The Status of Palestine/Land of Israel
and Its Settlement Under
Public International Law
This paper discusses the establishment of Israel, the state of the Jewish people, west of the Jordan River. It shows that the Arab claim that there is a legal right to a separate Arab state to be established in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip (in Hebrew acronym – “Yesha”), whereas Jews are forbidden by public international law precepts from settling there, and the further claim that all Arabs who can trace their origins to pre-1967 Israel have a right to return to Israel, have no basis in international law. Nonetheless, Israel has been put under incessant international pressure calling on it to recognize the “rights” of the Arab people and to uproot the Jewish towns and villages in Yesha by deporting hundreds of thousands of Jews to the territory of tiny, pre-1967 Israel. The international pressure is supported by internal pressure coming from Israeli citizens, who had been educated to prefer international comradeship and universal values – even when those are shattered in the face of reality – over the basic needs of Jewish national existence. The pressures from within and outside Israel have caused part of the Israeli public to lose faith in their just cause. The Oslo Agreements and their difficult consequences are testimony to that.Nonetheless, under public international law, Israel is not obliged to accept or support the establishment of a sovereign Arab state west of the Jordan River. Indeed, the dangers emanating from such an Arab state should make all peace lovers wary of such a “solution” to the Arab-Israeli conflict. This does not mean that there is no peaceful solution that both Israelis and Arabs would find desirable. But such a solution requires political will as well as a serious law reform, some major aspects of which will be mentioned.
1. The Establishment of Israel, The State of the Jewish People
“If I forget thee O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning,” declared Mr. Charles Malik, the Lebanese Delegate to the United Nations, immediately after the UN General Assembly adopted its plan of partition. Mr. Abba Eban, the Israeli Delegate, retorted, “If you keep saying this for two thousand years we shall start believing it.”1 Jews can trace their roots in Jerusalem back to the days of Abraham. Jerusalem has been in the hearts and minds of Jews throughout the history of the Jewish nation, who physically turn towards Jerusalem when they pray.Throughout history the Jewish people have maintained their ties to their Promised Land (according to the promise made by God to their Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), from which they had been expelled by force.By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps. For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, And our tormentors asked of us mirth: "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy. (Psalms 137, 1-6)During the two millennia of Diaspora, Jews retained a clear, direct link to their Jewish heritage through language (Hebrew), religion (Judaism), and culture (practices common to Jews all over the world). Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel has not ceased for even a single generation after sovereignty had been lost. The return of Jews to Israel has intensified and turned into waves of immigration since 1882.No other people have ever turned Eretz Israel into a separate, sovereign, thriving entity to which they had unique spiritual and cultural links. The Biblical curse – “I will scatter you among the nations, and keep the sword drawn against you. Your land shall remain desolate, and your cities shall be a waste” (Leviticus 26: 33) – has been vindicated. After the Jewish people lost their sovereignty over the territory of Israel in 70 CE (Christian Era), the territory was governed in turn by the Romans, Byzantines, Arab Moslems, Christian Crusaders, Mamluks and Ottomans. Contrary to current popular thought, there was no Arab “Palestinian” state prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. Jerusalem fared no better under Islam. Whereas Mecca and Medina are mentioned many times in the Qur`an, Jerusalem is not mentioned even once. When Moslems controlled the city, they never turned it into their capital. During its occupation by Jordan from 1948 to 1967, no foreign Arab leader came to pray in the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.It was in acknowledgement of the special ties of the Jewish people to their homeland that the international community recognized Israel as the state in which the Jewish people had the right to regain their sovereignty. This right was enhanced by the further acknowledgement that Jews in the Diaspora were in constant danger of persecution and annihilation, their precarious status culminating in the Holocaust. The right of all Jews to immigrate (“return”) to Israel has been an inherent characteristic of the Jewish State, whose raison d’être is to provide a safe harbor for Jews worldwide, who wish to practice Judaism openly and undisturbed, living in a state that, inter alia, celebrates the Sabbath rather than Friday or Sunday as its day of rest, and where life is free of anti-Semitic attacks on Jews, or, if such attacks nonetheless take place, they are capable of actively defending themselves.
2. Sovereignty Over Eretz Israel Under Public International Law
The Arab nation has accomplished self-determination and is represented by 21 States, controlling 99.9% of the Middle East lands and all of its natural resources. Israel represents only 1/10 of one percent of the lands. Yet, the Arabs claim that they have a right to another state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. As aforementioned, there was no such Arab “Palestinian” state prior to the establishment of the State of Israel.2The claim to Arab sovereignty in Eretz Israel west of the Jordan River has no basis in public international law.
2.1 The Palestine Mandate of the League of Nations
In 1920, the San Remo Conference of the Allied Powers assigned to Great Britain a mandate to establish the Jewish national home on a territory covering Israel, Jordan and part of the Golan Heights. The Preamble to the Mandate specifies that “recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine.”
2.2 The UN Partition Resolution
The UN Partition Resolution of November 29, 1947 (General Assembly Resolution 181 (II)) regarding the partition of Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state linked by an economic union, was accepted by Israel’s Jewish population but rejected out of hand by all Arab states. Under public international law, such resolutions are mere recommendations without binding effect.
2.3 The “Green Line” and the Armistice Agreements
In any case, it was not a UN Resolution that established the State of Israel. Had Israel not defeated all Arab armies that invaded the newly born state upon termination of the British Mandate, Israel would not have come into being. Truly, the Arab states did not declare war on Israel, since such a declaration might have implied recognition of Israel’s existence. However, each of the Arab states that attacked Israel, declared thereby a state of war in an unequivocal manner. The Arab states’ attacks were illegal acts of aggression, since in public international law, war may not be used to settle international conflicts. Those must be settled peacefully (subject to the “self defense” exception). Israel’s War of Independence ended with the illegal occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt and of Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem by Jordan.The 1949 Armistice Agreements signed between Israel and its neighbors provided expressly that “[t]he Armistice Demarcation Line is not to be construed in any sense as a political or territorial boundary.” The element of “defined territory” as a condition for statehood has always been unclear in the case of Israel.6 The Armistice Agreements specified that they were intended to facilitate the transition to “permanent peace” and the end of military aggression.No sooner had the ink dried on the Armistice Agreements than Israel had to suffer Arab violations thereof. Syrian snipers frequently shot Israelis working in the valley underneath or fishing in the Kinneret Lake (Sea of Galilee), and Syrian artillery shelled Israeli settlements. Numerous terrorist acts of sabotage, murder, robbery, looting and plunder were launched from the territories of Egypt and Jordan and deliberately promoted by those states in violation of the Armistice Agreements. Israel was repeatedly condemned by the Security Council for its limited retaliatory actions (which were, in fact, acts in self-defense, designed to prevent future acts of terrorism), whereas the Arab states were protected from condemnation by a Soviet veto. Under public international law, states are held responsible for terrorist activities launched from their territory against other states, and the state invaded is entitled to use force to protect itself from those. In addition, in violation of international law, Egypt occupied the island of Tiran at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba and imposed a naval blockade of the Straits of Tiran, thus preventing Israeli shipping from reaching Eilat, the Israeli port at the head of the Gulf (Egypt had, since the early days of the State of Israel, closed the Suez Canal to ships traveling to Israel or coming from it, another blatant violation of international law). These activities caused Israel to join France and Britain in the Sinai Operation (October 25-November 5, 1956), in the course of which Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula, from which it withdrew later on, as the United Nations deployed its Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Sinai.
