INTRODUCTION

Due to the application of Hans Kelsen’s theory in a foundational constitutional case in Pakistan, he is not offered charitable reviews by Pakistan’s legal scholars. He has, however, another introduction within the international law scholars, and that is that he questioned the very existence of international law on the basis of his monistic theory that he expounded in his book ‘Principles of International Law’, which was published in 1952 in the US. The monistic theory stated that there must be a central system of law-making with sanctions against ‘juris delicts’ (legal wrongs) if international law is to be treated as a legal order. At that time, his monistic theory was severely criticized, but Israel’s actions of committing genocide in full view (and to some extent complicity) of the international community and aggression against seven countries have brought back the discourse on the very existence of international law. The last few months have highlighted many an issue that disproved international law and reaffirmed the monistic theory of Hans Kelsen. The instant write-up will briefly examine the issue of recognition of the state of Palestine by many Western countries, followed by a brief discussion about the so-called Peace Plan given by the US President.

STATEHOOD AND RECOGNITION OF PALESTINE

Statehood and recognition are two distinct concepts. In lawyerly jargon, statehood is a question of fact, whereas recognition is a question of law. While the statehood is a question of fact, still, in order to determine this fact, international lawyers offer a sort of criteria for statehood........

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