P F Tinmore, et al,
I've heard this as well. This is a very false notion.
Yes they were. It was specified that the people would have citizenship in their respective states.
As the citizens of defined territories they would have the standard list of rights: self determination, independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity as affirmed by subsequent UN resolutions.
(COMMENT)
Prior to the post conflict period of 1967, the government of the territory to which the Mandate for Palestine applied was the British Mandatory. And all these Arab Palestinians became citizens of the Territory under the 1925 Palestine Citizenship law.
History of UK Administration:
22. 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 opportunities, even in the early stage of the Mandate period, to participate inside the political process responsible for the development of self-governing institutions where rejected by the Arab Palestinians on numerous occasions. Over and over against, the Arab Palestinian was asked to participate; and each time the Arab Palestinian declined.
The Development of the Country, 1929-1936:
57. The need for economic development in Palestine was emphasised, in 1930, by the Permanent mandates Commission, by Sir John Hope-Simpson and by the Government of the mandatory Power. A Director of Development was appointed in the following year, and the Arab Executive and the Jewish Agency were each invited to nominate a representative to assist him in an advisory capacity. The Arab Executive declined to accept this invitation unless the Government would agree to their condition that development should not be based on the principles embodied in the Prime Minister’s letter to Dr. Weizmann.
The Arab Palestinians have absolutely no room to talk if the consistently declined to participate in the self-Governing process for more than 40 years. The Arab Palestinian demonstrated its faint interest in nation building in the beginning, and they still show how unproductive they are today,
Most Respectfully, R