2.4 Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338
In 1967, Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser poured seven divisions of the Egyptian army into the Sinai Peninsula. At his behest, the UN Secretary General U Thant removed UNEF two days later, precisely when it was supposed to prevent the escalation of hostilities into war.7 President Nasser further made declarations that left no doubt regarding his imminent intentions to wage war on Israel. Israel’s diplomatic efforts to stop the aggression and remove the threat to its existence failed. In international law, no state is expected to be a sitting duck and wait until bombs are actually dropped on its territory. The state that engages in aggressive activities and statements is itself considered the one to have launched an aggressive attack in violation of international law. After weeks of mobilization, which paralyzed the Israeli economy, Israel was finally forced to act in anticipatory self-defense, and on June 5, 1967, it struck the Egyptian Air Force, destroying its aircraft on the ground. Syria and Jordan, totally unprovoked, attacked Israel on that same day, opening fire all along the armistice line. Contingents supporting the Arab attack arrived from Iraq, Algeria and Kuwait as well. The war ended with Israel’s victory. The Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria (also known as the “West Bank”), and the Old City of Jerusalem came under Israeli control.UN Security Council Resolution 242, passed in the wake of the Six Day War, was aimed at establishing the guidelines for a “peaceful and accepted settlement” to be agreed by the parties. Accordingly, it affirmed that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces [not necessarily all Israeli armed forces] from territories [not necessarily all territories] occupied in 1967 as well as the “termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.”UN Security Council Resolution 338 which dates to the 1973 Yom Kippur war waged by Egypt and Syria on Israel without any provocation,8 reiterates Resolution 242 (1967) and declares that “immediately and concurrently with the ceasefire, negotiations start between the parties...aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”Although not expressly mentioned in these resolutions, there is no doubt that they were adopted under Chapter VI of the UN Charter which authorizes the Security Council to make non-binding recommendations for the peaceful settlement of disputes (unlike the Security Council’s powers to adopt binding resolutions and enforcement action under Chapter VII to deal with threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression, the recent resolutions adopted against Iraq being a case in point).
2.5 The Peace Treaties with Egypt and Jordan
According to the peace treaty with Egypt (following the Camp David Accords), Egypt regained the Sinai Peninsula and an international border was fixed by consent between Israel and Egypt. The peace treaty with Jordan fixed the international border between them. Israel does not have an international border with Syria and Lebanon. Such a border can only be fixed by agreement between Israel and these countries.
2.6 The Status of Yesha in Public International Law
Judea, Samaria and Gaza were all part of the Palestine Mandate territory until 1948. During Israel’s War of Independence, Egypt occupied (unlawfully, under public international law) the Gaza Strip, and Jordan occupied (likewise, unlawfully) Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”).9 Egypt has never claimed title to the Gaza Strip. By contrast, Jordan purported to annex Judea and Samaria in 1950. The annexation was not recognized under public international law, Britain (with a reservation regarding East Jerusalem) and Pakistan being the only states to recognize the annexation, which was also vehemently opposed by the Arab states.10In 1967, following the Six Day War, the territories of Yesha, which had been originally designated for the Jewish national home according to the Mandate document, returned to Israeli rule. Leading international law scholars opined that Israel was in lawful control of Yesha, that no other state could show better title than Israel to Yesha’s territory, and that this territory was not “occupied” in the sense of the Geneva Convention, since those rules are designed to assure the reversion of the former legitimate sovereign which, in this case, does not exist.11 Israel was therefore entitled to declare that it has exercised its sovereign powers over Yesha. In practice, however, for political and other reasons, Israel exercised its sovereign powers only with respect to East Jerusalem. Regarding the rest of Yesha, Israel’s official position was that Israel was entitled to annex them, and that, since they had not been taken from a legitimate sovereign, the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Regulations 1899/1907 were inapplicable there. Nonetheless, Israel chose voluntarily to observe and abide by the humanitarian provisions included therein.12In 1988, King Hussein declared that Jordan severed its legal and administrative ties with the West Bank.In 1993, the PLO signed the Declaration of Principles which states that Resolutions 242 and 338 should provide the basis for negotiations with Israel. In 1994, in accordance with the agreements made with the PLO, Israel handed over to the Palestinian Authority extensive powers – regarding both civil and security affairs – over a substantial part of Yesha in which the Arab population was concentrated.Resolutions 242 and 338 do not mandate the establishment of a separate Arab state in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. Neither have the interim agreements entered between Israel and the PLO determined the question of sovereignty over these territories.
