From 638 CE until 1917 (with the exception of the Crusader occupation from 1099 to 1187), Jerusalem was controlled by various Islamic dynasties based in Syria, Egypt and Turkey. While Jerusalem remained a city of pilgrimage, none of these Islamic dynasties made Jerusalem their capital. The only other people in the last 3,000 years to have Jerusalem as a capital are the Crusaders who founded the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099-1187.
For most of this 1,300-year period, despite its status as the third holiest Islamic city, Jerusalem remained a backwater, run-down town under Islamic control. Exceptions were during both the Umayyid period (7th to mid-8th century) and the Mamluk period (mid-13th to early-16th century), when major Islamic building projects were carried out in the city.
MODERN REALITIES IN JERUSALEM
From 1918 through 1948, the Land of Israel was under the control of the British who conquered it from the Ottoman Turks in World War One. The State of Israel was established in 1948, when half of Jerusalem -- including the entire Old City and Temple Mount, was under the control of the Kingdom of Jordan.
During the Six Day War in 1967, Israel captured the Old City and for the first time in over 2,000 years, the Temple Mount was back under Jewish control.
It is worth noting that the inaugural PLO Covenant of 1964 does not mention Jerusalem. Only after the city fell back to Jewish control did the updated PLO Covenant of 1968 mention Jerusalem by name.Israel handed over control of the site to the Wakf, the Moslem Religious Trust.
One might have expected that the Israelis would immediately expel the Moslems and re-establish control of the single holiest Jewish site. But in an act of what can only be described as unprecedented tolerance, Israel handed over control of the site to the Wakf, the Moslem Religious Trust.
Today, although Israel technically claims sovereignty over the site, the defacto reality since 1967 has been that the Moslems have control over the site, to the point where Jews are forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount (but permitted to visit).


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