P F Tinmore
Diamond Member
- Dec 6, 2009
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As the UN General Assembly lacks the power to do more than make recommendations, the starting point for Palestinian statehood or independence is not UN General Assembly Resolution 181 which recommended that two states be created on Palestinian territory. Instead it is the right to self-determination that the Palestinian people have as the indigenous people of Palestine. This right is perhaps the most notable human right in the United Nations. It is the only human right expressly recognised in the Charter of the United Nations, where articles 1, 55, and 73 acknowledge it. The right to self-determination is an essential the most essential for many states part of customary international law and has been declared one of the most basic principles of customary international law by the UN General Assemblys Declaration on the Principles of International Law concerning the Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States.
The right to self-determination has been explicitly recognised as applicable to the situation of the Palestinian people by the UN General Assembly for more than 30 years. To this end it established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in 1975 to work towards the realisation of this right. This right provides all peoples, including the Palestinian people, the right to determine their own future. It is a right that Israelis did not enjoy in Palestinian territory when they unilaterally declared their state in violation of Palestinians right to self-determination. The Palestinian right to self-determination pre-existed any effort by Israel to occupy Palestinian lands. It is a right that all Palestinians are entitled to exercise according to international law since at least the 1920s. It is thus a right that is enjoyed over all of the territory over which the British Mandate was approved by the League of Nations in 1922.
JURIST - Forum: International Law and Palestinian Independence: A View from Palestine
The right to self-determination has been explicitly recognised as applicable to the situation of the Palestinian people by the UN General Assembly for more than 30 years. To this end it established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in 1975 to work towards the realisation of this right. This right provides all peoples, including the Palestinian people, the right to determine their own future. It is a right that Israelis did not enjoy in Palestinian territory when they unilaterally declared their state in violation of Palestinians right to self-determination. The Palestinian right to self-determination pre-existed any effort by Israel to occupy Palestinian lands. It is a right that all Palestinians are entitled to exercise according to international law since at least the 1920s. It is thus a right that is enjoyed over all of the territory over which the British Mandate was approved by the League of Nations in 1922.
JURIST - Forum: International Law and Palestinian Independence: A View from Palestine