3. The Jewish Settlements in Yesha Under Public International Law
3.1 The Rules of Public International Law Regarding “Occupied Territories”
Even if Israel had been an occupant in Yesha, Jewish settlement there would have been permitted under public international law. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Protocol only prohibits the Occupying Power from deporting or transferring parts of its civil population into the territory it occupies. It does not prohibit civilians from acting on their own, purchasing land in occupied territories and settling there among the existing population of that territory. This prohibition is aimed at preventing the occupant from introducing a fundamental demographic change in the structure of the population of the occupied territory.13 In addition, the occupant may actively establish civilian settlements for its citizens in the occupied territories, if such settlement is warranted by security needs of the occupant, and concerns territories in which its presence and control are deemed necessary.14 This does not mean that the land must be used to serve the army’s own needs. It suffices that the military considers: (i) that the land should not be left in the hands of the enemy, for fear that it would be used by the enemy for its purposes, and (ii) that the land is important from a military and security perspective.With respect to public land, Article 55 of the Hague Regulations provides that the occupying state shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates belonging to the hostile state, and situated in the occupied country. The occupying state must safeguard the capital of these properties (subject to reasonable amortization), and administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct. Among others, the occupying state is entitled to rent out such land or cultivate it.15Regarding private property, the situation is different. According to Article 46 of the Hague Regulations, the occupying state must respect private property and it must not confiscate it, that is – expropriate it without consideration for an illegal purpose.16 The occupying state may, however, assume temporary possession of private property, against consideration, for the purpose of establishing civilian settlements that serve its security needs.17As aforementioned, with respect to Yesha, Israel was not obliged, under international law, to apply the Hague Regulations or the Fourth Geneva Convention. However, in the cases brought before the Israeli courts, the state declared that, although not legally obliged to apply these rules in Yesha, it will nonetheless apply the humanitarian provisions included in them. As far as the court was concerned, it accepted the state’s position and abstained from deciding on it on its merits. This is the background against which one must read the decisions of the Israel Supreme Court, according to which private property can be seized (against consideration) for the establishment of civilian settlements only to the extent that such settlement is necessary for security reasons, whereas confiscation of private property for the establishment of settlements which is not motivated by security considerations is prohibited (the “Elon Moreh” case).18 In another case, the Court allowed the seizure of land, despite the claim of the applicant that the area concerned was all very quiet and posed no threat to the peace. The Court’s reply (Justice Witkon) stated thatthere is no better cure to a malady than its prevention at onset, and it is better to discover and thwart a terror act before it has been committed... One does not have to be a military and security expert to realize that terrorist elements operate more easily in an area inhabited only by a population that is indifferent or is sympathetic towards the enemy than in an area where there are also persons likely to look out for them and to report any suspicious movement to the authorities. Among the latter, terrorists will find no hideout, assistance or supplies.19In other cases the Supreme Court declined to address the legality of Jewish settlement beyond the Green Line, since the status of the settlements will be determined definitely in the peace treaty, when such is signed, and “until then it is the duty of the respondent [incasu, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Commander of the Gaza Strip – T.E.] to protect the civil population (Arab and Jewish) in the area within his military control.”20
3.2 The Settlements in Yesha
Israel is not a foreign occupying power in Yesha, and therefore there is no rule in international law to prevent Israel from establishing civilian Jewish towns and villages on state lands.21The initiative to establish the settlements may be taken either by the state or by private persons. Insofar as private property is concerned, Israel is entitled to expropriate such land (against consideration) for a range of public purposes, according to the standards existing in democratic states (including “tiny” Israel – that is, pre-1967 Israel within the “Green Line” – itself).3.3 The Agreements with the PLO
The Interim Agreement of September 28, 1995, entered between Israel and the PLO for a period of five years from the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of May 4, 1994, provides that Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip (including state lands) will be handed over to the Palestinian Authority in stages (Art. 16 of Annex III – Protocol Concerning Civil Affairs – of the Interim Agreement). Therefore, in areas handed over to the Palestinian Authority, its authority extended also to state lands for an interim period of five years.But the Interim Agreement does not apply at all to those issues which will be discussed during the final status negotiations, including the issues of Jerusalem and the Jewish settlement in Yesha (Art. XXXI(5) of the Interim Agreement). Moreover, the Interim Agreement provides that the parties agree that the results of the final status negotiations will not be influenced and not be adversely affected by the interim arrangements, and the parties will not be deemed to have waived any of the rights, claims and positions that they allege, as a result of their entering the Interim Agreement (Art. XXXI(6)). The Interim Period is over by now. Truly, Article XXXI(7) provides that the parties are prohibited from initiating activities that will change the status of Yesha prior to the final status arrangements. However, had this provision been capable of preventing the establishment of new Jewish settlements, it would have rendered Article XXXI(6) devoid of meaning and therefore redundant. The Palestinian Authority has not applied such an interpretation to its own acts, since that would have prevented the Arab population, too, from building in the land handed over to the PA under the Interim Agreement. In any case, the Interim Period has elapsed and this provision is not valid any longer.In conclusion, the Interim Agreement does not restrict the Jewish settlement of Yesha. The existing settlements may be expanded, and new settlements may be established.
4. The Refugee Problem
As a result of the 1948 war, Israel absorbed some 600,000 Jewish refugees from all over the Arab world, and about the same number of Arabs left Israel. Every war in history has yielded its share of refugees. The novel aspect of the Jewish – Arab conflict has been provided by the Arab countries’ deliberate refusal to absorb and integrate their refugees, despite their vast territories and their rich oil resources. Israel, on the other hand, absorbed the Jewish refugees without any compensation being received for the property that they had to leave behind and without any help from international organizations. Had the Arab countries only used the property that they had expropriated from the Jews who had fled to Israel, there would have been no difficulty whatsoever to absorb the people whom they openly declare to be their brothers.22Indeed, there is no parallel in history to an everlasting refugees’ problem, since in the normal course of events, every state absorbs the people who share the ethnic origin in common with its citizens. Moreover, according to data provided by the Palestinian Authority,23 there are nowadays more than 5 million such persons. Their admission would mean that Israel, with its 6.4 million citizens (which include a substantial minority of almost 19% of Israeli Arabs) would cease to be the state of the Jewish people.UN Security Council Resolution 242 does not mention the Palestinians. This was no omission. The Resolution calls for “a just settlement of the refugee problem” in acknowledgment that both sides had their share of refugees. Indeed, the fact that there were both Jewish and Arab refugees cannot be ignored when a final and just settlement is contemplated.In recent years a claim has been advanced that the Palestinians are a separate people and therefore no exchange of populations could have taken place. However, there is no “Palestinian” language and no distinct “Palestinian” culture. Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc. The statement made on September 29, 1947 by Mr. Husseini, Representative of the Arab Higher Committee, to the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question makes this point clearly:One other consideration of fundamental importance to the Arab world was that of racial homogeneity. The Arabs lived in a vast territory stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, spoke one language, had the same history, tradition and aspirations. Their unity was a solid foundation for peace in one of the most central and sensitive areas of the world. It was illogical, therefore, that the United Nations should associate itself with the introduction of an alien body into that established homogeneity, a course which could only produce new Balkans.24Before 1967, Palestinians living in the West Bank and in Gaza did not demand a separate right of self-determination.
