The Statehood of Palestine
International Law in the Middle East Conflict

Traces Palestine's statehood to the 1924 League of Nations mandate and provides an account of how Palestine has been recognized until the present day.

John Quigley (Author)

9780521151658, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 6 September 2010

348 pages, 5 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

"The Statehood of Palestine is highly recommended for anyone wishing to better understand the legal issues surrounding Palestinian statehood. While it is easy for states to use the complexity and intensity of the Palestine question as an excuse to avoid the issue altogether, Quigley reminds us that international law is for us all to enforce."
- Samir Deger-Sen
The Yale Journal of International Law

Palestine as a territorial entity has experienced a curious history. Until World War I, Palestine was part of the sprawling Ottoman Empire. After the war, Palestine came under the administration of Great Britain by an arrangement with the League of Nations. In 1948 Israel established itself in part of Palestine's territory, and Egypt and Jordan assumed administration of the remainder. By 1967 Israel took control of the sectors administered by Egypt and Jordan and by 1988 Palestine reasserted itself as a state. Recent years saw the international community acknowledging Palestinian statehood as it promotes the goal of two independent states, Israel and Palestine, co-existing peacefully. This book draws on evidence from the 1924 League of Nations mandate to suggest that Palestine was constituted as a state at that time. Palestine remained a state after 1948, even as its territory underwent permutation, and this book provides a detailed account of how Palestine has been recognized until the present day.

Part I. A New Type of State: 1. Why Palestine and statehood
2. A land in flux
3. A league of nations
4. A state detached
5. The Class A mandates
6. Palestine in operation
7. A state awaiting independence
Part II. Statehood in Turmoil: 8. A post-mandate state
9. The state comes apart
10. Palestine in three pieces
Part III. Palestine in the World Community: 11. An organization for Palestine
12. A government for Palestine
13. The world reacts
14. Palestine in the peace process
15. Palestine in the new century
Part IV. The Contours of Statehood: 16. Palestine meets Montevideo
17. Statehood under the gun
18. Recognition and statehood
19. When is a state?
20. Implications of Palestine statehood.

Subject Areas: Laws of Specific jurisdictions [LN], Public international law [LBB], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]