title: Pragmatics

text: their theory of performativity to hate speech and censorship, arguing that censorship necessarily strengthens any discourse it tries to suppress and therefore, since the state has sole power to define hate speech legally, it is the state that makes hate speech performative.


title: Pragmatics

text: Jacques Derrida remarked that some work done under Pragmatics aligned well with the program he outlined in his book "Of Grammatology".


title: Pragmatics

text: Émile Benveniste argued that the pronouns "I" and "you" are fundamentally distinct from other pronouns because of their role in creating the subject.


title: Pragmatics

text: Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari discuss linguistic pragmatics in the fourth chapter of "A Thousand Plateaus" ("November 20, 1923--Postulates of Linguistics"). They draw three conclusions from Austin: (1) A performative utterance does not communicate information about an act second-hand, but it is the act; (2) Every aspect of language ("semantics, syntactics, or even phonematics") functionally interacts with pragmatics; (3) There is no distinction between language and speech. This last conclusion attempts to refute Saussure's division between "langue" and "parole" and Chomsky's distinction between deep structure and surface structure simultaneously.


title: Dog tag

text: Dog tag is an informal but common term for a specific type of identification tag worn by military personnel. The tags' primary use is for the identification of casualties; they have information about the individual written on them, including identification and essential basic medical information such as blood type and history of inoculations. They often indicate religious preference as well.


title: Dog tag

text: Dog tags are usually fabricated from a corrosion-resistant metal. They commonly contain two copies of the information, either in the form of a single tag that can be broken in half, or as two identical tags on the same chain. This purposeful duplication allows one tag, or half-tag, to be collected from an individual’s dead body for notification, while the duplicate remains with the corpse if the conditions of battle prevent it from being immediately recovered. The term arose and became popular because of the tags' resemblance to animal registration tags.


title: Dog tag

text: The earliest mention of an identification tag for soldiers comes in Polyaenus (Stratagems 1.17) where the Spartans wrote their names on sticks tied to their left wrists. A type of dog tag ("signaculum") was given to the Roman legionary at the moment of enrollment. The legionary "signaculum" was a lead disk with a leather string, worn around the neck, with the name of the recruit and the indication of the legion of which the recruit was part. This procedure, together with enrollment in the list of recruits, was made at the beginning of a four-month probatory period ("probatio"). The recruit obtained the military status only after the oath of allegiance ("sacramentum") at the end of "probatio", meaning that from a legal point of view the "signaculum" was given to a subject who was no longer a civilian, but not yet in the military.


title: Dog tag

text: In more recent times, dog tags were provided to Chinese soldiers as early as the mid-19th century. During the Taiping revolt (1851–66), both the Imperialists (i.e., the Chinese Imperial Army regular servicemen) and those Taiping rebels wearing a uniform wore wooden dog tags at the belt, bearing the soldier's name, age, birthplace, unit, and date of enlistment.


title: Dog tag

text: During the American Civil War from 1861–1865, some soldiers pinned paper notes with their name and home address to the backs of their coats. Other soldiers stenciled identification on their knapsacks or scratched it in the soft lead backing of their army belt buckles.


title: Dog tag

text: Manufacturers of identification badges recognized a market and began advertising in periodicals. Their pins were usually shaped to suggest a branch of service, and engraved with the soldier's name and unit. Machine-stamped tags were also made of brass or lead with a hole and usually had (on one side) an eagle or shield, and such phrases as "War for the Union" or "Liberty, Union, and Equality". The other side had the soldier's name and unit, and sometimes a list of battles in which he had participated. To the right is an image of First Sergeant Henry Correll of the 2nd Vermont Volunteer Infantry. To learn more on Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Correll, please see the reference.


title: Dog tag

text: On a volunteer basis Prussian soldiers had decided to wear identification tags in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. However, many rejected dog tags as a bad omen for their lives. So until eight months after the Battle of Königgrätz, with almost 8,900 Prussian casualties, only 429 of them could be identified. With the formation of the North German Confederation in 1867 Prussian military regulations became binding for the militaries of all North German member states. With the Prussian "Instruktion über das Sanitätswesen der Armee im Felde" (i.e., instruction on the medical corps organisation of the army afield) issued on 29 April 1869 identification tags (then called "Erkennungsmarke"; literally "recognition mark") were to be handed out to each soldier before deployment afield. The Prussian Army issued identification tags for its troops at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. They were nicknamed "Hundemarken" (the German equivalent of "dog tags") and compared to a similar identification system instituted by the dog licence fee, adding tags to collars of those dogs whose owners paid the fee, in the Prussian capital city of Berlin at around the same time period.


title: Dog tag

text: The British Army introduced identity discs in place of identity cards in 1907, in the form of aluminium discs, typically made at regimental depots using machines similar to those common at fun fairs, the details being pressed into the thin metal one letter at a time.


title: Dog tag

text: Army Order 287 of September 1916 required the British Army provide all soldiers with two official tags, both made of vulcanised asbestos fibre (which were more comfortable to wear in hot climates) carrying identical details, again impressed one character at a time. The first tag, an octagonal green disc, was attached to a long cord around the neck. The second tag, a circular red disc, was threaded on a 6-inch cord suspended from the first tag. The first tag was intended to remain on the body for future identification, while the second tag could be taken to record the death.


title: Dog tag

text: British and Empire/Commonwealth forces (Australia, Canada, and New Zealand) were issued essentially identical identification discs of basic pattern during the Great War, Second World War and Korea, though official identity discs were frequently supplemented by private-purchase items such as identity bracelets, particularly favoured by sailors who believed the official discs were unlikely to survive long immersion in water.


title: Dog tag

text: The U.S. Army first authorized identification tags in War Department General Order No. 204, dated December 20, 1906, which essentially prescribes the Kennedy identification tag:


title: Dog tag

text: The U.S. Army changed regulations on July 6, 1916, so that all soldiers were issued two tags: one to stay with the body and the other to go to the person in charge of the burial for record-keeping purposes. In 1918, the U.S. Army adopted and allotted the service number system, and name and service numbers were ordered stamped on the identification tags.


title: Dog tag

text: There is a recurring myth about the notch situated in one end of the dog tags issued to United States Army personnel during World War II, and up until the Korean War era. It was rumored that the notch's purpose was that, if a soldier found one of his comrades on the battlefield, he could take one tag to the commanding officer and stick the other between the teeth of the soldier to ensure that the tag would remain with the body and be identified.


title: Dog tag

text: In reality, the notch was used with the Model 70 Addressograph Hand Identification Imprinting Machine (a pistol-type imprinter used primarily by the Medical Department during World War II). American dogtags of the 1930s through 1980s were produced using a Graphotype machine, in which characters are debossed into metal plates. Some tags are still debossed, using earlier equipment, and some are embossed (with raised letters) on computer-controlled equipment.


title: Dog tag

text: In the Graphotype process, commonly used commercially from the early 1900s through the 1980s, a debossing machine was used to stamp characters into metal plates; the plates could then be used to repetitively stamp such things as addresses onto paper in the same way that a typewriter functions, except that a single stroke of the printer could produce a block of text, rather than requiring each character to be printed individually. The debossing process creates durable, easily legible metal plates, well-suited for military identification tags, leading to adoption of the system by the American military. It was also realized that debossed tags can function the same way the original Graphotype plates do.


title: Dog tag

text: The Model 70 took advantage of this fact, and was intended to rapidly print all of the information from a soldier's dogtag directly onto medical and personnel forms, with a single squeeze of the trigger. However, this requires that the tag being inserted with the proper orientation (stamped characters facing down), and it was believed that battlefield stress could lead to errors. To force proper orientation of the tags, the tags are produced with a notch, and there is a locator tab inside the Model 70 which prevents the printer from operating if the tag is inserted with the notch in the wrong place (as it is if the tag is upside down).


title: Dog tag

text: This feature was not as useful in the field as had been hoped, however, due to adverse conditions such as weather, dirt and dust, water, etc. In addition, the Model 70 resembled a pistol, thus attracting the attention of snipers (who might assume that a man carrying a pistol was an officer). As a result, use of the Model 70 hand imprinter by field medics was rapidly abandoned (as were most of the Model 70s themselves), and eventually the specification that tags include the locator notch was removed from production orders. Existing stocks of tags were used until depleted, and in the 1960s it was not uncommon for a soldier to be issued one tag with the notch and one tag without. Notched tags are still in production, to satisfy the needs of hobbyists, film production, etc., while the Model 70 imprinter has become a rare collector's item.


title: Dog tag

text: It appears instructions that would confirm the notch's mythical use were issued at least unofficially by the Graves Registration Service during the Vietnam War to Army troops headed overseas.


title: Dog tag

text: Dog tags are traditionally part of the makeshift battlefield memorials soldiers created for their fallen comrades. The casualty's rifle with bayonet affixed is stood vertically atop the empty boots, with the helmet over the rifle's stock. The dog tags hang from the rifle's handle or trigger guard.


title: Dog tag

text: Some tags (along with similar items such as MedicAlert bracelets) are used also by civilians to identify their wearers and specify them as having health problems that may <br>


title: Dog tag

text: "(a)" suddenly incapacitate their wearers and render them incapable of providing treatment guidance (as in the cases of heart problems, epilepsy, diabetic coma, accident or major trauma) and/or <br>


title: Dog tag

text: "(b)" interact adversely with medical treatments, especially standard or "first-line" ones (as in the case of an allergy to common medications) and/or <br>


title: Dog tag

text: "(d)" state a religious, moral, or other objection to artificial resuscitation, if a first responder attempts to administer such treatment when the wearer is non-responsive and thus unable to warn against doing so. A DNR signed by a physician is still required in some states.


