Sheikh Jarrah is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, north of the Old City, that has become one of the most contested pieces of urban real estate in the world. The neighborhood takes its name from Hussam al-Din al-Jarrahi, a physician and surgeon in the army of Saladin, a 12th-century physician to Saladin who is believed to be buried in a mosque at the heart of the quarter. But it is the Tomb of Shimon HaTzaddik (Simon the Just), a 3rd-century BCE Jewish high priest, located within the neighborhood, that has made Sheikh Jarrah a flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Shimon HaTzaddik
Shimon HaTzaddik (Simon the Righteous) was the Jewish high priest who, according to the Talmud, greeted Alexander the Great when he arrived at the gates of Jerusalem in 332 BCE. Tradition holds that Alexander, upon seeing the high priest in his white robes, dismounted and bowed — an act that spared Jerusalem from destruction. The ancient tomb attributed to Shimon HaTzaddik, set in a cave beneath the neighborhood, has been a Jewish pilgrimage site for centuries, with visitors gathering especially on the holiday of Lag BaOmer. Jewish families purchased land around the tomb in 1876, establishing a small community that existed alongside Arab neighbors during the Ottoman period and into the British Mandate era. The presence of this ancient Jewish connection in a Palestinian neighborhood is at the heart of the modern dispute.
The Conflict
The history of Sheikh Jarrah reflects the broader upheavals of Jerusalem in the 20th century. During the Ottoman period and the British Mandate, the neighborhood was home to a mix of affluent Arab families and modest Jewish households living near the tomb. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the area fell under Jordanian control, and Jewish residents were expelled. Palestinian refugee families from West Jerusalem and other areas were settled in homes built by the Jordanian government and UNRWA. After Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967, the legal status of these properties became fiercely contested. Since the early 2000s, Israeli settler organizations have used legal claims based on the 19th-century Jewish land purchases to seek the eviction of Palestinian families from houses in the neighborhood. The eviction cases have drawn international attention and protests, and the neighborhood has become a symbol of the broader struggle over East Jerusalem. The legal and human dimensions of the dispute are complex, painful, and deeply felt by both sides.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
Sheikh Jarrah tells a story that is difficult but essential for understanding Jerusalem today. Walking through its quiet streets, visitors encounter layers of history — from the ancient tomb to the Ottoman-era mosque, the Mandate-period stone houses, and the modern-day tensions that fill international headlines. Hoshen Tours visits the tomb and discusses the neighborhood’s history with honesty and sensitivity, presenting multiple perspectives so that visitors can form their own understanding of this deeply contested place.