East Talpiot ( ''Talpiot Mizrach'') or Armon HaNetziv (ארמון הנְציב) is an Israeli settlement in southern East Jerusalem, established by

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1973 on land captured in the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

and occupied since then. The international community considers East Talpiot to be an Israeli settlement that is illegal under international law. East Talpiot is one of Jerusalem's Ring Neighborhoods.

History

Before the new housing projects built after 1967, the area was known as ''Armon HaNetziv'' (lit. The Governor's Palace) after the headquarters of the British High Commissioner located on the hilltop. In 1928, Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi, wife of Israel's second president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, established an agricultural training farm for young women, the first of its kind in the country, in the area of East Talpiot. Both the farm and the Arab Girls College, another historical landmark, are earmarked for conservation. The Lili and Elejandro Shaltiel Community Center was inaugurated in 1980. In the 1967

Israel captured and occupied East Jerusalem, East Talpiot was constructed as part of the 1968 Jerusalem Master Plan, which called for the creation of Jewish settlements around Jerusalem to cement Israeli control over the region. East Talpiot is situated in southern East Jerusalem, between the Palestinian villages of Sur Baher and Sawaher. According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from nearby

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

neighborhoods/villages in order to construct East Talpiot: *1,343 dunams from Sur Baher, *544 dunams from

Jabel Mukaber Jabel Mukaber ( ar, جبل مكبر, he, ג'בל מוכאבר) is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in southern East Jerusalem. It is bordered by East Talpiot to the west, Abu Tor and Silwan to the north and Sur Baher to the south. Jabe ...

, Beit Canada, an absorption center for new immigrants, is located in East Talpiot. Nearly all the streets of East Talpiot take their names from those of the

Olei Hagardom Olei Hagardom ( he, עולי הגרדום, lit. "those who ascended to the gallows") refers to members of the two Jewish Revisionist pre-state underground organisations Irgun and Lehi, who were tried in British Mandate courts and sentenced to ...

, members of

Irgun Irgun • Etzel , image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...

and Lehi hanged by the British.

Demography

In 2006, some 15,000 people were living in East Talpiot. Mainly populated by young couples when it was first established, the neighborhood is now aging. For the most part, East Talpiot is a secular neighborhood, with only 15 synagogues.

Archeological findings

An ancient tomb that some archeologists believe to be the tomb of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

and his family based on the names inscribed on the

James Ossuary The James Ossuary is a 1st-century limestone box that was used for containing the bones of the dead. An Aramaic inscription meaning "James (Jacob), son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" is cut into one side of the box. The ossuary attracted scholarly at ...

was discovered in East Talpiot when a housing project was being built in 1980. An ancient aqueduct that brought water to the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...

from springs located outside of Jerusalem was also discovered in East Talpiot. This waterworks, a highly sophisticated engineering feat, continued to function for more than two thousand years.

Arab-Israeli conflict

On 8 January 2017, 4 Israeli soldiers were killed in the 2017 Jerusalem truck attack that took place on the Armon Hanatziv Esplanade.

Status under international law

The international community considers Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem to be illegal under international law, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention's prohibition on the transfer of civilians into occupied territory. Israel however disputes that East Jerusalem is occupied territory and instead considers it to be annexed to its territory as part of the Jerusalem municipality. That annexation is unrecognized internationally and East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory by the international community. Israel does not consider East Talpiot or other Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem to be settlements and instead considers them neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

References