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| The Olso Accords divided the Palestinian territories into three areas of control (see article for explanation). Map by Evan Centanni. Sources: Natural Earth, B'Tselem, U.N. OCHA oPt. |
By the most common definition, a "state" has to have:
- A government
- A defined territory
- A permanent population
- The ability to conduct foreign relations with other states
A prospective country that fits these criteria is described by geographers as a de facto sovereign state, even if it's not recognized by the international community (de facto is Latin for "in actual fact").
Palestine: Sovereign State or Not?
Can Palestine be considered a real, de facto sovereign state based on the declarative theory of statehood? Let's look at the criteria one by one:
A government that answers to no one
Palestine is represented abroad by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and governed within its administrative area by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), an elected government established by the PLO under the Oslo Accords. Though it faces frequent pressure and demands from Israel, the Palestinian government does not take orders from any country.
Defined territory under its control
The State of Palestine claims two territories: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The U.N. considers both of these regions to be occupied by Israel, but the Palestinians do control some parts of them since 1995. The Oslo II Accord temporarily designated three types of control within the West Bank (see map above):
- Area A - Fully governed by the Palestinians, with no Israeli administration or Israeli military presence (currently 18%)
- Area B - Shared control; Palestinian civil administration with joint Israeli-Palestinian military control (currently 21%)
- Area C - Full Israeli control, with some exceptions for Palestinian residents (currently 61%)
 Country Name: • Palestine (English) • Filasṭīn (Arabic) Official Name: • State of Palestine (English) • Dawlat Filasṭin (Arabic) Capital: • Jerusalem (claimed) • Ramallah (administrative) |
Besides area C, Israel also controls all of the airspace and territorial waters associated with the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Additionally, it has completely annexed (integrated as part of the country) two sections of Area C itself: East Jerusalem, which both sides claim for their capital, and a strip of "no man's land" which was located between Israel and the West Bank when the latter was still controlled by Jordan.
In other words, Israel controls most of Palestine's claimed territory, but not all of it. Since many countries don't control all of their claimed land and waters, that alone doesn't disqualify Palestine as a state.
A permanent population
There are almost four million Palestinians living within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, so this requirement is no problem. Even if we only count the West Bank's Area A, the Palestinian Authority has full control over close to one million people. By comparison, there about 40 U.N. member states with populations of less than one million.
Ability to conduct foreign relations
This requirement is also clearly fulfilled. Not only is Palestine seated as an observer state in the U.N. General Assembly, but its representatives also maintain direct diplomatic relations with 142 countries (even more than the number who recognize its independence), plus the European Union. It's also a member or observer in various international organizations.
So what's the answer?
Palestine has its own government (the PLO/PNA), a defined and controlled territory (Area A in the West Bank), a permanent population (one to four million Palestinians), and the ability to maintain relations with other states. It would seem that this qualifies it as a de facto sovereign state based on the declarative theory of statehood. What do you think?
Very factual and well argued. Clearly makes sense.
ReplyDeleteok nice & tho it may also be 2 half states or 2 entire states by the given criteria if anyone prefers nevertheless palestine so called does appear in no way inferior to the vatican city state lets say because the above data fairly invite such comparison plus i wonder how many other nonunited nations states also nominally their equals by these criteria alone
ReplyDeleteWhy there are no Golan Heights in the map?
ReplyDeleteGood question! The Golan Heights aren't Palestinian. They're only disputed between Israel and Syria, and not claimed by Palestine or considered part of the Palestinian territories.
ReplyDeleteThey're off the edge of the map to the north.
Since the Israeli government controls vital utilities & substantial Palestinian revenue as well as communication & transport between all pieces of the West Bank & Gaza, I would argue that it is a "quasi-state". I also understand that the Palestinians are not permitted to develop a true military with heavy weapons? If it is a sovereign state it certainly is the most domineered state in the world?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
Good argument, and I agree on the last part. There's probably no U.N. member state today that's as much a subject to the power and decisions of another state as Palestine is. However, there have been many times in recent history when a U.N. member state was similarly dominated by another state without its statehood being questioned in relationship to U.N. membership. This happens anytime a country invades, occupies, or blockades another state; and there is also the issue of "puppet states" which are completely manipulated by a stronger country yet aren't usually accused of not being states.
