Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice

Abstract

On the eve of the Persian Gulf War, French President Francois Mitterrand made a hopeful gesture to avert the multinational war with Iraq: if Iraq withdrew from Kuwait, he implied, an "International Peace Conference" would address the problems of the region. 1 Of course, Mitterrand's efforts failed in the face of President George Bush's objection to any possible linkage with the Arab-Israeli problem, and the ensuing Persian Gulf War initially dimmed the prospects of a regional peace conference.Now, in the aftermath of the war, those prospects are suddenly brighter. 2 Should a conference ensue, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and in particular Israel's conflict with the Palestinians, will likely dominate the agenda.The outcome of negotiations may depend upon whether the parties can agree on the rights of Israelis and Palestinians as a matter of international law.The problem may be an intractable one, but advocates of each position will not lack the resources of legal scholarship. 3Few international conflicts have received so much attention, and the writing continues.In Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice, Professor John Quigley4 contributes the latest addition.Quigley focuses primarily on the competing claims to the various lands of Palestine.