The Palestinian Authority has asked the International Court of Justice to force the US to shut down its Embassy in Jerusalem as it violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961). Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and…
The Palestinian Authority has asked the International Court of Justice to force the US to shut down its Embassy in Jerusalem as it violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961).
Background
Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered to be one of the holiest sites by millions of people across the world (it is considered holy by Christians, Muslims and Jews). Israelis and Palestinians both claim Jerusalem as their capital, as the State of Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, while the State of Palestine ultimately foresees the city as its seat of power. So far, neither claim is widely recognized internationally. The Battle for Jerusalem occurred from December 1947 to 18 July 1948. As a result, the city was split between Israel and Jordan after the war, Israel ruling West Jerusalem and Jordan ruling East Jerusalem with the Old City.
On December 6th, 2017, US President Donald Trump pivoted from decades’ long US foreign policy and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Trump’s announcement triggered a wave of protests and violence across the Middle East. More than 10,000 people have protested so far, a week after the announcement.
The moving of the embassy to Jerusalem signified a change in Washington’s approach towards treating Jerusalem as a contested city. The embassy move violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) as an Embassy should be located within the uncontested territory of the host country.
Analysis
The Palestinian Authority has asked the International Court of Justice to compel the US to shut down its embassy in Jerusalem because it violates the Vienna convention, which says an embassy must be located in a host country.
The Palestinian government submitted its application to launch proceedings against the US on Friday. The 14-page complaint, released by the UN’s principal judicial body, alleges that the US, as a part of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, has flouted its obligation by setting up an embassy outside the territory of the host state, Israel. It points out that, in accordance with the 1947 UN Plan for Palestine and numerous subsequent UN resolutions to the same effect, Jerusalem should be placed under an international regime as a “separate body” or “corpus separatum.” Instead, Israel illegally took control over Jerusalem by “use of force” and a series of legislative and administrative means “in an attempt to annex the city.” Thus, the US had no right to open its embassy there.
The Palestinian lawsuit is calling on the court to declare the US embassy move as a violation of international diplomatic law and order Washington “to withdraw the diplomatic mission” from the city.
The US opened its embassy in Jerusalem in May after US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize the city as Israel’s capital in December. The move has drawn a fierce backlash – including from some of America’s allies in Europe – and was met with mass protests in Palestine and across the Arab world. The Palestinian government’s complaint cites the recent decision by Paraguay to return its embassy to Tel Aviv, cancelling the right-wing government’s previous decision.
Apart from the embassy issue, Abbas said that he would sue the US over its decision to defund the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Counterpoint
The ICJ has no legal jurisdiction over the US, nor does it have any right to influence the foreign policy of any member nation. As ICJ judgements are non-binding, unless enforced by the UN Security Council, Palestine’s lawsuit will be of little consequence for Washington.
The only visible outcome of the lawsuit is the setting of a legal precedent for future cases to refer to, in case of a potential lawsuit on overlapping territorial claims on a city.
Assessment
Our assessment is that the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel is highly complex and layered. US President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has hindered the possibility of any future peace talks between the two regions as Jerusalem is considered vital to both regions. We believe that the ICJ will rule in favour of Palestine based on the violation of the Vienna Conventions, we also feel that the US will veto any Security Council resolution looking to enforce the ICJ’s judgement on Washington.
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