Could Palestine be on course for full international recognition and UN membership? In January 2024, the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, suggested that the United Kingdom may reverse its longstanding policy and recognise a Palestinian state before a final definitive agreement with Israel. Since then, the United States and France have also suggested that they are investigating the possibility of recognition. This could signal a significant step in the longstanding Middle Eastern conflict, where the idea of Palestinian statehood has been central to regional tensions, wars, and geopolitical strife for nearly eight decades. But what would such a step really mean for Palestine and the Palestinians?

Palestine - also known as the State of Palestine, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the Palestinian Territories - comprises the West Bank and Gaza Strip, spans approximately 6,220 square kilometres and is home to around 5 million people. Its history is marred by conquests from ancient to modern times. In 1947, the United Nations proposed partition, dividing it into two separate Arab and Jewish states. This led to Israel's declaration of independence in 1948 and the First Arab-Israeli War. Following this, Palestinians were left stateless and fragmented, leading to decades of conflict and political struggle for statehood, highlighted by the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) fight against Israel. In 1988, a Palestinian State was declared. But despite widespread recognition, observer status at the UN, and steps towards self-governance, including the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s, genuine statehood remains distant - not least because full UN membership is blocked by the US, Britain and France. However, with the war in Gaza and hostility to Palestinian statehood by the Netanyahu administration, there are suggestions that the three countries may be changing their positions. But would recognition, and even full UN membership, really be a game-changer?

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VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Titles
00:46 Palestine Statehood and International Security
01:38 Palestine: Location and Population
02:34 The History of Palestine until Partition
03:54 The Palestinians after 1948
05:03 The Palestinian Declaratioin of Independence, 1988
06:11 A Peace Agreement with Israel
08:22 Palestine and USA, UK and France Recognition?
09:33 The Benefits of Recognition and UN Membership
11:06 The Problems of Palestinian Recognition
13:04 Will Britain, France, and the USA Recognise Palestine?

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
PLO Observer Status UN (1974)https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/...
Palestinian Declaration of Independence (1988)
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/...
Palestine UN Observer Status | UN Resolution 67/19 (2012)
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/...
Montevideo Convention
https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publicati...

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