All of Palestine for the Inhabitants of Palestine: The Legal Consequences of the Internationally Wrongful Act in the Establishment of Israel

For thousands of years after the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan, the region hosted asmall Jewish population by the twentieth century. Claims of persecution, displacement, andhistorical ties to the land gave rise to the formation of a movement termed “World Zionism,”aimed at establishing a Jewish State in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration, issued by Britainin 1917, emphasized the necessity of creating a “Jewish National Home,” and the Leagueof Nations Mandate Agreement was subsequently concluded on this basis in 1922. Britain’scontradictory promises to Jews and Arabs led it to refer the Palestine question to the UnitedNations. Negotiations in the UN General Assembly resulted in the adoption of Resolution 181,known as the Partition Resolution, and the establishment of two States, Jewish and Arab, in1948. However, the creation of these two States appeared to violate the rights of the Palestinianinhabitants. Thus, in addressing the question of the legal consequences arising from theestablishment of Israel on land belonging to the Palestinian inhabitants, this study scrutinizes thehypothesis that the formation of Israel involved violations of certain rules of international law,rendering the United Nations and complicit states internationally responsible for this wrongfulact. To substantiate this hypothesis, a descriptive-analytical methodology was recruited. Thelegal framework applicable to Palestine included the Mandate system, the Mandate Agreement,and norms of international law, such as the UN Charter and human rights law. An interpretationof Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations and Article 76 of the UN Charter indicatesthat sovereignty over mandated/trust territories must be vested in the “indigenous inhabitants”of those territories. Such sovereignty must be exercised over theentire territory. Moreover, thecreation of religious or racial states in the region constitutes a breach of the obligation of non-discrimination. Consequently, the establishment of Israel entails the international responsibilityof the UN and complicit states in the UN General Assembly. The legal consequences of thisresponsibility would includerestitution in integrum, reparations, non-recognition, and non-cooperation to ensure the return of “the entirety of Palestine’s sovereignty to its Palestinianinhabitants.”