 Tomorrow, Israel's capital city of Jerusalem will come to a partial halt as some residents gather to celebrate the holiday of Jerusalem Day. You might be wondering, what's Jerusalem Day? If there is a Jerusalem Day, then does that mean there's also a Tel Aviv Day? Is it a day off work? And why does the city need its own mini national holiday anyway? Let me give you a quick explanation. The first thing to understand is that Jerusalem Day isn't really about celebrating the city of Jerusalem, per se. I think most people would probably agree that that would be unnecessary. I mean, Jerusalem has its pluses, but so does Tel Aviv, Haifa and Elat. And much as there isn't a New York Day or a Chicago Day, as far as I know, these cities don't have their own annual commemorations. Jerusalem Day is rather a celebration of a specific aspect of the city's history that I was reunited in 1967. I've explained in previous videos that between 1948 and 1967, there was an international border running through Jerusalem, and the eastern half of the city was held by Jordan. If you'd like to see some cool historical photos of what that border looked like, check out that video. What did the city look like before 1948? The answer really depends how far we go back in history. Jerusalem has been conquered more than 40 times in its history, and has come under the control of people as various as the Ottomans, the British, the Crusaders, and even the Persians. But the immediate answer to the question is that, before 1948 and since 1920, Jerusalem was united as part of Mandatory Palestine, a geopolitical entity which only existed for 28 years. Before that, the city was part of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years, and before that, well, let's just say that I do want this video to take up your whole day. The reason that Jerusalem's reunification was seen as such a big deal has to do with a specific part of it that was located on the eastern Jordanian side of the temporary border, and that's the Old City. During the 19 years during which Jerusalem was divided, Jews were forbidden from accessing the Old City, the part of Jerusalem which contains the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount. Because the entire country of Israel only came into existence in 1948, when Israeli paratroopers captured the Old City from the Jordanians, this also marked the first time since the period when the ancient temple stood, during which the Old City, Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount were under Jewish control. So that's what Jerusalem Day is fundamentally about. It's not about celebrating the marvels of Ben Yehuda Street or the nightlife of Shuk Mahne Yehuda, rather it's very specifically about celebrating when Israel got access to the Old City and its religious sites. This explains why Jerusalem Day has always been celebrated most vigorously by more religious Israelis and why it's less popular among secular Israelis, because it's fundamentally a religious celebration rather than a municipal one. But unfortunately that's not the whole story of Jerusalem Day, or at least it's only a perspective that shows a day through one lens in this conflict. When Israel conquered the east of Jerusalem in 1967, it also took control over what had henceforth been East Jerusalem, the 80,000 Arabs who lived in the walled city of East Jerusalem and in the villages and towns surrounding it became unwitting subjects of Israeli rule. That situation has continued to this day, while the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem has mushroomed to more than 350,000. Today the city of Jerusalem may be physically united, but it is starkly ideologically divided along an invisible fault line, perhaps more so than any other city in the world. To the east of that fault line, roughly where the border used to run, which is called the seam today, the city's residents identify as Palestinian. The vast majority of them see Israel as a violent foreign occupier with no legitimacy and want to be part of a future Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. On the western side of the city are mostly Jewish Israelis who needless to say have a totally different take on both the city's identity and the conflict itself. While there is naturally some interaction between residents of both parts of the city, for the most part they live parallel but extremely separate lives. Over the years Jerusalem Day has taken on a highly nationalistic character. Some Jewish Israelis using the day to taunt Palestinian residents about their loss in the conflict. I don't own footage of this so can't include some in this video, but a quick search on YouTube will bring plenty of it up. Those who chant hateful racist slogans may be a minority, but their presence is usually a conspicuous one. And as a result today has become highly controversial and known as a potentially violent annual standoffs of sorts between right-wing Israelis and Palestinians. All told Jerusalem Day is a lot more complicated than a simple celebration of the city of Jerusalem on its food and its streets etc. Which is why, like some residents of the city, I personally feel a sense of hesitation about celebrating it. While the city of Jerusalem may be physically unified, it remains starkly on united. A fact which has always struck me as a great irony. While Jerusalem Day is ostensibly a celebration of Israel's regaining access to the old city, for many it feels like it has become monopolized by extremists and seized upon less is a chance to celebrate this important milestone in Jewish history and more is a chance to rub salt into the wounds of enemies. And sometimes I ask myself, in spite of the importance of regaining access to the old city, is the bitter divided state of modern Jerusalem as a whole really something that we wish to celebrate? Thanks for watching this video, more coming soon.