BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

From the Nakba to the Present Day – Ongoing Displacement
The British administration in Palestine promulgated new laws, including the 1925 Citizenship Order and the 1928 Land (Settlement
of Title) Order, which enabled Jews from around the world to acquire citizenship and immigrate to Palestine. Thousands of
Palestinian Arabs who were abroad at the time were unable to acquire citizenship under the 1925 law. 20 By the early 1940s, the
average rural Palestinian Arab family had less than half of the agricultural land required for their subsistence. 21
This led to a series of Palestinian uprisings, including the “Great Revolt”, which lasted from 1936 to 1939. The British
responded with a combination of military force and administrative measures that severely curtailed basic civil and political
rights. 22 Palestinian Arab leaders were arrested, jailed and deported. Thousands of Palestinian Arab homes were demolished. 23
Some 40,000 Palestinian Arabs fled the country during the mid-1930s alone. 24
Following each uprising, the British government dispatched an official commission of inquiry to Palestine. These commissions
invariably identified fear of the political and economic consequences of Zionism among the indigenous population as the
leading cause of the conflict. In a blunt assessment, the Shaw Commission pointed out that in the 80 years prior to the Balfour
Declaration and British Mandate, “there [was] no recorded instance of any similar incidents.” 25
In early 1947, the British government informed the newly-established United Nations (the successor to the League of Nations) of
Great Britain’s intention to withdraw from Palestine, ending more than two decades of British rule. The UN Charter stipulated
that non-self-governing territory should become independent with the termination of a mandate. Alternatively, the Charter
provided for the establishment of a “Temporary Trusteeship” similar to the mandate system.
The UN General Assembly, however, decided to appoint a special committee to formulate recommendations concerning the
future status of Palestine. The Assembly also rejected requests to obtain an advisory opinion from the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) concerning the appropriate legal outcome of the British decision to terminate the Mandate in Palestine, as well as
the legal authority of the UN to issue and enforce recommendations on the future status of the country. 26
Draft Resolution Referring Certain Legal Questions to the International Court of Justice (excerpts)
The General Assembly of the United Nations resolves to request the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion under
Article 96 of the Charter and Chapter IV of the Statute of the Court on the following questions:
(i) Whether the indigenous population of Palestine has not an inherent right to Palestine and to determine its future constitution and
government;
(ii) Whether the pledges and assurances given by Great Britain to the Arabs during the first World War (including the Anglo-French
Declaration of 1918) concerning the independence and future of Arab countries at the end of the war did not include Palestine;
(iii)Whether the Balfour Declaration, which was made without the knowledge or consent of the indigenous population of Palestine, was
valid and binding on the people of Palestine, or consistent with the earlier and subsequent pledges and assurances given to the Arabs;
(iv) Whether the provisions of the Mandate for Palestine regarding the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine are in
conformity or consistent with the objectives and provisions of the Covenant of the League of Nations (in particular Article 22), or are
compatible with the provisions of the Mandate relating to the development of self-government and the preservation of the rights and
position of the Arabs of Palestine;
(v) Whether the legal basis for the Mandate for Palestine has not disappeared with the dissolution of the League of Nations, and
whether it is not the duty of the Mandatory Power to hand over power and administration to a Government of Palestine representing
the rightful people of Palestine;
(vi) Whether a plan to partition Palestine without the consent of the majority of its people is consistent with the objectives of the
Covenant of the League of Nations, and with the provisions of the Mandate for Palestine;
(vii) Whether the United Nations is competent to recommend either of the two plans and recommendations of the majority or minority
of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, or any other solution involving partition of the territory of Palestine, or a
permanent trusteeship over any city or part of Palestine, without the consent of the majority of the people of Palestine;
(viii) Whether the United Nations, or any of its Member States, is competent to enforce or recommend the enforcement of any proposal
concerning the Constitution and future Government of Palestine, in particular, any plan of partition which is contrary to the wishes,
or adopted without the consent of, the inhabitants of Palestine.
Reprinted in Yearbook of the United Nations 1947–1948. UN Doc. 1949.I.13 (31 December 1948).
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