title: Dog tag

text: Dog tags have found their way into youth fashion as military chic. Originally worn as a part of a military uniform by youth wishing to present a tough or militaristic image, dog tags have since reached wider fashion circles. They may be inscribed with a person's details, beliefs or tastes, a favorite quote, or may bear the name or logo of a band or performer.


title: Dog tag

text: Since the late 1990s, custom dog tags have been fashionable amongst musicians (particularly rappers), and as a marketing give-away item. Numerous companies offer customers the opportunity to create their own personalized dog tags with their own photos, logos, and text. Even high-end jewellers have featured gold and silver dog tags encrusted with diamonds and other jewels.


title: Dog tag

text: The Austrian "Bundesheer" used a single long, rectangular tag, with oval ends, stamped with blood group & Rh factor at the end, with ID number underneath. Two slots and a hole stamped beneath allows the tag to be broken in halves, and the long bottom portion has both the ID number and a series of holes which allows the tag to be inserted into a dosimeter. This has been replaced with a more conventional, wider and rounded rectangle which can still be halved, but lacks the dosimeter reading holes.


title: Dog tag

text: The Australian Defence Force issues soldiers two tags of different shapes, one octagonal and one circular, containing the following information:


title: Dog tag

text: The information is printed exactly the same on both discs. In the event of a casualty, the circular tag is removed from the body.


title: Dog tag

text: Belgian Forces identity tags are, like the Canadian and Norwegian, designed to be broken in two in case of fatality; the lower half is returned to Belgian Defence tail, while the upper half remains on the body. The tags contain the following information:


title: Dog tag

text: Canadian Forces identity discs (abbreviated "ID discs") are designed to be broken in two in the case of fatality; the lower half is returned to National Defence Headquarters with the member's personal documents, while the upper half remains on the body. The tags contain the following information:


title: Dog tag

text: Before the Service Number was introduced in the 1990s, military personnel were identified on the ID discs (as well as other documents) by their Social Insurance Number.


title: Dog tag

text: The People's Liberation Army issues two long, rectangular tags. All information is stamped in Simplified Chinese:


title: Dog tag

text: PLA is introducing a two-dimensional matrix code on the second tag, the matrix code contains a link to the official database. This allows the inquirer get more details about the military personnel.


title: Dog tag

text: The Ejército Nacional de Colombia uses long, rectangular metal tags with oval ends tags stamped with the following information:


title: Dog tag

text: The military of Denmark use dog tags made from small, rectangular metal plates. The tag is designed to be broken into two pieces each with the following information stamped onto it:


title: Dog tag

text: Starting in 1985, the individual's service number (which is the same as the social security number) is included on the tag. In case the individual dies, the lower half-tag is supposed to be collected, while the other will remain with the corpse. In the army, navy, and air force but not in the national guard, the individual's blood type is indicated on the lower half-tag only, since this information becomes irrelevant if the individual dies. In 2009, Danish dog tags were discontinued for conscripts.


title: Dog tag

text: The "Nationale Volksarmee" used a tag nearly identical to that used by both the Wehrmacht and the West German Bundeswehr. The oval aluminum tag was stamped "DDR" (Deutsche Demokratische Republik) above the personal ID number; this information was repeated on the bottom half, which was intended to be broken off in case of death. Oddly, the tag was not worn, but required to be kept in a plastic sleeve in the back of the WDA identity booklet.


title: Dog tag

text: The "Placas de identificación de campaña" consists of two long, rectangular steel or aluminum tags with rounded corners and a single hole punched in one end. It is suspended by a US-type ball chain, with a shorter chain for the second tag. The information on the tag is:


title: Dog tag

text: Estonian dog tags are designed to be broken in two. The dog tag is a metallic rounded rectangle suspended by a ball chain. Information consists of four fields:


title: Dog tag

text: In the Finnish Defence Forces, ""tunnuslevy"" or WWII term ""tuntolevy"" (Finnish for "Identification plate") is made of stainless steel and designed to be broken in two; however, the only text on it is the personal identification number and the letters "FI" or "SF" in older models, which stands for Suomi Finland, within a tower stamped atop of the upper half.


title: Dog tag

text: France issues either a metallic rounded rectangle (army) or disk (navy), designed to be broken in half, bearing family name & first name above the ID number.


title: Dog tag

text: German Bundeswehr ID tags are an oval-shaped disc designed to be broken in half. They are made of stainless steel, height and width. The two sides contain different information which are mirrored upside-down on the lower half of the ID tag. They feature the following information on segmented and numbered fields:


title: Dog tag

text: "Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung" of 2009-12-21 specifies shape, materials and characteristics for four parts:


title: Dog tag

text: The ID tag is landscape-oval, breakable in two halves with 4–8 manual bends. On the backside each half is 0.2 mm deep marked with "DEU" for "Deutschland", the non-magnetic type on both halves and both sides with "NM".


title: Dog tag

text: The metal sheet is 0.7 mm thick, material codes X5CrNi1810 or 1.4301, weighs about 16 g. NM-variant shall consist of 1.4311 or 1.4401. Sharp edges have to be smoothed, then the plate electropolished. Mechanical deburring and ball polishing is allowed.


title: Dog tag

text: The letters stamped in for the person must stay readable after a glow test for 10 minutes in air at 1200 °C.


title: Dog tag

text: The ball chain is of X5CrNi1810, diameter of ball is 3.5 mm, that of the wire 1.5 mm. Closure is of 1.4301, stainless steel, too. The long chain is 680 + 30 mm long, the short one 145 + 7 mm. Breaking force of the chain including the closure must reach 100 N, after 10 min glow at 1200 °C in air at least 10 N.


title: Dog tag

text: The Hungarian army dog tag is made out of steel, forming a 25×35 mm tag designed to split diagonally. Both sides contain the same information: the soldier's personal identity code, blood group and the word HUNGARIA. Some may not have the blood group on them. These are only issued to soldiers who are serving outside of the country. If the soldier should die, one side is removed and kept for the army's official records, while the other side is left attached to the body.


title: Dog tag

text: The Saddam-era Iraqi Army used a single, long, rectangular metal tag with oval ends, inscribed (usually by hand) with Name and Number or Unit, and occasionally Blood Type.


title: Dog tag

text: Dog tags of the Israel Defense Forces are designed to be broken in two. The information appears in three lines (twice):


title: Dog tag

text: Recruits are issued with 2 Dogtags (4 halves total), one remains whole and worn on a necklace, and the second is broken into its halves and placed in each military boot for the purpose of Identifying dead soldiers (IDF Military Boots contain pouches on their inner sides at the 1/3 calf height, the pouches have holes corresponding in size and placement to those on the discs, allowing for fastening, often via small cable ties).


title: Dog tag

text: Originally the IDF issued two circular aluminum tags (1948 – late 1950s) stamped in three lines with serial number, family name, and first name. The tags were threaded together through a single hole onto a cord worn around the neck.


title: Dog tag

text: Rectangular piece, 35x45 mm, designed to be broken in two. Includes soldier's first and last name, coded date and place of birth, identification number, religious affiliation, and blood group.


title: Dog tag

text: Japan follows a similar system to the US Army for its Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel, and the appearance of the tags is similar, although laser etched. The exact information order is as follows.


title: Dog tag

text: If more information needed, another two oval wrist tags are provided. The term "wrist tags" can be used to refer to the bracelet-like wristwatch. The additional tags only need to be worn on the wrist, with the main tags still on the neck. All personnel are allowed to attach a small religious pendant or locket; this makes a quick identifiable reference for their funeral services.


title: Dog tag

text: The Mexican Army uses two long identity tags, very similar to the ones used in the United States Army. They are rectangular metal tags with oval ends, embossed with name, serial number, and blood type, plus Rh factor.


title: Dog tag

text: Dutch military identity tags, like the Canadian and Norwegian ones, are designed to be broken in two in case of a fatality; the lower end is returned to Dutch Defence Headquarters, while the upper half remains on the body.


title: Dog tag

text: The first dog tags were issued in Poland following the order of the General Staff of December 12, 1920. The earliest design (dubbed "kapala" in Polish, more properly called "kapsel legitymacyjny" - meaning "identification cap") consisted of a tin-made 30×50 mm rectangular frame and a rectangular cap fitting into the frame. Soldiers' details were filled in a small ID card placed inside the frame, as well as on the inside of the frame itself. The dog tag was similar to the tags used by the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. In case the soldier died, the frame was left with his body, while the lid was returned to his unit together with a note on his death. The ID card was handed over to the chaplain or the rabbi.


title: Dog tag

text: In 1928, a new type of dog tag was proposed by gen. bryg. Stanisław Rouppert, Poland's representative at the International Red Cross. It was slightly modified and adopted in 1931 under the name of Nieśmiertelnik wz. 1931 (literally "Immortalizer mark 1931"). The new design consisted of an oval piece of metal (ideally steel, but in most cases aluminum alloy was used), roughly 40 by 50 millimeters. There were two notches on both sides of the tag, as well as two rectangular holes in the middle to allow for easier breaking of the tag in two halves. The halves contained the same set of data and were identical, except the upper half had two holes for a string or twine to go through. The data stamped on the dog tag from 2008 (wz. 2008) included:


title: Dog tag

text: The former Republic of Rhodesia used two WW2 British-style compressed asbestos fiber tags, a No. 1 octagonal (grey) tag and a No. 2 circular (red) tag, stamped with identical information. The red tag was supposedly fireproof and the grey tag rotproof. The following information was stamped on the tags: Number, Name, Initials, & Religion; Blood Type was stamped on reverse. The air force and BSAP often stamped their service on the reverse side above the blood group.


