LAWB 3221: International Law
Instructor: Nadia Ahmad
Section: 201
Name: Abeer AlSamari
ID: 201200187
Major: Law
Assignment 3: Palestine vs. the UN and International Law
International law, does the word “international” mean that all countries in the world
have the same rights? Or does it mean that all countries in the world are equivalent in
strength? The problem here exists. Reality shows that countries are not equal; there
are some countries that are more powerful and have more control than any country in
the world. So, from here we say how does a country be a member in the United
Nations and have full power? How does a country actually exist? How can a country
like Palestine switch from various positions, a non-recognized state to a full-member
state in the UN to a non-member observer in a period of time? All that comes from
strong political countries and the international law influence…
According to the Montevideo Convention, there are some requirements for a state to
come into existence; first of all, defined territory, the territory has to be defined, and
the recognition would happen if the geographical area is separated from other
geographical areas “countries” by borderlines. Furthermore, the existence of a
territorial dispute on a land between two countries does not make the two countries
non-existing states, but the land itself would not be defined. Second of all, permanent
population, the population of the country itself has to be significant, which means
large in numbers depending on the size of the country, like for example The Vatican
City regardless of its small population and territory, it’s considered a state because of
the other requirements (diplomatic relations). On the other hand, Antarctica is not
considered a state till and doesn’t qualify to be one, because it doesn’t have a
significant population, which leads to a non-permanent population, but the
international law and other states are still disputing about this issue. Third element is
government, there has to be effective governmental control on territory and
population and representing the nation or the country in international relations, which
brings us to the fourth element. The international relations is the last criterion for a
state to be recognized, it has to have the governmental, business, and technical
abilities to administer international relations. Even if a country has all the mentioned
abilities and doesn’t do relations with other countries or give the power to an entity
like the European communities, it is still a state, the country is not forced to do the
relations as long as it has the ability, it’s all about consent. After we’ve discussed the
requirement for a state to be called a state, we will have to know now what is the
process for a state to be recognized by the international community. There are two
theories for recognizing a state, the Declaratory Theory of Recognition and the
Constitutive Theory of Recognition. The Declaratory Theory of Recognition is like an
automatic recognition, as soon as a country meets the four requirements to be a state;
it is now a state no matter what, even if other countries don’t believe that this specific
country exists. However, the other theory which is the Constitutive Theory of
Recognition is the complete opposite, other countries have to agree and decide if the
entity meats the requirement to be a state or not. In order for a state to be a member of
the United Nations it has to be recognized by the UN, and to be recognized and to be
part of the organization it has to act in accordance and oblige to the rules of the UN
Charter and accept its obligations and the UN will be open to that specific country.
After getting recognized as a state by the international community, you will aim to
get a membership in the UN. To get a membership in the UN the decision has to come
from the General Assembly with the help and recommendation from The Security
Council and there are procedures for a state to get to that point: First, the state has to
submit a latter and an application to the Secretary-General clarifying that the state
accepts the rules and obligations of the UN Charter. Second, The Security Council
takes consideration of the application, any suggestion must have the acceptance of
nine out of fifteen members of the council, keeping in mind that The United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Island, The United States of America, France, Russian
federation, and China (the permanent members) have nothing against the submission,
accepted it, and didn’t vote against it. Third step, when the council suggests an
admission, the General assembly puts it under consideration after it is presented to
them. The majority of the voting states have to be 2/3 in the assembly for the
submission of a new state. Last step but not least, when the admission gets approved
and adopted the resolution becomes in handy and effective in the exact same date.
