By Ted Belman
There are many articles today reciting how Israeli politicians are complaining that Kerry is biased, unfair, only puts pressure on Israel and so on. Here’s one. ‘Kerry is putting pressure only on Israel’.
Stop complaining. End the negotiations. Take the heat.
@ Salomon Benzimra:
Sincere thanks, Salomon.
@ dweller:
Dweller, I do not know the detailed procedural steps taken by the 52 members of the League, but I can tell you this aboout Canada, and I assume the same holds true for all the other members.
Two plenipotentiary ministers actually signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 on behalf of the Canadian PM Robert Borden and this Treaty was later ratified by the Government of Canada. By ratifying this Treaty, Canada effectively joined the League of Nations, thus approving all the provisions of its Covenant (which was included in Part I of the Treaty) and, especially Article 22 which governed the Mandates System and all the Mandates issued thereafter, including the Mandate for Palestine. As I mentioned before, because of the unanimous consent required in Article 5 of the Covenant, any country was free to withhold its approval but then they would have to withdraw from the League. The very fact that they didn’t leave the League signifies their approval of the Mandate.
If I find any more details about this issue, I will let you know.
@ Salomon Benzimra:
Forgive me for this persistance; I’m sorry to be a stickler here, Salomon, but I need to know if they all actually SIGNED it.
I realize that the very fact of their joining the League at its inception was UNDERSTOOD to constitute prima facie evidence of their assent to the Charter texts of all the League’s Mandates — and that it thus, arguably, “validated” them.
But what I must know is whether the signatures of 52 state plenipotentiaries are actually to be found on a League document somewhere explicitly & individually affirming that assent, and witnessing unto it personally.
@ dweller:
Yes, dweller, the whole membership of the League of Nations (52 countries) validated the Mandate, and the U.S. joined in two years later through a separate treaty with Britain, thus making all these countries bound to the provisions of the Mandate, and, in the words of the late Howard Grief z’l’, “…honour the exclusive national rights granted to the Jewish People in regard to that country [Palestine], which were over and above and clearly distinguished from the guaranteed civil and religious rights of the non- Jewish population.”
As Kerry Works On Peace Framework, Jewish Groups Keeping Low Profile
@ Salomon Benzimra:
I need clarity on this, Salomon:
Are you saying that there were, in fact, not merely eight (8) but rather 53 ACTUAL state signatories to the Mandate?
— that is, endorsees not merely by virtue of the action of the Council (and all Assembly members’ implicit acceptance of Council action), but also by virtue of those 53 National State reps’ having each-&-every one of them actually, personally, literally, physically signed the Charter themselves?
Where & how would one lay hands on (a copy of) the document containing those signatures?
@ dweller:
Thank you, dweller!
Yes, there were 8 members at the League Council when the Mandate was signed in London in July 1922. Those were the four Allied Powers (permanent members) + four rotating members (Greece, Brazil, Spain and Belgium). But the Mandate officially entered into force in September 1923, only after Turkey ratified the Treaty of Lausanne in August 1923, even though the provisions of the Mandate for Palestine had been applied since 1920.
I do not know the exact date, but between July 1922 and Septemeber 1923, the Mandate was approved by the entire membership of the League in Geneva (the General Assembly), i.e. the 52 countries. The League has always been a revolving door, with countries getting in and out regularly and sometimes more than once. This is because all decisions of the General Assembly had to be taken by unanimity as per Article 5 of the Covenant (contrary to what happens now at the General Assembly of the UN). Maybe that is where the divergence between 51 and 52 states comes from, since the membership in a given week was not necessarily the same as in the following week.
In any case, the United States were not part of the 52 signatories. But, as you mentioned, by signing the Anglo-American Convention in 1924 (ratified in 1925), they became the 53rd state recognizing the full provisions of the Mandate.
@ Salomon Benzimra:
Superb piece of work, Salomon; aptly conceived, constructively presented.
Question:
Your reference [p. 3] to the “League of Nations and its 52 member states” is one which is cited repeatedly in various places.
Since the actual signatories to the Mandate[s] were only the member states of the League Council (which totaled eight [8] at the time, I think?), it’s never been clear to me that they did so on behalf of an actual League Assembly membership consisting at that juncture of a total of 52 states
— or rather, that thru the Council’s signings, the Mandate was understood to have been endorsed by 52 states — consisting of a 51-state Assembly membership, plus the non-League-member USA via the 1925 Anglo-American Convention on Palestine (ratified by the US Senate, then signed by the President).
Do you have anything definitive in the matter of the “52”?
I fully agree we should stop negotiating or, at the very least, put a moratorium on the “peace process” until truth is restored in a massive public diplomacy campaign. Please see here.
“No” is a word that comes readily, and frequently, from the mouths of free men.
@ the phoenix:
You betcha!! We come in a variety of stripes!
Hasn’t Feiglin been saying this forever?????
When are any of you guys going to listen to him????
@ NormanF:
Spot on, Norman!
No need for any further elaboration
Netanyahu’s whining is the servility of the Jew in the Galut.
The very antithesis of the proud, tough and fiercely independent Jew Zionism sought to create.
If Jews don’t have respect for themselves, why on earth are they surprised that Kerry treats them like the doormat of the nations?
Either shut up or be proud, Jew! Whining is a very unattractive quality in a human being and yes, Mr. Netanyahu – it doesn’t endear any one to you or to your country!
I find a reason to totally despise you, given how eager you are to give away the heart of the Jewish homeland to an enemy sworn to your destruction. What you are getting from Kerry you totally deserve and you complain but you won’t show him the door! No wonder he gets away with it.