title: Dog tag

text: The Russian Armed Forces use oval metal tags, similar to the dog tags of the Soviet Army. Each tag contains the title " () and the individual's alphanumeric number, as shown on the photo.


title: Dog tag

text: The dog tags consist of two metal pieces, one oval with two holes and one round with one hole. A synthetic lanyard is threaded through both holes in the oval piece and tied around the wearer's neck. The round piece is tied to the main loop on a shorter loop.


title: Dog tag

text: The South African Defense Force use two long, rectangular stainless steel tags with oval ends, stamped with serial number, name and initials, religion, and blood type.


title: Dog tag

text: The South Korean army issues two long, rectangular tags with oval ends, stamped (in Korean lettering). The tags are worn on the neck with a ball chain. The tags contain the information listed below:


title: Dog tag

text: The South Vietnamese Army and the South Vietnamese Navy used two American-style dog tags. Some tags added religion on the back, e.g., Phật Giáo for Buddhist. They were stamped or inscribed with:


title: Dog tag

text: During World War II, the Red Army did not issue metal dog tags to its troops. They were issued small black Bakelite cylinders containing a slip of paper with a soldier's particulars written on it. These do not hold up as well as metal dog tags.


title: Dog tag

text: After World War II, the Soviet Army used oval metal tags, similar to today's dog tags of the Russian Armed forces. Each tag contains the title " () and the individual's alphanumeric number.


title: Dog tag

text: Issues a single metal oval, worn vertically, stamped "" above and below the 3-slot horizontal break line. It is stamped in 4 lines with:


title: Dog tag

text: Swedish identification tags are designed to be able to break apart. The information on them was prior to 2010 and are as follows:


title: Dog tag

text: Swedish dog tags issued to Armed Forces personnel after 2010 are, for personal security reasons, only marked with a personal identity number.


title: Dog tag

text: During the Cold War, dog tags were issued to everyone, often soon after birth, since the threat of total war also meant the risk of severe civilian casualties. However, in 2010, the Government decided that the dog tags were not needed anymore.


title: Dog tag

text: Swiss Armed Forces ID tag is an oval shaped non reflective plaque, containing the following information:


title: Dog tag

text: On the back side the letters CH (standing for "Confoederatio Helvetica") are engraved next to a Swiss cross.


title: Dog tag

text: The British Armed Forces currently use two circular non-reflecting stainless steel tags, referred to as "ID Disks", engraved with the following 'Big 5' details:


title: Dog tag

text: During World War One and Two, service personnel were issued pressed fibre identity disks, one green octagonal shaped disc, and a red round disc (some army units issued a second red round disc to be attached to the service respirator). The identity disks were hand stamped with the surname, initials, service number and religion of the holder and if in the Royal Air Force, the initials RAF. The disks were worn around the neck on a 38" length of cotton cord, this was often replaced by the wearer with a leather bootlace. One tag was suspended below the main tag.


title: Dog tag

text: From 1960 these were replaced with stainless steel ID tags on a green nylon cord, two circular and one oval. The oval was withdrawn around 1990.


title: Dog tag

text: Tags are properly known as identification tags; the term "dog tags" has never been used in regulations.


title: Dog tag

text: During World War II, an American dog tag could indicate only one of three religions through the inclusion of one letter: "P" for Protestant, "C" for Catholic, or "H" for Jewish (from the word, "Hebrew"), or (according to at least one source) "NO" to indicate no religious preference. Army regulations (606-5) soon included X and Y in addition to P, C, and H: the X indicating any religion not included in the first three, and the Y indicating either no religion or a choice not to list religion.


title: Dog tag

text: By the time of the Vietnam War, some IDs spelled out the broad religious choices such as PROTESTANT and CATHOLIC, rather than using initials, and also began to show individual denominations such as "METHODIST" or "BAPTIST." Tags did vary by service, however, such as the use of "CATH," not "CATHOLIC" on some Navy tags. For those with no religious affiliation and those who chose not to list an affiliation, either the space for religion was left blank or the words "NO PREFERENCE" or "NO RELIGIOUS PREF" (or the abbreviation "NO PREF") were included.


title: Dog tag

text: Although American dog tags currently include the recipient's religion as a way of ensuring that religious needs will be met, some personnel have them reissued without religious affiliation listed—or keep two sets, one with the designation and one without—out of fear that identification as a member of a particular religion could increase the danger to their welfare or their lives if they fell into enemy hands. Some Jewish personnel avoided flying over German lines during WWII with ID tags that indicated their religion, and some Jewish personnel avoid the religious designation today out of concern that they could be captured by extremists who are anti-Semitic. Additionally, when American troops were first sent to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War there were allegations that some U.S. military authorities were pressuring Jewish military personnel to avoid listing their religions on their ID tags.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The status of Jerusalem is disputed in both international law and diplomatic practice, with both the Israelis and Palestinians claiming Jerusalem as their capital city. The dispute has been described as "one of the most intractable issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict", with conflicting claims to sovereignty over the city or parts of it, and access to its holy sites. The main dispute revolves around the legal status of East Jerusalem and especially the Old City of Jerusalem, while broader agreement exists regarding future Israeli presence in West Jerusalem in accordance with Israel's internationally recognised borders.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The majority of United Nations (UN) member states hold the view that the final status of Jerusalem should be resolved through negotiation, and have therefore favored locating their embassies in Tel Aviv prior to a final status agreement. In the late 2010s, the international consensus to abstain from expressing a viewpoint on the city's final status has shown signs of fragility, with Russia, the United States, and Australia adopting new policy positions. Furthermore, the proposal that Jerusalem should be the future capital of both Israel and Palestine has also gained international support, with endorsements coming from both the United Nations and the European Union.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: From 1517 until the First World War, Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire. It was part of the Damascus eyalet (province) until, as a result of widespread administrative reform in the mid 1800s, it became an independent sanjak (district) in 1872. From the 1860s, the Jewish community became the largest religious minority grouping within in the city and from 1887, with the beginning of expansion outside the old city walls, became a majority.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Throughout the 19th century, European powers were competing for influence in the city, usually on the basis (or pretext) of extending protection over Christian churches and holy places. Much of the property that is now owned by the churches was bought during this time. A number of these countries, most notably France, entered into capitulation agreements with the Ottoman Empire and also established consulates in Jerusalem. In 1847, with Ottoman approval, the first Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since the Crusades was established.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: After capturing Jerusalem in 1917, the United Kingdom was in control of Jerusalem; initially under a wartime administration, then as part of the Mandate of Palestine assigned to Britain in 1920. The principal Allied Powers recognized the unique spiritual and religious interests in Jerusalem among the world's Abrahamic religions as "a sacred trust of civilization", and stipulated that the existing rights and claims connected with it be safeguarded in perpetuity, under international guarantee.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: However, the Arab and Jewish communities in Palestine were in mortal dispute and Britain sought United Nations assistance in resolving the dispute. During the negotiations of proposals for a resolution that culminated in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (also known as Resolution 181) in November 1947, the historic claims of the Vatican, Italy and France were revived. The Vatican's historic claims and interests, as well as those of Italy and France were based on the former Protectorate of the Holy See and the French Protectorate of Jerusalem. From their point of view this proposal was essentially to safeguard Christian holy sites and was expressed as a call for the special international regime for the city of Jerusalem. This status was also confirmed in UN General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948, which maintained the position that Jerusalem be made an international city.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The United Nations Partition Plan called for the partition of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem (with borders expanded to include Bethlehem, see UN map of Jerusalem) being established as a "corpus separatum", or a "separated body", with a special legal and political status, administered by the United Nations. The Free City of Danzig was a historical precedent for this solution; Trieste was a contemporaneous city ruled by the UN. Jewish representatives accepted the partition plan, while representatives of the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab states rejected it, declaring it illegal.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: On 14 May 1948, the Jewish community in Palestine issued the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel within territory set aside for the Jewish state in the Partition Plan. Israel became a member of the United Nations the following year and has since been recognised by most countries. The countries recognizing Israel did not necessarily recognize its sovereignty over Jerusalem generally, citing the UN resolutions which called for an international status for the city. The United States, Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo have embassies in Jerusalem.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: With the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel and the subsequent invasion by surrounding Arab states, the UN proposal for Jerusalem never materialised. The 1949 Armistice Agreements left Jordan in control of the eastern parts of Jerusalem, while the western sector (with the exception of the Mount Scopus exclave in the east) was held by Israel. Each side recognised the other's "de facto" control of their respective sectors. The Armistice Agreement, however, was considered internationally as having no legal effect on the continued validity of the provisions of the partition resolution for the internationalisation of Jerusalem. In 1950, Jordan annexed East Jerusalem as part of its larger annexation of the West Bank. Though the United Kingdom and Iraq recognized Jordanian rule over East Jerusalem, no other country recognized either Jordanian or Israeli rule over the respective areas of the city under their control. Pakistan is sometimes falsely claimed to have recognized the annexation as well.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Following the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel declared that Israeli law would be applied to East Jerusalem and enlarged its eastern boundaries, approximately doubling its size. The action was deemed unlawful by other states who did not recognize it. It was condemned by the UN Security Council and General Assembly which described it as an annexation and a violation of the rights of the Palestinian population. In 1980, Israel passed the Jerusalem Law, which declared that ""Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel"". The Security Council declared the law null and void in Resolution 478, which also called upon member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city. The UN General Assembly has also passed numerous resolutions to the same effect.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: On 29 November 1947 the UN General Assembly passed a resolution which, as part of its Partition Plan for Palestine, included the establishment of Jerusalem as a separate international entity under the auspices of the United Nations, a so-called "corpus separatum".