There are different forms for participating in the United Nations, such as states or
organizations, there can be parties (a group of countries with common purposes),
member states, observer states (like Palestine), United Nations Secretariat Units and
related bodies, specialized agencies and related organizations, civil-society
organizations, Non-governmental organizations, intergovernmental organizations and
entities, indigenous participants, and media participants. The benefit of becoming a
non-member observer is to participate in General Assembly’s debates, speak in UN’s
General meetings, sign resolutions, participate in some votes but can’t vote for a
resolution, submit amendments and proposals, makes the chances higher of a non-
member observer state (Palestine) to be part of the United Nations Agencies and the
ICC (International Criminal Court). This operation is not guaranteed yet for all nonmember observer states. In Palestine’s case, if they sign the International Criminal
Court founding treaty, Palestianis will have hope that the accusers will examine the
unlawful conducts held against war crimes and humanity. ("British broadcasting
corporation," 2012)
Sine 1967 and the six days war between Israel and Palestine, Palestine wanted to be
an independent and a recognized state by the UN as Israelis occupied its lands, but it
was a fail attempt. In 1933, Palestine wanted to get recognized as a state but instead
Israel was recognized as one. Two decades were gone with no obvious settlement, the
negotiation were on until it broke down on 2010. In 2011, Palestine finally got the
recognition of being a full member state at the UN. But unfortunately, after two
months the Security Council declared that Palestine is no longer a full-member state;
which lead Mahmoud Abbas, the President of Palestine authority to hand a lowerrequest to be a non-member observer state in 2012. Palestine showed a lot of fail
attempts but their president manage to show that this time is different by saying that
they did not come to UN Conference to disapprove Israel’s independent state as they
tried to do that in previous assemblies, but they came here this time to show the world
that they need the independence of their country by being a member of the United
Nations to confirm the validity, justice, and legality of their state, that also shows the
importance of this time. Palestine’s membership into the UN also shows its
importance as the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, stated
claimed that people are asking the world today to adjust and fix the abnormal past
bias or unfair treatment on the Palestinians since 1948, and of course that can only
happen by declaring them as a member of the UN. Futhermore, Mr.Abbas says that
the world’s acceptance to our request will show the Palestinian people and kids
getting tortured in their own land, and for the Palestinian prisoners who are getting
tortured in the prisons of Israel, that there is hope, there is faith, to keep their strength
and heads high, and that the world cares about all of them. In addition, what proves
that the membership of Palestine into the UN is important; I quote the General
Assembly’s President “he believed the continued absence of a state for Palestinians
was one of the world’s most fundamental wrongs.” (UN News Centre, 2012).
The process of Palestine being a non-member observer state was very simple in the
UN General Assembly, the resolution had to pass by a simple majority in a 193
member states in the UN General Assembly. The veto had no authority or threat, as it
would be if the process were in the Security Council. Palestine’s officials wished to
win from 150-170 votes so they can get a membership, but unfortunately then only
got 138 votes. Palestine’s membership had to be approved by the fifteen full-member
states of Security Council. The strong press for political action from the United States
to its associate Israel prevented Palestine to get the nine votes it required to be a fullmember state of the UN. Even if the lobbying wasn’t done, the US was expected to do
what it did because it had the power of veto as a permanent member of the Council.
However, in the case of international law, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu, claims that Palestine has no borderlines in case of defined territory, and
by that it doesn’t meat the requirement of being a state according to the international
law in the first place, he characterized them as “indefensible” and “unrealistic”. He
also stated that according to population, Palestine’s most population are Jews, about
half a million of them live in more than 200 settlements in West Bank and Eat
Jerusalem, as I quote the prime minister “These settlements are considered illegal
under international law”. To overcome this problem, they have discussed previously
to exchange lands ("British broadcasting corporation," 2012).
By search and knowledge a person will know all what he questions, especially when
it comes to the UN and International law, it needs a lot of search. Also, by search and
knowledge countries also maintain peace among themselves and other countries, stop
wars and crimes, stop disputing about little things, and most importantly, know what
the world is all about, love.
References:
*Hughes, T. (2006). A national perspective: An exploration of professional learning
communities. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/52808136/61/Definedterritory
*Untied nations. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/members/about.shtml
* International law course pack.
*UN News Centre. (2012). General Assembly grants Palestine non-member observer
State status at UN. Retrieved from
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43640#.UNyy3u2jLkc
*(2012, September 27). British broadcasting corporation. (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13701636