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Saturday, December 26, 2020

Palestine After WWI 1917 Part V

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

The Ottoman Empire Lost WWI which affected Palestine, one of their holdings.  The British were awarded three mandated territories, with one of Sharif Hussein's sons, Faisal, installed as King of Iraq and Transjordan providing a throne for another of Hussein's sons, Abdullah.                          

Mandatory Palestine was placed under direct British administration, and the Jewish population was allowed to increase, initially under British protection, as it was a decree that went along with the mandate, to help the Jews create their Jewish Homeland. The mandate was for 30 years.   Most of the Arabian peninsula fell to another British ally, Ibn Saud, who created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.                                               

 The name, Palestine-Palaestina, was the name the Romans gave to Israel after 70 CE when they burned down Jerusalem and its 2nd Temple of King Solomon.  The Jewish general Bar Kokhba had compiled an army by 132 CE when they took back Jerusalem and occupied it for 3 years until 135CE when the Romans took it back and Bar Kokhba was killed.  They selected that name as a reminder to the Jews of their most detested enemy, the Philistines.  Israel was attacked twice; once in 721 BCE by the Assyrians and again in 597-586 BCE by the Babylonians, so had Judea, the southern part, remaining after 538 BCE when Jews returned from Babylonia and rebuilt their Temple and lived there.                                              

Israel's War of Independence from 29 Nov. 1947-1949 when they were attacked 5 minutes after declaration. The Jordanian annexation of the West Bank occurred following the events of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, during which Transjordan occupied territory that had previously been part of Mandatory Palestine and had been earmarked by the UN General Assembly Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947 for an independent Arab state to be established there alongside a Jewish state mainly to its west. During the war, Jordan's Arab Legion took control of territory on the western side of the Jordan River, including the cities of JerichoBethlehemHebronNablus and eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City.  Following the end of hostilities, the area that remained under Jordanian control became known as the West Bank.

Jews were a remnant of their civilization after 135 CE but many returned in 5 groups called Aliyote from 1880 onward when the Ottoman Empire's tax collectors were there. Pogroms were going on and anti-Semitism was developing.   At the time of WWII and Hitler in the late 30s, they also fled to Palestine as their refuge, but were kept out by the British who held the 30 year mandate while they let in as many Arabs as came.  This was at the time when the British were told by the League of Nations to help the Jews to create their "Jewish Homeland."

                                               

Judea, the Roman name give to Judah in 63 BCE,  had been called Judah by the Jews.  It was where the tribe of Judah, the largest of the 12 tribes of Jacob,  was allocated land by Moses.  Jews of today get their name from Judah.  The northern tribes had been lost to them by the Assyrians, and were referred to as the 10 Lost Tribes.  

During WWI (1914-1917), Britain produced three contrasting, but feasibly compatible, statements regarding their ambitions for Palestine. 

1. Britain had supported, through British intelligence officer T. E. Lawrence (aka: Lawrence of Arabia), the establishment of a united Arab state covering a large area of the Arab Middle East in exchange for Arab support of the British during the war. (Led to Jordan, Syria).

2. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 encouraged Jewish ambitions for a national home. (Led to Israel). 

3. Lastly, the British promised via the Hussein–McMahon Correspondence that the Hashemite family would have lordship over most land in the region in return for their support in the Great Arab Revolt. (Led to Jordan).  

The British managed to surprise both the Jews and the Arabs, as each one thought they were getting the land.  

       1956 after the 7 day war against Israel 29 Oct.-5 Nov 56

The Arab Revolt, which was in part orchestrated by Lawrence, resulted in British forces under General Edmund Allenby defeating the Ottoman forces in 1917 in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and occupying Palestine and Syria. The land was administered by the British for the remainder of the war.

The United Kingdom was granted control of Palestine by the Versailles Peace Conference which established the League of Nations in 1919. Herbert Samuel, a former Postmaster General in the British cabinet who was instrumental in drafting the Balfour Declaration, was appointed the first High Commissioner in Palestine. He happened to be Jewish.  In 1920 at the San Remo conference, in Italy, the League of Nations mandate over Palestine was assigned to Britain. In 1923 Britain transferred a part of the Golan Heights to the French Mandate of Syria, in exchange for the Metula region.

Israel was created and accepted on May 14, 1948.  It was attacked by the Arabs 5 minutes later after their radio announcement.  