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Israel took control of West Jerusalem while Jordan took control of East Jerusalem (including the walled Old City in which most holy places are located). Although accepting partition before the war, Israel rejected the UN's "corpus separatum" decision at the Lausanne Conference of 1949, and instead indicated a preference for division of Jerusalem into Jewish and Arab zones, and international control and protection only for holy places and sites. Also in 1949, as the UN General Assembly began debating the implementation of its "corpus separatum" decision, Israel declared Jerusalem as Israel's "eternal capital".


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: After Israel conquered East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967 during the Six-Day War, Israel argued that it had the stronger right to the city.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Very soon after its conquest of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel merged East Jerusalem with West Jerusalem by administratively extending the municipal boundary of the city.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: In July 1980, the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Law as part of the country's Basic Law, which declared Jerusalem the unified capital of Israel.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: According to a 1999 statement by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "There is no basis in international law for the position supporting a status of 'corpus separatum' (separate entity) for the city of Jerusalem." In the view of the ministry, the concept of "corpus separatum" became irrelevant after the Arab states rejected the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine and invaded the newly created State of Israel in 1948. Accordingly, the ministry states, "There has never been any agreement, treaty, or international understanding which applies the 'Corpus Separatum' concept to Jerusalem."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: In 2003 Israel argued that Jordan had no rights to any land west of the Jordan River, that it had taken the West Bank and East Jerusalem by an act of aggression, and therefore never acquired sovereignty.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The Oslo Accords declared that the final status of Jerusalem would be negotiated, but Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin declared that he would never divide the city. In 1995, he allegedly told a group of school children that "if they told us peace is the price of giving up a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, my reply would be 'let's do without peace'".


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: This position was upheld by his successor, Benjamin Netanyahu, who stated there would be "..no discussion of the case of Jerusalem...".


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Netanyahu's successor, Ehud Barak, during negotiations, became the first Israeli Prime Minister to allow for a possible division of Jerusalem, despite his campaign promises.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Prime minister during the second intifada, Ariel Sharon was unequivocal in his support for an undivided Jerusalem. In an interview done one week before a stroke incapacitated him he stated: "Our position is that Jerusalem is not negotiable. We are not going to negotiate on Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be forever a united and undivided capital of Israel."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Prime Minister (and former Jerusalem mayor) Ehud Olmert vowed to keep Jerusalem the "undivided, eternal capital of the Jewish people", but later supported the detachment of several Arab neighborhoods from Israeli sovereignty and the introduction of an international trust to run the Temple Mount.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: When Netanyahu succeeded Olmert, he declared that "all of Jerusalem would always remain under Israeli sovereignty" and that only Israel would "ensure the freedom of religion and freedom of access for the three religions to the holy places".


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: These statements seem to closely reflect Israeli public opinion. According to a 2012 poll by the right-wing Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 78% of Jewish voters who responded said that they would reconsider voting for any politician that wants to relinquish Israel's control over the Old City and East Jerusalem.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: On 17 May 2015, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated, regarding Jerusalem serving as the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state, "Jerusalem has forever been the capital of only the Jewish people and no other nation."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: On 2 January 2018 Israel passed into law new legislation that requires the two-thirds majority support of the Knesset for any section of Jerusalem to be transferred to a foreign government.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: On 25 January 2018, Netanyahu repeated the previous government position but seemed to alter it, reportedly saying: "Under any peace agreement the capital of Israel will continue to be in Jerusalem."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: During the British Mandate, the main representation of the Palestinian Arabs was the Arab Higher Committee, formed in the beginning of the Great Arab revolt in 1936; it was outlawed in 1937 and its leaders deported. Reconstituted in 1945 and dominated by Palestinian Arabs, it continued in various iterations until 1948, when, viewed as a threat to Jordan, its army was forced to disband. There was unequivocal support for an Arab controlled Jerusalem (at that time the status quo).


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Until the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, there was little in terms of an internationally recognised representation of the Palestinian Arabs. The Arab League usually took over the job, with the short-lived Egyptian-controlled All-Palestine Government based in Gaza having little sway, and Jordan taking control of the West Bank with East Jerusalem.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Until the Oslo Accords in 1993, and the Letters of Mutual Recognition, the Palestinians, represented since 1964 by the PLO, had at all times rejected any partition of any part of the former British Mandate territory. However, while they had previously rejected the UN's internationalisation plan, most of the Arab delegations at the Lausanne Conference of 1949 accepted a permanent international regime (called "corpus separatum") under United Nations supervision as proposed in Resolutions 181 and 194. The Arabs vociferously objected to Israel moving to (West) Jerusalem its national institutions, namely the Knesset, the presidential, legislative, judicial and administrative offices.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The Palestinian leadership now claims the "1967 borders" (in effect the 1949 armistice lines) as the borders of the Palestinian territories, and includes East Jerusalem as part of these territories. Despite recognition of Israel (only from Fatah, not Hamas), and its support in 1949 of "corpus separatum", it had never conceded sovereignty of Jerusalem. In 1988, Jordan conceded all claims to the West Bank, including Jerusalem, other than the Muslim holy places on the Temple Mount, and recognized the PLO as the legal representatives of the Palestinian people.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The Palestinian National Authority views East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory, in line with UNSC Resolution 242. The PNA claims all of East Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, as the capital of the State of Palestine, and claims that West Jerusalem is also subject to final status negotiations, but is willing to consider alternative solutions, such as making Jerusalem an open city. In the Palestine Liberation Organization's Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988, Jerusalem is called the capital of the State of Palestine. In 2000 the Palestinian Authority passed a law designating the city as such, and in 2002 this law was ratified by Chairman Yasser Arafat. The official position of the PNA is that Jerusalem should be an open city, with no physical partition and that Palestine would guarantee freedom of worship, access and the protection of sites of religious significance. The status quo on the Temple Mount now is that tourists are allowed to visit, but not pray, on the Temple Mount, although this seems to be slowly changing.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: In September 2018, the State of Palestine initiated an action in the International Court of Justice, in the case "Palestine v. United States of America" (officially titled "Relocation of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem"), in which Palestine charges the US with violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations by moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, arguing the Convention requires that "the diplomatic mission of a sending State must be established on the territory of the receiving State." The Palestinian application argues that in international law Jerusalem cannot be considered to be the territory of the State of Israel because under General Assembly Resolution 181 of 1947 (the Partition Plan) Jerusalem was to have been placed under international governance, and thus precludes considering Jerusalem to be under the sovereignty of any State.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The United Nations considers East Jerusalem to be part of Israeli-occupied territories or occupied Palestinian territory. It envisions Jerusalem eventually becoming the capital of two states, Israel and Palestine. This is at odds with other General Assembly Resolutions, which promote an internationally administered Jerusalem.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: 1947 UN Partition Plan (Resolution 181(II)) provided for the full territorial internationalisation of Jerusalem: "The City of Jerusalem shall be established as a "corpus separatum" under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations." The resolution was accepted by the Jewish leadership in Palestine, but rejected by the Arabs. This position was restated after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War in Resolution 194 of 1948 and in of 1949. According to a 1979 report prepared for and under the guidance of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, it would appear that the United Nations has maintained the principle that the legal status of Jerusalem is that of a "corpus separatum".


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The United Nations General Assembly does not recognize Israel's proclamation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which is, for example, reflected in the wording of General Assembly Resolution 63/30 of 2009 which states that "any actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever, and calls upon Israel to cease all such illegal and unilateral measures."<ref name="GA63/30"></ref>


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Although the General Assembly cannot pass legally binding resolutions over international issues, the United Nations Security Council, which has the authority to do so, has passed a total of six Security Council resolutions on Israel on the matter, including UNSC resolution 478 which affirmed that the enactment of the 1980 Basic Jerusalem Law declaring unified Jerusalem as Israel's "eternal and indivisible" capital, was a violation of international law. The resolution advised member states to withdraw their diplomatic representation from the city. The Security Council, as well as the UN in general, has consistently affirmed the position that East Jerusalem (but not west Jerusalem) is occupied Palestinian territory subject to the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The International Court of Justice in its 2004 Advisory opinion on the "Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" described East Jerusalem as "occupied Palestinian territory".


