Jews and Christians together make up about 30 percent of the
population of Jerusalem's Old City, making them minorities in
a place that is central to their religion, said speakers at
the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.
Israel Kimhi of the institute said the proportion of Jews is
increasing, from 8.6 percent in 1995 to 11.34 percent in
2002. There are some 33,500 people living in the Old City
today. Kimhi said most of the Jewish population growth has
been in the Muslim Quarter, which now houses 800 Jews.
The number of Christians is dropping, Kimhi said, but he
could not say by how much. In 1995, according to a report
issued by the institute last week, out of the 32,488 people
living in the Old City, 70.6 percent were Muslims and 20.3
percent were Christians.
The report showed that out of the 879 dunams of land in the
Old City, 24 percent is owned by the Islamic Wakf, 28 percent
by Muslims, 29 percent by Christians and the remaining 19
percent by Jews.
A spokesman said Christians are leaving in the face of
increasing Islamic fundamentalism, despite their strong
religious connection to the Old City. They feel there is no
room for them there as Christian Palestinians because they
are not accepted by Muslims. This reflects a nation-wide
trend, he said.
The Old City is growing more religious in its character,
according to the report. The number of holy places has grown
from the 30 cited in a 1949 United Nations list to 328 in
2000, Lapidot said. Among the Jewish population, 70 percent
are charedi, and another 25 percent are religious. Only 5
percent are secular, compared to 40 percent among the Jews
who returned to the Old City after 1967.
Overall, the Old City's population has grown by 36 percent
since 1967, with the highest absolute growth in the Muslim
community. The Muslim population remained constant from 1967
to 1983, but then jumped from 16,760 in 1983 to 22,814 in
1995.
The Christian population dropped from 6,994 in 1967 to 6,483
in 1983. In 1995, there were 6,570 Christians in the Old City
and the numbers have dropped since then, according to Kimhi.
Because of Muslim population growth and the return of Jews,
the percentage of Christians living in the Old City dropped
from 29.5 percent in 1967 to 20.3 percent in 1995.
The Jewish population has risen from zero in 1967 to 2,235 in
1983, 2,802 in 1995, and 3,800 today. Kimhi said that a large
amount of illegal construction has accompanied the population
growth, but the institute's study has no exact numbers, Kimhi
said.
People are building without licenses, because construction
laws are very restrictive, Kimhi said. They are adding rooms
in basements and courtyards so they can't be seen from the
street, Kimhi said. There is little supervision of illegal
construction in the Muslim and Jewish Quarters, Kimhi
said.
Lapidot said that the Old City suffers from overcrowding,
with an average of 70 people per dunam.
