It seems to be difficult for international lawyers to write in an impartial and balanced way about the Palestine issue. Most of the literature, some of it by respected figures, is violently partisan. It is true that this only reflects much of the political and personal debate about Palestine. Still, such a level of partisanship in legal discourse is disturbing. Perhaps the sceptics are right in claiming that "impartiality" is a facade and a pretence, in which case Boyle at least has the merit

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... honesty and lack of hypocrisy in his pleading. But the problem is that, if they are right, we should not merely give up the pretence but the game itself. And the obstinate fact remains that the actors, most of the time, continue to use the language of law in making and assessing claims. (International law scholars are not like critics in an empty theatre). That the language of law is used implies that these claims can be assessed, on the basis of values which extend beyond allegiance to a particular party, country, bloc or religion. It may be conceded that Boyle's evident and -if his work is to be read as stating a legal claim rather than as a disguised oath of allegiance -regrettable partisanship has illustrious antecedents, on both sides of the dispute. Even so, an unusually high proportion of what Boyle has to say is directed at issues of strategy and is concerned to advocate a certain position within the overall spectrum of the Palestinian cause. However, those views are supported by legal arguments of various kinds, which call for separate examination. To the extent that it involves propositions of international law, Boyle's thesis, as outlined in "The Creation of the State of Palestine" 1 and stated in more detail elsewhere, 2 involves three basic propositions; (1) Having regard to the classical "four elements constituent of a state", Palestine, under the provisional government of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is already a state in international law: "all four characteristics have been satisfied by the newly proclaimed independent state of Palestine." Challis Professor of International Law, Dean,