Jerusalem
The largest city in historical Palestine in terms of area and population, and the most important religiously and economically. While the Palestinians view it as the capital of the State of Palestine, the Israelis consider it their religious capital.
the site
The city of Jerusalem is located in the center of Palestine, about 60 kilometers east of the Mediterranean Sea, about 35 kilometers west of the Dead Sea, and 250 kilometers north of the Red Sea. It is 88 kilometers west of Amman, 388 kilometers south of Beirut, and 290 kilometers southwest of Damascus.
Population
According to the 2011 census, the population of Jerusalem reached 839,000 people. Palestinians and Israelis are waging a demographic war in the city, with each side seeking to increase the number of residents belonging to its ethnicity to ensure its dominance over it. The Israeli government is trying to increase the number of Jews in several ways, including replacing them with Arabs whose homes were demolished under the pretext of building without a permit . Jewish statistics in 2007 estimated that 64% of the city’s population is Jewish, while the number of Muslims is 32% and Christians is 2%. Another statistic from the same year showed that the percentage of the Jewish population is gradually declining while the percentage of Arabs is steadily increasing. This is due to the higher birth rate among Arabs and the migration of some Jews to other cities and countries.
the date
The history of the city of Jerusalem dates back more than five thousand years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. The many names given to it indicate the depth of this history, as the peoples and nations that settled there gave it different names.
The Canaanites who migrated to it in the third millennium BC called it “Ursalim ,” meaning the city of peace or the city of the god Salem. From this name was derived the word “Jerusalem,” which is pronounced “Yerushalayim” in Hebrew and means the Holy House. It was mentioned in the Torah 680 times. Then it was known in the Greek era as “Elia,” meaning the House of God.
The city was subject to Egyptian Pharaonic influence starting from the 16th century BC , then to Jewish rule that lasted for 73 years. The Prophet David was able to control the city in 977 or 1000 BC and named it “City of David” and built a palace and several fortresses in it. His rule lasted forty years, then he was succeeded by his son Solomon who ruled it for 33 years.
In 586 BC, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II occupied it after defeating the last Jewish king, Zedekiah, son of Josiah, and transporting the remaining Jews as captives to Babylon, including King Zedekiah himself.
Alexander the Great captured Palestine, including Jerusalem, in 333 BC , and after his death his Macedonian and Ptolemaic successors continued to rule the city until it was captured by the Roman army commander Pompey in 63 BC and annexed to the Roman Empire.
In 326 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine I moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium, and declared Christianity the official religion of the state. This was a turning point for Christians in Jerusalem, where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built.
The Roman Empire was divided in 395 AD into two warring parts , which encouraged the Persians to raid Jerusalem and they succeeded in occupying it in the period 614-628 AD, then the Romans regained it again and it remained in their hands until the Islamic conquest in 636 AD.
In approximately 621 AD, Jerusalem witnessed the visit of the Messenger of God, the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers, the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, who was taken by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, then ascended to the highest heavens.
In the year 15 AH (636 AD), Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, entered it after the victory of the Islamic army led by Abu Ubaidah Amir bin Al-Jarrah. Patriarch Sophronius stipulated that Omar receive the keys to the city himself. Omar came and wrote with them the “Covenant of Omar,” a document that granted them religious freedom in exchange for the jizya. He changed the name of the city from Aelia to Jerusalem, and the document stipulated that no Jews should live with them.
Since then, the city has taken on an Islamic character, and the Umayyads and the Abbasids took an interest in it. It witnessed a scientific renaissance in various fields, and one of the most important Islamic monuments in that period is the Dome of the Rock Mosque, which was built by Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.
The city then witnessed instability due to military conflicts that broke out between the Abbasids, the Fatimids, and the Qarmatians, and then it was subject to Seljuk rule until 1071 AD.
In December 1917, Jerusalem fell to the British army after the statement issued by General Allenby . The League of Nations granted Britain the right to mandate Palestine, and Jerusalem became the capital of Palestine under the British Mandate (1920-1948). Since then, the city entered a new era, the most prominent feature of which was the increase in the number of Jewish immigrants to it, especially after the Balfour Declaration in 1917. In 1948, Britain announced the end of the mandate in Palestine and the withdrawal of its forces, so the Zionist gangs took advantage of the political and military vacuum and declared the establishment of the Israeli state.
