International Law on Occupation

Nadene Goldfoot

In 1922 the League of Nations had a "Mandate for Palestine". It declared that "the Land of Israel will be designated for the re-establishment of the Jewish national home." This gave Jews working on their return definite hope that they would soon have their much needed country once again.

True: Jordan gained a state on May 25, 1946 by insistance that they wanted their own state and got their independence from the League of Nations Mandate under the British administration, whose Transjordan mandate ended May 22, 1946. The Hashemites renamed it Jordan in 1950. Jordan had illegally occupied the areas of Judea and Samaria in 1948. They were internationally unrecognized. Jordan controlled the area without the right to do so. They attacked Israel at its birth of May 1948. They kept Israel out of Jerusalem.

True: The territories of Judea and Samaria are not occupied because Jordan did not have a recognized sovereignty there prior to 1967.

True: International law does bar an occupying state from settling civilians in areas that have been occupied . As you can see, this is not the case in Judea and Samaria. Therefore, Israel has every right to build and live in Judea and Samaria.

What Happened: Jordan occupied the area of Cisjordan (Judaea/Samaria) now typically referred to as "West Bank". That's another political move to erase the Jewish connection. It continued to control the area in accordance with the 1949 Armistice Agreements and a political union formed in December 1948. While recognizing Jordanian administration over the West Bank, the United States maintained the position that ultimate sovereignty was subject to future agreement. Israel was created on May 14, 1948. The 2nd Arab-Palestinian Conference held in Jericho on December 1, 1948, proclaimed Abdullah King of Palestine and called for a union of Arab Palestine with the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Jordan is a constitutional monarchy. His son, Hussein reigned from 1953-1999. Now his son, Abdullah II, is king.

Jordan withdrew its forces from their posts overlooking the Plain of Sharon. In return, Israel agreed to allow Jordanian forces to take over positions in the West Bank previously held by Iraqi forces.

In 1970 the Palestinians almost overthrew Jordan itself. They had some bloody battles. By 1994 Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel.

As of July 2010 there are 6,267,285 people in Jordan of which 98% are Arabs with 92 % of the people being Sunni Muslims. Many of the people living there are refugees from Palestine and Iraq.

Resource: Wikipedia: Jordan
Jewish Review 9/4/2010 from Yisrael Hayom newspaper, page A-16.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3464.htm