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Many UN member states formally follow the UN position that Jerusalem should have an international status. The European Union has also followed the UN's lead in this regard, declaring Jerusalem's status to be that of a "corpus separatum", or an international city to be administered by the UN.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Nevertheless, and inconsistent with the status of "corpus separatum", the UN has designated East Jerusalem occupied Palestinian territory. China recognizes East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, and the United States has recognised at least West Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on 28 October 2009 that Jerusalem must be the capital of both Israel and Palestine. The UN has never revoked resolutions 181 and 194, and maintains the official position that Jerusalem should be placed under a special international regime.<ref name="Resolution_66/18">UNGA, 30 November 2011, "Resolution adopted by the General Assembly, 66/18. Jerusalem" (doc.nr. A/RES/66/18 d.d. 26 January 2012).</ref>


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The European Union currently views the status of Jerusalem as that of a "corpus separatum" including both East and West Jerusalem as outlined in United Nations Resolution 181. In the interest of achieving a peaceful solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict, it believes a fair solution should be found regarding the issue of Jerusalem in the context of the two-state solution set out in the Road Map. Taking into account the political and religious concerns of all parties involved, it envisions the city serving as the shared capital of Israel and Palestine.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The EU opposes measures which would prejudge the outcome of permanent status negotiations on Jerusalem, basing its policy on the principles set out in UN Security Council Resolution 242, notably the impossibility of acquisition of territory by force. It will not recognise any changes to pre-1967 borders with regard to Jerusalem, unless agreed between the parties. It has also called for the reopening of Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem, in accordance with the Road Map, in particular Orient House and the Chamber of Commerce, and has called on the Israeli government to "cease all discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, especially concerning work permits, access to education and health services, building permits, house demolitions, taxation and expenditure."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: On 13 December 2017, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), consisting of 57 primarily Muslim countries, declared East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine and invited "all countries to recognise the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital." The declaration makes no mention of Jerusalem as "corpus separatum", nor makes any reference to West Jerusalem.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: After Israel passed the Jerusalem Law in 1980, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 478, which called upon UN member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city. Thirteen countries—Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, the Netherlands, Panama, Uruguay and Venezuela—moved their embassies from Jerusalem primarily to Tel Aviv. Costa Rica and El Salvador moved theirs back to Jerusalem in 1984. Costa Rica moved its embassy back to Tel Aviv in 2006 followed by El Salvador a few weeks later. No international embassy was located in Jerusalem again until 2018, although Bolivia had its embassy in Mevasseret Zion, a suburb west of the city, until relations were severed in 2009.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Various countries recognized Israel as a state in the 1940s and 1950s, without recognizing Israeli sovereignty over West Jerusalem. There is an international "sui generis" consular corps in Jerusalem. It is commonly referred to as the "Consular Corps of the Corpus Separatum". The states that have maintained consulates in Jerusalem say that it was part of Mandate Palestine, and in a "de jure" sense has not since become part of any other sovereignty. The Netherlands maintains an office in Jerusalem serving mainly Israeli citizens. Other foreign governments base consulate general offices in Jerusalem, including Greece, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The United States had a consulate general in Jerusalem, which was reclassified as its embassy in 2018. Since the President of Israel resides in Jerusalem and confirms the foreign diplomats, ambassadors need to travel to Jerusalem to submit letters of credentials upon being appointed.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The United States relocated its embassy to Israel to Jerusalem in 2018, as did Guatemala. Honduras followed in 2021. A number of countries have indicated that they could relocate their embassies to Jerusalem, including Brazil, Serbia, the Czech Republic and the Dominican Republic. In December 2020, the Czech Republic indicated that in 2021 it will open a Jerusalem branch office of the Czech Embassy in Tel Aviv. Hungary had previously opened an official diplomatic mission in Jerusalem. Kosovo committed to opening its embassy in Jerusalem when Israel and Kosovo established diplomatic relations in February 2021. By late 2022, only Guatemala, Honduras and the partially-recognized state of Kosovo maintain embassies in Jerusalem – Paraguay reversed the 2018 relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem within months and the Honduran foreign ministry have stated that they are also considering relocating theirs back to Tel Aviv.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Palestinian officials have consistently condemned each such relocation and diplomatic offices in Jerusalem, saying that they constitute "a flagrant violation of international law and goes against the unified EU position on the legal status of Jerusalem."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: On 6 April 2017 the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying, "We reaffirm our commitment to the UN-approved principles for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, which include the status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. At the same time, we must state that in this context we view West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel." Some commentators interpreted this as a Russian recognition of Israel's claim to West Jerusalem, while others understood the statement as a Russian intention to recognize West Jerusalem as Israel's in the context of a peace deal with the Palestinians. On 14 June 2018, Russia held, for the first time, its annual Russia Day reception in Jerusalem. Until then, the annual reception has been held in the Tel Aviv area. Although Russia has publicly recognised West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it continues to locate its embassy in Tel Aviv.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Prior to these events, in 2011 the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated that Russia had recognized the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital already in 1988, and that it had not changed its view.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Russia has publicly opposed Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem. In March 2010, the Russian Foreign Ministry denounced Israeli plans to construct homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem, calling the measure "unacceptable" and in opposition to "internationally acknowledged reconciliation proceedings". In January 2011, reaffirming Russia's recognition of the State of Palestine, President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia "supported and will support the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: When Israel was founded, the position of the United States was that its recognition of Israel did not imply a particular view on the status of Jerusalem. The US voted for the UN Partition Plan in November 1947, which provided for the establishment of an international regime for the city, and Resolution 194 in 1948, following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. But the US voted against in 1949 which reaffirmed that Jerusalem be established a "corpus separatum" under a special international regime to be administered by the UN, because the US regarded the plan as no longer feasible after both Israel and Jordan had established a political presence in the city. The US position continues to be that final status of Jerusalem is to be resolved through negotiations. On 8 December 2017, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson clarified that the President's statement "did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem" and "was very clear that the final status, including the borders, would be left to the two parties to negotiate and decide."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: On 6 December 2017, then-U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. On 14 May 2018 the U.S. embassy was transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The U.S. reclassified as its embassy its Jerusalem Consulate, which had been a lot in the neighborhood of Talpiot leased in 1989 for 99 years by the Israeli government and relocated there in 2002. From 28 October 2020, for the first time, U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem will be allowed to list "Israel" as their place of birth on their U.S. passport, while retaining the option to list simply "Jerusalem" instead.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: China recognizes East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine. In a 2016 speech to the Arab League, Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping said that "China firmly supports the Middle East peace process and supports the establishment of a State of Palestine enjoying full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital." China announced that this position remains unchanged in the aftermath of the US recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The United Kingdom position on Jerusalem states that "Jerusalem was supposed to be a ‘corpus separatum’, or international city administered by the UN. But this was never set up: immediately after the UNGA resolution partitioning Palestine, Israel occupied West Jerusalem and Jordan occupied East Jerusalem (including the Old City). We recognised the de facto control of Israel and Jordan, but not sovereignty. In 1967, Israel occupied E Jerusalem, which we continue to consider is under illegal military occupation by Israel. Our Embassy to Israel is in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem. In E Jerusalem we have a Consulate-General, with a Consul-General who is not accredited to any state: this is an expression of our view that no state has sovereignty over Jerusalem."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The UK believes that the city's status has yet to be determined, and maintains that it should be settled in an overall agreement between the parties concerned, but considers that the city should not again be divided. The Declaration of Principles and the Interim Agreement, signed by Israel and the PLO on 13 September 1993 and 28 September 1995 respectively, left the issue of the status of Jerusalem to be decided in the "permanent status" negotiations between the two parties.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The French Government notes that "It is up to the parties to come to a final and overall agreement with regard to the final status, which would put an end to the conflict. France believes that Jerusalem must become the capital of the two States."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The status of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, including Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount, is also unresolved. In 1924, the Supreme Muslim Council, the highest Muslim body in charge of Muslim community affairs in Mandatory Palestine, accepted Hussein bin Ali (Sharif of Mecca) as custodian of Al-Aqsa Mosque.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: In the 1994 peace treaty with Jordan, Israel committed to "respect the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem." Israel also pledged that when negotiations on the permanent status will take place, it will give high priority to the Jordanian historical role in these shrines. The Wakf Department that oversees Muslim sites in Jerusalem is controlled by the Jordanian government, which insists on its exclusive custodianship of the holy site. In 2013, the Palestinian Authority also recognized Jordan's role through an agreement signed between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: The Vatican has had a long-held position on Jerusalem and its concern for the protection of the Christian holy places in the Holy Land which predates the Palestinian Mandate. The Vatican's historic claims and interests, as well as those of Italy and France were based on the former Protectorate of the Holy See and the French Protectorate of Jerusalem, which were incorporated in article 95 of the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), which besides incorporating the Balfour Declaration also provided: "it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine". The Balfour Declaration and the proviso were also incorporated in the Palestinian Mandate (1923), but which also provided in articles 13 and 14 for an international commission to resolve competing claims on the holy places. These claimants had officially lost all capitulation rights by article 28 of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). However, Britain never gave any effect to Mandate provisions arts 13 & 14.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: During the negotiations of proposals that culminated in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (also known as Resolution 181) in 1947, the historic claims of the Vatican, Italy and France were revived, and expressed as the call for the special international regime for the city of Jerusalem. This was also confirmed in UN General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948, which maintained the position that Jerusalem be made an international city, under United Nations supervision. The Vatican's official position on the status of Jerusalem was in favour of an internationalization of Jerusalem, in order to keep the holy place away from either Israeli or Arab sovereignty.


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: Pope Pius XII supported this idea in the 1949 encyclical "Redemptoris nostri cruciatus". It was proposed again during the papacies of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. The Vatican reiterated this position in 2012, recognizing Jerusalem's "identity and sacred character" and calling for freedom of access to the city's holy places to be protected by "an internationally guaranteed special statute". After the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017, Pope Francis repeated the Vatican's position: "I wish to make a heartfelt appeal to ensure that everyone is committed to respecting the status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations."


