Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-12-01
Battle Background

OLlC VI JOul correspondents
completely ignores the Bible
and all history before 1917 in
insisting that "the Jews just
suddenly took over land from
the Arabs" According to her.
Palestine is to the Arabs what
Poland is to the Poles. One
would think from her account
that it is pure fancy to as
sociate the land of Israel with
Jews, except as a result Of a
trick played by the British. But
what are the facts?
Jews were the indubitable
soverigns of the land for more
than 1000 years. until the de-
struction of the Jewish state by
the Romans in the year 70.
Palestine never constituted an
independent political entity
until. in l948, part of it became
the State of Israel. The Ro-
mans persisted without leaving
a legal successor. The Arabs.
who conquered it in 634, re-
manned in possession for a rel
atively short time. when it
passed successfully to the rule
of the caliphs of Damascus.
the caliphs of Bagdad, the Tu-
linide governors of Egypt. back
to the caliphs of Bagdad. then
to the Egyptian Ikshidi princes.
and finally to the caliphs Of
Cairo. After 1911, Palestine
was subjected to I10n-Arab
conquerors, the Kurds, the
Crusaders. the Mamelukes; and
finally the Turks. In 1923, by
the Peace Treaty Of Lausanne,
the Turks surrendered their
rights to the allied powers.
According to the principles
of international law, the Jews
never have lost their rights.
Although the Romans con-
quered- the country. interna-
tional law admits the legality
of conquest subject only to
certain conditions. One Of
these conditions is that the
conqueror must have been "in
continuous and undisturbed
possession" for a considerable
time but that las long as other
powers kept up protests and
claims, the actual exercise Of
sovereignty is not undisturbed."
(Oppenheim, International
Law, 5th Edition, London, 1887.
Volume I, Page 456.) Since the
Jews were conquered after Bit
ter resistance and continu-
ously, by word and deed. have
asserted their claim, we must
conclude that the Roman con-
querors never established a
clear title to Palestine. The
old Jewish claim, moreover.
received renewed vitality
through the Balfour Declara-
ton and the Palestine Mandate
of the League of Nations, the
preamble OF which states;
Recognition has thereby (the
Balfour Declaration been Civ
en- to the historical connection
of the Jewish people with Pal
estine and to the grounds for
reconstituting their national
home in that country"
The well-supported Jewish
claim could be overcome only
If the Arab claim proved to be
q stronger one. But this is not
the case. The Arab claim by
conquest is imperfect for a
number Of reasons. No Arab
state can pretend to be the
legal successor Of those who
conquered Palestine in 634.
The Arabs ruled Palestine for
a relatively short period (437
years.. Since 1911. there has
been no Arab rule in Pales-
tine until recently part Of 1t
was taken by Jordan. More
over. unlike the Jews. the Pal
estine Arabs never struggled
for their independence; they
submitted to every conqueror
and thus acquiesced In their
domination. Even IL. 1917,
when the Arabs Of the desert
revolted against Turkish rule.
the Palestine Arabs took no
action and the majority con-
tinued to fight for the Turks.
Il is q myth that the Arabs
were in uninterrupted posses
sion Of Palestine for centuries.
The present-day non-Jewish
inhabitants are not In the
main the descendants OF the
ancient inhabitants Of the
land. They are q highly mixed
group continuously replenished
from the tribes Of the Arabian
desert: the Greeks. Romans
and Crusaders have made their
contribution 10 the racial
makeup Of the Holy Land: In
modern times the Turkish
governors and Egyptian con-
querors introduced large con-
tingents Of foreign soldiers and
settlers An analysis Of avail
able statistics has brought an
estimate that In iss2 no more
than about i06. 900 settled