4. Nationality vs Statelessness: Are Palestinians Stateless? This section considers the definitions of nationality and statelessness and whether Palestinians should be considered stateless under the 1954 Convention. 4.1. Nationality vs Statelessness The words “national” and “nationality” have various meanings. In some contexts, they have a general meaning, referring to a shared identity, sometimes based on race or ethnicity, language, religion, or affinity and connection to a particular place, people, or political identity. Nationality also has a legal meaning under international law and is often considered equivalent to the meaning of “citizenship” in domestic law. In this report, except where otherwise specified, references to nationality mean nationality solely in the legal sense: that is, the formal bond of a person to a particular state, with the rights and duties inherent in belonging to that state. Article I(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons provides the internationally accepted definition of a stateless person as someone “who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.” This definition also forms part of customary international law.63 However, neither the 1954 Convention nor most other international treaties define the terms “national” or “nationality”. The 1997 European Convention on Nationality states that “[f]or the purpose of this Convention: ‘nationality’ means the legal bond between a person and a State and does not indicate the person’s ethnic origin.”64 The International Court of Justice, in the 1955 Nottebohm Case, defined nationality as “a legal bond having as its basis a social fact of attachment, a genuine connection of existence, interests and sentiments, together with the existence of reciprocal rights and duties.”65 UNHCR observes that: “The 1954 Convention is concerned with ameliorating the negative effect, in terms of dignity and security, of an individual not satisfying a fundamental aspect of the system for human rights protection; the existence of a national-State relationship. As such, the definition of stateless person in Article 1(1) incorporates a concept of national which reflects a formal link, of a political and legal character, between the individual and a particular State. This is distinct from the concept of nationality which is concerned with membership of a religious, linguistic or ethnic group. As such, the treaty’s concept of national is consistent with the traditional understanding of this term under international law; that is persons over whom a State considers it has jurisdiction on the basis of nationality, including the right to bring claims against other States for their ill-treatment.”66 Although there is a general understanding that nationality in international law refers to a legal bond between a person and a state, there is no agreed “minimum content” of what defines nationality in international law – it is in part dependent on context.67 The rights to reside in the territory without restrictions on exit or entry and to have access to diplomatic protection and consular services when abroad are core aspects 63 United Nations, Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection with commentaries (2006) https://www.refworld.org/docid/525e7929d. html, Commentary, S 3 64 The 1997 European Convention on Nationality, Art 2(a). 65 Nottebohm Case, Judgement of 6 April 1955, ICJ Reports 1955, 23. 66 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons under the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (2014), https://www.unhcr.org/dach/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2017/04/CH-UNHCR_Handbook-on-Protection-of-StatelessPersons.pdf, para 52. 67 See Alice Edwards, ‘The Meaning of Nationality’ in A Edwards and L Van Waas, Nationality and Statelessness under International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2014), S. 1.5. 11