From Jerusalem to the Rest of the West Bank

Since 1967, despite international legal restrictions, Israel has sought to annex Eastern Jerusalem. Fifty-one years later, it publicly declared in its Nation State Law: “Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.” In the West Bank, Israel initiated on the ground changes that furthered annexation without formally declaring any part of it as annexed. For decades, Al-Haq has documented the gradual encroachment of occupation by successive Israeli administrations. And yet the Palestinian leadership failed to successfully utilize the law to support its case. Nor could the 190 states, parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, be convinced to enforce the provision in the Convention which bids the High Contracting Parties to “ensure respect for the present convention in all circumstances.” During the Oslo negotiations, Israel succeeded in leaving Jerusalem and the Jewish settlements outside of the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. Given these patterns across nearly a half-century of history, it seems likely that Israel will declare the full annexation of the West Bank in part or in its entirety precisely because it has succeeded in accomplishing this in the case of Jerusalem

Ancient history · Annexation · Archaeology · Convention · Human settlement · Jurisdiction · Negotiation · Palestine · Political science · Politics · West bank · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Middle East Politics and Society

• Bibliography of Recent Works

  Norbert Scholz•Journal of Palestine Studies•2019

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• Unfastening Israel's Future from the Occupation

  Open Access•M Amir•Antipode•2023

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• City of Stone

  Meron Benvenisti•City of Stone•1997

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