First Declaration of Independence of the State of Palestine - 1948 *
By virtue of the natural and historical right of the Palestinian Arab people to
freedom and independence, which sacred right was sacrificed for with blood,
defended by noble martyrs, preserved against encroachment by Zionist and colonial
powers, we, members of the Palestine National Council, which is meeting in Ghazzat
Hashim I on this twenty-eighth of Dhu'l-Qa'da 1367 A.H., corresponding to the first
of October 1948 A.D., hereby declare the full and complete independence of all
Palestine, which is bordered by Syria and Lebanon to the north, Syria and the East
Bank of Jordan to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and Egypt to the
south. [It will be] a free, democratic, and sovereign state in which all citizens will
exercise their freedom and rights, and it will join its sister Arab states in building
the Arab heritage and serving human civilization. We shall be guided by the values
of our nation and its glorious history, and are determined to preserve and defend our
independence.
Almighty God has spoken the truth.
Signed
[Signatures of 65 Palestinian representatives]
Palestine Yearbook of International Law, 4 (1987-88), 294-96.