Britain and Its Mandate over Palestine: Legal Chicanery on a World Stage

Analysis of Britain’s role in Palestine has proceeded on the assumption that Britain was lawfully in control of the territory. Analysts differ on whether what it did was proper, but they agree that Britain had a lawful mandate and that through the League of Nations, and that the international community advocated for Jewish territorial rights in Palestine. This analysis, though widely shared, is incorrect. Britain had no territorial rights itself to govern Palestine. It was there by dint of force of arms. The mandate it had over Palestine was initiated unilaterally. The mandate was not given to Britain by the League of Nations. The League of Nations had no authority over Palestine and, in particular, nothing it could give to Britain. The document that Britain composed for the governance of Palestine was never approved by the League of Nations. When, in 1947, Britain had to explain the United Nations its legal status in Palestine, it resorted to distorting the historical facts, in an effort to make it appear it had been in Palestine lawfully.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Setting the Stage: Was Britain’s Rule in Palestine Legal?, The Balfour Declaration Is the Focal Point for the Legal Situation of Palestine; The Balfour Declaration Was a Binding Commitment to the Jewish People; The Jewish National Home Meant a Jewish State; The Balfour Declaration Was Issued to Affirm Jewish Rights in Palestine; The Paris Peace Conference Raised Jewish Statehood to the International Level; Britain’s Allies Made the Balfour Declaration an International Commitment; Britain’s Allies Endorsed Jewish Rights; Britain Took on Palestine Because of the League’s Mandate System; The League of Nations Protected Palestine’s Arab Population; Britain Was Given Palestine by the League of Nations; The League of Nations Put the Palestine Mandate into Legal Force; The Peace Treaty with Turkey Legalized Britain’s Status in Palestine; The Palestine Mandate Document Was a Treaty between Britain and the League; The League of Nations Required Britain to Implement the Balfour Declaration; The Palestine Mandate Document Implemented the League Covenant; The Palestine Mandate Document Recognized Jews as a National Group; The Palestine Mandate Document Bound Britain to the Balfour Declaration; The International Community Committed Itself to the Balfour Declaration; Britain Held Legal Status in Palestine; The United Nations Charter Carried Forward a Jewish Entitlement to Statehood; Postscript: Why History Matters; Documents; Annex; Notes; Bibliography; Index

About the Author :
John Quigley is Professor Emeritus, Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University.

Review :
 “Quigley’s study showing that Britain’s Mandate for Palestine, which endorsed the Balfour Declaration, was based on military conquest and not on law or the authorization of the League of Nations raises serious questions about the legitimacy of the State of Israel and the integrity of Britain’s continued support for Israel” —Christopher John Robert Dugard, Professor Emeritus, Leiden University, Netherlands. “The accepted truisms that Britain obtained legitimacy to establish its mandate over Palestine through the League of Nations in July 1922, that Britain obtained sovereignty over Palestine from Turkey at the end of the Ottoman Empire, that Britain’s sovereignty over Palestine was legitimized by the United Nations, and that Israel was granted that sovereignty by the United Nations through the UN Partition Plan are all seriously challenged in John Quigley’s book. It is a must-read that debunks the most firmly held (and widely promoted) myths about the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state. It is written for a wide audience and is accessible for readers without a legal background or any knowledge of the Israel–Palestine conflict” —Susan M. Akram, Clinical Professor and Director, International Human Rights Clinic, Boston University School of Law, USA. “The accepted truisms that Britain obtained legitimacy to establish its mandate over Palestine through the League of Nations in July 1922, that Britain obtained sovereignty over Palestine from Turkey at the end of the Ottoman Empire, that Britain’s sovereignty over Palestine was legitimized by the United Nations, and that Israel was granted that sovereignty by the United Nations through the UN Partition Plan are all seriously challenged in John Quigley’s book. It is a must-read that debunks the most firmly held (and widely promoted) myths about the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state. It is written for a wide audience and is accessible for readers without a legal background or any knowledge of the Israel–Palestine conflict” —Susan M. Akram, Clinical Professor and Director, International Human Rights Clinic, Boston University School of Law, USA. “The book is well organized, with clear arguments that are connected and it has a deep knowledge of the matter, the choice of the material, whether case law, or texts, legal or political, are all well-chosen. It uncovers many of the settled assumptions about that period, the legality of the mandate, and of British stay in Palestine, which will render this book unavoidable” —Asem Khalil, Dean—Faculty of Graduate Studies, Birzeit University, Palestine. "Britain and its Mandate over Palestine provides an exceptional shift in the narrative which previously had been heavily influenced by British accounts and rewrites the history of Britain’s role in Palestine."  —Law for Palestine