ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on recognition and statehood politics in the context of conflict and national liberation struggles. It explores Palestine’s struggle for representation, membership and statehood recognition in international community. The chapter first offers an overview of Palestine’s struggle for representation and recognition from the 1970s to 2011. The Oslo peace process in the 1990s and associated developments at the domestic and international level in the context of Palestinian statebuilding are also examined in this section. Then it explores the events of 2011 and 2012 concerning the Palestinian strategy, positions and applications to gain membership of the UN and statehood recognition. It looks at the importance of the UN membership, the arguments of opposing and supporting states, and methods and forms of statehood recognition. Critiques of the Palestinian statehood discourse are examined also in this section. Finally, the legal and political implications of admitting Palestine to the UN as a non-member state are analysed.
