Jerusalem the Unique
2000 BC
-2000 -2000
35.16E32.46N
MISC

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
	Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, is unique among world cities in that it is revered by three great world religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
	Jews are drawn to it as the ancient capital of King David and the location of Judaism's holiest site, the Temple, which was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans.  The only remains of the Temple complex is a retaining wall called "The Wailing Wall," which takes its name from the crowds who stand before it to pray sorrowfully over the destruction of the Temple.
	Muslims also revere the city and believe Muhammad rose to heaven from the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock mosque.  This is Islam's third holiest site, after Mecca and Medina.
	Interestingly, the Dome of the Rock is on the same site where the Jewish Temple was once located, a factor that has become a source of controversy between Jews and Muslims.
	Christians look to Jerusalem as the site of Jesus' crucifixion, and many believe the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built over the place where Jesus was entombed.
	Because it is important to all three religions, Jerusalem has sometimes been the focus of religious disputes. Christians and Muslims fought over Jerusalem in the Middle Ages, and in a 6-day war in 1967, the Jewish state of Israel captured it from Muslim Jordan.