Legal Issues With Palestinian Statehood: Who Is a Palestinian Citizen?
October 11, 2011 13:22 by Pesach Benson
The Jerusalem Post obtained a document sent to Israeli envoys abroad pointing out some of the legal challenges to Palestinian statehood. The doc’s based on the first article of Montevideo Convention, which spells out four legal requisites for statehood.
The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: a ) a permanent population; b ) a defined territory; c ) government; and d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.
The JPost writes:
Regarding its permanent population, the paper stated that the Palestinians have “been ambiguous about which group of people would constitute the permanent population of their state.”
“The Palestinians seem to be seeking to establish a new state, and at the same time preserve the status of Palestinians living in the diaspora as so-called ‘refugees,’” the document continued.
“As part of this effort, they have presented contradictory positions, wanting to continue to represent all Palestinians on refugee-related claims, but, at the same time, stating that they do not intend to grant citizenship to members of the Palestinian diaspora.”
According to the document, this is an “internal contradiction” that necessarily leads to ambiguity on the population issue since a state can only represent the claims of its own citizens.
Abdullah Abdullah
Indeed, the most notable muddying of the waters came when PLO ambassador to Lebanon, Abdullah Abdullah, told the Daily Star:
The ambassador unequivocally says that Palestinian refugees would not become citizens of the sought for U.N.-recognized Palestinian state, an issue that has been much discussed. “They are Palestinians, that’s their identity,” he says. “But … they are not automatically citizens.”
This would not only apply to refugees in countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan or the other 132 countries where Abdullah says Palestinians reside. Abdullah said that “even Palestinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Palestinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens.”
Abdullah said that the new Palestinian state would “absolutely not” be issuing Palestinian passports to refugees.
As an aside, nothing’s stopping Hamas from opening up the refugee camps in Gaza either.
In any event, the question of who represents Palestinian refugees in a post-state world is very, very thorny. Guy Goodwin-Gill’s legal opinion is still causing fear and loathing in Ramallah and the refugee camps.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ document also addresses the issue of effective government and the fact that Hamas — not the PA — controls Gaza. More on that in a separate post.
(Image of child via Flickr/gnuckx)
Moll
6:47 pm
Oct 11, 2011
Why is a designated terrorist organization being given a platform to speak at the United Nations? The PLO no matter what it has changed its name to, was and still is, a designated terrorist organization by most western democracies. What are they doing at the United Nations?
At the link below is what the representatives of the PLO-cum-PA wrote as clarification for the nonstate tribal arabs who were confused about the official public language emanating out of the mouths of their tribal leaders (as published by Maan News Agency).
1.0 Signatories to the document are cited as:
Dr Anis Fawzi al-Qasem, Legal Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation at the Madrid and Washington Negotiations
Dr. Anis Mustafa al-Qasem, Legal Advisor to the Palestine National Council, Secretary General of the International Organisation for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination
Basheer al-Khairi, Former Member of the PLO Executive Committee
Ribhi Qatamesh, Secretary of the Palestinian Bar Association
Professor George Bisharat, Professor of Law, Hastings College of the Law, University of California
Mary Nazzal-Bataineh, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Palestine Legal Aid Fund
Professor Mohammad Yousef Olwan, Professor of Law, Amman, Jordan
Reem al-Botmeh, Assistant Editor, Palestine Yearbook of International Law
Professor Mohammad Khalil al-Mousa, Assistant Professor of International Law, Bahrain University
Professor Samera Esmeir, University of California, Berkeley
Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Faculty of Law, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Dr. Lena al-Malak, Legal Consultant
Nimer Sultany, Harvard University Law School
Noura Eriekat, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Georgetown University
Jamil Dakwar, Esq. (USA)
Leen al-Khayat, Attorney
Hania Sabaawi, Attorney
Marwan Dalal, Attorney
Mazen al-Masri, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Maan News Agency: Palestinian lawyers affirm essential role of PLO at UN
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=425080
2.0 The highlights are #’s 1 – 4. T because the PLO is a designated “terrorist organization” by many western democratic nation-states. Further, as a terrorist organization, it has no place at the table where all the nation-states of the world gather to discuss issues pertaining to nation-states (not even in an observer status). A rag-tag loosey-goosey band of terrorists have nothing to offer the civilized world except terror.
2.1 “The Palestinians are one people in historic Palestine and in the shatat (Diaspora). The Palestinian people have inalienable rights,..”.
2.2 “The Palestinian people as a whole is represented by the PLO, both inside and outside the UN. The UN and the Arab League recognise the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”
2.3 “In its resolution 43/177 the UNGA acknowledged “the proclamation of the State of Palestine by the Palestine National Council on 15 November 1988” and it decided that “effective as of 15 December 1988, the designation “Palestine” should be used in place of the designation “Palestine Liberation Organization” in the United Nations system, without prejudice to the observer status and functions of the Palestine Liberation Organization within the United Nations system…”. Significantly, this ensured that the status of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people was preserved and reaffirmed by the UN.”
2.4 “… This right to self-determination is the basis of the PLO’s claim to be the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. And although it does not currently exert sovereignty in the form of possessing supreme, independent authority over the land of Palestine, the PLO derives its legitimacy from its people in historic Palestine and in exile. Its mandate is therefore not territorially restricted.”
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steve mann
4:14 pm
Oct 15, 2011
Who was a Palestinian- Its like saying pre 1948 who was a Pakistani-
Or currently would you call a Zimbabwean a Rhodesian!
The difference is Rhodesia was a Soverign state- Pakistan is now a Sovereign state-
There has never been and so far there isn`t now a state called Palestine!
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