5. The Risks Posed by an Arab Sovereign State West of the Jordan River
The promoters of the Israel-PLO Agreements expected them to improve the economy in the territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority (the “territories”) and enhance security and peace in both Israel and the territories. Such a development has not taken place. Instead, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has given Israel a preview of the risks posed by a terroristic entity established alongside Israel.The killings of innocent Israeli citizens through harsh and gruesome, well-planned attacks by Arabs who could then escape to safe havens in the PA-controlled territories, has become part and parcel of the “peace process” since its inception. The Palestinian “police” (in effect, Chairman Arafat’s regular army) established under the Oslo Agreements, did not turn the guns provided by the Israeli government to defend themselves against the “enemies of peace” from within, but rather against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Jewish civilians.In the Israel-PLO Interim Agreement, the parties committed themselves to foster mutual understanding, abstain from incitement and prevent incitement by any organizations, groups or individuals within their jurisdiction. In reality, however, the Palestinian Authority’s television and press have never ceased to broadcast and publish incitement of the most virulent kind.25 The books and programs present the whole Jewish people, past and present, as the source of evil, using classic and modern anti-Semitic libels.The worst of all is the cynical use made of children in active warfare. Rather than protect them as the Israelis do, Chairman Arafat and his people place them in the front line and encourage them to throw stones and ignite explosives, and create a live shield behind which adults fire with guns and rifles at Israeli positions. Daily television and newspapers praise Jihad (holy war). Children are taught that to be a “shahid” (martyr) who murders Jewish men, women and children indiscriminately, is a virtue. The Protocols to the Geneva Convention of 1949 set the age below which children may not be recruited into the armed forces at 15 years. Article 38 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that “State Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities.”The Interim Agreement provided specifically (Art. V and Appendix 4 of Annex I – Protocol Concerning Redeployment and Security Arrangements – and Art. 32(3) of Appendix 1 – Powers and Responsibilities for Civil Affairs – to Annex III – Protocol Concerning Civil Affairs) that Jews would be ensured free, unimpeded and secure access to the “Shalom ‘al Israel” Synagogue in Jericho and Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem and freedom of worship and practice there. Shortly after the agreement came into effect, the synagogue was torched and looted. Later on, Joseph’s Tomb was destroyed and desecrated.The peace process and the economic agreements made between Israel and the PLO (including the establishment of a customs union between Israel and the territories controlled by the PA) should have yielded “dividends of peace” to the Arab population.26 Instead, the standard of living of ordinary Palestinians has substantially deteriorated, that despite billions of dollars poured by donor states (mainly the EU, the US and Japan). PA corruption has squandered and mismanaged the funds.27Substantial funds from the donor states were channeled through personal account of PA officials. The aims of the customs union were frustrated. Instead of promoting the establishment of a functioning and thriving economy, the PA established more than 100 exclusive importing agencies or monopolies controlled by persons with close contacts to Chairman Arafat, some of them serving simultaneously as PA officials. Independent Palestinian entrepreneurs lost a substantial share of their Palestinian market. The PA-controlled monopolies thus served to transfer income from the poorer classes to a new economic class that used some of the money to pay a self-serving bureaucracy, which in turn, helped that class become ever richer. The legal system established by the PA was a sham, providing only a façade of justice, another tool to serve the Authority rather than the population. In the absence of a proper rule of law and the necessary legal infrastructure, investors were not attracted, industries were not created, and employment and trading activity have deteriorated.Israeli citizens have suffered serious economic damage, too, resulting from deliberate sabotage of equipment and countless thefts by Arabs residing and taking refuge in the PA. The Israeli economy has suffered from the direct and indirect implications of the war against terror, the extra costs imposed on the Israeli economy by the ever growing security expenditure, and the insecure climate which scares away investors.Yet, blame for the poverty and frustration of the Palestinians has been put on Israel. Moreover, human rights organizations have turned a blind eye to the grave transgressions committed by the PA which has shown no respect for the basic human rights of the Arab population (e.g., total repression of criticism, public executions of people suspected of cooperation with Israel, the use of ambulances to carry explosives and suicide bombers) while making every effort to detect, and often invent, “crimes” committed by Jews.
6. The Possible Impact of the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court, established under the Rome Statute (in force as of July 1, 2002) to try people who have committed the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, or the crime of aggression (yet to be defined), poses yet another grave risk to Israeli citizens, their leaders and soldiers. Whereas the Rome Statute does not even mention well-established crimes, such as airplane hijacking, the taking of hostages, and attacks on internationally protected persons, the Statute includes (Art. 8(b)(viii)) “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its population into the territory it occupies...”, a crime inserted at the initiative of the Egyptian delegation, in order to render the Jewish settlement of Yesha a war crime, and make all those who live there or fight to protect them be considered war criminals, even if the settlements were not established by the State of Israel, even if the initiative came from the settlers, even though their establishment has not violated the Fourth Geneva Convention (irrespective of the issue of its applicability in Yesha, dealt with in para. 3.1 above) or any existing rules of public international law.Had Israel ratified the International Criminal Court (ICC) Convention, it would have made it possible to charge with war crimes Jews living in Jerusalem, the ancient capital of the Jewish people, in Hebron, the site of the tombs of the Matriarchs and Patriarchs of the Jewish people, and in any other part of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.Settlements in occupied territories, in general, could hardly be considered “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole”, as defined in the Preamble of the ICC Rome Statute. Their inclusion in it and the grounds for that are cause for deep concern.Moreover, unlike the World Trade Organization (previously GATT) which only admits states having a market economy, the Rome Statute admits states which have no regard whatsoever for fundamental freedoms and basic human rights. The judges and prosecutor will be appointed by all contracting parties on a regional basis.Israel is capable of shielding its citizens from prosecution by not ratifying this international treaty. The jurisdiction of the Court is limited to acts committed on the territory of a contracting party and to nationals of contracting parties.But, should an Arab state be created west of the Jordan, it will have the right to ratify this treaty and thereby put every Israeli leader and every Israeli citizen at the risk of being prosecuted for any of the crimes mentioned therein.28 The UN conference against Racism in Durban (Summer 2001) and the numerous condemnations of Israel by the UN General Assembly, the Security Council, UNESCO, the UN Secretary General, and the UN Human Rights Commissioner, may provide us with insight into what Israel may expect from this new institution created by the United Nations. Although every state has a right to self-defense under public international law, Israel has been condemned time and again by the international community for acts taken in self-defense. Political and other reasons have made the international community, the international media, and human rights activists, apply double standards to Israel.29 The fear alone from such prosecution may paralyze Israelis, their political leaders, and their army commanders from defending Israel as they should. Israel must prevent such a risk from materializing.
