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British Mandate....
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The Palestine Mandate was born out of the ambitions of
the British and their promises to the French, the Arabs
and the Zionists, as
set forth in the Balfour declaration, the Sykes Picot Agreement and the
McMahon Correspondence. The background is discussed extensively by David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the
Ottoman Empire and the
Creation of the Modern Middle East. |
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Al-Mufti Haj
Ameen Alhuseni
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The League Mandate system was tailored to match the
colonialist ambitions of the British and French in fact, while paying lip
service to the American wishful thinking about self-determination. In
accordance with the principles of the Balfour Declaration and Article 22 of
the League Covenant, the League of Nations drew up the Mandate for
Palestine. The document underwent several transformations.
Arab pressure and
riots in Palestine had brought about the
Churchill White Paper of 1922. At
this time, Britain detached all of the area east of the
Jordan river from
Palestine and gave it to the
Hashemi family as an independent Arab state.
Many historians believe that this was a sop to the Hashemites, who had lost
Syria to the French and Saudi Arabia to ibn Saud.
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While the Mandate was derived from the Balfour
Declaration and based on it, it amplified and interpreted the declaration
beyond the meaning of the original wording, perhaps unintentionally. In
particular, Article 6 reads:
ART. 6. The Administration of Palestine, while
ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population
are not prejudiced.
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It being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice
the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other
country. "While it could be possible to develop a Jewish national home while
respecting the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish
communities, it would be totally impossible to develop a Jewish national
home without prejudicing the position of the Arabs of
Palestine, who had been a majority and would
become a minority as the result of Jewish immigration. |
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