Following a spate of recent media inaccuracies concerning the legal status of the Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, and to coincide with the 40th anniversary of their capture, that of East Jerusalem is clarified by Arab Media Watch adviser Victor Kattan, research fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

30 May 2007

East Jerusalem refers to that part of the city which was captured by the Israeli army in the 1967 war. This includes the Old City of Jerusalem, comprised of the Holy Places.

Israel has no sovereignty over East Jerusalem because conquest is not recognised as a valid mode of acquiring additional territories.[1] Consequently, East Jerusalem is considered Occupied Palestinian Territory to which the rules of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Civilians Convention of 1949, apply.[2]

In 1980, Israel attempted to acquire sovereignty over the eastern part of the city by annexing it. However, this act was condemned by the UN Security Council in resolution 478, and several other resolutions adopted by that body since 1967.[3] Extracts of UN Security Council resolutions on Jerusalem are available at:

http://www.arabmediawatch.com/amw/CountryBackgrounds/Palestine/UNresolutions/Jerusalem/tabid/206/Default.aspx

Jerusalem is not recognised as Israel's capital by any country in the world. Costa Rica and El Salvador, the only countries to have had embassies in Jerusalem, moved them to Tel Aviv in August 2006.

On 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice, which is the principal judicial organ of the UN, referred to territory east of the 1949 Israel-Jordan armistice line as occupied territories in which Israel has the status of an occupying Power. It said:

"All these territories (including East Jerusalem) remain occupied territories and Israel has continued to have the status of occupying Power."[4]

It added:

"The construction of the wall being built by Israel the occupying power in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime, is contrary to international law."

Consequently, and in conclusion:

• East Jerusalem is Occupied Palestinian Territory.

• Israel has no sovereignty over East Jerusalem.

• Jerusalem (both East and West) is not recognised as Israel's capital by any country in the world, including by the governments of the UK and US.

• Jerusalem's legal status is that of an occupied territory in the eastern part of the city.

A document rebutting the myth that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and detailing the legal status of the western part of the city, is available at:

http://www.arabmediawatch.com/amw/CountryBackgrounds/Palestine/LegalStatusOfOccupiedTerritories/Gaza/Jerusalem/tabid/2158/Default.aspx

[1] See General Treaty for the Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy (Pact of Paris), 94 League of Nations Treaty Series (1928), p. 57 and Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter, XV United Nations Conference on International Organisation, p. 335.

[2] Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War of 1949, 75 United Nations Treaty Series (1950) p. 287.

[3] See e.g. U.N.S.C. Res. 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 298 (1971) and 446 (1979).

[4] See Legal consequences of the construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, 9 July 2004, para. 78.