Why is the 1920 San Remo Resolution for Israel being Ignored?
Growing up in France, I often went to Italy for summer vacations and I even remember driving through San Remo in the 1960's. Little did I know about the significance of such a small Italian town as it pertains to the history of Israel and the Jewish people.
San Remo is the location of a meeting that took place in 1920, just a couple of years after the end of the Great War of 1914-1918. What took place there was of seminal importance in the birth of the modern State of Israel, in some ways even more critical than the 1947 United Nations vote.
As we just finished celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day), it is crucial to understand that this celebration stands firm on the foundation of an international decision and that the Jewish people didn’t usurp the hegemony of the Palestinians in the Holy Land.
A key document in the establishment of modern Israel was of course the Balfour Declaration of 1917. But the declaration was simply a political document that Lord Balfour had penned out of his desire to see Jewish people return to their homeland. It wasn’t even an internationally signed document and certainly had no legal clout. It was rather simple, yet it set the stage for history to be written as the bulk of it demonstrates: “His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of the 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”.
In a sense, the Balfour Declaration was a catalyst in the birth of modern Israel.
At the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, France, the United States, Great-Britain, Italy and Japan were faced with some major territorial decisions to make as the Ottoman Empire had just come to its end and its geographical boundaries were in need of being newly apportioned. The League of Nations was borne out of the Paris Peace Conference but the task of dividing the land remained unresolved as time ran out.
In the spring of 1920, the leaders of France, Great-Britain, Italy, Japan (and the United States as observers only), constituting the post World War I Supreme Council decided to meet in Villa Devachan is San Remo, Italy. What went on at that time was closely linked to the recent fall of the Ottoman Empire, that had occurred within a few years after the war. It was the follow-up to the Paris Conference. Already Turkey had been born and so were many Balkan and Middle East states. Several geographical areas that were originally Ottoman-ruled were put under the jurisdiction of France and Britain. Syria/Lebanon was under French authority while Jordan and Palestine ended up under British authority. Part of the San Remo Resolution clearly stated the intentions to make Palestine a legal Jewish homeland (note the extreme similarities between Balfour and San Remo): The High Contracting Parties agree to entrust, by application of the provisions of Article 22, the administration of Palestine, within such boundaries as may be determined by the Principal Allied Powers, to a Mandatory, to be selected by the said Powers. The Mandatory will be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 8, 1917, by the British Government, and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, 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.
To make a long story short, the San Remo Resolution created a legal precedent for Palestine to be restored as the national Jewish homeland.What took place in 1947 at the United Nations General Assembly was really a recognition or validation of the San Remo Resolution of 1920. Palestine back in the 1920's and even in 1947 was nothing but the name give to Eretz Yisrael at a time when all Arabs had various respective countries to live in, but Jews were without a land.
I cannot help but think of the different outcome we would have witnessed if Israel had been reborn out of the San Remo Conference of 1920 instead of 1948. Israel’s right to self-determination was agreed upon 94 years ago and shouldn’t be put in question, yet G-d remains sovereign over all. Of course, much water has gone under that bridge since and history appears different today. But the reason why it appears different is because the agenda for Israel’s destruction has been pushed harder since the mid 60s. Palestine is no longer just the name of a geographical area to be restituted to the Jewish people but it has been made into a country with displaced people painted as the sole victims of the Middle East conflict.
What took place in San Remo in 1920 made Israel’s right to exist into an international legally binding and unavoidable documented fact. Additionally, the Bible is replete with references to the Land of Israel (never Palestine) being given to the Jewish people by God in places like Genesis 12:7, 13:15, 15:18, 17:7-8, 25:5-6, 26:3, 28:3-4 Exodus 2:24, Deuteronomy 1:8, 7:7-9, Leviticus 25:23, Psalm 89:30-37, Jeremiah 31:35-37 and Ezekiel 37:11-12 among many others.
Unfortunately, today when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people, fact-finding is the last thing that people are interested in!
Happy Birthday Yisrael! You are not 72, not even 101 but well over 3,000 years old.
Am Yisrael Chai!
See San Remo Resolution, Appendix C, para. (c).
An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognized as a public body for the purpose of advising and co-operating with the Administration of Palestine: in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the Administration, to assist and take part in "the development of the country". The Zionist organization, so long as its organization and constitution are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognized as such agency.
