Fateful Triangle

Aftermath648acknowledgement of the “legitimacy of Israel” as a precondition tonegotiation. The wording is so common here as to pass unnoticed, but alittle thought will show that it constitutes still another device ofAmerican and Israeli rejectionists to block any possibility of a peacefulpolitical settlement. There is no relevant concept of “legitimacy” or “rightto exist” in diplomatic interactions or international law. States arerecognized because they exist and function, not because they are“legitimate” or have a “right to exist.” The U.S. would certainly notdeclare that the USSR is “legitimate” or has a “right to exist” in itspresent form, or that the governments of its satellites are “legitimate.” Infact, the U.S. officially rejects the forcible incorporation of the Balticstates into the USSR, to this day. Nevertheless, the U.S. recognizes theUSSR and its satellites. There are others who regard no state aslegitimate, but they do not thereby oppose the mutual recognition ofexisting states with whatever rights are accorded them within theexisting international system, though no abstract “right to exist.” Notethat the demand that Palestinians recognize the “legitimacy” of Israelgoes well beyond the demand that Israel recognize the PLO as the “solelegitimate representative of the Palestinians,” as Palestinians haveinsisted with remarkable near-unanimity and as Israel has of coursealways refused to do. One can recognize that some group regards aparticular institutional structure (state or organization) as its legitimaterepresentative without thereby according it “legitimacy” as an institution.There is no more reason to expect Palestinians to accept the“legitimacy” of Israel-that is the “legitimacy” of their dispossession fromtheir homes-than there is for Israel to accept the “legitimacy” of Syriaunder Alawite tyranny, or for Mexico to accept the “legitimacy” of theUnited States, which stole much of its land; etc. To impose thisunprecedented demand is simply to place still another barrier in thepath of eventual negotiations and political settlement. Israelis mayClassics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky