26 February 2018•Update: 26 February 2018
By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine
A photo gallery about Jerusalem was held in Israel-occupied West Bank on Monday.
“The gallery is an attempt to maintain the original identity of Jerusalem in face of the Israeli falsification,” Mohamed al-Khatib, head of Jerusalem unit at the Palestinian Information Ministry, told Anadolu Agency.
The gallery, held in Al-Bireh city in the central West Bank, features 28 photos of buildings, marketplaces, mosques and churches in the holy city.
“We are trying to use this event to break the siege imposed on Jerusalem and let our people in the occupied West Bank see through it,” al-Khatib said.
East Jerusalem has drawn world attention since U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 6 officially recognized the holy city as the capital of Israel, triggering world outcry and protests across the Palestinian territories.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as capital of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 Middle East war.
In a move never recognized by the international community, Israel annexed the entire city in 1980 claiming it as its "eternal and undivided” capital.
International law continues to view the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement construction there as illegal.
