The Status of Sovereignty in East Jerusalem and the West Bank Notes 5 New York University Journal of International Law and Politics 1972

5 N.Y.U. J. Int'l L. & Pol. 485 (1972)
The Status of Sovereignty in East Jerusalem and the West Bank

handle is hein.journals/nyuilp5 and id is 495 raw text is: THE STATUS OF SOVEREIGNTY IN EAST JERUSALEM
AND THE WEST BANK
I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
The Six Day War of 1967 between Israel and its Arab neigh-
bors left Israel in control of the West Bank of Jordan and East
Jerusalem.' Both areas had been under the control of the Kingdom
of Jordan2 since the Palestine hostilities of 1948-1949. The debate
on the status of sovereignty in these areas, frequently marked by
emotion and misconception, has been conducted in the political arena
both within the United Nations and without. This Note will first
present a brief discussion of the recent history of the area in order
to place the legal argument in a proper perspective. Second, the
Note will trace the path of sovereignty in these areas, in the context
of international law, from the termination of Turkish rule in 1923
to the present. Since Israel remains in control of the two territories,
the Note will finally focus on the present status of Israel in the two
territories and the attendant legal consequences.
On July 23, 1923, following four hundred years of Turkish
rule in Palestine, Turkey signed the Treaty of Lausanne, in which
Turkey renounced its rights to all territories outside its frontiers in-
cluding Palestine.3 Article 16 of the Treaty stated that the future of
those territories was to be settled by the parties concerned.4 The
Council of the League of Nations, (hereinafter the Council), had
already granted the Palestine Mandate to Great Britain,G and one
1. Israel also occupied the Golan Heights, previously under Syria's control,
and the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, previously under Egypt's control.
2. For purposes of this Note all references to the Hashcmite Kingdom of
Jordan and the Hashemite Kingdom of TransJordan. as named prior to 1949.
will be shortened to Jordan.
3. Treaty of France with Turkey and Other Instruments 20 (192). N.
Feinberg, The Arab-Israel Conflict in International Law 35 and n.67 (1970).
4. Id.
5. Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations outlined the Mandate
system. The Palestine Mandate came into force on September 29, 1923. Feinberg,
supra note 3, at 33 and n.61.
Axtide 22 divided those territories subject to mandates into three groups
dependent upon the particular territory's readiness to exist as an independent
nation. Palestine, as were all the territories under Turkish rule, was considered
an A Mandate territory. Those within the A class were regarded as prepared
for provisional recognition, with need for administrative advice only from the
respective Mandatory power. Comment, International Law-Trusteeship Com-
pared with Mandate, 49 Michigan L. Rev. 1199 at 1199 and n2 (1951) (herein-
after Trusteeship Comment).

Imaged with the Permission of N.Y.U. Journal of International Law and Politics

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