Summary
The interim national status Britain devised for Jewish immigrants to Palestine before a Palestinian nationality law existed, while the Arab population remained ‘former Ottoman subjects’ categorised as ‘ex-enemy aliens’, in Banko’s account of the October 1922 draft law (The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship, 1918–1947, PDF p.34-35 / printed p.23-24).
Details
- Committee member Abdul Khader al-Muzaffer, bewildered that the Arab-majority population was not given the same status, proclaimed ironically that ‘Palestine is a land of marvels and this new regulation [for provisional nationality] is one of them’ (PDF p.35 / printed p.24).
- The provisional status reinforced the identity of the Arabs as akin to ‘natives’ in colonial terminology, and through the early 1920s Arab natives were treated differently from Jewish ‘provisional’ citizens in travel, passports, diplomatic protection and the regulation of the franchise (PDF p.35-36 / printed p.24-25).
- The administration offered certificates to claim provisional Palestinian nationality until an official nationality could be created; the certificates had little international standing but conveyed British imperial protection to their holders (PDF p.48 / printed p.37).
- The August 1920 Foreign Office categories required people in both the Ottoman-descent and non-Ottoman categories to reassure the authorities that they would opt for Palestinian nationality as soon as a law passed, conditional on permanent residence (PDF p.51 / printed p.40).
- The 1922 Legislative Election Order-in-Council provided Jewish immigrants with provisional nationality while the Ottoman Nationality Law of 1869 remained the basis for the provisional nationality of the Arabs, and the subsequent citizenship law reproduced this 1922 codification of two distinct categories of ‘the national’ (PDF p.53 / printed p.42).
Related pages
The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship, 1918–1947, Palestinian nationality, Palestine Citizenship Order-in-Council 1925, Norman Bentwich