So while the Preamble states that it is "clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine", the political authority was explicitly vested in the Jewish people, with the ultimate objective of the establishment of the Jewish national home. The language of the Mandate persistently refers specifically to the reconstituted "national home" for the Jewish people.
Although the Jewish people were part of the indigenous population of Palestine for over 3700 years, the majority of them at that time were not living in the Land. At the same time, while the civil and religious rights of the Arab and other inhabitants were safeguarded, including voting rights, no sovereign political rights were assigned to them. (It is of significance that the Mandate did not distinguish these non-Jewish inhabitants similarly as "a people" or as lacking a "national home".)
Thus the Mandate for Palestine differed significantly from those established for the other former Ottoman Asiatic territories, setting out how the Land was to be settled by the Jewish people in preparation for their forming a viable nation within all the territory then known as "Palestine". The unique obligations of the Mandatory to the Jewish people in respect of the establishment of their national home in Palestine thus gave a sui generis (one of a kind, unique) character to the Mandate for Palestine aka Greater Israel.
It is also important to note that, pursuant to Article 5 of the Mandate:
No Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of the non-Jewish government of any people or foreign Power.
So having considered the claims, deliberated and reached a decision, the parties to the 1920 San Remo Conference produced binding resolutions relating to the recognition of claims to the Ottoman territories presented in Paris by the Jews and the Arabs. These members of the Supreme Council thus reached an agreement that had the force of a legally binding decision of the Powers with the right to dispose of the territories in question which included Arab territories in Syria and Lebanon, also Mesopotamia aka Iraq.
Accordingly, the Principal Allied Powers decisions, in conformity with the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, decided to entrust to Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine aka Greater Israel which involved a "sacred trust of civilization" in respect of "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people", thus confirming the decision made a few months earlier by these same Powers at a conference in London in February of that year.
The decision made in San Remo was a watershed moment in the history of the Jewish people - a major turning-point, Jews who had been a people without a permanent home for some two thousand years. From the perspective of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the newly formed Zionist Organization and later to become the first President of the State of Israel, the decision made relating to the destiny of Palestine at the San Remo sessions of the Paris Peace Conference was a turning point in the history of the Jewish people. In Weizmann’s own words:
Recognition of our rights in Palestine is embodied in the treaty with Turkey, and has become part of international law. This is the most momentous political event in the whole history of our movement, and it is, perhaps, no exaggeration to say in the whole history of our people since the Exile. For this great declaration of deliverance we have to thank the Allied and Associated Powers.
To the Zionist Organization of America, the decision of the Supreme Council of the Principal Allied Powers "crowned the British declaration by enacting it as part of the law of nations of the world".
There are a number of points that should be noted concerning the 1920 San Remo decision.
1. For the first time in modern history, Palestine became a legal entity. Hitherto; for many centuries it had been just a geographical area.
2. All relevant agreements prior to the 1920 San Remo Conference were superseded. (Although not all specifically named at the Conference, this would include both the Sykes-Picot agreement and the Feisal-Weizmann agreement.)
3. The Balfour Declaration, which had been given recognition by many Powers prior to 1920 San Remo, achieved international legal status by being incorporated into the agreement.
4. “Jewish people" were designated as the exclusive beneficiaries of a sacred trust in the Mandate for Palestine, the first step on the road leading to national sovereignty of the Jewish people, even though a substantial number of the Jews had not yet returned to their Land.
5. Hence forward, transfer of the title on Palestine could not be revoked or modified, either by the League of Nations or the United Nations as its successor, unless the Jewish people should choose to give up their title only by mutual valid agreement.
6. The San Remo decisions were incorporated into the Treaty of Sèvres, signed on 10 August 1920 by, inter alia, the four Principal Powers and Turkey. [Note: Although the treaty was never ratified by Turkey (non-the-less by the 4 Principal executing it, it obligated them to abide by those terms as it relate to Palestine, additionally the same parties (including Turkey) did sign and ratify the superseding Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
7. The Arabs gained even greater rights in Lebanon, Syria and Mesopotamia, as they were considered ready, or near ready, for autonomy.
8. The San Remo decision marks the end of the longest colonized period in history, lasting around 1,800 years in Palestine.
With reference to the historic connection of the Jews with Palestine, as recognized in the Mandate, Churchill wrote in his White Paper of 1922, after reneging on the complete territory of Palestine for the Jewish people and allocating over three quarters of the Jewish territory to set-up an Arab State of Trans-Jordan, shortly before the Mandate’s adoption by the League of Nations:
…it is essential that [the Jewish community in Palestine] should know that it is in Palestine as of right and not on sufferance. That is the reason why it is necessary that the existence of a Jewish National Home in all of Palestine should be internationally guaranteed, and that it should be formally recognized to rest upon ancient historic connection.