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: There are four sites in Jerusalem claimed by France as """", which are based on claimed French acquisitions predating the formation of the State of Israel, and based on the former French Protectorate of Jerusalem (also known as capitulations), which was abolished in 1923. These sites are:


title: Status of Jerusalem

text: French presidents have claimed that the Church of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, for example, comes under French protection, is owned by its government, and is French territory. The Israeli government has not made any public statement relating to the French claims.


title: Bell Witch

text: The Bell Witch or Bell Witch Haunting is a legend from Southern United States folklore, centered on the 19th-century Bell family of northwest Robertson County, Tennessee. Farmer John Bell Sr. resided with his family along the Red River in an area currently near the town of Adams. According to legend, from 1817 to 1821, his family and the local area came under attack by a mostly invisible entity that was able to speak, affect the physical environment, and shapeshift. Some accounts record the spirit also to have been clairvoyant and capable of crossing long distances with superhuman speed (and/or of being in more than one place at a time).


title: Bell Witch

text: In 1894, newspaper editor Martin V. Ingram published his "Authenticated History of the Bell Witch". The book is widely regarded as the first full-length record of the legend and a primary source for subsequent treatments. The individuals recorded in the work were known historical personalities. In modern times, some skeptics have regarded Ingram's efforts as a work of historical fiction or fraud. Other researchers consider Ingram's work a nascent folklore study and an accurate reflection of belief in the region during the 19th century.


title: Bell Witch

text: While not a fundamental element of the original recorded legend, the Bell Witch Cave in the 20th century became a source of continuing interest, belief, and generation of lore. Contemporary artistic interpretations such as in film and music have expanded the reach of the legend beyond the regional confines of the Southern United States.


title: Bell Witch

text: In his book "An Authenticated History of the Bell Witch", author Martin V. Ingram published that the poltergeist's name was Kate, after the entity claimed at one point to be "Old Kate Batts' witch," and continued to respond favorably to the name. The physical activity centered on the Bells' youngest daughter, Betsy, and her father, and 'Kate' expressed particular displeasure when Betsy became engaged to a local named Joshua Gardner.


title: Bell Witch

text: The haunting began sometime in 1817 when John Bell witnessed the apparition of a strange creature resembling a dog. Bell fired at the animal but it disappeared. John's son Drew Bell approached an unknown bird perched on a fence that flew off and was of "extraordinary size." The daughter Betsy observed a girl in a green dress swinging from the limb of an oak tree. Dean, a person enslaved by the Bell family, reported being followed by a large black dog on evenings he visited his wife. Activity moved to the Bell household with knocking heard along the door and walls. The family heard sounds of gnawing on the beds, invisible dogs fighting, and chains along the floor. About this time John Bell began experiencing paralysis in his mouth. The phenomena grew in intensity as sheets were pulled from beds when the children slept. Soon the entity pulled hair and scratched the children with particular emphasis on Betsy who was slapped, pinched and stuck with pins.


title: Bell Witch

text: The Bells turned to family friend James Johnston for help. After retiring for the evening at the Bell home, Johnston was awakened that night by the same phenomena. That morning he told John Bell it was a "spirit, just like in the Bible." Soon word of the haunting spread with some traveling great distances to see the witch. The apparition began to speak out loud and was asked, "Who are you and what do you want?" and the voice answered feebly, "I am a spirit; I was once very happy but have been disturbed." The spirit offered diverse explanations of why it had appeared, tying its origin to the disturbance of a Native American burial mound located on the property, and sent Drew Bell and Bennett Porter on an unproductive search for buried treasure. With the emergence of full conversations, the spirit repeated word for word two sermons given 13 miles apart at the same time. The entity was well acquainted with Biblical text and appeared to enjoy religious arguments. As another amusement, the witch shared gossip about activities in other households, and at times appeared to leave for brief moments to visit homes after an inquiry.


title: Bell Witch

text: John Johnston, a son of James, devised a test for the witch, something no one outside his family would know, asking the entity what his Dutch step-grandmother in North Carolina would say to the slaves if she thought they did something wrong. The witch replied with his grandmother's accent, "Hut tut, what has happened now?" In another account, an Englishman stopped to visit and offered to investigate. On remarking on his family overseas, the witch suddenly began to mimic his English parents. Again in the early morning, the witch woke him to voices of his parents worried as they had heard his voice as well. The Englishman quickly left that morning and later wrote to the Bell family that the entity had visited his family in England. He apologized for his skepticism.


title: Bell Witch

text: At times, the spirit displayed a form of kindness, especially towards Lucy, John Bell's wife, "the most perfect woman to walk to earth." The witch would give Lucy fresh fruit and sing hymns to her, and showed John Bell Jr. a measure of respect.


title: Bell Witch

text: Referring to John Bell Sr. as "Old Jack," the witch claimed she intended to kill him and signaled this intention through curses, threats, and afflictions. The story climaxes with the Bell patriarch being poisoned by the witch. Afterward the entity interrupted the mourners by singing drinking songs. In 1821, as a result of the witch's entreatment, Betsy Bell called off her engagement to Joshua Gardner. Subsequently, the entity told the family it was going to leave, but return in seven years in 1828. The witch returned on time to Lucy and her sons Richard and Joel with similar activities as before, but they chose not to encourage it, and the witch appeared to leave again.


title: Bell Witch

text: Several accounts say that during his military career, Andrew Jackson was intrigued with the story and his men were frightened away after traveling to investigate. In an independent oral tradition recorded in the vicinity of Panola County, Mississippi, the witch was the ghost of an unpleasant overseer John Bell murdered in North Carolina. In this tradition, the spirit falls in love with the central character 'Mary', leading to her death. This account is reminiscent of vampire lore. The supernatural powers attributed to the Tennessee spirit have also been compared to that of jinn in mythology.


title: Bell Witch

text: Military officer John R. Bell joined the Stephen Harriman Long expedition in 1820 to explore the central Great Plains. Due to lack of provisions, Long and Bell led divided parties after they reached the Rocky Mountains and rejoined in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Bell kept a detailed journal of his travel. His return trip, on October 19, 1820, crossed the Red River at Port Royal, Tennessee. Later that day, Bell stopped at the Murphey residence in Robertson County to eat dinner. During the stay, Bell was told of a young woman accompanied by a voice. The voice wished for the woman to marry a local man, and thousands had traveled to hear it. The journal's connection to the Bell Witch legend was discussed by local historian David Britton during a television broadcast produced for the Discovery Channel in November, 2020.


title: Bell Witch

text: Leigh Eric Schmidt writes that Enlightenment writers by the late 18th Century utilized ventriloquist theory as a naturalistic explanation for religious expression of supernatural voices such as those found in democratized Christianity of the Great Awakenings and shamanic practices of Native Americans. Schmidt argues this secularized explanation of supernatural voices as a form of deception and illusion led to the adoption of ventriloquism by stage magicians of the first decade of the 19th Century. These early popular performances, from predominantly white male stage magicians, concurrently led to the democratization of the secular theory across the United States. The cultural change left religious interpretations of such voices to more marginalized groups and secular interpretations of those beliefs as provincial or "rustic." This shift also led to the Spiritualist movement of the mid-19th Century to find greater expression among women.


title: Bell Witch

text: The publications "New England Farmer" of Boston and the "Green Mountain Freeman" of Vermont in January and February 1856 published an article regarding the Bell Witch legend and the publications ascribed the origin of the text to the "Saturday Evening Post". The "Farmer" was a weekly agricultural journal. The "Freeman" was affiliated with the abolitionist Liberty Party. The unidentified author described the apparition as the 'Tennessee Ghost' or 'Bell Ghost,' and stated the event occurred 30 years or more from the time the article was written. There are three human characters in the account, Mr. Bell, his daughter Betsey Bell, and Joshua Gardner. The author stated that the voice, which spoke freely about the house from all directions, would not manifest itself until the lights were extinguished at night. The phenomenon attracted wide interest. The author claimed to have become well acquainted with Mr. Gardner. When the ghost was asked how long it would remain, it replied, "until Joshua Gardner and Betsey Bell get married." The author goes on to state that Betsey Bell had fallen in love with Joshua Gardner and had discovered the skill of ventriloquism. The author states that Ms. Bell then used her skill to attempt to convince Joshua Gardner to marry her. When they did not marry, the apparition disappeared.


title: Bell Witch

text: M. V. Ingram, in his "An Authenticated History Of The Bell Witch", wrote that a "Saturday Evening Post" article regarding the Bell Witch had been retracted:


title: Bell Witch

text: In September 1868, an article was published entitled "Witchcraft and Murder: Hobgoblins and Old Gray Horses the Incentive to Crime." Tom Clinard and Dick Burgess were arrested for the murder of Mr. Smith. The article reported that Smith claimed the powers of witchcraft while working near Adam's Station, chopping wood on a farm with the defendants. The article stated that Smith claimed to use these occult powers on Clinard and Burgess, leading to the conflict between them. The identity of the decedent was reported variously as James or Charles Smith. The jury of State vs. Clinard and Burgess returned a not guilty verdict.


title: Bell Witch

text: Ingram published an interview with Lucinda E. Rawls, of Clarksville, Tennessee, daughter of Alexander Gooch and Theny Thorn, both reported as close friends of Betsy Bell. Rawls testified that the Bell Witch was a frequent topic of conversation during her lifetime and pointed to a murder of a man for witchcraft as evidence for this claim.


title: Bell Witch

text: Ingram appended a date of 1875 or 1876 to the bloodshed, but connected the Rawls recollection with the death of Smith:


title: Bell Witch

text: On April 24, 1880, an article was published regarding a 'haunted house' in Springfield, Tennessee where knocking underneath the floor was heard. The fourth night of knockings began at 10:30 p.m. and ended at 4 a.m. with the home surrounded by 10-12 persons working in an effort to discover the origin of the sound. In a follow up report from April 26, 1880, the writer reported that several hundred people had visited the home attempting to witness the phenomenon with many camped out overnight despite the homeowners asking them to leave. On Wednesday night, April 28, 1880, the family were reported to have left the home for the night and a smaller group of investigators around the home heard knocking from fifty yards away. During the events, the journalist took the opportunity to mention the Bell Witch legend:


title: Bell Witch

text: It is an actual fact that several hundred intelligent people of Springfield and vicinity have been so excited over the noise as to go night after night to listen to it ... About thirty years ago Robertson county had a sensation similar to this known as the "Bell Witch," and people came from all parts of the country, even as far as New York, to hear or see her.


