P F Tinmore,
et al,
I think we interpret the history differently.
The Palestine Mandate
The mandate was a monumental flop. Britain could never square the circle it had created. It was getting shot at from both sides. It left without ceding any land or sovereignty to the Zionists. Since the mandate was an administrative, not an ownership position, Palestine was not theirs to give away. Palestine still existed inside its international borders after the end of the mandate.
(COMMENT)
Yes, the British certainly didn't like the way the Arabs took to liberation, that is for sure. Nor did they appreciate the mounting terrorist pressure by the various Jewish activities.
BUT, Palestine is a name of a Region, not a country. No central Middle East nation of today was under its own control. The Western Alliances created these countries, as they exist today
(with the exception of Saudi Arabia).
- Egypt: Independence: 28 February 1922 (from UK protectorate status; the revolution that began on 23 July 1952 led to a republic being declared on 18 June 1953 and all British troops withdrawn on 18 June 1956)
- Iraq: Independence: 3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
- ***Israel: Independence: 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
- Jordan: Independence: 25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
- Lebanon: Independence: 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
- Saudi Arabia: Independence: 23 September 1932 (unification of the kingdom)
- Syria: Independence: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Israel's declaration of independence
Israel declared its independence from the mandate. Since the mandate was the administration of Palestine not the owner, there was nothing tangible that could be derived from that declaration. Israel did not claim any land or define any borders. Israel still has not done so.
(COMMENT)
It did define itself. You just decline to recognize the Application and Acceptance process. It is, by the way, the exact same process that the other Middle Eastern nations
(Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) used to declare their independence from their respective mandates.
You keep using words like "ownership." Let me make this as clear as I can make it. "Ownership" is a personal property term. It has absolutely nothing to do with national sovereignty or national boundaries.
Certainly none of the Middle Eastern Arab nations existed in the form they exist today before the 20th Century. Nearly all the Arab familiar lands had lost control of their respective territories to other more competent and advanced cultures.
The 1948 war
Israel claims That it was attacked by five Arab states, the Arabs lost, and Israel won land.
All three of those accounts are false.
(COMMENT)
Yes, and here again, you interpret the history that best suits your agenda. There is no question that Israel was attacked by the five newly formed Arab nations.
An Armistice was signed, and later broken. Yes, it is clear that you can split the hair and say that Israel did not win. But it still maintained control. So, possession is what it is. It was power to regulate its internal affairs without foreign interference. Israel had the power of the state to govern itself such as making laws, taxes, and treaties.
Israel doesn't claim it won the territory, it claims to have successfully defended its territory. There must have been some accuracy to that. On 11 May 1949, it was admitted to the UN after the UN acknowledged its creation.
Most Respectfully,
R