Perhaps no other neighborhood in Jerusalem exemplifies the historical and ongoing disputes between Palestinians and Israelis – of who owns, who settles, and who controls the land – as much as Sheikh Jarrah.
Sheikh Jarrah is a neighborhood in east Jerusalem, located east of Bar-Lev Boulevard, north of the American Colony Hotel, and southwest of Mount Scopus and French Hill. It is named after Husam al-Din Ibn Sharaf al-Din Isa al-Jarahi, a prince and personal physician in Saladin’s court, who built a zawiya (religious structure) at the site and was buried there after his death in 1202.
The word “Jarrah” refers to Sheikh Husam al-Din’s title. It means “surgeon” in Arabic.
Early history
After Saladin conquered Jerusalem in 1187, he allocated lands around Jerusalem to his officers, including the area of Sheikh Jarrah. This area was given to his physician, Husam al-Din al-Jarahi, who built a zawiya there, which also served as a madrasa (Islamic school). By the late 19th century, a mosque with a minaret, now known as Sheikh Jarrah Mosque, was built at the site.
The location is considered one of the most important Muslim holy sites around Jerusalem, and its maintenance was entrusted to the Dissi family. Descriptions from the 19th century mention a small caravanserai (khan) at the site.
In the 17th century, a summer palace called Qasr al-Amawi was built near the zawiya by a notable figure in Jerusalem. This building was destroyed during the War of Independence.
In the 1870s map of the Palestine Exploration Fund, the area was marked as agricultural land, part of an extensive area north of Jerusalem.
Development
The neighborhood began to develop gradually in the 1860s during the late Ottoman period, as Jerusalem’s Arab notables and affluent families started building grand houses along Nablus Road, north of the Old City, as part of the process of moving out of the Old City walls.
One of the prominent Arab families in Jerusalem during the Mandate period, the Nashashibi family, resided in the neighborhood, and today streets in the neighborhood bear their names. Members of the rival Husseini family also owned houses in the neighborhood, including the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, whose house was later turned into the Shepherd Hotel.
Adjacent to the neighborhood are the Tomb of Shimon HaTzadik (Simeon the Just), the Cave of the Small Sanhedrin, and two Jewish neighborhoods. The Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood was established in 1890 on land purchased in 1875, and the Nahalat Shimon neighborhood was founded in the early 20th century.
Nahalat Shimon
Nahalat Shimon, also known as Simeon’s Estate, was the Jewish religious neighborhood situated in Sheikh Jarrah. It was established in 1891 by Sephardi and Ashkenazi kollels as a housing initiative for impoverished Yemenite and Sephardi Jews. The neighborhood was centered near the Tomb of Simeon the Just, with its cornerstone laid in 1890.
Located at the western edge of the Kidron Valley and close to the tomb, the neighborhood grew quickly after the initial purchase of land in 1890. Early developments housed 20 destitute families, and by 1947 approximately 100 Jewish families resided there.
However, rising tensions and violence during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War led to British authorities ordering the Jewish residents to evacuate in March 1948. Justice emeritus Michael Ben-Yair, one of the evacuees, later noted that these families were compensated with Palestinian homes in west Jerusalem.
On the other hand, Palestinian families who were resettled in Sheikh Jarrah by the Jordanian authorities after 1948 were required to relinquish their refugee status and associated rights. Under Israeli law, they cannot reclaim their pre-1948 properties in cities like Haifa, Sarafand, and Jaffa.
The Nahalat Shimon settler organization, registered in Delaware, has for decades sought legal action in Israeli courts to evict Palestinian residents from the area, aiming to facilitate new Jewish settlement in the neighborhood.
During the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt, residents were forced to abandon their homes to escape attacks by Arab rioters. After the disturbances ended, the Jewish residents returned to their homes.
The neighborhood’s main street, Mount of Olives Road, connected central Jerusalem to the Hadassah-University Medical Center and the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus.
The War of Independence
At the end of December 1947, some 20 Jewish passengers traveling through Sheikh Jarrah on their way to Mount Scopus were attacked and wounded by Arab assailants. This was one of the early events that led to the War of Independence. In response, Hagana forces raided homes in the neighborhood in January 1948 and set them on fire.
Gradually, the Arab residents of the neighborhood fled, and their places were taken by al-Najjada fighters, who continued attacking Jewish vehicles and residents.
In April 1948, the British ordered the residents of the Shimon HaTzadik and Nahalat Shimon neighborhoods to quickly leave their homes. This came two days after the killing of Abd al-Qadir al-Husseini in the Battle of Kastel and the Deir Yasin massacre. Arab forces, under the command of Bahjat Abu Gharbiyah, attacked a Jewish convoy traveling to Mount Scopus on April 13, 1948, and massacred its passengers.
