ISRAEL'S LEGAL STATUS
Greetings and Salutations! OK, and Blessings, too! Somehow or another, folks seemed to derive the opinion from my last Coffee Break that I'm a hater of Palestinians. Nothing could be further from the truth. Throughout the years I've had several friends who were Palestinian in origin. My opposition is not to the Palestinian people per se but to the terrorists (they call themselves "the Palestinian Authority") who want to make life hell on earth for the Palestinians AND Israel. My compassion for the Palestinian people is unbridled but that compassion does not by any stretch of the imagination extend to the demonic idea that they should have a homeland within Israel's boundaries - especially when they already have a homeland within Jordan, and the Jordanian king has invited them to participate in a democratic government with him. Prior to the formation of the PLO, the overwhelming majority of Arabs and non-Jews living in Israel were very happy to live in a Jewish state under Jewish governance. Their living conditions and circumstances were far better and more prosperous than anything they'd ever known under Arab governance. The Internet abounds with photographs and stories of Palestinian children who are being brainwashed with hatred for anyone and anything Jewish. The myth of all the "starving people" within Gaza because of the "terrible things the Israelis are doing to them" is demonstrated to be an out and out lie when you actually see photos of the overwhelming majority of living conditions within Gaza. Are there some places where the conditions are deplorable? Sure, but let's be clear about it and point our fingers at the real culprits: Hamas! Anyway, enough of that! Let's get right to the subject of today's Coffee Break. Before we start talking about the San Remo Accord, be sure you have your cup of Java on hand. Pull up a chair and set a spell! (Grin) Let me begin with a portion of the text of the San Remo Accord before we get into our discussion on this document and its legal implications. The San Remo Conference decided on April 24, 1920 to assign the Mandate [for Palestine] under the League of Nations to Britain. The terms of the Mandate were also discussed with the United States which was not a member of the League. An agreed text was confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations on July 24, 1922, and it came into operation in September 1923. Here is the portion germane to our discussion today: The Council of the League of Nations: Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed, for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, to entrust to a Mandatory selected by the said Powers the administration of the territory of Palestine, which formerly belonged to the Turkish Empire, within such boundaries as may be fixed by them; and Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country; and Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connexion of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country; and Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have selected His Britannic Majesty as the Mandatory for Palestine; and Whereas the mandate in respect of Palestine has been formulated in the following terms and submitted to the Council of the League for approval; and Whereas His Britannic Majesty has accepted the mandate in respect of Palestine and undertaken to exercise it on behalf of the League of Nations in conformity with the following provisions; and Whereas by the aforementioned Article 22 (paragraph 8), it is provided that the degree of authority, control or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory, not having been previously agreed upon by the Members of the League, shall be explicitly defined by the Council of the League of Nations; Confirming the said Mandate, defines its terms as follows: Article 1. The Mandatory shall have full powers of legislation and of administration, save as they may be limited by the terms of this mandate. Article 2. The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion. Article 3. The Mandatory shall, so far as circumstances permit, encourage local autonomy. Article 4. An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognized as a public body for the purpose of advising and cooperating with the Administration of Palestine in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the Administration, to assist and take part in the development of the country. The Zionist Organization, so long as its organization and constitution are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate shall be recognized as such agency. It shall take steps in consultation with His Britannic Majesty's Government to secure the cooperation of all Jews who are willing to assist in the establishment of the Jewish national home. Article 5. The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that no Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of, the Government of any foreign Power. (Note: Britain then gave Transjordanian Palestine - about 70% of Palestine - to King Abdullah and called it Transjordan. It is now called Jordan. This is not to say that that the Jews were promised that they could settle in all of Palestine. Palestine was a loose regional term in those days and even included Damascus!) Article 6. The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in co-operation with the Jewish agency referred to in Article 4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes. Article 7. The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for enacting a nationality law. There shall be included in this law provisions framed so as to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take up their permanent residence in Palestine. Article 8. The privileges and immunities of foreigners, including the benefits of consular jurisdiction and protection as formerly enjoyed by Capitulation or usage in the Ottoman Empire, shall not be applicable in Palestine. Unless the Powers whose nationals enjoyed the aforementioned privileges