Human Rights Law Discussion Group – Is Palestine a State?

Pre-International Law Day Conference Seminar 

This is a warm invitation to a seminar organised by the Human Rights Law Discussion Group in the context of the International Law Day. 

Dr Victor Kattan (Assistant Professor in Law at the University of Nottingham). 

The seminar starts at 14.15, respecting the academic quarter, and involves around 30 minutes of presentation, followed by approx. 30 minutes of discussion. 

Feel free to forward the flyer attached to anyone who might be interested. For people outside the Faculty of Law at Lund University who wish to participate either on site or digitally please register your participation by sending an e-mail to daria [dot] davitti [at] jur [dot] lu [dot] se.

Faculty members, graduate students and all interested in interdisciplinary research involving law are most welcome! 

Convenors: Chris Cowan, Amanda Kron, Björg Valgeirsdóttir 

Senior Members: Daria Davitti, Zvezda Vankova 

The Human Rights Law Discussion Group is kindly funded by the Centre for European Studies at Lund University, in collaboration with the ERC Starting Grant project “Refugee Finance: Histories, Frameworks, Practices (REF-FIN)” and the VR project “Refugee protection or cherry picking? Assessing new admission policies for refugees in Europe” (ARISE).

Abstract:

The statehood of Palestine remains contested, despite near-universal recognition. Its territory continues to be subject to an unlawful military occupation, and Gaza lies devastated after a genocidal conflict that killed tens of thousands. Nonetheless, in September 2025, eleven Global North States recognized the State of Palestine, raising the total number of recognitions to 159. This includes recognition from four permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Yet, the process by which Palestine attained recognition of its statehood under such conditions remains insufficiently explained. When did Palestine become a State despite lacking effective governance, and what is the basis of its territorial title? What implications do 159 recognitions have for States that still withhold recognition? This Article argues that Palestine’s recognition as a State is coherent only when understood in light of its status as former sovereign Ottoman territory — a Holy Land that was never colonized by that empire and that was never subject to British sovereignty during the Mandate. In 1919, the League of Nations provisionally recognized the communities of the former Turkish Empire as “independent nations,” acknowledging their preexisting sovereignty. From that point, Palestine’s recognition expanded in waves—1948, 1988, 2012, 2024 and 2025—reflecting both constitutive and declaratory approaches to statehood at different historical junctures. The Article concludes with a critical reflection on the doctrine of recognition and its enduring significance in a decentralized international system. Despite shifts in power and law, recognition continues to shape the creation, legitimacy, and survival of States.

Speaker’s bio: 

Dr Victor Kattan is Assistant Professor in Public International Law at the University of Nottingham School of Law where he is the deputy director of the Nottingham International Law and Security Centre. Victor’s publications include: The Palestine Question in International Law (British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 2008); From Coexistence to Conquest: International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1891-1949 (Pluto Press, 2009); Violent Radical Movements in the Arab World: The Ideology and Politics of NonState Actors (Bloomsbury, 2019, with Peter Sluglett); Making Endless War: The Vietnam and Arab-Israeli Conflicts in the History of International Law (Michigan University Press, 2023, with Brian Cuddy); and The Breakup of India and Palestine: The Causes and Legacies of Partition (Manchester University Press, 2023, with Amit Ranjan).