Before the new housing projects built after 1967, the area was known as Armon HaNetziv after the headquarters of the British High Commissioner located on the hilltop. In 1928, Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi, wife of Israel's second president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, established an agricultural training farm for young women, the first of its kind in the country, in the area of East Talpiot. Both the farm and the Arab Girls College, another historical landmark, are earmarked for conservation. The Lili and Elejandro Shaltiel Community Center was inaugurated in 1980. In the 1967 Six-Day War Israel captured and occupied East Jerusalem, East Talpiot was constructed as part of the 1968 Jerusalem Master Plan, which called for the creation of Jewish settlements around Jerusalem to cement Israeli control over the region. East Talpiot is situated in southern East Jerusalem, between the Palestinian villages of Sur Baher and Sawaher. According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from nearby Palestinian neighborhoods/villages in order to construct East Talpiot:
Beit Canada, an absorption center for new immigrants, is located in East Talpiot. Nearly all the streets of East Talpiot take their names from those of the Olei Hagardom, members of Irgun and Lehi hanged by the British.
Demography
In 2006, some 15,000 people were living in East Talpiot. Mainly populated by young couples when it was first established, the neighborhood is now aging. For the most part, East Talpiot is a secular neighborhood, with only 15 synagogues.
Archeological findings
An ancient tomb that some archeologists believe to be the tomb of Jesus and his family based on the names inscribed on the James Ossuary was discovered in East Talpiot when a housing project was being built in 1980. An ancient aqueduct that brought water to the Temple Mount from springs located outside of Jerusalem was also discovered in East Talpiot. This waterworks, a highly sophisticated engineering feat, continued to function for more than two thousand years.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem to be illegal under international law, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention's prohibition on the transfer of civilians into occupied territory. Israel however disputes that East Jerusalem is occupied territory and instead considers it to be annexed to its territory as part of the Jerusalem municipality. That annexation is unrecognized internationally and East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory by the international community. Israel does not consider East Talpiot or other Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem to be settlements and instead considers them neighborhoods of Jerusalem.