An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognized as a public body for the purpose of advising and co-operating with the Administration of Palestine: in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the Administration, to assist and take part in "the development of the country". The Zionist organization, so long as its organization and constitution are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognized as such agency.
So while the Preamble states that it is "clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine", the political authority was explicitly vested in the Jewish people, with the ultimate objective of the establishment of the Jewish national home. The language of the Mandate persistently refers specifically to the reconstituted "national home" for the Jewish people.
Although the Jewish people were part of the indigenous population of Palestine for over 3700 years, the majority of them at that time were not living in the Land. At the same time, while the civil and religious rights of the Arab and other inhabitants were safeguarded, including voting rights, no sovereign political rights were assigned to them. (It is of significance that the Mandate did not distinguish these non-Jewish inhabitants similarly as "a people" or as lacking a "national home".)
Thus the Mandate for Palestine differed significantly from those established for the other former Ottoman Asiatic territories, setting out how the Land was to be settled by the Jewish people in preparation for their forming a viable nation within all the territory then known as "Palestine". The unique obligations of the Mandatory to the Jewish people in respect of the establishment of their national home in Palestine thus gave a sui generis (one of a kind, unique) character to the Mandate for Palestine aka Greater Israel.
It is also important to note that, pursuant to Article 5 of the Mandate:
No Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of the non-Jewish government of any people or foreign Power.
So having considered the claims, deliberated and reached a decision, the parties to the 1920 San Remo Conference produced binding resolutions relating to the recognition of claims to the Ottoman territories presented in Paris by the Jews and the Arabs. These members of the Supreme Council thus reached an agreement that had the force of a legally binding decision of the Powers with the right to dispose of the territories in question which included Arab territories in Syria and Lebanon, also Mesopotamia aka Iraq.
Accordingly, the Principal Allied Powers decisions, in conformity with the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, decided to entrust to Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine aka Greater Israel which involved a "sacred trust of civilization" in respect of "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people", thus confirming the decision made a few months earlier by these same Powers at a conference in London in February of that year.
The decision made in San Remo was a watershed moment in the history of the Jewish people - a major turning-point, Jews who had been a people without a permanent home for some two thousand years. From the perspective of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the newly formed Zionist Organization and later to become the first President of the State of Israel, the decision made relating to the destiny of Palestine at the San Remo sessions of the Paris Peace Conference was a turning point in the history of the Jewish people. In Weizmann’s own words:
Recognition of our rights in Palestine is embodied in the treaty with Turkey, and has become part of international law. This is the most momentous political event in the whole history of our movement, and it is, perhaps, no exaggeration to say in the whole history of our people since the Exile. For this great declaration of deliverance we have to thank the Allied and Associated Powers.
To the Zionist Organization of America, the decision of the Supreme Council of the Principal Allied Powers "crowned the British declaration by enacting it as part of the law of nations of the world".
There are a number of points that should be noted concerning the 1920 San Remo decision.
1. For the first time in modern history, Palestine became a legal entity. Hitherto; for many centuries it had been just a geographical area.
2. All relevant agreements prior to the 1920 San Remo Conference were superseded. (Although not all specifically named at the Conference, this would include both the Sykes-Picot agreement and the Feisal-Weizmann agreement.)
3. The Balfour Declaration, which had been given recognition by many Powers prior to 1920 San Remo, achieved international legal status by being incorporated into the agreement.
4. “Jewish people" were designated as the exclusive beneficiaries of a sacred trust in the Mandate for Palestine, the first step on the road leading to national sovereignty of the Jewish people, even though a substantial number of the Jews had not yet returned to their Land.
5. Hence forward, transfer of the title on Palestine could not be revoked or modified, either by the League of Nations or the United Nations as its successor, unless the Jewish people should choose to give up their title only by mutual valid agreement.
6. The San Remo decisions were incorporated into the Treaty of Sèvres, signed on 10 August 1920 by, inter alia, the four Principal Powers and Turkey. [Note: Although the treaty was never ratified by Turkey (non-the-less by the 4 Principal executing it, it obligated them to abide by those terms as it relate to Palestine, additionally the same parties (including Turkey) did sign and ratify the superseding Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
7. The Arabs gained even greater rights in Lebanon, Syria and Mesopotamia, as they were considered ready, or near ready, for autonomy.
