East Jerusalem
In the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988, Jerusalem is stated to be the capital of the State of Palestine. In 2000, the Palestinian Authority passed a law proclaiming Jerusalem as its capital, and in October 2002, this law was approved by chairman Yasser Arafat. Since that time Israel has shut down all offices and NGO organisations connected to the PLO in East Jerusalem, saying that the Oslo Accords do not permit the Palestinian National Authority to operate in Jerusalem. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recognised East Jerusalem as capital of the State of Palestine on 13 December 2017.
Palestinian cuisine
The Arabs that conquered Syria and Palestine initially had simple culinary traditions primarily based on the use of rice, lamb, yogurt and dates. This cuisine did not advance for centuries until the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate, that established Baghdad as its capital and integrated elements of Persian cuisine into the existing Arab cuisine. The Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi said this of Palestine's foods:
From Palestine comes olives, dried figs, raisins, the carob fruit... from Jerusalem comes cheeses and the celebrated raisins of the species known as "Ainuni" and "Duri", excellent apples... also pine nuts of the kind called 'Kuraish-bite', and their equal is not found elsewhere... from Sughar and Baysan come dates, the treacle called "Dibs".