[roadcat #39] Present day Israel is only a fraction of the originally mandated land for the nation of Israel. Nearby land surrounding Israel is unlawfully occupied by non-Jews.[woodpusher #44] Whatever law could you be talking about? Could you quote that law? Something can't be unlawful unless there is an applicable law.
[roadcat #46] Right back at you. A declaration is not a law, and Israel was cheated out of the mandate, but created by war when the neighboring arabs invaded the newly created nation. Much of TransJordan was promised to Israel by the Balfour Declaration but usurped by the arabs. The war made Israel a legal nation, recognized under law.
You said Israel is unlawfully occupied. You replied that "A declaration is not a law...." Yeah, I know. Which has nothing to do with Israel being unlawfully occupied.
The Balfour Declaration was simply a private letter from Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration
The BALFOUR DECLARATION of 1917
Foreign Office
November 2nd, 1917.Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, 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”.I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
/s/ Arthur James Balfour
Seriously, a British lord stating "His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people," creates a right to possession of land that does not belong to the British? The British lord had no authority to give the land to anybody. Palestine was still part of the Ottoman Empire when the Balfour Declaration was written.
The Mandate for Palestine was issued in 1922, and it was not issued on the authority of a British lord, and did not assign all of Palestine to the Jewish people to form a state.
Much of TransJordan was promised to Israel by the Balfour Declaration but usurped by the arabs.
Have you ever read the Balfour Declaration that I quoted, in full, above?
Please quote the part that you claim promised much of Trans-Jordan to Israel. Israel did not then exist.
The war made Israel a legal nation, recognized under law.
Can I have some of what you are smoking? Israel declared independence, and two hours later the United States formally recognized the State of Israel and established diplomatic relations. Before any war, Israel was a recognized nation state. Not only that, they had a fully equipped army. If Israel fought a war for independence, who did Israel become independent from?
Britain went bankrupt during World War I. They reached out to Lord Rothschild for help. And near the end of the war, Lord Balfour wrote a letter to Lord Rothschild which has been inflated into the Balfour Declaration. The only declaration was, "His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people...." Apparently, when His Majesty's Government view with favor, that is a contractual binding and enforceable guarantee for land that has never belonged to the British empire.
As for Israel being unlawfully occupied, your attention is invited to the undeniable fact that it is Israel which is officially unlawfully occupying Palestinian territory.
https://news.un.org/en/tags/occupied-palestinian-territory
Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory illegal: UN rights commission20 October 2022
Human Rights
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful under international law due to its permanence and the Israeli government’s de facto annexation policies, a UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry said in its first report, published on Thursday.
International law, as conveyed by the United Nations, is clear.
June 1922 The Partition of the Palestine Mandate
https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/Cmd5479.pdf
The Palestine Royal (Peel) Commission Report Cmd. 5479 (pg 38)
(3) The field in which the Jewish National Home was to be established was understood, at the time of the Balfour Declaraion, to be the whole of historic Palestine, and the Zionists were seriously disappointed when Trans-Jordan was cut away from that field under Article 25. This was done, as has been seen, in obedience to the McMahon Pledge, which was antecedent to the Balfour Declaration.
1915-1916 The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence
The McMahon–Hussein Correspondence is a series of letters that were exchanged during World War I in which the Government of the United Kingdom agreed to recognize Arab independence in a large region after the war in exchange for the Sharif of Mecca launching the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
It was Arabs who fought to liberate Palestine from the Turkish Ottoman Empire and were promised the land.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666887/
League of Nations
Mandate for Palestine
And Memorandum by the British Government Relating to its Application to Trans-Jordan, Approved by the Council of the League of Nations on September 16th, 1922.
Title Page plus six pages each English and French.
MANDATE FOR PALESTINEWhereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed, for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, to entrust to a Mandatory selected by the said Powers the administration of the territory of Palestine, which formerly belonged to the Turkish Empire, within such boundaries as may be fixed by them; and
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might 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; and
Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstructing their national home in that country; and
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have selected His Britannic Majesty as the Mandatory for Palestine; and
Whereas the mandate in respect of Palestine has been formulated in the following terms and submitted to the Council of the League for approval; and
Whereas by the afore-mentioned Article 22, (paragraph 8) it is provided that the degree of authority, control or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory, not having been previously agreed upon by the Members of the League, shall be explicitly defined by the Council of the League of Nations;
Confirming the said mandate, defines its terms as follows:
Article 1
The Mandatory shall have full powers of legislation, save as they may be limited by the terms of this mandate.
Article 2
The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as wll secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of raqce and religion
Article 3
The Mandatory shall, so far as circumstances permit, encourage local autonomy.
[...]
Article 25
In the territories lying between the Jordan and the eastern boundary of Palestine as ultimately determined, the Mandatory whall be entitled, with the consent of the Council of te League of Nations, to postpone or withhold application of such provisions of this mandate as he may consider inapplicable to the existing local conditions, and to make such provision for the administration of the territories as he may consider suitable to those conditions, provided that no action shall be taken which is inconsistent with the provisions of Articles 15, 16 and 18.
The cited Article 15, 16 and 18:
Article 15The Mandatory shall see that complete freedom of conscience and the free exercise of all forms of worship, subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals, are ensured to all. No discrimination of any kind shall be made between the inhabitants of Palestine on the ground of race, religion or language. No person shall be excluded from Palestine on the sole ground of his religious belief.
The right of each community to maintain its own schools for the education of its own members in its own language, while conforming to such educational requirements of a general nature as the Administration may impose, shall not be denied or impaired.
Article 16
The Mandatory shall be responsible for exercising such supervision over religious or eleemosynary bodies of all faiths in Palestine as may be required for the maintenance of public order and good government. Subject to such supervision, no measures shall be taken in Palestine to obstruct or interfere with the enterprise of such bodies or to discriminate against any representative or member of them on the ground of his religion or nationality.
Article 18
The Mandatory shall see that there is no discrimination in Palestine against the nationals of any State Member of the League of Nations (including companies incorporated under its laws) as compared with those of the Mandatory or of any foreign State in matters concerning taxation, commerce or navigation, the exercise of industries or professions, or in the treatment of merchant vessels or civil aircraft. Similarly, there shall be no discrimination in Palestine against goods originating in or destined for any of the said States, and there shall be freedom of transit under equitable conditions across the mandated area.
Subject as aforesaid and to the other provisions of this mandate, the Administration of Palestine may, on the advice of the Mandatory, impose such taxes and customs duties as it may consider necessary, and take such steps as it may think best to promote the development of the natural resources of the country and to safeguard the interests of the population. It may also, on the advice of the Mandatory, conclude a special customs agreement with any State the territory of which in 1914 was wholly included in Asiatic Turkey or Arabia.