Paris Peace Conference (1919)

A delegation of the Zionist Organization led by Chaim Weizmann presents the case for a Jewish homeland in Palestine to the Paris Peace Conference at the conclusion of World War I. The statement, which included suggested boundaries, proposed that the newly established British Mandate should promote Jewish immigration and settlement, encourage self-government and ensure religious freedoms.

Earlier at the Paris Peace Conference, on January 3rd, Weizmann and Emir Faisal, son of Sharif Hussein of Mecca, had signed an agreement of mutual respect and cooperation. The agreement, which had been negotiated over two meetings in 1918 proposed Jewish support for an Arab nation and Arab support for Jewish settlement in Palestine.

On January 18th, the Peace Conference approved the creation of the League of Nations under which the mandatory system was to be established. The mandatory system of the League of Nations placed European powers like Britain and France in charge of Arab provinces that were previously administered by the Ottoman Empire. These League of Nations trusteeships or mandates gave London and Paris political control over vast areas of the Middle East that later became the countries of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine, which later became Israel. Over the course of the Paris Peace Conference, matters pertaining to Europe took center stage, while the issue of control and mandates for the Middle East were continuously postponed, mostly due to the rivalry between Britain and France pertaining to the region. Not until once the British backed off from their support of an independent Syria under Emir Faisal was the issue of the Middle East discussed and an agreement reached.

On February 6th, Feisal would also address the conference with T.E. Lawrence serving as his translator. Both Feisal and Weizmann either discounted or cared little for the Arabs that were living in the area that would become Palestine, the area west of the Jordan River, north of Sinai, and south of Mt. Lebanon. There was no Arab voice from Palestine at the Paris Peace Conference, and no one really seemed to care.

THE DECLARATION HEARD AROUND THE WORLD

WHEN WORLD POWERS AGREED ON THE ZIONIST DREAM