On December 3, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel, declared West Jerusalem the capital of the nascent Israeli state, while East Jerusalem was under Jordanian sovereignty until the defeat of June 1967, which resulted in the annexation of all of Jerusalem to the Israeli occupation.
On December 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump announced in a televised speech from the White House that he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and said that he had given orders to begin moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He added, “I have decided that the time has come to officially announce the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” and then signed an official paper. Trump’s move sparked a wave of internal and external criticism, and Palestinian factions called for a new uprising in response to the US decision.
Modern Issues of Jerusalem: Throughout the ages, the city of Jerusalem has been the natural social , political and economic center of the State of Palestine . For long periods , the occupied city of Jerusalem , extending from Ramallah in the north to Bethlehem in the south, has been the driving force of the Palestinian economy . About a third of the economic activity of the Palestinians is centered in and around occupied Jerusalem . Because of this economic , cultural , social and religious importance of the city of Jerusalem, an independent and sovereign Palestinian state cannot be established without the city of East Jerusalem .
Despite the importance of the city of Jerusalem to the three heavenly religions , Israel has continued its systematic policies since its occupation of the holy city in 1967 , which aim to extend its absolute Zionist political and religious sovereignty over the city, disregarding the rights of the indigenous inhabitants , Christians and Muslims .
When the United Nations General Assembly recommended in 1947 the partition of Palestine , Jerusalem and its environs (including the southern city of Bethlehem) were supposed to be under international administration as an independent entity. But during the 1948 war, Israel invaded that independent entity and occupied 85 percent of its territory.
In June 1967, Israel occupied the remaining parts of Jerusalem, which became known as East Jerusalem, including the Old City. Several weeks later, Israel unilaterally expanded the city’s municipal boundaries, increasing the area of the holy city tenfold. The new city boundaries included undeveloped and uninhabited areas, excluding population centers. During the 1970s, Israel, the occupying power, illegally confiscated undeveloped areas for the purpose of building settlements, in violation of international law.
Following the expansion of the borders of Jerusalem, the Israeli occupation authorities imposed their laws, jurisdiction and administration on the areas they annexed within the municipal borders of Jerusalem (an area of 2,772 km², equivalent to 1.3 percent of the West Bank) in an attempt to annex East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank and impose a new fait accompli. Of course, the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel was a flagrant violation of international law, which prohibits the acquisition of territory by force, and the UN Security Council declared the annexation “illegal.”
Demographic change: Since 1967, the Israeli occupation authorities have continued their attempts to consolidate their control over Jerusalem by adopting unilateral practices that violate the rules of international law, including:
Israel, the occupying power, unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem and immediately began building illegal settlements within and adjacent to the expanded city limits. These settlements now form a ring around the occupied part of the city, completely isolating it from the rest of the West Bank. Today, over 220,000 settlers live in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Israeli occupation authorities have repeatedly stated clearly that the goal of their policies in occupied Jerusalem is to maintain a Jewish demographic majority in Jerusalem. This statement was officially stated in 1973 in a report prepared by the Ministerial Committee for the Study of Growth Rates in Jerusalem. The report recommended that “the demographic balance of Jews and Arabs should be maintained as it was at the end of 1972.” In an attempt to maintain this “demographic balance,” Israel has deprived thousands of Palestinian citizens of their right to reside in the city where they were born by confiscating their identity cards and revoking their residency rights. Israel considers the indigenous Palestinian residents of occupied Jerusalem to be “permanent residents,” and they do not enjoy equal rights with Israelis in the city. For example, Israel has the authority and power to strip Palestinians of their right to reside in Jerusalem at its discretion alone, so Palestinian citizens of East Jerusalem must maintain their so-called “center of life” in East Jerusalem or risk losing their residency rights. The occupying power also usually refuses to grant residency rights to Palestinian spouses who are not residents of Jerusalem, thus preventing them from living in the city and denying them family reunification.
