Palestine Membership in the United Nations: Legal and Practical Implications

Abstract

This book aims to bridge the scientific gap that exists with regard to Palestine’s membership of the UN as a State. As international law cannot operate outside the context of the global political atmosphere, the book focuses on the international legal dimension as well as the political/practical aspects of UN statehood recognition.

With chapters written by leading international scholars, this collection is directed to those concerned with the strengthening of international law and the UN. Complex issues of representation and the confusing situation of citizenship, given the multiple residential circumstances in which Palestinians are forced to live, are explored with unsurpassed clarity. This invaluable contribution to the scholarly literature offers an ideal point of departure for understanding the core issues as they exist at this time.

In this volume, Dr Qafisheh and eighteen other contributors go beyond the direct implications of Palestinian statehood within the UN to consider the prospects for a resolution of one of the longest conflicts in history. The UN statehood resolution of November 2012 reaffirms the two-State consensus which increasingly seems to be a desert mirage without any prospect of being realized. What self-determination might mean in light of this background, where the two-State solution seems to be nearing the end of its sunset phase, is explored in creative ways throughout the book.

The book consists of three parts. Part I presents the framework of Palestine’s UN membership, its legal and political foundations, its implications for PLO representation, Palestinian refugees and population status, and its impact on concerned parties. Part II focuses on selected issues that arise in relation to Palestine’s UN membership, including human rights, humanitarian law, international criminal law, prisoners, Jerusalem, water and the accession to the WTO. Part III connects the history with future solutions for Palestinian-Israeli conflict.