8. The San Remo decision marks the end of the longest colonized period in history, lasting around 1,800 years in Palestine.
With reference to the historic connection of the Jews with Palestine, as recognized in the Mandate, Churchill wrote in his White Paper of 1922, after reneging on the complete territory of Palestine for the Jewish people and allocating over three quarters of the Jewish territory to set-up an Arab State of Trans-Jordan, shortly before the Mandate’s adoption by the League of Nations:
…it is essential that [the Jewish community in Palestine] should know that it is in Palestine as of right and not on sufferance. That is the reason why it is necessary that the existence of a Jewish National Home in all of Palestine should be internationally guaranteed, and that it should be formally recognized to rest upon ancient historic connection.
YJ Israel Draiman ·
The Decision of the Principal Allied Powers Relating to the Mandate for Palestine - 1920 San Remo
The Allied Powers, assembled in San Remo to deliberate this and other submissions, recognized that not all areas of the Middle East were yet ready for full independence. So they agreed to set up Mandates for each territory, with one of the Allied Powers to be in charge of implementing each Mandate, respectively, "until such time as [the territories] are able to stand alone".
Initially three Mandates were assigned—one over both Syria and Lebanon, one over Mesopotamia (Iraq) and one over Palestine. In the first two Mandates, the native inhabitants were recognized as having the capacity to govern themselves, with the Mandatory Power merely serving to advise and facilitate the establishment of the necessary institutions of government. Accordingly, Article 1 of the Mandate for Mesopotamia states:
The Mandatory will frame within the shortest possible time, not exceeding three years from the date of the coming into force of this Mandate, an Organic Law for Mesopotamia. This Organic Law shall be framed in consultation with the native authorities, and shall take account of the rights, interests and wishes of all the populations inhabiting the mandated territory.
The language notably differed in the case of the Mandate for Palestine aka Israel, in which it was specifically stipulated in Article 4 that:
See San Remo Resolution, Appendix C, para. (c).
An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognized as a public body for the purpose of advising and co-operating with the Administration of Palestine: in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the Administration, to assist and take part in "the development of the country". The Zionist organization, so long as its organization and constitution are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognized as such agency.
So while the Preamble states that it is "clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine", the political authority was explicitly vested in the Jewish people, with the ultimate objective of the establishment of the Jewish national home. The language of the Mandate persistently refers specifically to the reconstituted "national home" for the Jewish people.
Although the Jewish people were part of the indigenous population of Palestine for over 3700 years, the majority of them at that time were not living in the Land. At the same time, while the civil and religious rights of the Arab and other inhabitants were safeguarded, including voting rights, no sovereign political rights were assigned to them. (It is of significance that the Mandate did not distinguish these non-Jewish inhabitants similarly as "a people" or as lacking a "national home".)
Thus the Mandate for Palestine differed significantly from those established for the other former Ottoman Asiatic territories, setting out how the Land was to be settled by the Jewish people in preparation for their forming a viable nation within all the territory then known as "Palestine". The unique obligations of the Mandatory to the Jewish people in respect of the establishment of their national home in Palestine thus gave a sui generis (one of a kind, unique) character to the Mandate for Palestine aka Greater Israel.
It is also important to note that, pursuant to Article 5 of the Mandate:
No Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of the non-Jewish government of any people or foreign Power.
So having considered the claims, deliberated and reached a decision, the parties to the 1920 San Remo Conference produced binding resolutions relating to the recognition of claims to the Ottoman territories presented in Paris by the Jews and the Arabs. These members of the Supreme Council thus reached an agreement that had the force of a legally binding decision of the Powers with the right to dispose of the territories in question which included Arab territories in Syria and Lebanon, also Mesopotamia aka Iraq.
Accordingly, the Principal Allied Powers decisions, in conformity with the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, decided to entrust to Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine aka Greater Israel which involved a "sacred trust of civilization" in respect of "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people", thus confirming the decision made a few months earlier by these same Powers at a conference in London in February of that year.
The decision made in San Remo was a watershed moment in the history of the Jewish people - a major turning-point, Jews who had been a people without a permanent home for some two thousand years. From the perspective of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the newly formed Zionist Organization and later to become the first President of the State of Israel, the decision made relating to the destiny of Palestine at the San Remo sessions of the Paris Peace Conference was a turning point in the history of the Jewish people. In Weizmann’s own words:
Recognition of our rights in Palestine is embodied in the treaty with Turkey, and has become part of international law. This is the most momentous political event in the whole history of our movement, and it is, perhaps, no exaggeration to say in the whole history of our people since the Exile. For this great declaration of deliverance we have to thank the Allied and Associated Powers.