The Israeli occupation authorities have confiscated approximately 14,600 identity cards from Jerusalemites who have permanent residency rights in Jerusalem between 1967 and the present day, directly harming more than 20 percent of Palestinian families in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
In addition to preventing any Palestinian urban expansion through land confiscation and settlement construction, the Israeli occupation authorities have adopted a series of structural planning policies aimed at preventing our people from building on their land or expanding existing facilities. As a result, the Israeli occupation authorities allow Palestinians to build and live on 13 percent of the area of occupied East Jerusalem. In addition, building permits in this area are very expensive and almost impossible to obtain due to the Israeli restrictions imposed and the racist measures and discriminatory policies followed by the occupation government in this regard, which gives it the pretext to demolish the homes of Palestinians who are forced to build to meet the natural growth of their families without obtaining building permits.
Israeli racist policies have also resulted in massive overcrowding in East Jerusalem, and this overcrowding is expected to increase with the city’s natural population growth. Since 1967, the Palestinian population within the so-called municipal boundaries of Jerusalem as defined by Israel has increased from 68,600 to 361,000 – an increase of 190 percent.
It is also estimated that since 1967, Israel, the occupying power, has demolished more than 3,700 Palestinian homes and other structures in East Jerusalem, including some historical and religious sites such as the Moroccan Quarter in the Old City.
The occupation authorities continue to implement the policy of demolishing the homes of Jerusalemites in order to empty the Palestinian presence in the city and eliminate the Palestinian identity. The greatest evidence of this is the issuance of hundreds of demolition orders for existing homes and building violations for more than 25,000 housing units, which is about a third of the existing housing units in occupied Jerusalem. The demolitions carried out by the occupation forces have displaced thousands of Jerusalemites and left them homeless. Moreover, their forced eviction from their city in itself is a violation of international law and a breach of its rules.
Since 1993, Israel, the occupying power, has prohibited non-Jerusalemite Palestinians from entering the city except with Israeli permits, which the Israeli occupation authorities rarely grant. One of the direct effects of Israel’s closure policy on occupied Jerusalem is that four million Palestinian Christians and Muslims are prevented from accessing their holy sites, churches and mosques in the city, and are often denied medical services that are available only in Jerusalem.
The Annexation Wall in and around occupied Jerusalem divides the West Bank into two areas, isolating occupied Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. On the one hand, the Wall limits the space available for Palestinians to grow, and on the other hand, it facilitates the construction and expansion of settlements. Moreover, the Wall cuts off the national transportation network that connects the West Bank to Jerusalem and to each other, resulting in an influx of Palestinian Jerusalemites into the city center.
One of the direct effects of the Annexation Wall is the isolation of approximately 140,000 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem (Shuafat Camp, Dahiyat al-Salam, Ras Khamis, Dahiyat al-Salam, Kafr Aqab, Semiramis) from their city because their residential areas are now located outside the Wall. The Wall and the closure regime have also imposed severe and unjust restrictions on commercial activities in occupied Jerusalem – the economic center of Palestine – and the surrounding areas, and on the movement of merchants to and from it. Finally, the Annexation Wall has dismantled social cohesion and undermined the fabric of social life for Palestinians living on both sides of the Wall.
Jerusalem in International Law: Palestine was placed under the League of Nations Mandate in 1922 , with Britain as the Mandatory Power . During the Mandate, Jerusalem was an integral part of the territory of Palestine and the seat of its administration . The Mandate gave effect to the Balfour Declaration of 1917 , which supported the establishment of a “ national home ” for the Jews in Palestine . The Mandate did not include any specific provisions relating to Jerusalem, although Articles 13 and 14 of the Mandate Law did include provisions on the Holy Places . According to Article 13 , Britain assumed full responsibility for the Holy Places , including the preservation of “ existing rights , ” “ ensuring freedom of passage , ” and “ the free exercise of religious rites , ” except with regard to the administration of the Muslim Holy Places , whose immunity was guaranteed by the Mandate . Article 14 of the Mandate Law provided for the formation of a special committee “ to study, define and determine the rights and claims in respect of the Holy Places and the rights and claims in respect of the various religious communities in Palestine .” In view of the difficulties involved in establishing representation for all religious communities , the committee was never formed and responsibility for the Holy Places remained with the However, the mandate authority continued the status quo that prevailed during Ottoman rule and governed relations between the various communities .