7. The Preconditions for a Peaceful Solution
The above legal arguments notwithstanding, the Jewish population of Israel has at all times wished to make peace with their neighbors. Since 1947, Israeli leaders have, one after another, agreed to accept programs that would bring peace in the Middle East. Israel has had an ever-growing peace camp. The late Prime Minister Menachem Begin ceded Egyptian territories captured during the Six Day War, the whole of the Sinai Peninsula, in return for a peace agreement, calling for “No more bloodshed. No more tears.” Upon signing the Declaration of Principles with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin declared on the White House lawn: “We have had enough of blood and tears. Enough.” Israeli children are brought up to understand the viewpoint of the Arabs, a task hardly ever taken up by nations in times of conflict. Prime Minister Ehud Barak attempted to go the extra mile towards a lasting peace by dividing Jerusalem and giving up the Temple Mount, the heart and soul of the Jewish people.But whereas in Israel, people were rallying and demonstrating in their hundreds of thousands in support of the peace process, the Arab perception of the so-called “Peace Process” turned out to be a very different one. Indeed, the very term “Peace Process” is a contradiction in terms unless and until the following, elementary pre-conditions are met30: Arab democratic institutions must be established; Arab governance must become transparent and accountable; the Arab reformed legal system must protect individual rights and subject its authorities to open criticism; private law being the charter of a free society, private sector initiative – the key to economic prosperity – requires legal rules that govern property rights, their transfer and the settlement of disputes by an independent judiciary. The rules must be transparent, stable and enforceable in a fair and efficient manner; violence must be renounced and outlawed; Arab leadership must engage in education to peace and relinquish incitement and anti-Jewish hate propaganda.
8. Conclusion
The Jewish people’s historical right to Eretz Israel had been recognized by the international community and upheld by the rule of public international law. Israel is not obliged to support the creation of an Arab state west of the Jordan River alongside Israel. The Oslo Agreements were made with a view to enhance “a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”. Yet, since their coming into effect, the Middle East has witnessed, not peace, but violence of the worst kind in recent history. The establishment of the Palestinian Authority should serve as a “guide to the bewildered” of the grave risks posed by such an Arab state, which may eventually lead to the destruction of the Jewish state.Under public international law, Israel is entitled to diligently encourage and promote close Jewish settlement of Eretz Israel, thereby realizing the principles set out by the League of Nations in the original Mandate document.
Endnotes
1
I confirmed this story with Mr. Abba Eban – T.E.
2
On the historical development of the term “Palestine” as synonymous to the Holy Land, or the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel), see The History of Eretz Israel. Volume 9: The British Mandate and the Jewish National Home (Y. Porath/ Y. Shavit (eds.))(Yad Ben-Zvi/ Keter 1982) (in Hebrew), pp. 263f.
3
See, e.g., the account of the riots written in April 1920, by Robert Meinertzhagen, Middle East Diary 1917-1956 (London: Cresset Press 1959) 79ff.
4
Ya’akov Shavit and Gideon Biger, “The British Mandate over Palestine: Rule, Administration, and Legislation,” in: The History of Eretz Israel. Volume 9: The British Mandate and the Jewish National Home, supra n. 2, 86, at pp. 103-106, 130-131.
5
Ibid., pp. 92-93. Palestine Citizenship Order-in-Council, 1925, Laws of Palestine 1918-1925, pp. 92-115.
6
P. Malanczuk, “Israel: Status, Territory and Occupied Territories,”Encyclopedia of Public International Law, vol. 12, 149 (1990).
7
The withdrawal of the UN Forces is critically analyzed by Rosalyn Higgins, “The June War: The United Nations and Legal Background,” in: J.N. Moore (ed.), The Arab-Israeli Conflict(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press 1977) 535, 544-545.
8
Eugene V. Rostow, “The Illegality of the Arab Attack on Israel of October 6, 1973,” in: J.N. Moore (ed.), The Arab-Israeli Conflict ,supra n. 7, 458.
9
Stephen Schwebel, “What Weight to Conquest?” in: The Arab-Israeli Conflict, supra n. 7, 357, 359. The author explains the illegality of the Egyptian and Jordanian occupation on the basis of the maxim ex injuria jus non oritur; the illegal attack by Israel’s Arab neighbors could not vest them with lawful title in the territories of Palestine that they occupied following their invasion.
10
Yehuda Zvi Blum, “The Missing Reversioner: Reflections on the Status of Judea and Samaria,” 3 Israel Law Review 279, 288 (1968); Malanczuk, supra n. 6.
11
Stephen Schwebel, supra n. 9, concludes that “[w]here the prior holder of territory had seized that territory unlawfully, the state which subsequently takes that territory in the lawful exercise of self-defense has, against the prior holder, better title,” ibid., at p. 359; Julius Stone, “The Middle East under Cease-Fire,” in: J.N. Moore (ed.),The Arab-Israeli Conflict, Volume II: Readings (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press 1974) 47, 68-71; id., “No Peace – No War in the Middle East”, in: Moore (ed.), The Arab-Israeli Conflict,supra n. 7, 310, at p. 325; Y.Z. Blum, supra n. 10.
12
Meir Shamgar, “The Observance of International Law in the Administered Territories,” 1 Israel Yearbook of Human Rights(1971) 262. Shamgar compares (ibid., 263) Israel’s position regarding the inapplicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Regulations in Yesha to France that did not apply in Alsace-Lorraine Rules 42-56 of the Hague Regulations, following their seizure by France from Germany until the signing of the peace treaty at the end of World War I. In both cases, the territory was not taken from a lawful sovereign.
13
Yoram Dinstein, The Laws of War (Tel-Aviv: Schocken/ Tel-Aviv University 1983) (in Hebrew) 225-226.
14
Ibid. Cf. also Ayub v. The Minister of Defense [“Beit-El case”] (HCJ [=High Court of Justice] 606, 610/78), 33(2) PD [Piskei Din, collection of judgments of the Israel Supreme Court (in Hebrew)] 113, 124-127. An abridged English version is brought in Meir Shamgar (ed.), Military Government in the Territories Administered by Israel 1967-1980: The Legal Aspects (Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem/ Sacher Institute 1982) Annex A, 371ff.
15
Al-Nazar v. Commander of Judea and Samaria (HCJ 285/81), 36(1)PD 701.
16
Beit El case, supra n. 14, p. 123.
17
Ibid., pp. 129-130.
18
Dwaikat v. Government of Israel [“Elon Moreh case”] (HCJ 390/79), 34(1) PD 1.
