Impulses from the Arab Spring on the Palestinian state-building process

Abstract

In 2012, Palestine, while keeping its status as an observer, won the status of non-member state in the United Nations via a majority vote at the UN General Assembly (UNGA).1 For the Palestinians, the move was considered a diplomatic victory, especially considering Israel’s and the United States’ isolation during the UNGA voting session. President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Maḥmūd ʿAbbās, who considered the resolution as a “birth certificate” of the state of Palestine,2 returned triumphant to Ramallah, despite having in fact only obtained recognition for what can be considered a nominal state. Some weeks earlier, a ceasefire deal was reached between Ḥamās and Israel. The ceasefire put an end to the escalating violence that had resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians by Israeli bombs, and the launch of hundreds of rockets toward Israeli cities, even reaching Tel Aviv, as well as the assassination of Aḥmad Al-Jaʿbarī, a high-ranking official of al-Qassām Brigades, the Ḥamās Military Wing