The increase in Jewish immigration to Palestine caused increasing tensions between the two communities and Jerusalem became a flashpoint for conflict (serious violence broke out over access to the Western Wall in 1929 ) and the security situation continued to deteriorate thereafter . Following the 1936 Palestine Revolt , which began in protest against increased Jewish immigration , Britain formed the Palestine Royal Commission . The commission concluded that the mandate had failed and recommended its termination . It proposed partitioning Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state . The commission considered the holy places to be “ a sacred trust of the city ” and proposed the establishment of a Jerusalem – Bethlehem district to include all the holy places , with a corridor to the sea terminating at Jaffa and to remain under British tutelage under a new League of Nations mandate . This first plan was nullified by political and military events . After World War II, the United Kingdom declared itself unable to solve the problem in Palestine and referred the issue to the United Nations .
When the question was brought before the United Nations in 1947 , the General Assembly appointed a Special Committee on Palestine . The committee unanimously recommended that the sanctity of the holy places be preserved and that access to them be guaranteed “ in accordance with existing rights .” The committee proposed two alternative plans for Palestine . The minority plan envisioned a unified federal state in Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital and separate municipalities for the Jewish and Arab sections . It also recommended a permanent international regime for the protection and supervision of the holy places in Jerusalem and elsewhere . The majority plan recommended the partition of Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state , and the territorial internationalization of the Jerusalem area as a province or enclave within the Arab state . It was the latter plan that was approved by the General Assembly in Resolution 181 , which finalized the withdrawal , proposed the establishment of an Arab state and a Jewish state in the territory of Palestine, and defined the borders of the two states .
Jerusalem was not added to the borders of either state . Instead , a special regime was proposed for Jerusalem . The resolution stated the following :
“ The status of the City of Jerusalem will be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime administered by the United Nations . A Trusteeship Council will be appointed to exercise the responsibilities of administering authority on behalf of the United Nations . ”
The city’s boundaries were defined as including ” the present municipality of Jerusalem and its surrounding villages and towns , with Abu Dis to be the easternmost , Bethlehem to the southernmost, Ein Karem ( including the built-up area of Motza ) to the westernmost , and Shuafat to the northernmost .” The General Assembly asked the Council to develop a city law that would provide for a governor and administrative staff , a legislative body , an independent judiciary, a nationality law and a regime governing holy places , religious buildings and sites .
The partition plan and the international regime for Jerusalem were never implemented . After some initial hesitation , the Zionists announced their willingness to accept the partition plan . The Arab League rejected the partition because the United Nations , especially since the General Assembly resolution was non- binding, had no right to allocate 55% of Palestine to the Jewish state since the Jews, most of whom were new immigrants , constituted only a third of the population and owned less than 7% of the land .
Violence broke out in 1948-49 , with Israel occupying West Jerusalem and Jordan occupying East Jerusalem . The General Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan of 3 April 1949 formalized the de facto division of the city .
Despite the violence , the United Nations did not abandon the goal of internationalizing the Jerusalem area . In April 1948 , the Trusteeship Council prepared a draft law for the planned separate international entity . The General Assembly , in accordance with resolution 194, established a three- member Conciliation Commission . The Commission decided that “ the Jerusalem area , including the present municipality of Jerusalem and the surrounding villages and towns … should be accorded special and separate treatment from the rest of Palestine and should be placed under effective United Nations control . ” The General Assembly asked the Commission to develop detailed proposals for a permanent international regime for the Jerusalem area and recommendations on the Holy Places . In its periodic reports to the General Assembly , the Commission reported that the Arab delegations were generally prepared to accept the principle of an international regime for Jerusalem, provided that there were guarantees from the United Nations as to its stability and permanence . Israel did not accept this, although it did accept the application of an international regime or international control over the Holy Places . However , in April 1950 , the Council adopted a detailed law for the city of Jerusalem based on the provisions of Resolution 181. Neither side was prepared to To accept the proposed law . After another effort to mediate between the parties in 1951 , the committee concluded that the unwillingness of the parties to implement the relevant decisions and the changes that had occurred on the ground made it impossible to continue on the path to a solution . However , the proposal remains “ on the table ” in the sense that the proposal or something similar remains an option for negotiations on the future status of the city .