19
Beit El case, supra n. 14, 118-119.
20
Gussin v. IDF Commander in the Gaza Strip (HCJ 4219/02), 56(4)PD 608, 611 (per Justice Aharon Barak, President of the Israel Supreme Court).
21
Regarding the meaning of “State lands” in this context, see the Order concerning Government Property (the Area of Judea and Samaria) (No. 59), 5727-1967; cf. also Pliah Albek, “What are State Lands? – The State Lands in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip,” Ha-Lishka(5759-1999) 46, pp. 9-11.
22
Cf. Itamar Levin, Locked Doors: The Seizure of Jewish Property in Arab Countries (2001) (in Hebrew); see also Samuel Katz,Battleground, 3rd ed. (Tel-Aviv: Zmorah-Bitan 1995) (in Hebrew)/ (Taylor 2002) (in English), especially chapters 2 and 7.
23
The data are taken from the website of the Palestinian National Authority <www.palestinehistory.com/reftoday.htm>.
24
GAOR, 2nd Session, 1947, Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestine Question, pp. 5-11, brought by R. Lapidoth/ M. Hirsch (eds.), The Jerusalem Question and its Resolution: Selected Documents(Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff 1994) p. 13.
25
Cf. the studies carried out by Professor Itamar Marcus, Director of the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace (PMC), special report # 30 (September 11, 2000). Some of the studies are brought in<www.edume.org>.
26
Talia Einhorn, “The Need for a Rule-Oriented Israeli-Palestinian Customs Union: The Role of International Trade Law and Domestic Law,” 44 Netherlands International Law Review 315 (1997); see also the author’s testimony before the US Congress Joint Economic Committee, October 21, 1997 Hearing on the Economic Relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority:<http://www.house.gov/jec/hearings/israel/einhorn.htm>.
27
Ronen Bergman, Authority Given (Yediot Aharonot 2002) (in Hebrew).
28
Cf. Talia Einhorn, “Israel and the International Criminal Court,”Nativ (4-5/2002) 36 (in Hebrew).
29
Alan Dershowitz, “Israel – the Jew Among the Nations,” in: Israel Among the Nations: International and Comparative Law Perspectives on Israel’s 50th Anniversary (Kellermann, Siehr and Einhorn [eds.]) (The Hague: Kluwer Law International 1998) 129.
30
Cf. in detail, Talia Einhorn, “The Arab-Israeli Peace Process: The Law Reform Perspective,” 3 European Journal of Law Reform(2001) 149-161.
How did the Zionists acquire land in Palestine?
The on-going conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Jews is not a new one but has been there for centuries with its roots not in the difference of the religions but for the fight over land. Until 1948, the land that is now divided into the state of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip was known as Palestine. Jewish claim on Israel comes from the biblical promise that God made to Abraham and his descendents and on the historical fact that the Jewish kingdom of Israel was located. The Palestinian Arabs, on the other hand, claim their right on the land stating that they have been living here for centuries now with a demographic majority. They also refute Jewish notion that they need a haven from Europe’s anti-Semitism as they believe that they should not be forfeiting their land to compensate Jews for Europe’s injustices towards them.
The state of Israel, with Zionists as its dominant ideology is based illegally on mostly the land that they seized from Arabs after the 1948 war. The land they took belonged rightfully to the Palestinians who lost their homes, jobs and farm lands and a large number of them were forced to take refuge in Lebanon where they are living in poor living conditions in the refugee camps.
At the beginning, Zionists were but a handful of people who showed that they have a longing for the Holy Land. However, this spiritual longing had more to it with power-seeking Jews devising a plan for taking over the whole land, making use of the British as their source. Since 1948, when Israel declared establishment of an Israeli state and a huge population of Jews immigrated to the land, Zionists have systematically seized Palestinians of their belongings, resources and also the resources of the neighboring countries. The occupation kept expanding so much so that at present, Palestinian land is nothing but a few patches.
Zionists discovered that they are up against a land which was not uninhabited but densely populated unlike their claimed, nor was it is available for them. Moreover, they found that the ownership system and land tenure was not without its complexities. The land that was available was expensive with its value increasing with the growing population due to immigration. Another Zionist assumption, through which they hoped that the Mandate will become their basis for accessing the land, turned out to be unrealistic. From the data, it is clear that Jews and Zionists acquired land in three different periods. The three percent of the land which Jews owned in 1922 rose up to seven percent of the total land area of the country till 1947 due to the Jewish immigration.
Until the time of general armistice of the 1948 war, the situation had changed to the point that Israel had taken over 77 percent of the Palestinian land with a substantial amount of the good soil, classified in the British Mandate as among the three types of soils present. The expropriation was also made to the privately owned land by the Arabs where 80% of it was confiscated by the Israelis with another 40 percent taken away from the Palestinians. According to an estimate, the total loss resulting from the unjust land acquisition by the Zionists reached up to 7.43 billion pounds.
30 thoughts on “How did the Zionists acquire land in Palestine?”
Martin Koschuttnig (Vienna/Austria)
- God Almighty is gathering His people to save them, as he promised.No decree by the roman empire, no machinations by the ” palestinians” can do anything about what God is doing with the modern state of Israel. Even we christians,( I mean real christians that love the Jewish people), are only “grafted in” to the promises,( read the book of Romans carefully). I have been to Israel and could not help but love them; only in a very evil world could a people such as the Jews be a stumbling block. h.b.
- I was looking for some information about then origin of the last name Sirias, I have heard that in 1856 some men came to America running away from the Otoman Empire , could someone give me some information about this, please.
- The convertion of land area of 10 ha into Acres (orange groves in Jaffa) is not correct.
- In Reply to Robert
just because facts give a perception of pro Isreal does not change the facts from being facts.
Most of the Land was purchased legally and properly just as a tennant may not be aware the owner is selling the house he is renting.
