West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (Hebrew: מַעֲרַב יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, Ma'aráv Yerushaláyim; Arabic: القدس الغربية, al-Quds al-Ġarbiyyah) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile de facto border, established by the 1949 Armistice Agreements), West Jerusalem was formally delineated as the counterpart to East Jerusalem, which was controlled by Jordan.[1] Though Israel has controlled the entirety of Jerusalem since the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, the boundaries of West Jerusalem and East Jerusalem remain internationally recognized as de jure due to their significance to the process of determining the status of Jerusalem, which has been among the primary points of contention in the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. With certain exceptions, undivided Jerusalem is not internationally recognized as the sovereign territory of either Israel or the State of Palestine.[2][3] However, recognition of Israeli sovereignty over only West Jerusalem is more widely accepted as a plausible diplomatic position, as the United Nations regards East Jerusalem as part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.[4]
- ^ "Key Maps". Jerusalem: Before 1967 and now. BBC News. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
- ^ Dumper 1997, pp. 35–36.
- ^ Moshe Hirsch; Deborah Housen-Couriel; Ruth Lapidot (28 June 1995). Whither Jerusalem?: Proposals and Positions Concerning the Future of Jerusalem. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 15. ISBN 978-90-411-0077-1.
What, then, is Israel's status in west Jerusalem? Two main answers have been adduced: (a) Israel has sovereignty in this area; and (b) sovereignty lies with the Palestinian people or is suspended.
- ^ Bisharat, George (23 December 2010). "Maximizing Rights". In Susan M. Akram; Michael Dumper; Michael Lynk (eds.). International Law and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Rights-Based Approach to Middle East Peace. Routledge. p. 311. ISBN 978-1-136-85098-1. Archived from the original on 2023-02-18. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
As we have noted previously the international legal status of Jerusalem is contested and Israel's designation of it as its capital has not been recognized by the international community. However its claims of sovereign rights to the city are stronger with respect to West Jerusalem than with respect to East Jerusalem.