ABSTRACT
The city of Jerusalem poses a unique challenge to the development and application of Israel's separation barrier project. Jerusalem is a city divided among large Jewish and Arab neighborhoods. The Jerusalem portion of the barrier stands to reshape the boundaries of a city that both Israelis and Palestinians see as crucial to their national identity and claim as their capital. The walled Old City of Jerusalem is home to the most sacred sites of the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and the place where God's presence is the most deeply felt by many of the world's faithful. On August 20, 1980, the United Nations Security Council expressed its opinion on the Jerusalem Law through UN Resolution 478, which stated that Israel's actions on Jerusalem violated international law and threatened to alter the character and status of the holy city.
