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Right to exist

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The right to exist is a phrase of unknown reference used in the context of recognition between nation states. The phrase is also used as a qualified principle of international law[citation needed] when referring to asserted rights of nations and peoples to self-defence, as in "every nation has the right to exist, and to protect and to conserve its existence."[1][2][3][4] The corollary is that "the right to exist naturally enough implies that each nation also has the right to its own language and culture."[5] The phrase was in widespread use in this manner in the nineteenth century, and was incorporated in the form cited above into the basic principles of the League of Nations and of the United Nations.[6] Many nations claim the right to exist as sovereign states, but have yet to achieve recognition or independence.[7] Nation-states and Empires, such as the Soviet Union[8], Turkey, Austria-Hungary, have denied nations the right to their own language and culture in attempt to preserve their territorial integrity. However, the idea as applied literally has no basis in ontology, as existence is a matter of fact rather than a moral right.

As applied to individual nations

Abkhazia

In 2008 Patricia Flor, German ambassador to Georgia, told the Georgian Times newspaper that, "Abkhaz should feel they can voice their concerns and can be open about their identity... we also say of course that the Abkhaz nation has a right to exist and to decide for themselves how they are going to live and how they want to use the Abkhaz language.[9]

Greece

In the Edinburgh Annual Register of 1823, Sir Walter Scott published a long essay in which he endorsed the "right to exist" of the Greek nation.[10]

Israel

In late 1967, after the Six Day War, official Egyptian government spokesman Mohammed H. el-Zayyat "stated that Cairo had accepted Israel's right to exist since the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli armistice in 1949, but added that this did not endorse the recognition of Israel (raising the distinction, frequently cited since then by Arab leaders, between acceptance of the de facto existence of a state and the establishment of diplomatic relations with it)."[11]

Upon assuming the premiership in 1977, Menachem Begin spoke as follows:

Our right to exist--have you ever heard of such a thing? Would it enter the mind of any Briton or Frenchman, Belgian or Dutchman, Hungarian or Bulgarian, Russian or American, to request for its people recognition of its right to exist? Mr. Speaker: We were granted our right to exist by the God of our fathers at the glimmer of the dawn of human civilization four thousand years ago. Hence, the Jewish people have an historic, eternal and inalienable right to exist in this land, Eretz Israel, the land of our forefathers. We need nobody's recognition in asserting this inalienable right. And for this inalienable right, which has been sanctified in Jewish blood from generation to generation, we have paid a price unexampled in the annals of nations. Mr. Speaker: From the Knesset of Israel, I say to the world, our very existence per se is our right to exist![12]

He further stated that he didn't "need Palestinian recognition for my right to exist.", and that "Traditionally, there are four major criteria of statehood under international law. One - an effective and independent government. Two - an effective and independent control of the population. Three - a defined territory. And four - the capacity to freely engage in foreign relations. Israel is in possession of all four attributes and, hence, is a fully fledged sovereign state and a fully accredited member of the United Nations." [13]

Lithuania

"The Lithuanian language would become a national languae, not a dialect; Lithuanian culture would become a national culture, not a peasant dialect. No one could ever again deny that Lithuania had a right to exist.[14] "The Poles deny Lithuania's right to exist as an independent state and claim that it should form part of Poland."[15]

Macedonia

Greek and Serbian intellectuals and politicians regularly challenge Macedonia’s right to exist, “Macedonia is a joke to the Serbs and the Greeks who believe it has no real right to exist.” [16] “The Comintern ruled in April, 1934 that the Macedonians had a right to exist as a separate people with a separate language, thus aligning the communist party with Macedonian separatists.” [17] “From the very beginning Athens' position has been to accept Macedonia's right to exist as a sovereign nation, but objects to the use of the name "Macedonia. ...” [18]

Palestinian State

An independent Arab Palestinian State has a legal right to exist under Resolution 181 of the United Nations of 29 November 1947. The existence of an Arab Palestinian State was declared on November 15, 1988. It has achieved Diplomatic recognition by 96 countries.[19][20], exactly half the members of the United Nations. It has no Government and controls no territory. It is estimated that 5,000,000 of the 9,395,000 to 11 million Palestinian Arabs are currently Stateless people.[21][22] The Peel Commission recommended the establishment of an Arab state cooexistent with a Jewish state within the borders of the British Mandate for Palestine. In 1947 UNSCOP concluded

(a) Although sharply divided by political issues, the peoples of Palestine are sufficiently advanced to govern themselves independently.

(b) The Arab and Jewish peoples, after more than a quarter of a century of tutelage under the Mandate, both seek a means of effective expression for their national aspirations.

(c) It is highly unlikely that any arrangement which would fail to envisage independence at a reasonably early date would find the slightest welcome among either Arabs or Jews.

