World History. The Mandate for Palestine is an historical League of Nations - Essay Example

World History The Man for Palestine is an historical League of Nations document that gave the Jews a legal rightto settle anywhere in Western Palestine. This document was conferred on April 24 1920, at the San Remo Conference. It was unanimously approved by the Council of League of Nations in July 24 1924 and became operational in September 29 1923. It should be noted that the Mandate for Palestine was carried on by the United Nations after the League of Nations was dissolved. The precursor for the Mandate for Palestine was the speech by President Woodrow Wilson in January 8 1918. The speech on the fourteen points clearly outlined the issues that needed to be handled so that the war could end. The fifth point in Woodrow’s speech states that: A free, open­ minded and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined (Woodrow, 1) This was meant to ensure that all colonial claims were sorted out and each country granted its sovereignty. President Woodrow believed that all the people in the world were partners of interest and justice had to be done to all. He believed that world peace could only be attained if the colonial claims were to be settled in a conclusive and impartial manner. In my opinion, the articles of the Mandate of Palestine did not effectively meet the fifth point of Woodrow Wilson Fourteen Points. A critical evaluation of the Mandate of Palestine indicates that the interests of Israel were given a higher priority than those of the Palestine people. Woodrow’s fifth point states that the demarcation of colonial boundaries was to be done in a free, open minded and impartial manner. Yet, Article 2 of the Mandate for Palestine states that “The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home”. This implies that the establishment of the Jewish State was to be given a high priority. It would have been appropriate for the Mandate of Palestine to begin with an objective evaluating the Middle East issue with an open mind without having any bias towards the settling of the Israelites (Michale, 104). Also, the entire list of articles that make up the Mandate for Palestine does not mention the name “Arab”. This is a remarkable level of bias given the fact that the Arabs were already occupying parts of Palestine. The Mandate hence fell short of the impartiality threshold of recognizing all the affected parties in the dispute as equals. Essentially, the Mandate considered the Arab interests as secondary to those of the Jews. Woodrow’s fifth point envisioned that all the interests of the populations had to have equal weight and equitable claims of the government in question. Yet, it is apparent that the Arabs were given a raw deal. The twelfth point of Woodrow Wilson Fourteen Points states that: The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of an autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees. Woodrow envisioned that the Ottoman Empire which the Turks presided over should be split and administrative units formed according to the will of the people. In essence, it was clear that the different peoples of the Ottoman Empire had a right to self-determination which would only be guaranteed by giving them freedom. Although the Ottoman Empire was eventually split, the twelfth point was never achieved full. The main beneficiaries of the breakup of the Ottoman Empire were the French and the Britons. These two countries took over huge territories of the former Turkish Empire with the full blessings of the League of Nations. The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that France and Great Britain were to be granted jurisdiction of some of the former territories until the countries gained the capability to govern themselves. Specifically, Article 12 of the Treaty of Versailles stated that: “Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone." (Bentwith, 152) This is a thinly veiled proclamation of colonialism. The article was ambiguous in stating the actual parameters to be used in evaluating whether the concerned countries had attained. This meant that France and Great Britain had the authority to take charge of these countries for whatever period they desired. This clearly points out to the fact that the will of the people and the right to self-determination was not given any consideration. Question two The twentieth century was marked with great advances in technology and several other major aspects of human development. In fact, the technological progress that occurred during this century has brought immense benefits to human kind. Yet, this period was also marked with some of the worst human atrocities in history. It was during this period that issues such as holocaust and genocide became global phenomena. Nigh and Fog is one of the most vivid depictions of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust against the Jews. The documentary shows the inhuman nature of experiences that the Jews went through during the Holocaust. During this period, Jewish immigrants were rounded up and taken to concentration camps where they were tortured to death. The documentary Night and Fog clearly depicts the horrendous conditions that the Jews in German went through. The Nazi regime spread propaganda against the Jews claiming that they were not worth of living and staying with the Germans. Hitler considered Germans to be a superior race and he believed that the Jewish people were unfit to live as human beings. In fact, he advocated the wiping out of all Jewish people form the planet. To achieve this, he set up elaborate mechanisms in the entire German and other European countries which German controlled to round up all the Jewish people. After being rounded up in an inhuman manner, the Jewish people were then taken to concentration camps. The conditions of the concentration camps as depicted in the documentary are appalling and horrendous. The Jewish prisoners were treated in a way that is unfit for any human being, whatever the standing in the society. They were engage in tough labor and received very small portions of food portions and in many cases were left to starve. The living conditions in the concentration camps were miserable with several people living in congested cages. After undergoing tough labor and dehumanizing conditions, those who survived were taken to the gas chambers. The gas chambers contained poisonous chemicals that were meant to kill the Jewish. In total brutality, the German soldiers separated families and escorted the Jewish to the gas chambers. The clip shows that the Germans disregarded the emotions of the Jewish since members of a family could see their loved ones escorted to the chambers and never to return. The colonial violence that was meted to the colonial subjects also point out the despicable violence that took place in the twentieth century. Fanon’s chapter on colonial violence clearly shows that the colonial masters never respected the human rights of their subjects. In one instance, the author points out to the extent of violence that the colonial masters undertook in order to suppress the people who agitated for freedom. The colonial masters rounded up the freedom fighters in their colonies and took the prison camps ( Fanon, 78). The prison camps were in isolated places and the conditions in these camps were squalid. In fact, the prisoners were treated in dehumanizing manner and tortured in order to confess. The torturing was done in very brutal ways without due respect. In some cases, the colonial masters beat up the prisoners, torturing them in their private parts and other psychological torture. Eventually, those who proved to be major threats were summarily executed. The other forms of violence that were evident during colonial rule included forced labor. The native people were rounded up and forced to work in projects such as building of railway lines and bridges. These people worked under deplorable conditions with meager pay. In some cases, the workers had to be on duty for twelve hours per day without any break. Those who became tired were whipped and sometimes sent to prisons. In terms of pay, the workers were not fairly compensated and the colonial masters gave them peanuts in terms if remuneration (Fanon, 74). In both accounts, it is evident that violence in the twentieth century was widespread and rampant. It is also notable that those who committed human atrocities were the very people that were supposed to be help to the communities. In fact, the people who suffered were innocent and helpless. The perpetrators of violence had the capacity and ability that shadowed those that were on the receiving end. What is appalling is the fact that the colonialists and the Germans in the Holocaust were supposed to protect the very people that they were dehumanizing. In the case of colonialists, it is absurd that they brought barbarism instead of the civilization that they preached. It is also absurd that those who perpetrated violence sanctified it with explanations that cannot be justified in a decent society. The Nazis believed that the Jewish had no right to existence and therefore killed them in concentration camps. The colonial masters on the other hand believed that there subjects were inferior human beings that lacked the capacity and ability to lead themselves. These justifications were to say the least, shallow and inhuman. Works Cited Atias, Mikael. The book of documents of National Council of Knesset Israel 1918-1938. Jerusalem: R.H. Cohen. 1953. Print Bentwith, Norman. Mandate memories 1918-1948. London: Horgath Press. 1965. Print Fanon Frintz. The wretched of the earth. London: Grove Press. 1990. Print Michael, Joseph. Palestine: Retreat from the mandate. New York: Holmes and Meir. 1978. Print. Reisnus, Allan. Night and fog. New York, 1955. Video Woodrow Wilson, "Speech on the Fourteen Points," Congressional Record, 65th Congress 2nd Session, 1918, pp. 680­681. Read More