At the same time, Israel took several steps to integrate West Jerusalem into Israel . In September 1948 , the Supreme Court was established in Jerusalem, and in February 1949, members of the Knesset met in the city . This was followed by the establishment of a number of ministries and public service facilities in the city . In 1950 , Israel declared Jerusalem its capital . Israel occupied East Jerusalem in the June 1967 war and adopted a number of proposals to unify the two parts of the city, including the enactment of a law in 1967 to apply Israeli civil law to East Jerusalem . 1 In 1980 , Israel issued a “ Basic Law ” that did not formally declare the annexation of East Jerusalem , but did in fact annex it by declaring the united city the capital of Israel and the seat of the main institutions of state . The Security Council and the General Assembly strongly condemned this move . The Security Council also expressed its deep dismay in Resolution 478 at the enactment of the Israeli legislation and affirmed that it “ constitutes a violation of international law and does not affect the continued application of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 in the Arab and other Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 , including Jerusalem . The Council decided “ not to recognize ” the Basic Law “ and other similar actions by Israel which, as a result of this decision, are intended to alter the character and status of Jerusalem , ” and called on all Member States to accept its decision, and called on Member States which had established diplomatic missions in Jerusalem to withdraw them . This resolution, later reaffirmed in similar wording , continues to reflect the position of the United Nations and most governments on the status of Jerusalem.
The question of the legal status of Jerusalem cannot be separated from the status of Palestine as a whole . Prior to the Mandate, sovereignty over Palestine, including Jerusalem , was in the hands of the Ottomans . The Mandate did not transfer sovereignty to the Mandatory Authority , nor was it transferred to the League of Nations .
Sovereignty was effectively suspended during the Mandate period . This situation continued until the establishment of the State of Israel, its recognition as a state by the international community , and its admission to the United Nations in 1949. Although recognition of Israel included recognition of Israeli sovereignty over some of the territory in the former Mandate of Palestine, and since possession of territory is one of the criteria for the existence of a state, it did not include recognition of Israeli sovereignty over all the territory Israel had seized . In particular , recognition of Israel did not include recognition of the 1949 armistice lines or sovereignty over West Jerusalem .
The fact that sovereignty is suspended over the remainder of the former mandate territory of Palestine does not , of course, mean that no one is entitled to that sovereignty . Since the provisional independence of Palestine was recognized in the League of Nations Mandate together with the recognition of the right of self- determination of the Palestinian people , the “ unit of self- determination ” consists of that area of territory . Sovereignty therefore reverts to the Palestinian people to be exercised when they achieve their independence . In the example of Western Sahara , Justice McNair stated in his separate opinion : “ Sovereignty over the mandated territory is suspended; and when the inhabitants of the territory are recognized as an independent State … sovereignty will be renewed and vest in the new State .”2
Concerning Jerusalem, there has been no legal recognition of Israel’s occupation of West Jerusalem in 1948. This is because it would be inconsistent with the concept of Jerusalem as a corpus separatum . Therefore, no countries currently have embassies in Jerusalem . 3 Some countries have consulates in Jerusalem, although these are based on the international status of the city and have not sought Israeli permission to establish them . Most countries, including the United Kingdom , consider that Israel exercises only de facto authority over West Jerusalem . Although the 1949 General Armistice Agreement between Jordan and Israel ratified the de facto division of the city, it did not affect the legal status of Jerusalem . Article II clearly stated that the agreement would not confer any political or military advantage or prejudice the rights, claims or positions of any party , and that it would be dictated by military considerations only .
As for East Jerusalem before the June 1967 war , that part of the city was recognized as being under the de facto administration of Jordan . Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in the June 1967 war did not grant any property rights . The reason is that :
1 The well- established rule in international law is that an occupation cannot confer property rights 4 ,
2. And the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force and the necessity of Israel’s withdrawal from the territories it occupied in the June 1967 war , as stated in Security Council Resolution No. 242. Accordingly , sovereignty over East Jerusalem remains suspended , as is the case with the rest of Palestine .