To the Zionist Organization of America, the decision of the Supreme Council of the Principal Allied Powers "crowned the British declaration by enacting it as part of the law of nations of the world".
The Allied Powers, assembled in San Remo to deliberate this and other submissions, recognized that not all areas of the Middle East were yet ready for full independence. So they agreed to set up Mandates for each territory, with one of the Allied Powers to be in charge of implementing each Mandate, respectively, "until such time as [the territories] are able to stand alone".
Initially three Mandates were assigned—one over both Syria and Lebanon, one over Mesopotamia (Iraq) and one over Palestine. In the first two Mandates, the native inhabitants were recognized as having the capacity to govern themselves, with the Mandatory Power merely serving to advise and facilitate the establishment of the necessary institutions of government. Accordingly, Article 1 of the Mandate for Mesopotamia states:
The Mandatory will frame within the shortest possible time, not exceeding three years from the date of the coming into force of this Mandate, an Organic Law for Mesopotamia. This Organic Law shall be framed in consultation with the native authorities, and shall take account of the rights, interests and wishes of all the populations inhabiting the mandated territory.
The language notably differed in the case of the Mandate for Palestine aka Israel, in which it was specifically stipulated in Article 4 that:
See San Remo Resolution, Appendix C, para. (c).
An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognized as a public body for the purpose of advising and co-operating with the Administration of Palestine: in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the Administration, to assist and take part in "the development of the country". The Zionist organization, so long as its organization and constitution are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognized as such agency.
So while the Preamble states that it is "clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine", the political authority was explicitly vested in the Jewish people, with the ultimate objective of the establishment of the Jewish national home. The language of the Mandate persistently refers specifically to the reconstituted "national home" for the Jewish people.
Although the Jewish people were part of the indigenous population of Palestine for over 3700 years, the majority of them at that time were not living in the Land. At the same time, while the civil and religious rights of the Arab and other inhabitants were safeguarded, including voting rights, no sovereign political rights were assigned to them. (It is of significance that the Mandate did not distinguish these non-Jewish inhabitants similarly as "a people" or as lacking a "national home".)
Thus the Mandate for Palestine differed significantly from those established for the other former Ottoman Asiatic territories, setting out how the Land was to be settled by the Jewish people in preparation for their forming a viable nation within all the territory then known as "Palestine". The unique obligations of the Mandatory to the Jewish people in respect of the establishment of their national home in Palestine thus gave a sui generis (one of a kind, unique) character to the Mandate for Palestine aka Greater Israel.
It is also important to note that, pursuant to Article 5 of the Mandate:
No Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of the non-Jewish government of any people or foreign Power.
So having considered the claims, deliberated and reached a decision, the parties to the 1920 San Remo Conference produced binding resolutions relating to the recognition of claims to the Ottoman territories presented in Paris by the Jews and the Arabs. These members of the Supreme Council thus reached an agreement that had the force of a legally binding decision of the Powers with the right to dispose of the territories in question which included Arab territories in Syria and Lebanon, also Mesopotamia aka Iraq.
Accordingly, the Principal Allied Powers decisions, in conformity with the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, decided to entrust to Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine aka Greater Israel which involved a "sacred trust of civilization" in respect of "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people", thus confirming the decision made a few months earlier by these same Powers at a conference in London in February of that year.
The decision made in San Remo was a watershed moment in the history of the Jewish people - a major turning-point, Jews who had been a people without a permanent home for some two thousand years. From the perspective of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the newly formed Zionist Organization and later to become the first President of the State of Israel, the decision made relating to the destiny of Palestine at the San Remo sessions of the Paris Peace Conference was a turning point in the history of the Jewish people. In Weizmann’s own words:
Recognition of our rights in Palestine is embodied in the treaty with Turkey, and has become part of international law. This is the most momentous political event in the whole history of our movement, and it is, perhaps, no exaggeration to say in the whole history of our people since the Exile. For this great declaration of deliverance we have to thank the Allied and Associated Powers.
To the Zionist Organization of America, the decision of the Supreme Council of the Principal Allied Powers "crowned the British declaration by enacting it as part of the law of nations of the world".
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