(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker and Lea Bilke - While the Palestinians claim that according to the law and UN Resolution 181, Jerusalem is international territory, this claim has absolutely no basis. Resolution 181, commonly known as the UN Partition Plan, recommended that Jerusalem would be a special international entity, called a corpus separatum, with an international administration under the auspices of the UN. But as with all General Assembly resolutions, which cannot determine legal obligations, Resolution 181 was nothing more than a non-binding recommendation. Moreover, the Arab population and the neighboring Arab/Muslim states forcefully rejected the resolution. In addition, the UN failed to adopt any proposal giving it the legal responsibility for Jerusalem as the General Assembly had envisioned. Thus, Jerusalem has never been determined to be international territory. Alan Baker, former legal counsel to Israel's foreign ministry, heads the international law program at the Jerusalem Center. Lea Bilke is a law student at the Free University of Berlin in Germany, specializing in international and European law.
2021-11-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive