On the basis of the facts as contained in this summary, in your view Essay

On the basis of the facts as contained in this summary, in your view does Palestine meet the criteria for statehood at public in - Essay Example The case of Palestine’s inability to attain statehood in the eye of international law so far is touted to be due to political reasons rather than legally justified reasons. In the light of this scenario and the BBC News report iii, this paper examines whether Palestine meets the criteria for statehood at public international law. The Montevideo Convention’s article of statehood is a restatement or codification of ideas prevalent at the time of its inception iv. Emergence of a State Vattel defines state as a â€Å"political body, or society of men, united together†v for â€Å"promotion of their mutual safety and advantage† viwith the use of â€Å"their common force† viiwhich Wheaton adds to his definition saying that members of any political society subjecting themselves by voluntary obedience to a leadership gave rise to emergence of a sovereign state in the past. Power to control was key to emergence of a state. According to Lorimerviii, a putative state that deserves statehood should be recognized as such by other states and in turn it should have the power and the will to recognize others. Lorimer’s idea of mutual recognition proposed in 1883 has been followed by many states. The modern thinking therefore suggests that legal existence of a state depends upon its ability to control a land and its population. This view came to be well know by the early 20th century which Hall, a publicist described as â€Å"the marks of an independent State are , that the community constituting it is permanently established for a political end, that it possesses a defined territory, and that it is independent of external control†ix. The publicist emphasized on territory and permanent control over the territory. Thus, he dismissed â€Å"a fugacious†x people as not qualified to be a state. Thus Montevideo’s ideas of a state draw heavily from the Hall’s ideas of a state. These aspects of declaratory model of a state held recognition merely as an acknowledgement of an existing state opposed to a constitutive model which held recognition as an essential requirement to make a state.xi Recognition As stated elsewhere, recognition is central to statehood. Thus, an entity aspiring to become a state must be recognized as such by those who are already regarded as states. If an entity must function as a state, it must enjoy acceptance of other states. Yet, some entities manage to function as states with skeleton contacts with other states. Rhodesia functioned as a state on its own from 1965 to 1980 which major states did not approve of holding that it was in violation of international standards. It has been argued that if an entity is endowed with all the attributes of a state, it is still a state even if the rest of the world or other states refuse to accept the entity as a state.xii Treatment of recognition as a precondition for statehood has been still evolving as James Crawford has observed th at recognition is not strictly a