Zionism, Palestinian Nationalism and the Law: 1939-1948

During the last decade of the British Mandate for Palestine, Arabs and Jews used the law as a resource to gain leverage against each other and to influence international opinion. The four trials between 1939 and 1947 produced three different outcomes: the one-state solution in favor of the Palestinian Arabs, the no-state solution, and the two-state solution embodied in the United Nations November 1947 partition resolution, culminating in Israel's independence in May 1948. This study analyses the role of the law during the last decade of the British Mandate for Palestine, making an essential contribution to the literature on lawfare, framing, and narrative, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 476 pages
Publication date: 30 November 2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

During the final decade of the British Mandate for Palestine (1939-1948), Arabs and Jews utilized the legal system as a tool to gain an advantage over each other and shape global perceptions. The parties employed transformative legal framing to present the fundamentally political-religious conflict as a legal matter involving claims of justice, injustice, and victimization, thereby giving rise to legal or equitable remedies.

This approach was consistently employed in multiple trials during the first 15 years of the Mandate, and it continued to be utilized during the last and most critical decade of the Mandate. The term "trial" serves as an appropriate typology for understanding the adversarial proceedings during those years, as judges, lawyers, witnesses, cross-examination, and legal argumentation played pivotal roles in the conflict.

The four trials between 1939 and 1947 resulted in three distinct outcomes: the one-state solution in favor of the Palestinian Arabs, the no-state solution, and the two-state solution embodied in the United Nations November 1947 partition resolution. This resolution ultimately led to Israel's independence in May 1948.

This study analyzes the role of law during the final decade of the British Mandate for Palestine, making a significant contribution to the literature on lawfare, framing, and narrative, as well as the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

Weight: 738g
Dimension: 155 x 233 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032125848