The following declaration was adopted by the Office for Israeli Constitutional Law as organization's official stance on the Jewish People's status and rights as an indigenous people in the historical Land of Israel/Palestine:
The declaration was unanimously adopted by OFICL's board of directors:
July 26, 2010
Statement on Jewish Indigenous Status in the Land of Israel/Palestine
Whereas the Office for Israeli Constitutional Law (OFICL) is an Israeli non-governmental organization advocating Jewish/Israeli rights under international law
Whereas OFICL is registered as an Indigenous Peoples Organization (IPO) with the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Whereas OFICL sent a delegation to attend the United Nations April 19-30, 2010.
Whereas OFICL has adopted the organization’s official understanding of Jewish rights to all Eretz Yisrael/Palestine as an indigenous people as follows:
The Jewish People have had a continuous presence throughout all of Eretz Yisrael/Palestine for 3,500 years. Throughout the nearly 2,000 years when most of the world’s Jews have been scattered throughout the world, the Jewish People never lost sight of the dream to return home to a Jewish independent country in the Land of Israel as promised to the prophets in the Bible.
At the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, the international community agreed that Palestine should be returned to the Jewish People. This was decided with the full agreement of the Arab delegation headed by Emir Feisal I.
In April 1920, Palestine was officially created as a Jewish Country as was the beneficiary to the Mandate for Palestine, called the Jewish National Home. The Jewish People were named the sole beneficiaries of the Mandate for Palestine citing the "historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country."
Since April 1920, the Jewish Nation has had 77% of its land stolen in illegal land deals by the British and French in managing the Mandates, The International Court of Justice has ruled that the Mandates are law and cannot be altered by the United Nations in any way inconsistent with the legal articles within the text of the Mandates.
The Jewish People are under threat again of losing more land, as the Palestinian Authority does not recognize Jewish rights to the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria (the land the Jordanians called the West Bank) or the Gaza Strip. These lands were under-populated areas to which hundreds of thousands of Arabs illegally immigrated during the Mandate period, where at the same time the British by armed forces prevented Jews from entering, contrary to the law in the Mandate for Palestine.
Now, the world body has accepted the claim that Jews have no legal right to these lands, a claim that has no basis in international law. The United nations General Assembly recommended the partition of Palestine in November 1947. This resolution (UN General Assembly Resolution 181) was a recommendation not a law.
· The ICJ cannot cite UN General Assembly Resolutions or declarations in determining law.
· Resolution 181 was rejected by the Arabs; accepted conditionally by the Jewish Agency, which represented the Jewish National Home agreed conditionally to the recommendation. That agreement was subject to the Arab agreement to the resolution. There was no meeting of minds, therefore, no valid agreement.
· Resolution 181 violated the Mandate for Palestine which is law, and is part of the founding charters of the United Nations.
On May 15, 1948 fiver Arab armies attacked the State of Israel hours after the British abandoned the country after ending their mandatory administration. The Arabs evicted Jews from the territories it conquered in Judea, Samaria, the Gaza Strip, and from portions of Jerusalem.
In June 1967, three Arab Armies declared war on Israel. As a result, each of the Arab armies lost portions of land they controlled that are indigenous Jewish lands. Even if these lands had not already been legally a part of the Jewish Nations, in accordance with international law, under the Kellog -Briand Pact of 1929, Israel had every right to defend itself and keep the lands that were used by the Arabs to attack the Jewish Nation.
Though the Jewish People are well represented by the Israeli Government, the Jewish People remain under threat by the international community. Global anti-Semitism is at an all time high, the anti-Israel camp is growing and delegitimize Israel on a daily basis, and Israel’s leaders are under intense pressure from world leaders to make dangerous decisions that threaten the indigenous Jewish Peoples presence on their historical lands.
The Office for Israeli Constitutional Law appeals to the United ‘Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to recognize the desperate situation of the Jewish communities of Judea, Samaria, (the former communities of) Gaza, Jerusalem, and the Golan. The entire Jewish communities of these areas are under threat of forced eviction, having their homes, schools, businesses, and religious institutions destroyed rather than being invited to live in peace with their Arab neighbors.
The Israeli Government is under intense pressure by the world community to have its own people’s rights violated. These rights were carved into permanent international law ninety years ago. It is incumbant upon the Jewish People to stand up for their rights and for the World Body to honor those rights.
