Nonexistence of a “State of Palestine”
Published: 02 June 2017 Author: Stefan Talmon
In line with established case-law, the Administrative Court at Frankfurt/Oder ruled in an order issued on 30 May 2017 that there is no “State of Palestine” and, consequently, no Palestinian nationality. Palestinians who have not acquired any other nationality are to be considered as stateless persons. The court held:
“Ethnic Palestinians who have not acquired any other nationality qualify as stateless persons within the meaning of the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. The reason for this is that there is no State of Palestine which could grant a Palestinian nationality to ethnic Palestinians. Only sovereign States in the sense of international law can grant nationality. Due to their lack of State authority neither the Palestinian autonomous regions nor the Gaza Strip qualify as sovereign States in the sense of international law. This situation has not been changed by the UN General Assembly on 29 August 2012 recognizing Palestine as a State with observer status within the United Nations because this recognition is only relevant within the organization of the United Nations and no UN member State is obliged to recognize a State of Palestine diplomatically.”