That which came as a result of the 6 day war needs to be set in the context of the alliance of the majority of Arab nations being the agressors with the still current motive to wipe Israel of the map and this is still the situation. By changing the focus from Arabs versus Israel to Israel versus Palestine we change the perception of who really is the minority and therefore change the emotive aspect. Israel is primarily defending itself in almost all areas of complaint and sadly the Arabs are using their own people living in palestine as the disposable bait for a fight.- In Reply to Errol,
It has been apparent to me all along that you still consider this a Jewish vs Arab. conflict The fact is that the Levant was never made up of only Jews and Arabs. The Levant has always had a mix of people (As has the rest of the middle East). I think the reality is more correct to call this a Jewish vs non-Jew conflict. The Patriarchs are of the Amorties and the Amorites are the medianites who are also Arab. When Abram left Ur and went by way of Haran to the Levant he entered Hittitic Kingdom, and the Hurrian/Mittani (Indo-european and indo_iranian). The Land was ruled by the Indo-Europeans and Indo-IRanians jointly with the Egyptians and those people lived there. So did other Amorites. Thus you have based your claims of original entitlement upon a mythology-you weren’t the kings there first. Then after years of conquests and various migrations back and forth and various changes in religions, there still existed original people in the Levant who had interbred with all the different peoples who migrated to that land. So no, European and United States Jews cannot claim themselves entitled to the land in the Levant because the entire claim is a mythology. AND European Jews and US Jews moved into the Levant and purchased land from the people that were living there people had occupied for some years. Furthermore, there has been a numerous amount of Jews who have treated the Arabs as though they are entitled to. And after this violence and plundering by the Arabs the Jews created a group of refugee non-jews and they tell the world-here look at them-they are Arabs and they can’t take care of themselves-or the Arabs came after we got here and are jealous that we have this land-when it is the people that lived there whose homes were stolen and their children-still creating this entitlement from a mythos. The only reason the request was given by Britain was due to Britain’s need to have a foot in the middle east not because of a belief in the mythos. The lie-that is the people who originally inhabited the cities that were non-jews were a mixture Arab. That is not the case-that is the Arabs left on their own accord. Furthermore, Arabs and Jews are the same people-they are descended from the Amorites-the people the Sumerians called the mari. The lies are incredible-the history of the Hebrews IS NOT a floating history if you are taking to mean Jews are descended from Hebrews-there is a definite timeframe for the existence. The mythos is the idea of entitlement over the Levant in modern times.
- I love all these comments that the people did not “own” the land, which is mostly true, the Ottoman Empire owned over 92% of the land and the balance was owned by wealthy absentee Arabs and some local Arab leaders. There was much land “purchased”, as stated by the Mufti of Jerusalem during a testimony th the British Peel Commission in 1937 (I remember the Americans buying Manhattan for beads), but truly anyone who has studied even a bit of history, sees what happened here. History repeats itself and I am curious as to why Israel will not simply stand its ground as a liberator of its own territory.They were able to move to Palestine because after WW2, world sympathy realized the injustice and perhaps justifiable so. They came, worked and developed the land, the Arab/Palestinians. Ok, we get it you won. Now don’t be mad because the Arab countries expelled over a million Jewish families and confiscated all the assets including over 70,000 sq. miles of land.I’m waiting for the day that the US says, “You’re on your own, were not supplying weapons, money or support to either side.”if the people want their land back. It’s called civil war.
- Numbers and facts show that, religion aside, the state of Israel comprises a bunch of second and third generation white European and American immigrants living on land stolen from the Arabs by the British for the purpose. With a nuclear stockpile. To be fair, the U.K. and U.S. had pretty much closed their borders to Europe’s Jews the whole time they were being persecuted, so they didn’t have much choice- and it did start out well, what with lands being bought fairly etc., however once critical mass was reached because the Arab states expelled over a million Jewish families, the violence started, just like with Moses and the Canaanites, or the Protestants in Northern Ireland, who were put there by the British to get them out of the way with no consideration at all for the Irish Catholics who were already there.
- Israel has been procuring land from the inhabitants for over 60 years. Legal settlements are the excuse cause for the friction today. israel will continue to slowly settle and develop the the land. Lets not pretend, okDoes Arab/Palestine have a right to exist? Answer in Jordan
- I think the best solution to this, is to have two states Jordan for the Arabs, it will be really fair if Israel will actually continue building housing estates on places agreed to under international treaties and Jordan for the Arab/Palestinians, if the European nations sees the rights of Israel to exist, they should all agree that the Arab/Palestinians have rights to live in Jordan as their own State which is 5 times larger than Israel. Let me say this clearly for peace to reign in that part of world, the EU, US and the UN will have to stop meddling in Israel's policy of settlement. I am tired of EU, US sanctioning countries like DRC and meddling when nations like Israel follows international treaties and the Arab/Palestinians do not, it is high time that the world power forgets the injustices meted against the Jews during the Holocaust and address the the Arab/Palestinians are terrorizing the Israelis . I am not an Arab nor Israeli but I think most injustices comes from the way EU and US handles matters that are not directly affecting them forgetting that the world has become a global village and in the interest of all stake holders in this setting we need true justice and not world powers just talking and taking no necessary actions. The U.K and the US needs to stop selling arms to either party involved. US and the European communities are all guilty of all injustices going on around world today. The monster we have today were created by the greed and quest for power by the US and the European nations simply through their divide and rule them strategy. To Netanyahu- He who wants justice come with clean hands, he is justly accusing the Arab/Palestinians for committing terror and violence. In my conclusion of this delicate matter, the Arab/Palestinians and the Israelis needs to come to real term of peace by peaceful co existence by each nation allowing for two existing states Jordan for the Arab/Palestinians and to stop the so called world Power from feeding with lies, the under ground politics of the EU and the US is to turn people against each other.
- After world war2 huge! (compared to tiny israel) patches of land changed ownership – due only to the “right of the winner”: east prussia, silesia, sudetes. with millions of people thrown out of their homes which they inhabited for thousands years. where were you all, fighters for justice? and thousands of people are uprooted on daily basis all around the world. where are you all, fighters for justice?
the land of israel (smaller then new jersey, with 70% desert) is your only concern. ah-h, yes – dirty jews!
this land – the land of israel always belonged to the people of israel. the Arabs came there as conquerors and occupants, the “hated zionists” liberated the land from the illegal occupants-Arabs/Muslims (remember spanish “reconquista”? The Spanish also liberated their land from the Muslims)
The only just way to solve the so-called “palestinian problem” is to throw ALL Arab occupants out of the homeland of the jews. Let them go home – to the 20+ moslem countries (vast teritorries and, btw, also taken by the power of sword!) - The two state solution will come about when you have Jordan for the Arabs. Israel west of the Jordan river for the Jewish people, allow all Arab refugees to return not necessarily to the land they lost, and grant them full national rights in Jordan and live together good neighbors.
