Whether we talk about the Balfour Declaration (1917), The Agreement with HRH the Arab King of Hejaz (1919), The San Remo Agreement (1920), The Treaty of Sevres (1920), The Mandate for Palestine (1922), The Covenant of the League of Nations (1924), or the General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) on the Future government of Palestine (1947), there is no country of Palestine. The State of Palestine is not recognized until 2012 (and then only tentatively). On the other hand, each of the preceding documents show a very clear intention; to encourage immigration of the Jewish people and to establish a Jewish National Home.
The people we called today Palestinian, were subjects of the Ottoman Empire and not of the own sovereignty. Under the Treaty of Sevres, that sovereignty was relinquished to the Allied Powers; which placed it in Trust under the Mandate for the purposes agreed upon in the Balfour Declaration (1917), The Agreement with HRH the Arab King of Hejaz (1919), and The San Remo Agreement (1920).
The purpose of the land changed under new management.
The 1948-1949 War was based on the false premise that the Palestinian has some sovereign right over the control of the territory. [This should not to be confused with property rights (of the Arab) which were protected.] The Hostile Arab/Palestinian (HoAP) and Arab League (AL) coalition lost their bid for control of the newly declared State of Israel after they openly attacked in concert.
Like you, the HoAP and AL believed that they had some superior right over and above the conditions set by the International Community and the Allied Powers in the Balfour Declaration (1917), The Agreement with HRH the Arab King of Hejaz (1919), The San Remo Agreement (1920), The Treaty of Sevres (1920), The Mandate for Palestine (1922), The Covenant of the League of Nations (1924), or the General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) on the Future government of Palestine (1947). The HoAP and AL chose to invade.
Yes, the Israelis were on the defense and the HoAP/AL were the offensive aggressors challenging the decisions made under Treaty and Law.
It is plain and simple. The HoAP/AL, not getting what they wanted, like little children, went to war. And, decades later, after several schoolyard fights, unable to achieve their desired goals thought armed conflict, only now want to invoke some international law.
Go back to the original intent.
Most Respectfully,
R
Lack of sovereignty at a particular point in time is not evidence of no desire to have such. In 1948, this was a fact in large parts of the world, including most of Africa, large parts of Asia, the various Soviet "republics", and elsewhere. The essential point was that a community existed in Palestine, had for generations, and the inhabitants considered it home. The fact that they were out-gunned by the Ottomans, and later the British, and later still the Jews, does not mean they don't count. Under this logic, Americans should have never been awarded independence, because they were not a sovereign entity, merely British people acting out a political frustration.
The Balfour Declaration was simply a rather desperate attempt of the British, then at a crisis point in WW1, to enlist the support of anyone and everyone that might be of the slightest value to them. They made similar promises to the Arabs.
As for who were being defensive, and who were being children, the truth is a little more mixed. Violence reached a high point in 1948,
as Jewish settlers realized they were going to need more land to make a viable state. The UN plan would have made for almost indefensible borders, and so in the turmoil, an opportuntiy presented itself: chuck out as many Arabs as possible, and have some "facts on the ground" at independence. And they did, a fact no longer in dispute by even leading Israeli academics.
The Arab intervention was a reaction to the violence and murder going on, as much as it was to the idea of the establishment of the Jewish state. There is no surprise here; it would have been the same in any part of the world. The US and Nato did essentially the same thing in the Balkans a few years back. Neither side there were saints, but the human toll was just too much. What the Arab states wanted was order, and end to the conflict, and a fair settlement between Palestinian and Jew. Not that childish when you think about it.
