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The United Nations and the Question of Palestine: Rule by Law and the Structure of International Legal Subalternity
Contrary to conventional wisdom, there has been a continuing though vacillating gulf between the requirements of international law and the UN on the question of Palestine. This book explores the UN's management of the longest-running problem on its agenda, critically assessing tensions between the organization's position and international law. What forms has the UN's failure to respect international law taken, and with what implications? The author critically interrogates the received wisdom regarding the UN's fealty to the international rule of law, in favour of what is described as an international rule by law. This book demonstrates that through the actions of the UN, Palestine and its people have been committed to a state of what the author calls 'international legal subalternity', according to which the promise of justice through international law is repeatedly proffered under a cloak of political legitimacy furnished by the international community, but its realization is interminably withheld.
- GenresNonfictionLawPolitics
310 pages, Hardcover
Published November 30, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 5, 2025
wow :p my mind feels so fresh and this book makes me think better, this book is also very harmonious with my major, I really like it! and I highly recommend 🤍
January 1, 2026
This book is a fantastic collection of essays (atleast 2-3 of which of been previously peer-reviewed in academic journals) and with regarding to the UN Partition resolution, specifically, he demonstrates that from a normative perspective on international law, the Partition resolution, although produced via a politically valid process (procedurally speaking), was legally invalid.
The UN general assembly passed a nonbinding partition resolution that, in its content, was in violation of basic un charter principles and palestinian rights, thereby rendering it illegal. It never made it to the security council though. In the aftermath of the passage of the partition resolution, many palestinians began to riot, to which zionist militias responded to with a well organized military campaign. the zionist militias were initially rather inkeeping with their partition boundaried, however they went beyond that over the course of the war.
Walid khalidi, the preemininent palestininian historian of the nakba, points out how the general assembly of the UN failed to address several objections made by arab delegations like: 1. whether palesitne was part of arab terruroties that, under britian, were promised independence 2. whether partition was consistent with principles of un charter 3. whether partition was consistent with the objectives and provisions of the league of nation mandate 4. whether the un even has power to implement partition without consent of the population of palestine.
Source: 'REVISITING THE UNGA PARTITION RESOLUTION by WALID KHALIDI (this is a peer reviewed academic article).
The novel contribution by this book is an essay that makes the following analysis:
"although the passage of the [partition] resolution was procedurally valid, its terms were substantively illegal under the U.N. Charter for being in violation of the prevailing law and practice of self-determination of people in class A mandates territories. Because the law required the [United Nations General] Assembly to defer to the freely expressed wishes of the people concerned, and because the indigenous non-European majority was against partition, there were only two courses of action open to the U.N. in Palestine in 1947: immediate independence, or conversion of the country into a U.N. trusteeship."
Source: 'The UNITED NATIONS PLAN OF PARTITION FOR PALESTINE REVISITED: ON THE ORIGINS OF PALESTIN'S INTERNATIONAL LEGAL SUBALTERNITY' by ARDI IMSEIS (this is a peer reviewed academic article which is included in this book as a chapter).
The UN general assembly passed a nonbinding partition resolution that, in its content, was in violation of basic un charter principles and palestinian rights, thereby rendering it illegal. It never made it to the security council though. In the aftermath of the passage of the partition resolution, many palestinians began to riot, to which zionist militias responded to with a well organized military campaign. the zionist militias were initially rather inkeeping with their partition boundaried, however they went beyond that over the course of the war.
Walid khalidi, the preemininent palestininian historian of the nakba, points out how the general assembly of the UN failed to address several objections made by arab delegations like: 1. whether palesitne was part of arab terruroties that, under britian, were promised independence 2. whether partition was consistent with principles of un charter 3. whether partition was consistent with the objectives and provisions of the league of nation mandate 4. whether the un even has power to implement partition without consent of the population of palestine.
Source: 'REVISITING THE UNGA PARTITION RESOLUTION by WALID KHALIDI (this is a peer reviewed academic article).
The novel contribution by this book is an essay that makes the following analysis:
"although the passage of the [partition] resolution was procedurally valid, its terms were substantively illegal under the U.N. Charter for being in violation of the prevailing law and practice of self-determination of people in class A mandates territories. Because the law required the [United Nations General] Assembly to defer to the freely expressed wishes of the people concerned, and because the indigenous non-European majority was against partition, there were only two courses of action open to the U.N. in Palestine in 1947: immediate independence, or conversion of the country into a U.N. trusteeship."
Source: 'The UNITED NATIONS PLAN OF PARTITION FOR PALESTINE REVISITED: ON THE ORIGINS OF PALESTIN'S INTERNATIONAL LEGAL SUBALTERNITY' by ARDI IMSEIS (this is a peer reviewed academic article which is included in this book as a chapter).
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