ABSTRACT
In Jerusalem, theological and historical claims matter; they are the functional equivalent to the deed to the city and have direct operational consequences. Jewish and Muslim connections to the city therefore require evaluation. The Jewish connection to Jerusalem is an ancient and powerful one. According to the Arabic-literary sources, Muhammad fled his home town of Mecca in ad 622 for Medina, a city with a substantial Jewish population. Muslims subsequently accepted the point implicit to the Koranic explanation, that the adoption of Jerusalem as qibla was a tactical move to win Jewish converts. The Crusader conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 initially aroused a very mild Muslim response. Only as the effort to retake Jerusalem grew serious in about 1150 did Muslim leaders seek to rouse jihad sentiments through the heightening of emotions about Jerusalem. Using the means at their disposal, their propagandists stressed the sanctity of Jerusalem and the urgency of its return to Muslim rule.
