A Conflict Resolution for Jerusalem

As is well-known to the world, Jerusalem is the sacred home to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Its religious value makes this city precious in the Muslim World. Both Israel and Palestine intend to claim this city as its capital, but neither of their claims is recognized by the international community. Their territorial conflict is especially intense in the ownership of this city.

       Jerusalem has a long history being the center of fights in the Middle East, one of the oldest cities in the world. It is a holy place for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Both King David and King Solomon treated it as the center of the Jewish people according to the Bible. So Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, and attacked and captured many times in the long-term fight. In the history, Jerusalem was captured and recaptured by Perth, Byzantium, Rome, the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, and Jordan successively. Israel captured the West Jerusalem during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six-Day War in 1967, as well as the surrounding territory. Israel has made it clear in the 1980 Jerusalem Law that Jerusalem is Israel’s undivided capital. All Israel’s government branches are located in Jerusalem. However, the international community refuses to admit Jerusalem as the legal capital of Israel and views East Jerusalem as the Palestinian territory. And Palestine has viewed Jerusalem as its future capital. Today, the ownership of Jerusalem becomes the core issue of the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

       On one side, Israel has declared Jerusalem as its capital since 1949. And in 1980, Israel passed the Jerusalem Law as one of its basic laws, in which Israel declared Jerusalem was its capital. Israel takes Jerusalem as its legal territory and settles all government branches there. The international community refuses to admit Jerusalem as the legal capital of Israel and treats the Jerusalem Law as a violation of the International Law. Though forced to move those government branches out in the 1990s, Israel still views Jerusalem as its legal capital. However, one the other hand, Palestine regards that East Jerusalem is its territory according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 242. Palestine also claims Jerusalem as its capital due to the pre-1967 municipal borders.

       The resolution for the Jerusalem is reaching a consensus of this territory by negotiations. Israel and Palestine signed the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles in 1993, regulating that the permanent status of Jerusalem remains to be decided by negotiations between Israel and Palestine. The best result for their negotiations is to cooperate in the governance of Jerusalem and promote mutual communications. The West Jerusalem could be used as the capital of Israel, and the East Jerusalem could be used as the capital of Israel. In order to acquire the recognition of the international community. These two countries must reach a consensus first then persuade the international community to accept their agreement. It is essential to make a compromise for the mutual benefit. Since both these countries intend to make Jerusalem their capitals, it is essential to clarify the boundary so that both countries could enjoy full sovereignty of its capital, the most important political center for a country. The long-term uncertainty of the capital is not beneficial for a country’s diplomatic and political development. Thus, for the mutual benefit, Jerusalem could be split into two parts and managed by these two countries respectively.

       In order to implement this resolution, both Israel and Palestine should abandon their historical discriminations and work together for the future development. Their mutual goal is to get Jerusalem recognized by the international community as their respective capital for the political and diplomatic development. This goal should be the focus of their negotiations. If necessary, the United Nations could be asked to get involved in the negotiation to reach a recognized consensus.