By Mustafa Deveci
JERUSALEM
The holy city of Jerusalem, which Salahuddin al-Ayyubi salvaged from the invasion of the Crusaders 831 years ago, is falling completely into Israel's hands as a result of persistent judaization policies.
Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities in history, has great importance for all three Abrahamic religions.
It was first conquered in 638 by the second Muslim caliph, Umar bin al-Khattab. It was invaded by the Crusaders in 1099.
Jerusalem encompassing the first qibla of Muslims, Masjid al-Aqsa, was reconquered by Ayyubi in 1187.
Except for an 11-year occupation, the city remained under the control of Muslims until 1917 after Ayyubi's conquest.
After the British invaded Jerusalem on Dec. 9, 1917, which till then had been under the control of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years, they turned a blind eye to Jewish settlements in the region.
The Jewish population in the historic Palestinian territory in 1917 is said to be around 60,000.
It ballooned to 800,000 in 1948, when Israel declared its independence.
According to the Palestinian sources, the Jewish population in Jerusalem in 1922 was approximately 34,000 while the Arab population was about 28,000.
In 1946, the Jewish population in the city rose to 99,000 while the number of Palestinian Arabs remained 65,000.
Israel declared it independence on May 14, 1948 whereas Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria waged a war against Israel on May 15, 1948.
Israel, which won the war, began to implement its plan for judaizing the city by invading West Jerusalem.
After the 1948 war, Israel invaded East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the six-day war in 1967.
Israel declared the entire Jerusalem as its capital in July 3, 1980.
In Dec. 6, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as "Israel's capital."
The U.S. relocated its embassy to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018.
Israel, which has built 19 illegal settlements in East Jerusalem since 1968, placed more than 200,000 Jews in these places.
As of today, there are 316,000 Palestinians living in the city, which has a population of 850,000. The remaining people are Jews.
The Israeli authorities are expanding Jewish settlements and also prevent Arab population in the city from building new houses.
