Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Political and Diplomatic History Notes

This caught my eye:

Under the Turkish rule, according to the Ottoman Nationality Law of 19 January 1869, Palestine’s inhabitants were Ottoman citizens. At that time, legally speaking, there was nothing called Palestine, Palestinian nationality, or Palestinians, neither was there anything called Israel, Israeli nationality, or Israelis.

And this

The eastern border of Palestine with Trans-Jordan was of particular significance. The Palestine Mandate originally incorporated the territory of Trans-Jordan within the scope of ‘Palestine.’ Article 25 of the Mandate accorded Britain the power, “with consent of the Council of the League of Nations, to postpone or withhold application of such provisions of this mandate as… may consider inapplicable to the existing local conditions.” Subsequently, on 16 September 1922, the Council of the League of Nations passed a resolution by which it approved a proposal submitted by Britain to exclude Trans-Jordan from the scope of Palestine’s territory. Ultimately, the border between Palestine and Trans-Jordan was fixed as suggested by Britain. This resolution merely confirmed the previous practice as Trans-Jordan was earlier excluded from Palestine by Article 86 of the Palestine Order in Council (constitution) of 1922, which stated: “This Order in Council shall not apply to such parts of the territory comprised in Palestine to the east of the [River of] Jordan and the Dead Sea.” On 20 February 1928, Britain reached an agreement with the Ameer of Trans-Jordan, by which the former recognized the existing autonomous government of Trans-Jordan, while maintaining the territory under British supervision in a form of mandate. (Britain continued to treat Trans-Jordan as part of Palestine for international relations purposes – it included Trans-Jordan within its annual reports to the League of Nations, pursuant to Article 24 of the Mandate, regarding its administration of Palestine.) The unilaterally drawn border of Palestine with Trans-Jordan had been thus confirmed. On 22 March 1946, after concluding a treaty of alliance with Britain (enforced on 17 June 1946), Trans-Jordan declared its independence as a state.

More:

The allied powers meanwhile gathered in San Remo, Italy, to discuss a deal with Turkey and determine the future of Palestine (then including Trans-Jordan), along with Iraq and Syria (then including Lebanon). On 25 April 1920, those powers decided that Ottoman Arabic-speaking territories would not be restored to Turkey. Instead, France was allotted a mandate for Syria and Britain was given mandates for Iraq and Palestine. Shortly after the San Remo conference, Britain declared unilateral mandate over Palestine on 1 July 1920.
More:

...on 24 July 1922...the adoption of the Palestine Mandate by the Council of the League of Nations. It ended when Britain ratified the Treaty of Lausanne on 6 August 1924. Two important points are worth noting here. One is that although a mandate over Palestine was declared by Britain in 1920, the Palestine Mandate legally entered into force only on 29 September 1923. Yet what matters for the present discussion is the date on which the Mandate was adopted: on that day, Palestine was recognized as a separate political entity at the international level.

Regarding Palestine, the Council of the League of Nations that convened in London confirmed the Palestine Mandate on 24 July 1922. Britain hence acquired an international legal basis for its presence in that territory.



...an amended version of Article 129 was incorporated into Article of the Draft Final Act of the Treaty of Lausanne and presented to the Turkish delegation at the Lausanne Conference on 2 December 1922. Article 35 reads:


“Jews of other than Turkish nationality who are habitually resident in Palestine on the coming into force of the present Treaty will have the right to become citizens of Palestine by making a declaration in such form and under such conditions as may be prescribed by law.”



All from here:

Genesis of Citizenship in Palestine and Israel: Palestinian Nationality in the 1917-1925 Period by Mutaz M. Qafisheh

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What does this guy mean that the Mandate unilaterally declared?

Someone does not know what he is talking about.

The Ottoman Empire ceased to exist after World War I. The former Ottoman territories were in the hands of the Principal Allied Powers (France, Great Britain, Italy, and Japan). The Ottomans agreed in a treaty to allow the Principal Allied Powers dispose of the territories. The Principal Allied Powers decided to adopt the big brother "Mandates System" for setting up a number of these countries so they would be able to become autonomous without falling into civil war or being raped of their now protected rights.

The Arab delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, headed by Emir Feisal I agreed to Palestine being given to the Jewish People.

The League of Nations adopted the Mandates under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations., The League agreed to guarantee the Mandates were carried out as instructed.

Since the Ottomans agreed to it and the Principal Allied Powers now owned the territories, the Turks had no legal claim to anything other than their native homeland.

Right of Conquest was still international law until the Kellogg Briand Pact (signed in Aug. 1928) outlawed having policies of war.

Just a reminder, It was the Principal Allied Powers that created the Mandates, not the League of Nations, not the British or French, not the United Nations. The United Nations is equally obligated to honor the Mandate for Palestine under Article 80 of the UN Charter. None of these bodies had or has any legal right to alter the Mandates.

The Mandates did not create the rights contained within its document. Those rights are inherent and inalienable. The Mandate stated how it would protect those rights and help the Jewish Nation exercise the enjoyment of the stated rights.

Unfortunately, there are people who are very busy trying to nullify anything that demonstrates or protects Jewish rights to our National Home. We need to be strong, determined, and unyielding in our demands that our rights not be violated.