and immunities on August 1st, 1914, shall have previously renounced the right to their re-establishment, or shall have agreed to their non-application for a specified period, these privileges and immunities shall, at the expiration of the mandate, be immediately re-established in their entirety or with such modifications as may have been agreed upon between the Powers concerned. Article 9. The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that the judicial system established in Palestine shall assure to foreigners, as well as to natives, a complete guarantee of their rights. Respect for the personal status of the various peoples and communities and for their religious interests shall be fully guaranteed. In particular, the control and administration of Waqfs shall be exercised in accordance with religious law and the dispositions of the founders. Article 10. Pending the making of special extradition agreements relating to Palestine, the extradition treaties in force between the Mandatory and other foreign Powers shall apply to Palestine. Article 11. The Administration of Palestine shall take all necessary measures to safeguard the interests of the community in connection with the development of the country, and, subject to any international obligations accepted by the Mandatory, shall have full power to provide for public ownership or control of any of the natural resources of the country or of the public works, services and utilities established or to be established therein. It shall introduce a land system appropriate to the needs of the country having regard, among other things, to the desirability of promoting the close settlement and intensive cultivation of the land. The Administration may arrange with the Jewish agency mentioned in Article 4 to construct or operate, upon fair and equitable terms, any public works, services and utilities, and to develop any of the natural resources of the country, in so far as these matters are not directly undertaken by the Administration. Any such arrangements shall provide that no profits distributed by such agency, directly or indirectly, shall exceed a reasonable rate of interest on the capital, and any further profits shall be utilized by it for the benefit of the country in a manner approved by the Administration. Article 12. The Mandatory shall be entrusted with the control of the foreign relations of Palestine, and the right to issue exequaturs to consuls appointed by foreign Powers. He shall also be entitled to afford diplomatic and consular protection to citizens of Palestine when outside its territorial limits. Article 25. In the territories lying between the Jordan and the eastern boundary of Palestine as ultimately determined, the Mandatory shall be entitled, with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, to postpone or withhold application of such provisions of this mandate as he may consider inapplicable to the existing local conditions, and to make such provision for the administration of the territories as he may consider suitable to those conditions, provided that no action shall be taken which is inconsistent with the provisions of Articles 15, 16 and 18. (Note: (Palestine originally included land in what is now Jordan.) Well, this has taken a lot more time and space than I originally envisioned. I've only listed the first 12, along with Article 25, of 28 articles in the San Remo Accord because it would make this Coffee Break incredibly long, but suffice it to say that this agreement, which was signed onto by every Arab nation in the region, established a fairly comprehensive territory for the purpose of establishing a Jewish state and nation. The objective of the San Remo Accord was born out of Lord Arthur James Balfour's "Balfour Declaration." The Balfour Declaration was nothing more than a short letter to Lord Rothschild which reads like this: Foreign Office November 2nd, 1917 Dear Lord Rothschild: I have much pleasure in conveying to you. on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet: His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment of Palestine as the national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation. Yours, Arthur James Balfour All I've really done today is to lay out the fundamentals of how Israel began to be reestablished as the Jewish homeland. However, an even cursory read of the above articles makes abundantly clear that this accord, ratified by the British government - along with a total of 51 governments, only envisioned the creation of a permanent home for the Jews. Nowhere in any of the articles is there any mention of a "Palestinian state" nor the creation of a separate region for "Palestinians" apart from Jordan, which was known for a time as Trans-Jordan. Quite the contrary. Jordan was and always has been the national home of the so-called "Palestinians." As already noted the Palestinians are not a homogenous or even indigenous group of people who've occupied the region throughout the centuries as a national homeland. There never has been a nation or state called Palestine since the beginning of time, but there has been a nation and people of Israel for more than four millennia - a people who've been persecuted, dispossessed and scattered abroad across the face of the earth for a variety of reasons we won't take time to get into now. We'll continue this discussion for at least one more Coffee Break in a few days. Meanwhile, let me refer you to a legal argument for the San Remo Accord at the following link: http://www.think-israel.org/green.sanremo.html. Here is a video presentation by CBN News: http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/vod/CMI222v1_WS in which the San Remo Accord is referred to as Israel's Magna Carta. See you in a few days. As Christians we have a mandate from the Lord to bless Israel. More than that, the cry of the Lord through Isaiah is to "give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth!" Blessings on you! Regner Regner A. 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