                                                 


The Six Day War occurred in June from the 6th to the 11th, 1967.  All the neighbors of Israel and more had attacked her with the nudging coming from Russia.  What the outcome was, which had never occurred to the Arabs, was that Israel won against these extreme odds.  The outcome was to her benefit in many ways;  one being she won back the West Bank, land Jordan was illegally holding, and was able to see that part of Jerusalem held from her.  Syria was very aggressive, with their army in the Golan Heights, shelling Israeli villages in the Jordan Valley below.  They had tried to divert the Jordan River to deprive Israel of water.  USSR, Egypt and Syria escalated which started the war.  The UN emergency Force had been between Israel and Egypt for 10 years previously. On 25th of May 1965, Nasser published a statement jointly with President Aref of Iraq:  "THE ARAB NATIONAL AIM IS THE ELIMINATION OF ISRAEL."

Professor Kontorovich defends Israel's position on Judea and Samaria .  (Professor Eugene Kontorovich is the head of the international law department of the Kohelet Policy Forum and a fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He teaches at the Law Faculty of Northwestern University. Born in Ukraine, Professor Kontorovich spent most of his adult life in the United States. Several years ago, he moved to Israel with his family.)

 The question that should be asked is: What were the borders of Israel when it was first established? What defines this is the borders at the moment of independence. Israel was created, like most countries, after a successful war where no one came to its aid. In international law, there is a clear rule regarding the establishment of new countries: the country’s borders are determined in accordance with the borders of the previous political entity in that area. So what was here before? The British Mandate. And what were the borders of the British Mandate? From the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.  

Jordan had taken the land west of the Jordan River illegally.  The Jordanian annexation of the West Bank occurred following the events of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, during which Transjordan occupied territory that had previously been part of Mandatory Palestine and had been earmarked by the UN General Assembly Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947 for an independent Arab state to be established there alongside a Jewish state mainly to its west. During the war, Jordan's Arab Legion took control of territory on the western side of the Jordan River, including the cities of JerichoBethlehemHebronNablus and eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City. Following the end of hostilities, the area that remained under Jordanian control became known as the West Bank.

Kontorovich said, "In international law, a people has the right to self-determination, but that does not mean an independent state. There are thousands of ethnic groups around the world that want an independent state – Catalans, Kurds, or the Tamils in Sri Lanka. International law has told each one of them, “no.” The Catalans have the right to vote, but the Spanish government can more or less do whatever it wants to them. It can tax them, decide that their elections are not legal, and dissolve their government. We, on the other hand, can’t do that in Area A [of the Palestinian Authority]. Our involvement in Area A is only security, and that’s completely legitimate. We don’t tax them. We only collect taxes for them, which happens in many other places around the world. It’s for sure not “ruling over them.” 

                 The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has a land area of 5,640 km2 (2,177.616 sq miles) plus a water area of 220 km2, consisting of the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea.        

               Israel has 8,550 sq. miles of land. 

Israel, a Middle Eastern country on the Mediterranean Sea, is regarded by Jews, Christians and Muslims as the biblical Holy Land. Its most sacred sites are in Jerusalem. Within its Old City, the Temple Mount complex includes the Dome of the Rock shrine, the historic Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Israel's financial hub, Tel Aviv, is known for its Bauhaus architecture and beaches.

 ―Israel's area is approximately 20,770 km2 (8,019 sq mi), which includes 445 km2 (172 sq mi) of inland water. Israel stretches 424 km (263 mi) from north to south, and its width ranges from 114 km (71 mi) to, at its narrowest point, 15 km (9.3 mi). It has an Exclusive Economic Zone of 26,352 km2 (10,175 sq mi).

Areas A,B,C  came out of Oslo II Accords

  A=Palestine authority of civil and security

  B=Both: PA has civil control and Israel with PA has security

  C=Israel Authority with security and construction

Oslo II created the Areas A, B and C in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority was given some limited powers and responsibilities in the Areas A and B and a prospect of negotiations on a final settlement based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. The Accord was officially signed on 28 September 1995.  There are 242 Israeli town and cities and civilian land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the Golan Heights, and 29 in East Jerusalem.  

Golan Heights is now a part of Israel. Israel maintains it has a right to retain the Golan, also citing the text of UN Resolution 242, which calls for "safe and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force". Jerusalem is united as one  city.  

I note:  Out of the original Palestine of 120,466 Sq km, thought to become the

 Jewish Homeland, we Jews finally got 22,144.4 sq km.  This was after losing

 77% of the land promised to have it giving to Abdullah from Arabia.  


Resource:

Facts About Israel-1973, Division of Information, Ministry for foreign affairs, Jerusalem

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://jcpa.org/why-israeli-rule-in-the-west-bank-is-legal-under-international-law/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Israel

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