THE IMPORTANCE OF PALESTINE WHEN DEBATING SOVEREIGNTY

                                               WHAT IS SOVEREIGNTY?
Sovereignty can be defined as the principle of absolute and unlimited power; the absence of a higher authority in either domestic or external affairs.
The concept of sovereignty is very closely related to the concept of statehood in that sovereignty is a defining characteristic of a state - states are states because they are able to exercise sovereign jurisdiction within their defined borders.

                                                WHY IS PALESTINE INVOLVED?
In recent years, Palestine has tried to attain statehood -  in September 2011 a formal request for Palestine's statehood was submitted to the United Nations. In November 2012 the general assembly of the UN voted overwhelmingly to recognize Palestine as a 'non member observer state' meaning Palestine had access to other UN bodies such as the international criminal court. When Israel was established as a state in 1948, the majority of Arab Palestinians became refugees  - this problem was worsened by the six day war in 1967 in which Sinai, the Gaza strip, the West Bank and Golan Heights were occupied by Israel. The first face to face meeting between the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) and the government of Israel occurred in 1993 and lay the groundwork for the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority in 1996 which assumed governmental authority (but not sovereignty) for the West Bank and the Gaza strip.

               SO WHY IS PALESTINE IMPORTANT WHEN DEBATING SOVEREIGNTY?
While Israel is widely recognised as a state (it was created after the second world war when Jewish people wanted a place to live, out of land taken from the Ottoman empire), Palestine's statehood is more questionable - although many of the UN members recognise it as a state, not all of them do. In addition to this it does not really meet the requirements of a state as defined by the Montevideo convention  - its defined territory is questionable and it does not necessarily have a good government (Hamas is seen by some as a terrorist organisation). State Sovereignty is when a state enjoys sovereignty in its defined border, and so Palestine cannot have state sovereignty as its territory is changing regularly and it is barely recognised as a state. On the other hand, Israel is recognised as a state but it arguably does not have state sovereignty within its own borders as part of its territory is in question and it has given some authority over decision making in these areas (the Gaza strip and the West Bank) to Palestine.