politics. The city is the main symbol of the national struggle between Israel and the Palestinians. It is also home to the holiest sites in Judaism and Christianity and the third holiest site in Islam. Israel's control of Jerusalem makes it a rallying cry for the Jewish state's regional enemies, including Iran.



WHO WANTS WHAT?

The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as the capital of the state they aim to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, alongside Israel.

Israel considers Jerusalem its "eternal and indivisible" capital, although few other states accept that status -- most maintain their embassies to Israel in the coastal metropolis, Tel Aviv. The establishment of Jewish sovereignty over Judaism's holiest sites realised a European Zionist dream dating back over a century, but also dreams of Jews over 2,000 years in exile.

A chasm still separates the Palestinian and Israeli positions on Jerusalem. At least publicly, there has been no changes in either side's position.



WHY ARE SETTLEMENTS AN ISSUE?

Israel has settled some 200,000 Jews in West Bank land surrounding Jerusalem. To Israel, they are neighbourhoods in the eastern portion of the expanded Israeli municipality of Jerusalem, land annexed to the Jewish state. That annexation has never won international recognition.

Critics of Israeli settlement in the lands captured in 1967 say the policy will render impossible the creation of a viable Palestinian state. The Jerusalem settlements form a belt that encircles, encloses and separates East Jerusalem from the West Bank. They see it as a strategic attempt to prevent the possibility of East Jerusalem ever becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Israelis, who controlled only West Jerusalem from their state's founding in 1948 to the 1967 war, are also moving into Palestinian areas in and around the walled Old City, which is in East Jerusalem. In some cases, settlers have secured court orders to evict Palestinians from homes, arguing their case using 19th-century Ottoman documents claiming Jewish ownership.

Critics of this trend, including Israeli human rights groups, say it will render even more difficult any division of the city, while fuelling Palestinian anger.

HOW DOES IT AFFECT U.S. DIPLOMACY?

The Palestinians have demanded a complete halt to the building of settlements, including East Jerusalem construction, before any more peace talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November ordered a halt to new home building in the West Bank, but excluded areas annexed to Jerusalem. The announcement this month of new settlement expansion plans in one such area, at Ramat Shlomo, infuriated the Palestinians, obstructing U.S. plans for indirect negotiations and triggering rare U.S. criticism of Israel.



WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR VIOLENCE?

Palestinians widely believe Israel aims to "Judaise" the city, pushing out Arabs and expanding the Jewish population and construction. That is a concern at the heart of anger that spilled into clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces in and around the city this month.

Tension in Jerusalem can spread beyond it.

A visit by Israeli politician Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount, the holy site in the Old City that contains al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock and is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, provided a spark that set off the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, in 2000.
(Writing by Tom Perry, editing by Alastair Macdonald and Samia Nakhoul) (For related stories click on [ID:nLDE62M1LQ]) (For blogs and links on Israeli politics and other Israeli and Palestinian news, go to blogs.reuters.com/axismundi) *************************************************************** For a graphic on Jerusalem, click on: here ****************************************************************


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