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West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , al-Quds al-Ġarbiyyah) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by the 1949 Armistice Agreements), West Jerusalem was formally delineated as the counterpart to East Jerusalem, which was controlled by Jordan. Though Israel has controlled the entirety of Jerusalem since the Six-Day War, the boundaries of West Jerusalem and East Jerusalem remain internationally recognized as due to their significance to the process of determining the status of Jerusalem, which has been among the primary points of contention in the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. With certain exceptions, undivided Jerusalem is not internationally recognized as the sovereign territory of either Israel or the State of Palestine. However, recognition of Israeli sovereignty over only West Jerusalem is more widely accepted as a plausible diplomatic position, as the United Nations regards East Jerusalem as part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In 1918 William McLean laid out the first civic plan for expansion of Jerusalem westwards and southwards.
By the 1920s the Hebrew speaking Jewish community had formed a "Jewish Colony" around the area later known as the Downtown Triangle of Jaffa Road, Ben Yehuda Street and King George Street. Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia vol. VII: Jerusalem entry includes map with Jewish Colony marked, Amalgamated Press, 1928 edition.
“Everyone was swept up, privates and officers alike …. The greed for property encompassed everyone. Every home was scoured and searched, and people found in some cases produce, in others valuable objects. This rapaciousness attacked me as well and I could almost not hold myself back …. It’s hard to imagine the great riches that were found in all the homes …. I got control of myself in time and shackled my desire …. The battalion commander, his deputy, they all failed in this regard.”Benny Morris, 'Was Israeli looting in '48 part of a broader policy to expel Arabs?,' Haaretz 3 June 2021.
After this widespread looting, Israeli institutions managed to gather in around 30,000 books, mostly in Arabic, dealing with Islamic law, Qur’anic exegesis and translations of European literature, together with thousands of works from the holdings of churches and schools. Many were taken from the homes of Palestinian writers and scholars in Qatamon, Bak'a and Musrara.
Arabs living in such western Jerusalem neighbourhoods as Katamon or Malha were forced to leave; the same fate befell Jews in the eastern areas, including the Old City of Jerusalem and Silwan. Almost 33% of the land in West Jerusalem in the pre-mandate period had been owned by Palestinians, a fact which made it hard for the evicted Palestinians to accept Israeli control in the West. The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) passed laws to transfer this Arab land to Israeli Jewish organizations.
The only eastern area of the city that remained in Israeli hands throughout the 19 years of Jordanian rule was Mount Scopus, where the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is located, which formed an enclave during that period and therefore is not considered part of East Jerusalem.
In 1980, the Israeli government annexed East Jerusalem and reunified the city, but the international community disputed this. The population of Jerusalem has largely remained segregated along the city's historical east–west division. The larger city contains two populations that are "almost completely economically and politically segregated... each interacting with its separate central business district", supporting analysis that the city has retained a duocentric, as opposed to the traditional monocentric, structure.
Commercial hubs
Major commercial centres of Jewish West Jerusalem include: the Downtown Triangle, Mamilla Mall and Emek Refaim.
Healthcare
One of two Hadassah hospitals in Jerusalem is located in the West Jerusalem suburb of Ein Karem. The hospital synagogue contains the famous Chagall Windows by Marc Chagall.Chagall, Marc. Marc Chagall on Art and Culture, editor: Benjamin Harshav. Stanford Univ. Press (2003)
Leisure facilities
These include Teddy Stadium and Cinema City.
Religious centres
These include the Jerusalem Great Synagogue and the Heichal Shlomo.
Mayors of West Jerusalem
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