P F Tinmore,
et al,
The concept behind the rights of "self-determination" and "national sovereignty" are not unique to the Arab or the Arab Palestinian. The concept is universally applicable to every cultural under the theory. And theoretically, it is part of the "natural law"
(is a system of law that is determined by nature, and so is universal) behind humanity; applied to theories of ethics, theories of politics, theories of civil law, and theories of religious morality. (
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Key Features of Natural Law Theories
- Natural law and divine providence
- Natural law and practical rationality
- The substance of the natural law view
- Paradigmatic and nonparadigmatic natural law theories
- Theoretical Options for Natural Law Theorists
- Natural goodness
- Knowledge of the basic goods
- The catalog of basic goods
- From the good to the right
Rocco,
The wording suggests that the Palestinians already had these rights before 1974.
At what point in time and under what circumstances did the Palestinians gain these rights?
(COMMENT)
The question, asks for qualities that arguably apply to the subject. In this case, you are essentially asking:
- At what point did the concepts of "self-determination and sovereignty" (Natural Law) as theoretical constructs of jurisprudence, based on morality and ethics apply to the Palestinian?
This goes back to the capacity of the Arab Palestinian to independently derive and comprehend what the qualities of "self-determination and sovereignty" are and mean, relative to their culture. Quite clearly, prior to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Arab-Palestinian was not implementing any of the qualities associated with "self-determination and sovereignty." The Sultan was the "sovereign" and there was no independent self-determination being exercised by the Arab Palestinian. While there were Arab leaders exercising various forms of "sovereignty" in the greater Middle East and Persian Gulf Regions, the influence of the Court of Sheiks (Sheik Sabah Kuwait), or the quasi-independent tribes under the banner of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud (House of Saud), did not have that reach in terms of political projection. However, the Sharif and Emir of Mecca (Hussein bin Ali) did have some influence over that portion of the region.
Essential to understanding what the Arab Palestinian had, or did not have, in terms of the theoretical constructs of jurisprudence forming the concepts of "self-determination and sovereignty" rest with the understanding that the Arab-Palestinian was under the influence of either:
- The Sultan
- The Sharif and Emir of Mecca
- The Court of Sheiks
- The House of Saud
Even later --- the Arab Higher Committee (AHC), originally formed by the Mandatory, was under the influence other than the Arab Palestinian. However, as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (Haj Amin al-Husseini) became prominent as a leader, it was he that gradually began to introduce the idea of independence for Palestine as an Arab state. The Grand Mufti, himself a former member of the Ottoman Armed Forces during WWI, actively opposed Zionism, and the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
(ANSWER)
While there were many embryonic Arab-Palestinian leaders that opposed Civil Administration by the Allied Powers, the experience Haj Amin al-Husseini gained in the service of the Ottoman Empire, and what he learned from the adjacent Arab Leaders
(Sheik Sabah, Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud, and Hussein bin Ali) was the first Arab Palestinian Leader that independently understood and promoted "self-determination and sovereignty"
(the Natural Law) for the Territorial Mandate as a separate Arab State. The ideas behind Haj Amin al-Husseini did not just mimic the position expressed by HRH the Emir Faisal
(acting on behalf of the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz), but went well beyond.
Most Respectfully,
R