The next question to be considered is whether Jerusalem has a status distinct from that of the rest of the occupied territories and Israel . Although the UN Partition Plan proposed that Jerusalem should have a status (corpus separatum) under a special regime administered by the UN , this regime was never implemented . It is clear from the history of UN efforts to internationalize the city after the rejection of the Partition Plan that the concept of a corpus separatum under an international regime for the city is not dead . ( It should also be noted that before Jordan occupied East Jerusalem in 1950 , the Arabs also accepted the principle of an international regime for Jerusalem .) Although the proposals for Jerusalem in the UN Partition Plan were merely recommendations, and thus not legally binding , there seems to be broad agreement that Jerusalem should continue to be considered a corpus separatum— that is, territory legally distinct from Israel and the rest of the occupied territories — although the precise nature of the international regime that would apply to the city has not been agreed upon . For this reason, states have not recognized Israel’s claim to sovereignty over West Jerusalem and have not opened embassies in the city . The resolutions of the General Assembly and the Council speak The Security Council resolutions that followed General Assembly Resolution 181 were somewhat ambiguous about the “ status of Jerusalem ” without defining precisely what that status was . In most cases, the phrase is used in the context of condemning Israeli actions that seek to impose Israeli sovereignty over the city . The aim is to ensure that whatever the status quo is, it does not change . However , the phrase must be interpreted in its historical context , in particular the efforts of the United Nations to establish an international regime for the city and the widespread acceptance of the concept of corpus separatum.
The international community has categorically rejected Israeli claims of sovereignty over the city ( both its eastern and western parts ). It has also not accepted that any state now has sovereignty over the city .
Sovereignty over Jerusalem is currently suspended . There also appears to be a consensus that Jerusalem has a status separate from Israel and the rest of the occupied territories. The failure of UN efforts to mediate a solution for Jerusalem , the widespread acceptance of the concept of corpus separatum , and the reference in successive UN resolutions to the “ status of Jerusalem ” and to “ the Palestinian and Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967 , including Jerusalem ” attest to this . The precise nature of that status has not been determined . The international regime that will apply to Jerusalem is a matter to be resolved in the context of the final peace plan as agreed between the two sides in the Declaration of Principles and the Interim Agreement . Whether this regime takes the form of a divided city with each side enjoying sovereignty over its own part , shared sovereignty , a set of international regimes as envisaged in the original partition plan , or some other solution is subject to negotiation .
The Palestinian position and our position on sovereignty over the city:
The Palestinian position is that Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine . The Declaration of Principles adopted by the Palestinian National Council in 1988 stipulated “ the establishment of the State of Palestine on the land of Palestine and its capital in Jerusalem .” From the Palestinian point of view , this declaration included an affirmation of sovereignty over the city . The Palestinian position received significant support from Arab countries and non- aligned countries .
The Sixth Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement affirmed a number of basic principles for a comprehensive solution to the Arab – Israeli conflict , including that “ the city of Jerusalem is an integral part of occupied Palestine . It must be fully withdrawn from and returned unconditionally to Arab sovereignty.” The “Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif Session” of the Islamic Summit Conference held in Mecca in January 1981 affirmed “ the insistence of the Palestinian people to preserve their eternal right to the Holy City as the capital of their homeland , Palestine , as well as the insistence of the Islamic governments and peoples on their eternal right to the Holy City of Jerusalem in light of the permanent political , religious, cultural and historical importance of Jerusalem to all Muslims , ” and affirmed “ the commitment of the Islamic countries to liberate Jerusalem to become the capital of the independent Palestinian state , and to reject any situation that might violate the Arab right to full sovereignty over Jerusalem .” In the declaration adopted in Fez, Morocco , in September 1982 , the Arab heads of state and government also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital .
The Palestinian claim that Jerusalem should be the capital of the State of Palestine does not necessarily mean that Palestine should have sovereignty over the entire city . The solutions that have been discussed to resolve the issue of Jerusalem are legally possible , such as the internationalization proposal in Resolution 181 , joint sovereignty , or a divided city in which each state would have sovereignty over its own section , with Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state . There is precedence for a state that has made a capital a city over which it has no sovereignty . Before German unification , Berlin was under the Quadripartite Administration of the Soviet Union , the United States, the United Kingdom , and France . When the Soviet Union withdrew from this administration, the German Democratic Republic was established with the eastern part of Berlin as its capital . The three Western Allies did not recognize the GDR and considered the city to remain under Quadripartite Administration . They continued to consider the city to retain that status even after they recognized the GDR , established diplomatic relations with it , and established embassies in East Berlin .
