The Israel-Palestine difference: final words
The
longstanding and still unresolved TERRITORIAL DISPUTE between Israel and
Palestine has several dimensions. The current nomenclature in legal and
political sciences used the term TERRITORIAL DISPUTE.
Yet,
the Israel-Palestine difference is a clear example of an ongoing dispute that
has to do with territory as well as population, government and law
domestically, regionally and internationally.
This
blog series TERRITORIAL DISPUTES originally aimed only to briefly introduce
conceptual elements (first ten posts of the series) and thereafter present a
succinct overview of relevant and current examples. Before we covered the
Israel-Palestine difference, we had addressed Kashmir, the Falkland/Malvinas
islands and Gibraltar.
The plan was to write and publish only ten posts (like
with the rest of the case studies) for the Israel-Palestine difference. Thanks
to the comments made by our readers, I decided to extend the assessment
of this particular case study.
Because
of the nature of this series and its platform (a blog), I have covered the
basis in relation to the Israel-Palestine difference and the application of the
EGALITARIAN SHARED SOVEREIGNTY to evaluate a solution. However, there are questions
that are more complex and more serious problems to address. I am addressing some
of these questions with dedicated research (to be published by Routledge Taylor
& Francis in 2020).
To
give an answer to these points deserve a more in-depth analysis that will have
to include technicalities in terms of statistical information, methodology and
content based on the disciplines of reference. In addition to this, I do my
best to keep this blog series as accessible as possible for anybody (at least,
most people) to be able to get a grasp and participate in the discussion.
Having
said that, the last 24 posts (all links below) have enabled us to:
- Be familiar with a brief historical chronology.
- Distinguish historical facts from religious account.
- Understand some key domestic, regional and international reasons behind this difference.
- Introduce the concept of “colorable claim” and explore three different grounds: historical entitlement, legal basis and moral standing. Its main outcome is that both Israelis and Palestinians ought to be part of any negotiation concerning the sovereignty (de jure and de facto) over the disputes territories.
- Introduce the solutions presented in recent years by the United States, United Nations and Arab League.
- Learn that all the aforementioned solutions suggest explicitly or implicitly partition.
- Assess why partition is not a recommendable and fair solution.
- Evaluate by means of an abstract experiment how the EGALITARIAN SHARED SOVEREIGNTY may solve the difference and could materialize in terms of population, territory, government and law.
With all this in mind, three main partial conclusions leave the door
open for future reflection and analysis:
- Sovereignty of the disputed territories should not be totally in the hands of only one of the claiming parties either Israel or Palestine.
- If existing conditions in terms of sovereignty continue, they will only perpetuate a status quo and therefore, a legal and political limbo securing only one result: a volatile area in many ways.
- United Nations or any other party alien to the dispute (for example, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Arab League) should not interfere.
There
is nothing completely unresolvable if we look together for a solution. Indeed,
if we choose not to solve the difference and we do not look for ways to move
forward we are not going to find it. It is usually the case in this kind of
differences that victory for one party means the other party has to suffer.
When
we shift the focus, and understand we are all human beings and we are all
fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters doing our best to
let our future generations live in a better world we may have a chance. It is
not only up to Israelis to find a solution. It is not only up to Palestinians
to do it either. It is up to all of us.
NOTE:
This post is based on Jorge Emilio Núñez, “Territorial Disputes and State
Sovereignty: International Law and Politics,” London and New York: Routledge,
Taylor and Francis Group, 2020 (forthcoming)
Previous
published research monograph about territorial disputes and sovereignty by the
author, Jorge Emilio Núñez, “Sovereignty Conflicts and International Law and
Politics: A Distributive Justice Issue,” London and New York: Routledge, Taylor
and Francis Group, 2017.
NEXT
POST: Crimea (available online from Monday 17th February 2020)
Friday 31st January 2020
Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez
Twitter: @London1701
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