UN General Assembly Resolution 181 states "Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, set forth in Part III of this Plan, shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948"[23]

Turkey

"If Turkey has a right to exist — and the Powers are very prompt to assert that she has – she possesses an equally good right to defend herself against all attempts to imperil her political existence.” [24]"The aims of the Young Turks are to awaken national feeling in the Turkish nation, train their countrymen to work, free them from the Slav yoke, give them health and national expansion, increase the welfare and prosperity of Turkish countries. In a word, they want to make the Turkish race respected in the eyes of the world and secure its right to exist side by side with the other nations in the twentieth century." [25]

Criticism of the right to exist

Linguist Noam Chomsky has criticized the term "right to exist", claiming it is unique to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and not a normal term used in international relations. He said "The US and Israel have demanded further that Palestinians not only recognize Israel's rights as a state in the international system, but that they also recognize Israel's abstract 'right to exist', a concept that has no place in international law and diplomacy, and a right claimed by no one. In effect, the US and Israel are demanding Palestinians not only recognize Israel in the normal fashion of interstate relations, but also formally accept the legitimacy of their expulsion from their land. They cannot be expected to accept that, just as Mexico does not grant the US the 'right to exist' on half of Mexico's territory, gained by conquest."[26]

See also

Sources

References

  1. ^ The Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Nations Adopted by the American Institute of International Law, by Elihu Root, Source: The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 10, No. 2, (Apr., 1916), pp. 211-221, American Society of International Law Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2187520
  2. ^ James Brown Scott, American Society of International Law, George Grafton Wilson, The American Journal of International Law, 1916, p. 125
  3. ^ The Law of Nations: Cases, Documents, and Notes, edited by Herbert Whittaker Briggs , 1949, p. 16
  4. ^ International Law: A Treatise, by L. Oppenheim, Ronald Roxburgh, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2005, ISBN 1584776099, 9781584776093 2005, p. 193.
  5. ^ Notes on Nationalism, by Ramon Masnou i Boixeda, 2002, p. 91
  6. ^ The Law of Nations: Cases, Documents, and Notes, edited by Herbert Whittaker Briggs , 1949, p. 16 International Law: A Treatise, by L. Oppenheim, Ronald Roxburgh, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2005, ISBN 1584776099, 9781584776093 2005, p. 193.
  7. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_autonomist_and_secessionist_movements
  8. ^ Nationhood and the National Question in the Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Eurasia: An Institutionalist Account, by Rogers Brubaker [1]
  9. ^ Patricia Flor: “Abkhaz conflict is no longer frozen; The German ambassador says Abkhazs distrust the European Union,” by Ketevan Khachidze, Georgian Times, 2008.08.04[2]
  10. ^ Edinburgh Annual Register of 1823, The Greek Revolution, by Sir Walter Scott, p. 249
  11. ^ Whetten, Lawrence L. (1974). The Canal War: Four-Power Conflict in the Middle East. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. p. 51. ISBN 0-262-23069-0.
  12. ^ "Statement to the Knesset by Prime Minister Begin upon the presentation of his government- 20 June 1977", VOLUMES 4-5: 1977-1979, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  13. ^ http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150191575275&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer,
  14. ^ Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe, By Anne Applebaum, Pantheon Books, 1994, p. 54
  15. ^ The World's Work: A History of Our Time, by Walter Hines Page and Arthur Wilson Page, 1919, p. 279
  16. ^ Macedonia and Greece: The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation, by John Shea , McFarland, 1997, p. 329
  17. ^ The Earliest Stage of Language Planning: The "first Congress" Phenomenon,by Joshua A. Fishman, Walter de Gruyter 1993, p. 164
  18. ^ Crises In The Balkans: Views From The Participants, by Constantine Panos Danopoulos, Kostas G. Messas , 1997, p. 145
  19. ^ http://imeu.net/news/article0065.shtml IMEU: 3.10 - How many countries recognize Palestine as a state?
  20. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20060404211437/http://www.pna.gov.ps/Government/gov/recognition_of_the_State_of_Palestine.asp International Recognition of the State of Palestine
  21. ^ http://www.doublestandards.org/fraser2.html
  22. ^ Abbas Shiblak (2005). "Reflections on the Palestinian Diaspora in Europe" (PDF). The Palestinian Diaspora in Europe: Challenges of Dual Identity and Adaptation. Institute of Jerusalem Studies. ISBN 9950315042.
  23. ^ http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/UN%20General%20Assembly%20Resolution%20181
  24. ^ “The Reign of Terror in Macedonia, The Living Age ,by Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell, April-June 1903, p. 68
  25. ^ Memories of a Turkish Statesman-1913-1919, By Cemal Paşa, Published by George H. Doran Company, 1922, p. 200
  26. ^ Titlow, John (2005-06-01). "On the Future of Democracy, Noam Chomsky interviewed by John P. Titlow". chomsky.info. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
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