1988 – Palestinian Declaration of Independence: A Tale of Poetry and Statehood

Abstract

In 2018 Palestine instituted proceedings against the United States of America before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an alleged breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) after the US administration had relocated its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Palestine argues that Jerusalem is outside Israeli state territory and thus outside the ‘receiving state’ of the diplomatic mission. The US, however, had already stated in 2014, when Palestine acceded to the VCDR that Palestine did not qualify as a sovereign state and thus was not capable of acceding to the VCDR. Thus, the background to this dispute is the question of Palestinian statehood and the territorial boundaries of that state. 30 years prior to the start of the proceedings before the ICJ, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) had declared the independence of Palestine. As part of a series on “100 Years in Review: 10 Stories of International law”, this article revisits the Declaration of independence of 1988 and analyzes whether a Palestinian state has emerged under international law. First, this article provides a brief historical background to the territorial dispute that eventually ushered in the Declaration of Independence. Secondly, it highlights the relevant passages of the Declaration of Independence. Thirdly, it addresses the relevant theoretical legal underpinnings of the Declaration of Independence (self-determination and statehood). Finally, the article addresses whether Palestine fulfilled the criteria of statehood in 1988 or at a later stage.