The victims of the Hadassah convoy massacre included 78 doctors, nurses, patients, and staff of the hospital. Attempts by Palmah Harel forces to assist were repelled by the British. The incident shocked the Jewish community in Israel and the rest of the world.
On Passover, April 25, 1948, during Operation Yevusi, the Palmah captured Sheikh Jarrah and the area of the Jewish neighborhoods. The British forced them to withdraw, citing the need for the transportation route in the area. Following the British withdrawal on May 14, 1948, the Hagana and Irgun forces took control of the neighborhood and the Police Academy. On May 19, 1948, the Arab Legion captured the area, and it remained under Jordanian control until the Six Day War (1967).
During the 1960s, Sheikh Jarrah became home to several diplomatic missions. Notable examples include the British Consulate at 19 Nashashibi Street, located alongside the Turkish Consulate at 20 Nashashibi Street. Other missions in the area included the Belgian Consulate, the Swedish Consulate-General on Ibn Jubair Street, the Spanish Consulate, another British Consulate-General, and the United Nations mission near Saint George Street.
After Jerusalem’s reunification in 1967, a memorial was erected in the center of the neighborhood near the site of the Hadassah convoy massacre, listing the names of the 78 victims.
Modern day
Sheikh Jarrah is considered affluent and prestigious among Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods, although some areas are poorer and home to Palestinian refugees. It still houses consulates and representations of several foreign countries and international organizations, as well as restaurants and hotels.
Adjacent to the neighborhood is the Menachem Begin Government Complex, which includes the national headquarters of the Israel Police and several government ministries.
Controversy
In two locations in the southern part of the neighborhood, near the Tomb of Shimon HaTzadik, there is land and houses that, before the War of Independence, belonged to Jewish endowments and included two Jewish neighborhoods. During Jordanian rule, Jordan and UNRWA settled refugees on these lands. After the Six Day War, ownership of the lands was returned to the Jewish owners, but Arab residents continued living there.
Starting in the 1990s, some Arab residents were evicted following court rulings in lawsuits filed by landowners. These evictions, along with fears of further evictions, sparked protests and clashes in the neighborhood, some of which turned violent.
The Israeli government and its supporters often describe the issue as a “property dispute” or “real estate conflict,” emphasizing the legality of the ownership claims of specific properties in east Jerusalem. Conversely, Palestinians and their allies characterize the situation as forced “expulsions,” “displacement,” or even “ethnic cleansing,” highlighting broader implications under international law.
The long-standing legal and political battle centering on ownership claims in Sheikh Jarrah has been identified as one of the contributing factors to the escalation of the 2021 war in Gaza, Operation Guardian of the Walls.
Transport
Nablus Road, the neighborhood’s central thoroughfare, was formerly part of Route 60. In the 1990s, a modern dual carriageway was built to the west, incorporating two lanes for vehicles and a designated bus lane.
This busway was later upgraded, forming part of the Red Line of the Jerusalem Light Rail, which began operating in 2010 and passes next to the neighborhood along Shivtei Yisrael.
Landmarks
The area’s Jewish heritage is highlighted by the Tomb of Shimon HaTzadik, a leader from the era of the Great Assembly after the Babylonian exile. Jewish tradition recounts his encounter with Alexander the Great and his influence in preserving the Second Temple. Pilgrimages to his tomb in Sheikh Jarrah were documented for centuries.
In 1876, the adjoining land, including an olive grove, was purchased by Jews, leading to the construction of homes on the site.
While Jews have a long-standing tradition of visiting the Tomb of Shimon bar Yochai on Lag Ba’omer to perform the upsherin (haircutting) ceremony of three-year-old boys, the Tomb of Shimon HaTzadik has also been used for generations as an alternative site.
Other significant landmarks include a medieval mosque honoring one of Saladin’s soldiers, St. George’s Anglican Cathedral, and the renowned Tombs of the Kings. The latter, a rock-cut funerary site, has been linked to Queen Helena of Adiabene, although recent studies suggest it might have been intended for Herod Agrippa I. The property bears a French inscription, “Tombeau des Rois,” marking its historical significance.
Hospitals
Established in 1882 and relocated to Nashashibi Street in 1960, St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital provides essential eye care to the Palestinian population of east Jerusalem and the surrounding West Bank.
Situated nearby, St. Joseph’s French Hospital is a Catholic-run facility that operates a 73-bed hospital offering specialized services in surgery, pediatrics, and orthopedics, along with coronary care and diagnostic facilities.
The Shepherd Hotel
Originally built for Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, the property later passed to George Antonius and his wife, Katy Antonius. Following its use by British military personnel and its subsequent conversion into a hotel under Jordanian management, the site was acquired by Irving Moskowitz in 1985. Redevelopment plans sparked controversy and international condemnation.
Despite these disputes, the hotel was demolished in January 2011 to make way for new housing developments.