title: Bell Witch

text: The Springfield floor knocking occurred at the residence of John W. Nuckolls, a prominent physician. Nuckolls was recently married to Laura Hopkins Jones, a union opposed by her family. The phenomenon created a domestic disturbance between the couple, as a local carpenter, Gill Walling, accused Laura Nuckolls of creating the noise with an iron ball attached to a rubber belt hidden under her clothes. Robertson County historian Yolanda Reid states, "they came to the conclusion that the wife was tying it into the bottom of her skirt to make the sounds, nobody ever proved it." The couple separated in May, 1880. That August, John Nuckolls retrieved his infant child from his wife, running through town with his estranged wife following in anguish. Afterward the child was returned to Laura Nuckolls who was living with her father, Asa Hopkins. John Nuckolls, in February 1882, confronted Laura's father, over his desire to see the child, and threatened his father-in-law's life. During the argument, the subject of 'ghosts' between the men was reported by an eyewitness as Nuckolls attempted to shoot Hopkins but was restrained. The next day, as a result of this confrontation, Nuckoll's brother-in-law, S. B. Hopkins, traveled from Nashville and shot John W. Nuckolls with a double-barreled shotgun, causing his death. The circumstances of the shooting were contested and S. B. Hopkins was acquitted of murder.


title: Bell Witch

text: The journal "Studies in Philology", in 1919, published a study of witchcraft in North Carolina by folklorist Tom Peete Cross. Cross cites a column from the "Nashville Banner" where it mentions the paper had sent a reporter to Robertson County in the 1880s, John C. Cooke, to investigate reports of the possible reemergence of the Bell Witch phenomenon.


title: Bell Witch

text: A several page account of the Bell Witch legend was included in a sketch of Robertson County and was reportedly written for Nashville's Centennial Exposition in 1880. The sketch was published in 1900 by the Tennessee Historical Society. The author of the sketch is unknown and the article is undated. Dates in the sketch end at 1880. The writer stated the source of the first portion of the narrative from "F. R. Miles, William Pride, W. J. Gooch, Ben. B. Batts, and many others." The author identified the burial disturbance as skull bones previously located in a "mound nearby on the river bluff." The return of the remains did not placate the spirit. The witch could speak in several languages and would "set the dogs" on unsuspecting victims. In the Centennial account, the Bell entity did not explicitly poison John Bell.


title: Bell Witch

text: At one time a vial of poison was found in the flue of the chimney, and being taken down, Dr. George B. Hopson gave one drop to a cat, causing its death in seven seconds. The witch claimed to have put the poison there for the purpose of killing Mr. Bell. Being asked how it was going to administer the poison, it said by pouring it into the dinner pot. It is remarkable that, although he enjoyed good health up to the time of this event, Mr. Bell died within [ ] days after the vial was found, being in a stupor at the time of his death. From this time the people visited the house less frequently, although the witch would now and then be heard.


title: Bell Witch

text: In the Ingram account, attributed to Richard Williams Bell, John Bell was already suffering from an unknown affliction and bedridden for some time. John Bell's son, John Bell Jr., found the vial in the cupboard after his father did not wake. The family called for Dr. Hopson, while the Bell Witch exclaimed she had fed the poison to John Bell. Alex Gunn and John Bell Jr. tested the poison on the cat with a straw, which "died very quick." John Bell died the next day on December 20, 1820.


title: Bell Witch

text: The Centennial sketch stated the witch could appear as a rabbit, bear or black dog, and imitate various animal sounds. The voice claimed it was one of seven spirits with three names given for itself: Three Waters, Tynaperty, and Black Dog. The Ingram account also described a family of spirits that demonstrated during a short period of time. The members of the 'witch family' had the names of Blackdog, Mathematics, Cypocryphy, and Jerusalem. Blackdog was described as the apparent leader of the group.


title: Bell Witch

text: Goodspeed Brothers' 1886 "History of Tennessee", recorded a short account of the legend that identified the spirit as female and stated that interest in the phenomenon was widespread in the region at the time.


title: Bell Witch

text: A remarkable occurrence, which attracted widespread interest, was connected with the family of John Bell, who settled near what is now Adams Station about 1804. So great was the excitement that people came from hundreds of miles around to witness the manifestations of what was popularly known as the "Bell Witch." This witch was supposed to be some spiritual being having the voice and attributes of a woman. It was invisible to the eye, yet it would hold conversation and even shake hands with certain individuals. The freaks it performed were wonderful, and seemingly designed to annoy the family. It would take the sugar from the bowls, spill the milk, take the quilts from the beds, slap and pinch the children, and then laugh at the discomfiture of its victims. At first it was supposed to be a good spirit, but its subsequent acts, together with the curses with which it supplemented its remarks, proved the contrary. A volume might be written concerning the performances of this wonderful being, as they are now described by contemporaries and their descendants. That all this actually occurred will not be disputed, nor will a rational explanation be attempted. It is merely introduced as an example of superstition, strong in the minds of all but a few in those times, and not yet wholly extinct.


title: Bell Witch

text: The week of January 20, 1890 hundreds of persons were reported to have visited a house 2.5 miles east of Hopkinsville, Kentucky as word spread of coal mysteriously falling from the ceiling in the family room. The house was occupied by a prominent minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, W. G. L. Quaite, his wife, step-daughter Belle Hall, as well as an unnamed sixteen-year-old female servant. Mrs. Quaite was injured as a piece struck her on top of the head and she required medical attention. An earlier report suggested the servant girl as a potential suspect, while stating the superstitious were invoking a connection to the "Bell Witches of Robertson County" from decades earlier. The frequency of the coal drops declined by the end of the week. Reverend Quaite attributed supernatural agency to the activity and was praying in the evening in an effort to solve the mystery.


title: Bell Witch

text: An article was published on February 3, 1890 describing a series of events from Adam's Station, Tennessee. At dusk, January 27, 1890, Mr. Hollaway reported watching two unknown women arrive at his home and dismount from their horses as he was feeding cattle. When he arrived at the house, the horses and women were gone. Mr. Hollaway's wife reported seeing the women in the yard as well. That week, Mr. Rowland attempted to place a sack of corn on his horse's back and it fell off. He again attempted to place the sack of corn on the horse's back several more times, but each time the sack fell off. Joe Johnson arrived and held on to the sack as Mr. Rowland mounted his horse. They witnessed the sack floating away for 20 yards where it settled down at the fence. When the men went to retrieve the sack, a voice was heard, "You won't touch this sack anymore."


title: Bell Witch

text: A follow-up report was published on February 18, 1890, with the title, "A Weird Witch: More Tales of a Mulhattanish Flavor from Adams Station." In the late 19th century, Joseph Mulhattan was a known hoaxer of newspaper articles. The article was republished a few days later with the subtitle "More Tales of a Fishy Flavor." In the account, the entity was referred to only as the witch. The article reports that Mr. Johnson was visiting Buck Smith and was discussing a recent visitation of the ghost at his home. They heard a knocking at the door, and when they opened the door, the knocking began at another door. They sat down and the dog began to fight with something invisible. Two minutes later, the door flew open and fire spread across the room blown by a cyclonic wind with the coals disappearing as they tried to put it out. That evening Mr. Johnson started home on his horse and something jumped on the back grabbing his shoulder as he tried to restrain the horse. He felt it jump off as he neared his home and move in the leaves into the woods.


title: Bell Witch

text: Mr. Winters reported taking a peculiar bird while hunting with great difficulty. After he returned home, he opened the game-bag to discover the bird had disappeared and in place was a rabbit which then also disappeared. While burning vegetation outdoors, Mr. Rowland described a visit at 9 p.m. of a half-clothed black man with one eye in his forehead that directed Mr. Rowland to follow him and dig at a large rock. The figure then disappeared. Mr. Rowland dug that night until exhaustion. He received help the next morning from Bill Burgess and Mr. Johnson and discovered something described as a "kettle turned bottom upward." They were unable to remove it as the soil began moving back into the hole faster than the men could remove the soil. The report concludes by saying that many people were visiting to see the witch.


title: Bell Witch

text: Born near Guthrie, Kentucky, June 20, 1832, Martin Van Buren Ingram took over responsibility of the family farm at the age of 17. A member of Hawkins' Nashville Battalion during the Civil War, he was discharged for disability after the Battle of Shiloh. Ingram began his editing and publishing career in April 1866 with the "Robertson Register" with no previous experience. October 1868, Ingram moved the paper to Clarksville and began issuing the "Clarksville Tobacco Leaf" in February 1869. Ingram continued an ownership association with the "Leaf" until about 1881. The consequences of poor health, family tragedy and fire limited his continuing interest in the newspaper industry.


title: Bell Witch

text: On the occasion of Ingram's death in October 1909, editor of the "Clarksville Leaf Chronicle", W. W. Barksdale, wrote of his friend and colleague:


title: Bell Witch

text: The week of January 24, 1890, Ingram was suffering from a "severe case of la grippe." In February 1890, Ingram resigned as editor of the "Clarksville Chronicle". A month later, the "Chronicle" was purchased by the "Leaf", and Ingram joined the new editorial staff. On July 13, 1892, a report in the "Leaf-Chronicle" was published of Ingram's travels to Adams Station and Cedar Hill with John Allen Gunn, "for the purpose of viewing the grounds where historic and most intensely thrilling events were enacted seventy-five years ago," and interviewing individuals, who "were then living and familiar with the wonderful phenomena that awakened such a widespread sensation." In the report, Mahala Darden, age 85, related memory of Lafayette's visit to Clarksville in 1825. A follow up report was published July 19, 1892, recording a visit to Nancy Ayers, daughter of John Johnston. Ingram left the editorial position with the "Leaf-Chronicle" the same month.