- War is terrible, of all of us who can claim their land wasn’t in some way capture with the occupying people being killed, placed in captivity to be made slaves, or forced to leave.From what I can discern is the Arabs have done some great atrocities. I believe that Israel has extended the olive branch at least three times; the first of which gave Israel the top 20% and the Arab8Palestinian people getting the remaining 80%. The PLO has refused every time with a retaliation of war rather than a handshake of peace. They fight back not for peace sake but to wipe Israel from the Map. The Arab/Palestinians may want peace but the formed government by the PLO and now Hamas chooses to use them as expendable pawns and cannon fodder to exploit their plight to the world. Those individual families are paying severely for this tactic.I really believe in the existing two state solution; Jordan for the Arabs and west of the Jordan river for Israel, if the Arab/Palestinians would accept. That said I don’t believe it will happen. None of Israels neighbors wants her there. One thing you must realize though is that Palestine is a region and never has been a sovereign Arab country. These people may have lived on this land for many years but have always been part of another occupying people. It wasn’t until 1988 when PLO leaders in exile in Algiers Declared their independence and named for itself the Jewish/Palestinian territories, of the pre 1967 armistice line of Palestine, which were currently liberated by Jews. They have since been recognized as an entity although they themselves don’t accept the current boundaries. And thus the fight continues.
- Arab/Palestinians have the right to move to Jordan Israelite liberated their own land under international treaties, and the only solution to solve this conflict is simple, all of the Arab/Palestinian should move to Jordan and Jews can live west of the Jordan river and they should be welcomed to do so. See, Islam did not teach us to accept other religions, and there are no other solutions than that .
- And who attacked whom in 1948?
- Jewish exclusive political rights to Palestine-Israel under International Law was recognized by the Principal WWI Allies at San Remo in 1920, adopting the British Balfour Policy of 1917. It was confirmed by the League of Nations in 1922 and also in 1922 by the US Congress Joint Resolution and in 1924 by treaty by the US that had declined to become a member of the League. On the demise of the League of Nations, the political rights were preserved in the UN Charter in Article 80. The Partition approved by the UN General Assembly was only a recommendation that the Jews agree to give up a part of their rights to avoid a war with the Arabs. The Jews agreed but the Arabs declined and went to war anyway.In 1920 the recognition of Jewish political or national rights to Palestine was done in such a way as to avoid immediate sovereignty by the Jews because they were then a minority and to do otherwise was considered anti-democratic. They were placed in trust with England as the trustee giving England legal dominion over the political rights. In September 19th, 1917 in a memo of the British Foreign Service, Arnold Toynbee and Lewis Namier had written that by placing the rights in trust, they would not vest until the Jews had attained a majority of population and were just as qualified to exercise sovereignty as any modern European nation-state. By 1950, after the British had abandoned their trust, the Jews acquired a majority population within the green line (armistice line). The UN vote on partition showed that it agreed the Jews were capable of exercising sovereignty.One can use other standards to determine who shall rule in Palestine. But International Law can only be made by treaty and long custom. It cannot be made by bodies having “International” in their title such as the UN in its recommendations or the International Court of Justice in advisory opinions. UN recommendations such as the 1947 Partition are only of legal force and effect if adopted by both sides of the issue by a treaty or the like. Under International Law, the Jews have exclusive political rights to all of Palestine west of the Jordan River and the Arabs have no basis for claiming sovereignty under International law as the Arabs local to Palestine have never exercised such rights. There has never been an Arab capital in Palestine.As to other bases — the Jews lived in Palestine for over 3,700 years and their presence there has been continuous although varying in number after the Romans drove many of them out, but not all. And under canon law, the Jews have sovereignty over Palestine. Even some Arabs have admitted that the Qur’an provides that.Under international law prior to the Westphalia new order, sovereignty was attained by declaring independence and holding the ground against all comers with your own blood and treasure. Under that standard also, the Jews are entitled to sovereignty. The rights of non-Jews in private property were preserved in the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine, and Article 95 of the Treaty of Sevres in which the Ottomans ceded Palestine to the Mandatory Power. It insured their civil and their religious rights would be preserved. It did not preserve political rights because there were none to preserve. The local Arabs had never exercise sovereignty in Palestine.
- Furthermore, the “Jewish National Home” mentioned in the Mandate reflected its status as the Jewish peoples beneficial interest in the political or national rights to Palestine, because it was not intended to become a nation-state until later.
RESTORATION OF THE JEWS. �
The Rothschilds.— Although the great London capitalist, the elder Rothschild, who died a few years ago, was a man whose thoughts were absorbed by his vast monetary transactions, his sons who carry on the great financial establishment which he founded are men of a larger stamp. One of them, Baron Rothschild, is still determined to persevere in his struggle with the House of Commons, in claiming to sit as a Jewish representative, without taking the oath, ‘on the true faith of a Christian.’ It has also been known that at least one of the Rothschilds indulges in the somewhat magnificent dream of being able to obtain possession of Jerusalem, and of being enabled to restore his Hebrew brethren to the Holy Land. If recent accounts are to be credited, he has all but accomplished the grand object of his ambition, not like the Crusaders, by the power of the sword, but by the great modern weapon —the power of money. It is stated that advices from Constantinople announces that the Divan has decided the question of the Holy Land, by giving to M. Rothschild the four Pachalics (Provinces) of Syria for the sum of five hundred millions of francs, to be deposited in the treasury of the Sultan. France will resign her pretensions to former treaties for the sum of fifty millions, and a remuneration of twenty-five millions will be given to Prussia and England for their claims. It is not yet known what title M. Rothschild will assume but it is affirmed that he will endeavour, by a solemn appeal, to induce his Israelitish brethren to re-enter the tents of Abraham and Jacob, and to aid him in restoring Jerusalem, Antioch, Tadmor, &c, and in re-building the Temple in its pristine magnificence.
The overwelding of the Palestinian's were forced to leave by theire leaders and by promises that they could go back in a few weeks, and could take anything the Jews left behind.
I was a volunteer in the Israeli Army in 1948 and my Brigade was never ask or were ordered to throw the Palestinians out or remove them with force.
Don’t forget that 1948 only saw a ‘cease fire’ not a peace. The first peace agreement signed was with Sadat of Egypt and he was assassinated for that.
I am not aware of any law, anywhere in the world saying that “poor uneducated people working a land” which they don’t actually own – are given ownership rights once it was bought by Jews??!!! Maybe the American Natives (North & South) and Australian Natives and Japanese, and Indonesians, and… - were “systematically pushed out” and decimated, but not so the Arabs invaders/settlers of a region renamed “Palestina” (The Land of the Philistines?). Amazingly -their number and land ownership increased tenfold since the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland- can you explain this?