P F Tinmore,
et al,
Well, you have part of it correct.
That is correct. Palestinian land was never up for grabs.
(COMMENT)
Agreed.
Neither the LoN, the mandate, nor the UN ever annexed that land. It was merely held in trust. None of them had the authority to transfer any of that land to Israel and none of them did.
(COMMENT)
Partly correct. True - annexation
(formal act whereby a state proclaims its sovereignty over territory) was not part of the
Treaty of Sevres. But the Treaty did hand the Allied Powers territorial control
(all rights and title which she could claim on any ground over or concerning any territories outside Europe) to the Allied Powers pursuant to Articles 97 and 132 of the Treaty.
This, of course, included the rights and title which she could claim on any ground over or concerning any territories covered in Section VII, over Syria, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, to be provisionally recognised as independent States subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone.
It is NOT correct to say that the Allied Powers "none of them had the authority to transfer any of that land to Israel." The Treaty included a clause for the establishment in Palestine, within such boundaries as may be determined by the Principal Allied Powers, of a national home for the Jewish people
(not further specified). The determination of which independent states were created and when they were able to stand alone, was left to the discretion of the Allied Powers.
(COMMENT)
Again, only partly true. The UN offered the opportunity for the Jewish People to establish an independent state under the authority of
UN General Assembly Resolution 181(II); which the Jewish Agency accepted. Within hours of the Jewish Agency exercising their right of self-determination, in accordance with the UN offer, and the intent of the treaty, the newly formed State of Israel had to defend itself against the hostile external influences (five Arab Armies); which it did so successfully. At the very least, the State of Israel won its independence under the terms of the agreement and secured the allotted territory. Israel actually, as a result of military successes against Arab Aggressors, acquired additional territorial control.
The phrase "win any land in the 1948 war" is paradoxical. Israel successfully defended its independence. The phrase is more applicable to the Arab League aggressors in the reverse context: The "Arab League intervention resulted in a lost of Arab controlled territory."
Foreigners declared Israel on Palestinian land and to this date Israel has never legally acquired any land.
(COMMENT)
Palestine was never acquired by the Arab Palestinians until 1988.
It is not as confusing as you try to make it.
(COMMENT)
It is not. I contend that it is you that attempt to make it confusing. If anything, the reverse is true: The enemy population (Arabs) never declared properly exercised self-determination on Mandate Territory controlled by treaty.
Most Respectfully,
R