World History. The Mandate for Palestine is an historical League of Essay

World History. The Mandate for Palestine is an historical League of Nations - Essay Example It should be noted that the Mandate for Palestine was carried on by the United Nations after the League of Nations was dissolved. The precursor for the Mandate for Palestine was the speech by President Woodrow Wilson in January 8 1918. The speech on the fourteen points clearly outlined the issues that needed to be handled so that the war could end. The fifth point in Woodrow’s speech states that: A free, open ­ minded and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined (Woodrow, 1) This was meant to ensure that all colonial claims were sorted out and each country granted its sovereignty. President Woodrow believed that all the people in the world were partners of interest and justice had to be done to all. He believed that worl d peace could only be attained if the colonial claims were to be settled in a conclusive and impartial manner. In my opinion, the articles of the Mandate of Palestine did not effectively meet the fifth point of Woodrow Wilson Fourteen Points. A critical evaluation of the Mandate of Palestine indicates that the interests of Israel were given a higher priority than those of the Palestine people. Woodrow’s fifth point states that the demarcation of colonial boundaries was to be done in a free, open minded and impartial manner. Yet, Article 2 of the Mandate for Palestine states that â€Å"The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home†. This implies that the establishment of the Jewish State was to be given a high priority. It would have been appropriate for the Mandate of Palestine to begin with an objective evaluating the Middle East issue with an open mind without having any bias towards the settling of the Israelites (Michale, 104). Also, the entire list of articles that make up the Mandate for Palestine does not mention the name â€Å"Arab†. This is a remarkable level of bias given the fact that the Arabs were already occupying parts of Palestine. The Mandate hence fell short of the impartiality threshold of recognizing all the affected parties in the dispute as equals. Essentially, the Mandate considered the Arab interests as secondary to those of the Jews. Woodrow’s fifth point envisioned that all the interests of the populations had to have equal weight and equitable claims of the government in question. Yet, it is apparent that the Arabs were given a raw deal. The twelfth point of Woodrow Wilson Fourteen Points states that: The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an un doubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of an autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees. Woodrow envisioned that the Ottoman Empire which the Turks presided over should be split and administrative units formed according to the will of the people. In essence, it was clear that the different peoples of the Ottoman Empire had a right to self-determination which would only be guaranteed by giving them freedom. Although the Ottoman Empire was eventually split, the twelfth point was never achieved full. The main beneficiaries of the breakup of the Ottoman Em