title: Bell Witch

text: Ingram subsequently traveled to Chicago in October 1893, while editor of the "Progress-Democrat", in an attempt to publish his manuscript, "An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch. The Wonder of the 19th Century, and Unexplained Phenomenon of the Christian Era. The Mysterious Talking Goblin that Terrorized the West End of Robertson County, Tennessee, Tormenting John Bell to His Death. The Story of Betsy Bell, Her Lover and the Haunting Sphinx." Ingram left the "Progress-Democrat" to complete his book in February 1894. At the end of March, it was announced publisher W. P. Titus of Clarksville would print the work. The publisher reported a delay in printing after the witch visited one night in early May. Titus stated the witch demonstrated with maniacal singing, laughter, prayers, moaning, clapping, and rattling of the roof. The phenomena caused the printers to evacuate. By July 1894, the book was in print and a review from the newspaper in nearby Hopkinsville presented the work as a factual account.


title: Bell Witch

text: In the introduction to the book, Ingram published a letter dated July 1, 1891, from former TN State Representative James Allen Bell of Adairville, Kentucky. J. A. Bell, a son of Richard Williams Bell and a grandson of John Bell Sr., explained that his father had met with his brother John Bell Jr. before his death and they agreed no material he had collected should be released until the last immediate family member of John Bell Sr. had died. The last immediate member of the family and youngest child of John Bell Sr., Joel Egbert Bell died in 1890 at the age of 76.


title: Bell Witch

text: J. Allen Bell expressed the belief that his father's manuscript was written when he was 35 years old in 1846. He stated his father gave him the manuscript and family notes shortly before his death in 1857. Richard Williams Bell was roughly 6 to 10 years of age during the initial manifestations of the Bell Witch phenomenon and 17 at the occurrence of the spirit's return in 1828. The reported contributions of Richard Williams Bell, approximately 90 pages in length, are recorded in Chapter 8 of Ingram's work, entitled "Our Family Trouble".


title: Bell Witch

text: According to Brian Dunning no one has ever seen this diary, and there is no evidence that it ever existed: "Conveniently, every person with firsthand knowledge of the Bell Witch hauntings was already dead when Ingram started his book; in fact, every person with secondhand knowledge was even dead." Dunning also concluded that Ingram was guilty of falsifying another statement, that the "Saturday Evening Post" had published a story in 1849 accusing the Bells' daughter Elizabeth of creating the witch, an article which was not found at the time. Joe Nickell argues the chapter includes the use of Masonic themes and anachronism which impacts credibility. Jim Brooks, a native of Adams, writes in his work "Bell Witch Stories You Never Heard," that Bell family descendants report that Ingram did not return the manuscript to the family. Brooks explores the possibility that Ingram would have had an enhanced opportunity to modify the story by not returning the papers.


title: Bell Witch

text: Keith Cartwright of the University of North Florida compares Ingram's work with "Uncle Remus" folklore as recorded by Joel Chandler Harris and also as an expression of the psychological shame of slavery and Native American removal. The slaves in the account are regarded as experts on the witch, with Uncle Zeke identifying the witch as, "dat Injun spirit ... the Injuns was here fust, and we white fokes driv em out, all but dem whar wur dead and cudent go, an da's here yit, in der spirit." The figure of "progress" Gen. Andrew Jackson was brought nearly to heel and the master, John Bell, was dead. The role of the trickster not played by the Br'er Rabbit but the witch-rabbit, the spirit's common animal form. The displaced, blacks, widows, and girls, act as witnesses to a force polite society cannot comprehend. The witch, "appears as a catch-all for every remainder of resistant agency."


title: Bell Witch

text: Among those who were alive during the haunting, Ingram conducted interviews with Ibby Gunn, born in 1806, a daughter of Uncle Zeke and the sister-in-law of Dean, as well as Mahala Byrns Darden, born circa 1807, daughter of James Byrns. Ibby Gunn shared some experiences of Dean including the creation of a witch ball made of hair by her sister Kate for her husband Dean, the use of which appeared to anger the entity. Mahala Darden detailed what she understood family and friends were experiencing at the time of the haunting, expressed her great fear the witch would come to visit her home and also related the spirit sang "Row me up some brandy, O" at the conclusion of John Bell's graveside service.


title: Bell Witch

text: The account of General Andrew Jackson's visit is confined to Chapter 11 of Ingram's work. The chapter is a letter from Thomas L. Yancey, an attorney in Clarksville, dated January 1894. Yancey explained that his grandfather, Whitmel Fort, was a witness to phenomena at the Bell homestead and Fort had related the story of Jackson's visit which was undated in the letter. Yancey described his grandfather's account as, "quite amusing to me."


title: Bell Witch

text: The Bell household was strained of resources from visitors and Jackson brought a wagon load of supplies with his men. Nearing the Bell homestead, the wagon stopped and appeared fastened to its position despite considerable effort by Jackson's men to free it. Jackson exclaimed, "By the eternal, boys, it is the witch." A metallic voice was heard in the vegetation, "All right General, let the wagon move on, I will see you again tonight." The horses began moving again. Instead of camping out, the party stayed at the Bell home that evening. Among the Jackson party was a 'witch layer' who boasted of his supernatural exploits. Tiring of the bravado, Jackson whispered, "By the eternals, I do wish the thing would come, I want to see him run." The entity arrived and taunted the witch slayer to shoot her. The man's gun would not fire. The witch countered, "I'll teach you a lesson," and appeared to beat the man and led him out the door by his nose. Jackson exclaimed, "By the eternal, boys, I never saw so much fun in all my life. This beats fighting the British." The witch told Jackson she would uncover another rascal the next night. That morning Jackson's men chose to leave for home as they were apprehensive as to who was next.


title: Bell Witch

text: Paranormal investigator Benjamin Radford, as well as Brian Dunning, conclude that there is no evidence that Andrew Jackson visited the Bell family home. During the years in question, Jackson's movements were well documented, and nowhere in history or his writings is there evidence of his knowledge of the Bell family. According to Dunning, "The 1824 Presidential election was notoriously malicious, and it seems hard to believe that his opponent would have overlooked the opportunity to drag him through the mud for having lost a fight to a witch." Carl Lindahl, affiliated with the University of Houston, writes that the Andrew Jackson encounter is an example of how belief and history mix together in the formation of legend. Such legends, which may persist in a locale for generations, upon receiving a media treatment can spread far outside of the area where the legend originated.


title: Bell Witch

text: A prophecy was reported by May 1903 that the witch could return on the centennial of the Bell family arrival in Tennessee. In response to an August 1903 article from Memphis, "The Springfield Herald" expressed that no one in the local area was concerned with a return of the Bell Witch and made a charge of plagiarism towards the Memphis paper. The "Herald" also stated the copyright for Ingram's work had passed to his son Tolbert who was working at The Denver Times. By September, the local paper was again incredulous as the spirit was not reported to have returned in August.


title: Bell Witch

text: Charles Bailey Bell, a grandson of John Bell Jr., and neurologist in Nashville, published a book entitled "The Bell Witch: A Mysterious Spirit" in 1934. In the work, he recounted stories he stated were told to him by his great aunt Betsy later in her life. This included another account of Andrew Jackson's visit and of a boy trapped in the Bell Witch Cave and pulled out of the cave feet first by the witch. Bell also detailed a series of prophecies he stated were given to his ancestors in 1828 by the spirit, including a declaration the witch was set to return again in 1935, 107 years after her last visit to the Bell family.


title: Bell Witch

text: In 1937, there were reports of quirky events. Louis Garrison, owner of the farm that included the Bell Witch Cave, heard unexplained noises coming from inside. Bell descendants described the sound of something rubbing against a house, a paper like object that flew out the door and reentered through a side door, and faint music heard from a piano. A group from the local Epworth League were reported to have attended a wiener roast in a rock quarry near the Bell Witch Cave on July 29, 1937. The group were joking about the legend when they saw a figure of a woman sitting on top of the cliff over the cave causing many to flee. According to the newspaper, a minister in the group later claimed to have investigated and discovered it was moonlight on a rock. The second report concluded with a weather report that the moon was barely noticeable that night. Jim Brooks published in 2015 that his mother was in attendance at the roast, and relates that the minister caught up to the youth on the road to town after discovering no explanation for the figure.


title: Bell Witch

text: In November 1965, an article was published involving an antique oak rocking chair said to have been previously owned by attorney Charlie Willett, a Bell descendant. The rocking chair was acquired in Willett's estate sale by Mrs. J. C. Adams, owner of an antique store on U.S. 41. A customer sat down in the chair, after learning it was not for sale, and while rocking in the chair asked Mrs. Adams if she believed in the supernatural. Two weeks later, the customer's daughter visited the home of Mrs. Adams and said after her mother had left and visited the Bell cemetery a voice told her to "stand up and look around, you will find something of much value." After some car trouble, the woman walked out into a field and found a black iron kettle turned over. She turned the kettle over and found a pearl buckle in the grass. The woman's daughter reported a jeweler estimated the buckle to be 160 to 200 years old.