The Myth of the "Occupied" Territories

THE MYTH OF THE "OCCUPIED" TERRITORIES: SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

By Professor Louis Rene Beres

http://www.newswithviews.com/israel/israel16.htm (webite)

Media references to territories administered by Israel since the June 1967 war now routinely describe them as "occupied." Yet, this description conveniently overlooks the pertinent history of these lands, especially the authentic Israeli claims supported by international law, the unwitting manner in which West Bank and Gaza fell into Israel's hands after sustained Arab aggression and the overwhelming security considerations involved. Contrary to widely disseminated but wholly erroneous allegations; a sovereign State of Palestine did not exist before 1967 or 1948; a State of Palestine was not promised by authoritative UN Security Council Resolution 242; indeed, a State of Palestine has never existed.

<snip>

Significantly, however, a continuous chain of Jewish possession of the land was legally recognized after World War I at the San Remo Peace Conference of April 1920. There, a binding treaty was signed in which Great Britain was given mandatory authority over Palestine (the area had been ruled by the Ottoman Turks since 1516) to prepare it to become the "national home for the Jewish people." Palestine, according to the treaty, comprised territories encompassing what are now the state of Jordan and Israel, including West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza. Present day Israel, including West Bank and Gaza, comprises only twenty-two percent of Palestine as defined and ratified at the San Remo Peace Conference.

In 1922, Great Britain unilaterally and illegally split off 78 percent of the lands promised to the Jews -- all of Palestine east of the Jordan River -- and gave it to Abdullah, the non-Palestinian son of the Sharif of Mecca. Eastern Palestine now took the name Transjordan, which it retained until April 1949, when it was renamed as Jordan. From the moment of its creation, Transjordan was closed to all Jewish migration and settlement, a clear betrayal of the British promise in the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and a contravention of its Mandatory obligations. On July 20, 1951, a Palestinian Arab assassinated King Abdullah for his hostility to Palestinian aspirations and concerns.

<snip>

In 1967, almost twenty years after Israel's entry into the community of nations, the Jewish State -- as a result of its stunning military victory over Arab aggressor states -- gained unintended control over West Bank and Gaza. Although the idea of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war is enshrined in the UN Charter, there existed no authoritative sovereign to whom the territories could be "returned." Israel could hardly be expected to transfer the territories back to Jordan and Egypt, which had exercised unauthorized and generally cruel control since the Arab-initiated war of "extermination" in 1948-49. Moreover, the idea of Palestinian self-determination was only just beginning to emerge after the Six Day War, and was not even codified in UN Security Council Resolution 242, which was adopted on November 22, 1967. For their part, the Arab states convened a summit in Khartoum in August 1967, concluding: "No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it...."

<snip>


Any civil comments?

shorten it to 4 paragraphs and add webite.

1. add webite

http://www.newswithviews.com/israel/israel16.htm

2. cant copy more than 3 or 4 paragraphs of article
for copyright reasons.

youre really NOT going to like.

it has to be based on RECENT article or op-ed.

If lithos is on that usually means 60 days.
if kcr is on, that usually means is 36 hours....
except on tuesdays.

(just kidding kcr)

they are going to lock it because its not
RECENT.

AND THE OTHER ONE IS NOT AN ARTICLE OR OP-ED.
its a website.

sorry

What a well researched post.

This is garbage. Anyone claiming that the issue started in 1948 is Jewish. That is when Israelis feel they have the best legal argument. What is so appalling about this article is the incenuation that the Palestinian people do not have a right to their state there because the BRITISH relinquished some League of Nations charter is the most bogus, legalistic, typical comment I have heard. Almost as disgusting an assertion is the term occupied territories is unfair because the Israelis 'unwittingly' occupied it. WHAT A FUCKING BUSHISM. Uh, we did not occupy Iraq, we just happened upon it, fought a war, then needed to stay, but that is NOT an occupation. WHAT FUCKING SCUM!

Any honest American who takes the time to look at the Palestinian issues will judge the Palestinians to be more like the Americans, and the Israeli's as more like the British colonial forces, unwelcome and there only for the enrichment of THEIR kingdom.

America will continue to fall (AND BE PUSHED) from its place as world leader as long as we continue to support the disgusting policies of Israel. We MUST elect a president who tells Sharon that America will no longer support Israel if they do not adhere to a policy that allows Palestinian statehood with dignity. We cannot bully them just because we are bigger. Terrorism is the antidote for that.

Quick quiz.
Who was there first?
Who is acting like Germans by banning Israeli/Palestinian weddings and confining the subjected people to ghettos?
Who is acting in the most unAmerican way, the palestinian freedom fighters or the occupying Israelis?


By the way, the roadmap was dead when the US guarranteed $9 BILLION this past month for CONSTRUCTION IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES.

on point for peace talks now.

The only game in town is Taba - and getting as close to it again as possible after Arafat blew it in Jan 2000.

The only question is whether the PA wants to join the game under the rules of Taba - meaning only symbolic - if that - right of return.

I agree 1920 San Remo Peace Conference (of April 1920) broke up the Ottoman empire fairly - after 300 years of what I would call evil - and the Jews were then in 1922 cut back by the Brits as the oil game continued - and indeed cut back again in 1948-49 (One does admire the way the PA claims the PA state has shrunk - when it is Israel that keeps geeting less land).

But today must be dealt with on todays terms - it is a bit late for the Greeks to complain about the Monguls and ask for Afghanistan and lands west to be returned to Greek control.

with the statement, "indeed, a State of Palestine has never existed."
Yes, it has, and does today.
It's called "Jordan."

Not based on a recent news or op-ed article.

Lithos
FA/NS Moderator
Democratic Underground