Abstract

The conflict between Hamas and the PLO-affiliated Palestinian parties has raised anew the question of self-determination, and what it means in regard to the conflicting claims to territory in Israel/Palestine. Self-determination emerged as a concept in the international community in the early twentieth century. Whether it remained a political idea only, or whether it became solidified as a norm of international law has been contested. The better side of this argument is that self-determination became accepted as a legal norm, through recognition of it by states and by international organizations.