United Nations General Assembly resolution adopted in 1988
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 43/177 of 15 December 1988 was a resolution in which the United Nations General Assembly acknowledged the proclamation of the State of Palestine[1] and the use of the designation "Palestine", referring to the PLO in the UN. Further, the Assembly affirmed the need for sovereignty by the Palestinian people over their territory occupied in 1967 by Israel. The resolution is titled "43/177. Question of Palestine".[2]
In the resolution, Resolution 181 is recalled, which is the legal basis of both an Arab and a Jewish state. A connection between the proclamation of the State of Palestine, Resolution 181 and the rights of the Palestinians is expressed.[3]
In effect, this was the International recognition of the State of Palestine, although still occupied and not yet admitted as member of the UN. Shortly after the resolution, about 100 states had officially recognized Palestine, many via the UN.[4]
In the same meeting Resolution 43/176 was adopted, in which was called on an International Peace Conference and principles were affirmed for the achievement of comprehensive peace. Only Israel and the United States opposed a Peace Conference, while insisting on bilateral negotiations instead. The resolutions 43/176 and 43/177 were broadly supported by NGO's all over the world.[5]
Text of Resolution 43/177
The General Assembly,
Having considered the item entitled "Question of Palestine",
Recalling its resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947, in which, inter alia, it called for the establishment of an Arab State and a Jewish State in Palestine,
Mindful of the special responsibility of the United Nations to achieve a just solution to the question of Palestine,
Aware of the proclamation of the State of Palestine by the Palestine National Council in line with General Assembly resolution 181 (II) and in exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,
Affirming the urgent need to achieve a just and comprehensive settlement in the Middle East which, inter alia, provides for peaceful coexistence for all States in the region,
Recalling its resolution 3237 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974 on the observer status for the Palestine Liberation Organization and subsequent relevant resolutions,
1. Acknowledges the proclamation of the State of Palestine by the Palestine National Council on 15 November 1988;
2. Affirms the need to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their sovereignty over their territory occupied since 1967;
3. Decides that, effective as of 15 December 1988, the designation "Palestine" should be used in place of the designation "Palestine Liberation Organization" in the United Nations system, without prejudice to the observer status and functions of the Palestine Liberation Organization within the United Nations system, in conformity with relevant United Nations resolutions and practice;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to implement the present resolution.
Votes
The resolution was adopted with 104 votes in favour and 36 abstentions. Israel and the United States were the only states that voted against the resolution.
Background
The UN held meetings on "the question of Palestine" from 13 to 15 December 1988.[6] The meetings were moved to Geneva, after the US refused to grant Yasser Arafat a visa. The US were strongly blamed for that.[7] On 13 December, Arafat held a speech at the General Assembly.[8] In a press conference on 14 December, he emphasized the PLO's endorsement of Resolution 181 as the basis for Palestinian independence and Resolutions 242 and 338 as the basis for negotiations with Israel within the framework of an international conference. Arafat also affirmed the PLO's position, that Israel has the right to exist in peace and security and the absolute renouncement of all forms of terrorism.[9] On 15 December, the resolutions 43/175, 43/176 and 43/177 were adopted.
The political developments passed parallel with and were strongly influenced by the First Intifada,[10] which began in December 1987.
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people. Founded in 1964, it initially sought to establish an Arab state over the entire territory of the former Mandatory Palestine, advocating the elimination of the State of Israel. However, in 1993, the PLO recognized Israeli sovereignty with the Oslo I Accord, and now only seeks Arab statehood in the Palestinian territories that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab–Israeli War.
The history of the State of Palestine describes the creation and evolution of the State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. During the Mandatory period, numerous plans of partition of Palestine were proposed but without the agreement of all parties. In 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was voted for. The leaders of the Jewish Agency for Palestine accepted parts of the plan, while Arab leaders refused it. This triggered the 1947–1949 Palestine war and led, in 1948, to the establishment of the state of Israel on a part of Mandate Palestine as the Mandate came to an end.
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has referred to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as "the Occupied Palestinian Territory", and this term was used as the legal definition by the ICJ in its advisory opinion of July 2004. The term occupied Palestinian territory was used by the United Nations and other international organizations between October 1999 and December 2012 to refer to areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, but from 2012, when Palestine was admitted as one of its non-member observer states, the United Nations started using exclusively the name State of Palestine. The European Union (EU) also uses the term "occupied Palestinian territory". The government of Israel and its supporters use the label "disputed territories" instead.
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in the southern Levant region of West Asia. It encompasses two disconnected territories — the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The country shares its borders with Israel to north, west and south, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It has a combined land area of 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem while Ramallah serves as its administrative center and Rafah is currently its largest city. Arabic is the official language. The majority of Palestinians practice Islam while Christianity also has a significant presence.
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Corpus separatum was the internationalization proposal for Jerusalem and its surrounding area as part of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly with a two-thirds majority in November 1947. According to the Partition Plan, the city of Jerusalem would be brought under international governance, conferring it a special status due to its shared importance for the Abrahamic religions. The legal base ("Statute") for this arrangement was to be reviewed after ten years and put to a referendum. The corpus separatum was again one of the main issues of the post-war Lausanne Conference of 1949, besides the borders of Israel and the question of the Palestinian right of return.
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The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 58/292 of 6 May 2004 was a resolution in which the United Nations General Assembly affirmed that the status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, remains one of military occupation, and that Israel has only the duties and obligations of an occupying Power under the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons and the Hague Convention.
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