I was scrolling through the shelf of the library, when I came across this book on Palestine-Israel conflict by a Jewish Professor Norman Gary Finkelstei. I started reading and what really pricked my interest Was the unbiaesd and detailed historical and detailed historical research by the prof. being a Jew.
This is a summary of my findings of one of the most complicated conflict in human history
Jews claim on Jerusalem started with Abraham. Before Abram, it was owned by jebusites - ancient tribes whose origins are unclear but thought to be from what is present day Iraq, Syria and Jordan. Abraham himself was a native of Ur, a place close to Babylon or present day Iraq.
It is not clear how directly Palestinians are related to the original jebusites but what is well known is that the Philistines whose main domain were Gath, Gaza, Elton, Ashteroth (indeed, Gaza strip still exists under Palestinian Hamas control)
From Abraham to Moses, Joshua and Caleb (the battle of Hebron), jews conquered the land and occupied it. But! They didn't completely annihilate the original inhabitants, and therefore mixed up with them. All through David and Solomon, the kings and the prophets, Judaism became instituted in the land (before now, the land had been fetish). Massive temples, synagogues, walls (today's Jewish holy sites) were built.
At AD 70, Emperor Nero scattered the jews all over the world. References to this are found in the book of Daniel. The Romans ran the show for centuries until Constantine who heavily brought the Christians (through Catholics) back into the picture (since Christ and the Apostles). Numerous ancient relics were collected - parts of the cross, spear of Longinus, veil of Veronica, and some claim the legendary holy grail. And so a second contender entered the show- Christians- also claiming Jerusalem as a holy site.
The subsequent reign of the ottomans introduced widespread Islam. A lot of Jewish sites had been destroyed by the Romans, and so they replaced some with big mosques like the AL aqsa- Islam's third holiest site, still standing today, and one of the hottest buttons in the contentions. And so the city tumbled from hand to hand until the British came and started sharing land as they always do (just like they shared Nigeria and Africa, they didn't start today)
To answer the question of who truly owns Jerusalem. We must first differentiate between ownership and possession. The jebusites are etymological owners of Jerusalem and their related descendants are the palestine but Israel are in possession and have more military might and support gathering the territory.
My perspective is based on international consensus rather than a pro-isreali or pro-palestinian position
The simplest solution to the conflict is the two state recognition. Jerusalem should be neutral