The basis for any Palestinian claim to sovereignty over Jerusalem is that Jerusalem was under the Ottomans an integral part of the territory of Palestine . Before and during the Mandate , Jerusalem was the administrative capital of Palestine . Until Jewish immigration changed the demographic composition of the city, Arabs constituted the vast majority of the city ’s population . Although sovereignty over Palestine was not transferred to the Mandate , the Mandate did not eliminate the sovereignty that remained in abeyance . Sovereignty resides in the hands of the Palestinian people and will be restored when Palestine is recognized as an independent state . 5 Accordingly , the State of Palestine is entitled to sovereignty over the territory of Mandatory Palestine , including Jerusalem, which is not under the sovereignty of any other state ( Israel ).
A distinction must be made between the claim of sovereignty and the question of who currently has sovereignty over the city . Sovereignty over Jerusalem is currently suspended . However , it is clear from the previous paragraph that the Palestinian claim has legal significance . Accordingly , the Palestinian side has the right to full participation in the negotiations that will decide the future of the city . The fact that the Palestinian side has been willing in the past and may be willing in the future to accept a solution for the future of the city that does not include full sovereignty , such as internationalization, joint sovereignty or a divided city, does not mean that there is a weakening of the Palestinian claim to sovereignty .
Israeli claim to sovereignty:
Judaism’s religious and historical claims to Jerusalem are irrelevant to the question of Jerusalem ’s property rights today . Israel claims sovereignty over the territories it seized by force in 1948 because General Assembly Resolution 181 proposed the existence of an Arab state and a Jewish state in Palestine, and the international community accepted Israel’s right because the United Nations recognized it and made it a member . The validity of this argument is questionable , as Resolution 181 envisioned a Jewish state with smaller dimensions than what Israel seized in 1948 , and UN recognition and membership do not necessarily imply recognition of sovereignty over disputed territory . In any case, these arguments cannot apply to sovereignty over Jerusalem , since Resolution 181 did not envision Jerusalem as part of the proposed Jewish state , and Israel ’s claim to sovereignty over Jerusalem has not been recognized . An alternative argument has also been put forward that Israel is entitled to sovereignty over the territories occupied in 1948 and 1967 since it says it acted “ in self – defense. ” “ On the self , ” and that these territories were not under the sovereignty of any other power . But a well-known basic principle of international law is that the exercise of self- defense cannot in itself constitute a basis for the acquisition of a property right , 6 and the absence of a property right under the sovereignty of any other power concerned does not constitute a basis for the acquisition of a property right . Israel will be able to acquire a property right only if the lands are without an owner ( which they are not ) , or if Israel is able to show that its claim is stronger than that of any other state in the area . With regard to the question of East Jerusalem , Israel’s claim to property right is further flawed because belligerent occupation cannot confer property rights and the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force applies to occupied territories , including Jerusalem .
It is clear from examining the details of the Palestinian and Israeli claims that the Palestinian claim is the most correct and sound .
Did the Interim Agreement affect the legal status of Jerusalem?
No. Article 31(5) of the Interim Agreement makes clear that Jerusalem is a permanent status issue. Article 31(6) states : “ Nothing in this Agreement shall prejudice or preempt the outcome of the negotiations on the permanent status to be held … Neither Party shall be deemed , by entering into this Agreement , to have renounced or waived any of its rights , claims or positions . ” Jerusalem is barely mentioned in the Interim Agreement , but if the Israelis argue that some provision of the Agreement somehow strengthens their position on Jerusalem , the Palestinian side can point to Article 31(6) and argue that their legal position on Jerusalem has not been affected at all .
Basic facts:
International law:
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Our position: In compliance with international law and as stipulated in the Declaration of Principles, the whole of Jerusalem ( not just East Jerusalem ) is subject to permanent status negotiations . As for East Jerusalem , being an integral part of the territory occupied by Israel in 1967 , Israel has no right to any part of it . Since the city of Jerusalem is the political , economic and spiritual center of the Palestinian people and the Arab nation , a Palestinian state cannot be established without East Jerusalem , especially the Old City and its surrounding areas , as its capital . We are committed to respecting freedom of worship in the holy sites in East Jerusalem and granting all people the right of access to them . All possible measures will be taken to protect those sites and preserve their dignity and prestige .
In addition to affirming our sovereignty over East Jerusalem , we will consider solutions that do not harm our interests and are consistent with international law . For example, Jerusalem could become an open city for both Palestinians and Israelis and could be considered the capital of two states . There can be no lasting solution to the Palestinian – Israeli conflict without reaching a solution regarding the city of Jerusalem that guarantees our rights to the city .
