Revisiting lessons on the new law of statehood: Palestinian independence in a post-Kosovo world

Introduction On 23 September 2011, Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority, submitted an application for the admission of the State of Palestine to membership in the United Nations (UN). While not declaring Palestinian independence anew, Abbas referred to the 1988 declaration of independence, among others, as he described himself, exceptionally, as the President of the State of Palestine. The UN application was preceded by a wave of recognition of Palestine as a state, principally among Latin American countries. Starting in 2010, the State of Palestine was awarded recognition by Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Guyana, Peru and the Dominican Republic. In conjunction with this trend, Russia reaffirmed its recognition of the Palestinian unilateral declaration of independence of 15 November 1988. Various other states, while not (yet) officially recognising an independent State of Palestine, have since upgraded the level of the Palestinian diplomatic representation in their countries to ‘missions’ and ‘embassies’, terms normally reserved for the diplomatic representatives of recognised states. Against this backdrop, this chapter will revisit conclusions outlined in a previous paper, derived from Kosovo’s 2008 unilateral declaration of independence, and will seek to assess whether these conclusions are consistent with developments in the Palestinian quest for independence.