P F Tinmore, et al,
What was to be defined as Palestine, was not self-governing --- able to stand alone. It was not necessarily an Article 22 "Certain Communities."
Are you saying that the Palestinians did not already have local governments with police departments that were, more or less, sufficient for their needs?
Palestine was an A mandate it was already a functioning country. They needed some assistance, that the mandate was to provide, to set up a national government.
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To some extent, this was true. The Arabs did participate in some government functions. But the management of government and the infrastructure development were not driven or maintained by the Arabs. It was the Ottoman Empire that formed the backbone of the government --- developed and maintained the the essential government policies and procedures, and extended the rule of law scheme that connected national laws with local authority requirements. Jerusalem, somewhat special, received its financial and administrative support and guidance from the capital in
Constantinople.
We normally say that the territory of Palestine, to which the mandate applied, was govern under the Administrative Division of the Ottoman Vilayet of Syria from Damascus. That is because the what we call Trans-Jordan comprised three-quarters of the Mandate territory. Saying the Vilayet of Syria was close enough given the order in which the surrender of Ottoman garrisons
(Hejaz, Assir, Yemen, Syria, and Mesopotamia) occurred in October 1918
(Mudros Armistice); indeed the Treaty of Lausanne referred to it all as Syria. But to be more accurate, in 1918, the territories of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip
(everything from the Jordan River, west to the Mediterranean Sea) was actually govern either under the Vilayet of Beirut
(including the Sanjuk of Acre and Sanjuk Balqa) --- or --- by the Independent Sanjuk of Jerusalem
(which would have encompassed the West Bank and Gaza Strip).
While Arabs worked inside the government as civil servants, the principle executive decisions were beyond local government and the hand of local Arabs.
After 30 years Britain had still not established a functioning government.
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And even today, the pro-Palestinians and the Islamic Resistance still blame the Mandatory (UK) for the lack in establishing self-government. But that is just the childish notion that "everything wrong is someone else's fault
(the perpetual victim). However, the Arab Palestinians and the Arab League were just as much at fault for any failures (if not more) than were any missteps by the Mandatory were to account.
The Political History of Palestine under British Administration
A/AC.14/8 2 October 1947
Later in 1923, a third attempt was made to establish an institution through which the Arab population of Palestine could be brought into cooperation with the government. The mandatory Power now proposed “the establishment of an Arab Agency in Palestine which will occupy a position exactly analogous to that accorded to the Jewish Agency”. The Arab Agency would have the right to be consulted on all matters relating to immigration, on which it was recognised that “the views of the Arab community were entitled to special consideration”. The Arab leaders declined that this offer on the ground that it would not satisfy the aspirations of the Arab people. They added that, never having recognised the status of the Jewish Agency, they had no desire for the establishment of an Arab Agency on the same basis.
“The British Government desired to establish a self-government in Palestine, but to proceed in this direction by stages…. It had been announced that the nominated Advisory Council was to be the first stage. The second stage would have been a Legislative Council without an Arab majority. If this worked satisfactorily, the third stage, after a lapse of perhaps same years, would have been a constitution on more democratic lines.”
In practice it proved impossible even to initiate this policy of gradual constitutional development. From 1922 until the present day, the High Commissioner has governed Palestine with the aid of Councils consisting exclusively of British officials.
Even in the very early years of the Mandate Period, there were emerging powerful Arab interests, internal and external to Palestine, defying any attempt for the Mandate to be successful in accomplishing the
San Remo intent or honor the
Faisal-Weizmann Agreement pertaining to "the consummation of their national aspirations."
Most Respectfully,
R