British Mandate
From the end of WWI until the mid-20th century, Great Britain, along with France, controls vast stretches of the Middle East. Jerusalem is now the capital of the British mandate. Ruling on behalf of the League of Nations, Britain is unable to make good on promises of national independence made to both Jews and Arabs. Exhausted by the task of policing Jewish immigration and Arab rioting, Britain leaves with an all-out war between Arabs and Jews on the horizon.

Divided City
The UN partition plan for Palestine proposes an internationalization of Jerusalem. Instead, as a result of the 1948-9 War of Independence, Jerusalem is divided between the modern State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Under the Israeli Flag
In June 1967, during the Six Days War, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) take East Jerusalem along with the rest of the West Bank area that, since 1949, had been under the control of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. For the first time since antiquity, the city is under the control of a Jewish state. For the first time ever, Christian and Muslim holy places are under the control of a Jewish state.

WWII and the Rebellion in Palestine
With the beginning of WWII, the British shut down Jewish immigration, at a time when it is most needed. This generates an all out rebellion against the mandatory rule which ends in ignominy.

Reviewing the situtation, the United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine and to internationalize Jerusalem.

War of Independence/Al Naqba

As British troops leave, armies from neighboring countries attack the newly independent State of Israel. In a dramatic turn of events, the Jewish State survives its first military test and consolidates the areas under its control, including Western Jerusalem.

For Palestinians, this begins an enduring exile and the ongoing struggle for national independence.