By Susan Gangl and Karen Carmody-McIntosh

President Donald Trump recently announced that the United States will officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The president also plans to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

In his December 6 speech, President Trump declared, “I’ve judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”

While Israel’s government was pleased by the announcement, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas spoke out against it. This course of action would be a break from prior U.S. policy and a defiance of the general global political consensus on best steps to take in negotiations involving the Israel-Palestine conflict.

We’ve gathered some resources to help you learn more about this new development and about the long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

President Trump’s Speech

New York Times: Full Video and Transcript: Trump’s Speech Recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel

Reactions to the speech

• BBC News: Jerusalem: Trump move prompts negative world reaction
• New York Times: Tensions Build in Jerusalem and Beyond Over Trump Declaration
• ABC News: Clashes erupt across West Bank, Gaza over US Jerusalem pivot
• Reuters: Muslims in Asia protest against Trump’s Jerusalem plan

More News Sources

• News Sources (University Libraries Help – How to Find by Format page)
• MARKAZ/ Blog: Why is Trump undoing decades of U.S. policy on Jerusalem?
  Shibley Telhami, Brookings Institution, Tuesday, December 5, 2017
• Listen: Trump’s Jerusalem bombshell Natan Sachs / The Hill, Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Selected Resources from the University Libraries

Historical Background

• Jerusalem District, Wikipedia
• The Palestine-Israel conflict a basic introduction
  Gregory Harms; Todd M Ferry, 4th ed. London : Pluto Press 2017
• Arab-Israeli conflict : a documentary and reference guide
  Series: Documentary and reference guides.
  Priscilla Mary Roberts 1955-
  Santa Barbara, California : Greenwood, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC 2017
  Wilson Library General Collection (Quarto DS119.7 .R574 2017 )
• Israel/Palestine Series: Hot spots in global politics.
  Alan Dowty 1940-
  Fourth edition.. Cambridge, UK : Polity Press 2017
  Wilson Library General Collection (DS119.76 .D69 2017
• “Arab-Palestinian Conflict: Is a two-state solution still possible?” By Peter Katel
  CQ Researcher  June 21, 2013 – Volume 23, Issue 23
• “Summary of Israel/Palestine History”
  Tribune Content Agency Photos, 2011
  Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context
• Encyclopedia of politics and religion
  Robert Wuthnow
  2nd ed.. Washington, D.C. : CQ Press 2007
  Wilson Library General Collection Quarto BL65.P7 E53 2007

Government Documents

• Presidential Proclamation Recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of the State of Israel and Relocating the United States Embassy to Israel to Jerusalem. The White House Office of the Press Secretary. December 6, 2017.
• Moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem: Challenges and Opportunities. Hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform-Subcommittee on National Security. November 7, 2017.
• Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. Public Law 104-45. [states that the embassy should be moved to Jerusalem, but a waiver by the President every six months has postponed the moved]
• Israel: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief. Congressional Research Service. May 17, 2017.
• Israeli-Arab Negotiations: Background, Conflicts, and U.S. Policy. Congressional Research Service Report. January 29, 2010.

Periodicals

• CQ Researcher 
• The Jerusalem post
  Internet ed.. Jerusalem, Israel : Jerusalem Post, c1995 1995 –
• AlJazeera: Jerusalem News

Maps

• The Carta Jerusalem atlas
  Dan Bahat 1938-; Hayim Rubinstein; Dan Bahat 1938-; Karṭa (Firm)
  3rd updated and expanded ed.. Jerusalem : Carta 2011
  Wilson Library Borchert Map (Folio G2239.J4 B275 2011 )

Books

For availability search by title in the U of M online catalog:

• Governance and security in Jerusalem : the Jerusalem Old City Initiative
• Shaping Jerusalem : spatial planning, politics and the conflict
• Seizing Jerusalem : the architectures of unilateral unification
• Finding Jerusalem : archaeology between science and ideology
• Jerusalem and the one God : a religious history
• Roman Jerusalem : a new old city
• Medieval Jerusalem : forging an Islamic city in spaces sacred to Christians and Jews
• Shaping Jerusalem : spatial planning, politics and the conflict
• The global history of the Balfour Declaration : declared nation
• Jerusalem : the spatial politics of a divided metropolis
• Jerusalem unbound : geography, history, and the future of the holy city
• Jerusalem : conflict & cooperation in a contested city
• The Balfour Declaration : the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict
• Divided Jerusalem : the struggle for the Holy City
• Protecting Jerusalem’s holy sites : a strategy for negotiating a sacred peace
• Jerusalem : one city, three faiths
• Behind the Balfour Declaration : the hidden origins of today’s Mideast crisis
• United Nations resolutions on Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, 1947-1974
• A proposal for an international curatorship for the Holy Places, submitted to the United Nations.
• Memorandum on the future of Jerusalem.

Subject headings to search Libraries Catalog by subject

• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Jerusalem — International status
• Jerusalem — Politics and government — 21st century
• Religion and politics — Jerusalem
• Shrines — Law and legislation — Jerusalem
• United Nations — Palestine

Resources from other institutions

Note: For databases listed at other university sites, you may need to search titles in our own U of M catalog (or Databases A-Z) to gain access via your U of M account.

• Library of Congress. The Holy Land: an illustrated guide
• Duke University. Jerusalem Libguide
• Israel Maps. University of Texas at Austin. Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection:
• Jerusalem in the News. University of Texas course guide: UGS 202