Draft:Metropolitan East Jerusalem

Metropolitan Jerusalem or Metropolitan East Jerusalem is a metropolitan area in the State of Palestine. It is notified by the Palestinian Authority as one of the metropolitan areas, along with Gaza Urban Area and Hebron Urban Area, both notified by the government of Palestine. The occupied East Jerusalem has been annexed by Israel as part of its Jerusalem Municipality and incorporated into Israeli Jerusalem metropolitan area, also known as Greater Jerusalem. This metropolitan region includes Israeli settlements of the Jerusalem Governorate and surrounding Jewish and Arab towns, which are under the control of Israeli government and excludes Palestinian controlled area.

Including Ramallah and Bethlehem, the metropolitan area contributes 35% of the Palestinian GDP alone. A large number of IT and outsourcing companies are concentrated north of Jerusalem and many food factories are found in suburban industrial areas of the Jerusalem Governorate

Status
Israelis claim Jerusalem as part of their Jerusalem District, while Palestinians claim Jerusalem as part of Jerusalem Governorate. Both claim is based on their deep historical connections.

The United Nations proposed Jerusalem as an international city. After the 1948 war, West Jerusalem went in hands of Israel and East Jerusalem came under control of Jordan. Following the 1967 war, Israel captured and annexed East Jerusalem and incorporated into Israeli Jerusalem Municipality. As a result of Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority was formed and the Jerusalem Governorate was notified.

Under Oslo Accords, Jerusalem was not included in the negotiations. Only parts of few neighborhoods were declared Palestinian enclaves. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics have divided Jerusalem Governorate in two parts — J1 Jerusalem and J2 Jerusalem. J1 Jerusalem refers to city limits of East Jerusalem, which has been annexed by Israel. J2 Jerusalem refers to remaining part of the governorate, where the Palestinian government have some sort of control in framework of the Oslo Accords.

Economy
Metropolitan East Jerusalem extending from Ramallah to Bethlehem is largest contributor to the Palestinian economy. Around 35% of the output comes from the metropolitan region. Due to religious significance Jerusalem and Bethlehem are touristic driven areas, where a large number of tourist-related establishments can be found