Summary
The 1920 peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire that the Turkish nationalists did not accept, whose nationality provisions for Palestine Bentwich initially used as the model for the draft nationality law in Banko’s account (The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship, 1918–1947, PDF p.42, p.54). It is a different document from the 1956 Protocol of Sèvres.
Details
- The treaty sanctioned the League’s consensus on state succession: Ottoman nationality would effectively cease to exist and the new administrations taking the empire’s place would be responsible for the creation and regulation of nationality; without Turkey’s approval, the mandated territories’ inhabitants remained Ottoman nationals (PDF p.42 / printed p.31).
- Nationality regulations, first in the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres and then in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, were one medium through which the League attempted to define sovereignty (PDF p.39-40 / printed p.28-29).
- Article 129 allowed ipso facto acquisition of Palestinian nationality for all non-Ottoman Jewish residents of Palestine who had resided there for two years on the date of ratification, keeping their birth nationality; Bentwich suggested an option amendment for Lausanne, the Zionist Organisation seconded it, and Lausanne excluded Article 129 (PDF p.54 / printed p.43).
- Article 125 stated that only individuals belonging to racial minorities in their new post-war states could opt for the nationality of other territories composed of the racial majority they desired to join; its application to Palestine barred Arabs of Syria or Iraq from opting for Palestinian nationality (PDF p.55 / printed p.44).
- Both Sèvres and Lausanne stipulated that nationality orders be passed in each mandate within twelve months from the date of endorsement by Turkey (PDF p.54 / printed p.43).
Related pages
The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship, 1918–1947, Treaty of Lausanne, Palestinian nationality, Protocol of Sèvres