User:Seraphim System/copyedit
The legal status of Jerusalem is a subject of dispute.
Background[edit]
The matter of Jerusalem is not explicitly mentioned in the Balfour Declaration or the British Mandate for Palestine.[1]
Holy Places and the "Status Quo"[edit]
When European countries sought to protect the Christian holy places of Jerusalem in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ottoman government issued several edicts (called firmans). In particular, the Ottoman edict of 1852 states the powers and rights of various Christian denominations over the Church of the Holy Sephulcre in Jerusalem and several other Holy Places considered dependencies of the Church including: the Deir al-Sultan, the Sanctuary of the Ascension (on the Mount of Olives), the Tomb of the Virgin Mary (near Gethsemane). This agreement is generally called the "status quo" and it was widely recognized by at the 1856 Conference of Paris
Israeli law[edit]
According to Israeli law Jerusalem is the undivided capital of the State of Israel.[1]