ReplyDelete"there have been many times in recent history when a U.N. member state was similarly dominated by another state without its statehood being questioned in relationship to U.N. membership." True, but that is a political decision not a legal one and this post is about the legal question.
ReplyDeleteJust because no one wanted to challenge a particular country's membership status doesn't mean that it really is a country, or vice versa. Remember the Soviet Union had three votes as the U.S. (Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. What about Taiwan?
Why is there one government and not two? Applying this same test, wouldn't the Gaza Strip be a separate state from the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank? Are they not operated independent of each other?
ReplyDeleteThe most important question is the one not asked by this post -- Does recognizing the Palestinian Authority bring about peace?
ReplyDeleteThis post is strictly about the legal question and doe not ask the politica one, but the political one is the most important. Let us not be distracted by legal debates. Legal niceties have been sacrificed for peace before (see Taiwan) and should be sacrificed in this case.
Hi Bruce,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments!
My position is that the political precedents give guidance on how the legal principles are interpreted. If we don't take previous interpretations into account, there's room to argue in either direction. And the main reason people are asking whether Palestine is a de facto state is in order to determine whether it qualifies in principle for U.N. membership. Still, thanks for working to keep me honest on the political/legal distinction.
I definitely would consider the West Banka and Gaza to be controlled by two different states. That's why I excluded Gaza from the State of Palestine's actual controlled territory. And, again because the context is U.N. eligibility, I chose to focus on the one state/goverment of the two that conducts formal international relations.
You are almost certainly right that the question of this article is not the most important one. But the other issues you describe have been extensively discussed elsewhere, and are outside the scope of Political Geography Now. The focus of this site is on the geography of the politics, not the politics of the geography.
I hope the recognition of Palestine would lead them to a better economy, more housing programs like some apartment in salcedo village, food programs and the like to bring back the nation that once had power in Christ's time.
ReplyDeleteYou ask is Palestine really a country??? Are you for real??? it always was until it was chosen just like that in a blink of an eye,only to be given to the jews so that some could get rid of them. Imagine you wake up one day while living in your country and someone tells you get out this is mine now, what would you do? Put your tail between your legs and leave head down??? I didn't think so, so why should the Palestinians???
ReplyDeleteActually, in the time before the creation of Israel, Palestine had not been an independent country for centuries (and even before that, it wasn't called "Palestine", nor was it Arab or Muslim). The region was mostly ruled by various empires (Greek, Roman, Persion, Arab, Turkish, etc.) since ancient times. It was controlled by the Ottoman Empire until World War I, then by the UK until the 1948 war that resulted in the establishment of Israel.
Deletehow can the palestinians claim to have a territory and a government, when all that is de facto controlled by Israel?
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to have de facto control to claim a territory and organize a government. Governments in exile and separatist movements do that all the time. But more to the point, if you read the article you'll find that the Palestinian government does have de facto control over a number of areas.
DeleteThe Gaza strip is controlled by Hamas and not by the PLO, true? Moreover, it receives most of it's goods and services (electricity, water) from other nations, through Israel and Egypt. So basically, even if the west bank can be considered an independent sovereign state, can The Gaza Strip be included under that label?
ReplyDeleteThat's correct - as mentioned in the article, the Gaza Strip is not controlled by the PLO's government. I would argue that it can't be considered to be part of the PLO's de facto Palestinian state.
DeleteIt may qualify as a state of its own, depending on how we interpret the "foreign relations" criteria. It has a government, territory, and population just like the West Bank, but hasn't declared its own independence and isn't recognized as sovereign by any country.
It may still qualify as some kind of "state", but probably not a "sovereign" (independent) one. It's situation is similar to that of the rebels in Syria, who control a territory and population, but don't claim to be independent because they're instead claiming to be the legitimate rulers of the whole country.
The question should probably read "Is X a sovereign state?"
ReplyDeleteSome examples of non-sovereign entities, whose official names suggest otherwise:
Scotland - "country"
Brandenburg - "country" (German: "Land")
Massachusetts - "commonwealth"
Florida - "state"
Sakha - "republic"
Then there are a handful of de facto sovereign states, which are not widely recognized as such by other sovereign states or by the UN.
You're right - these are all potential topics for future articles on Political Geography Now!
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