state. In this way, individuals applying for state citizenship must undergo a rigorous vetting process and must meet that state’s eligibility requirements. States may also contest the rights of individuals to citizenship, thereby stripping them of citizenship under certain stipulations. States, however, cannot denationalize a national. Under international law, nationality is broadly defined as the link between an individual and a territory. That link, referred to as the “genuine link” by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) since 1955, is determinable by bloodline (jus sanguinis), location of birth (jus soli), or long-term residency (jus domicile). Nationality is innate, unchangeable, and protected: article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” Indeed, this right is so universal, several states even extend the option to apply for citizenship through jus sanguinis to non-citizen nationals residing anywhere in the world. Palestinians’ Historical Right to Palestinian Nationality The right of Palestinians to belong as nationals to Palestine from anywhere in the world has been recognized since the ratification of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne on August 6, 1924. While the treaty is the first legal document to promulgate Palestinian nationality globally, the 1869 Ottoman Nationality Law was the first to legally confer nationality on residents of Palestine jus sanguinis, jus soli, and jus domicile. Therefore, when British authorities laid siege to Jerusalem in December 1917, residents of Palestine were considered Ottoman Palestinian nationals, and they remained as such pending the Allied forces’ decision on what to do with the dismembered empire. This status also applied to tens of thousands of Ottoman Palestinian nationals who had been emigrating from Palestine to the Americas for economic and political reasons since the 19th century. But on July 24, 1923, the Allied forces and 3 The Case for Palestinian Nationality www.al-shabaka.org the palestinian policy network