as a historical-biological term denoting membership of a nation,”15 which we will here identify as “nationhood.” Nationhood corresponds to the “belief of belonging together” that creates cohesion among members of a nation and that comes “accompanied by a strong solidarity among its members.”16 Nationhood concerns “people” as ethnos, that is, a nation that is entitled to the right to self-determination; as opposed to “people” as demos, that is, a totality of citizens that is entitled to a constituent power.17 However, it is beyond the scope of this Handbook to address the scholarly debates concerning Palestinian nationality and citizenship;18rather, we will limit our analysis to legal provisions regarding Palestinian citizenship and nationality to the extent that they relate to the status of Palestinians. During the First World War, Allied forces under British command occupied Palestine in December 1917, which was then one of several Arab territories that formed part of the Ottoman Empire. A year later, in November 1918, France and Great Britain signed the Anglo-French Declaration, which affirmed that their goal was “the complete and final liberation of the peoples who have for so long been oppressed by the Turks, and the setting up of national governments and administrations deriving their authority from the free exercise of the initiative and choice of the indigenous populations.”19 Member states of the League of Nations decided to establish a temporary “Mandate System” in accordance with the Covenant of the League of Nations to facilitate the independence of these territories. Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations stipulates that “[c]ertain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire [including Palestine] have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provision­ally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone [emphasis added].”20 On 24 July 1922, the League of Nations adopted the Mandate for Palestine and entrusted the temporary administration (“Mandate”) of Palestine to Great Britain.21 While the Mandate did not come into force until 29 September 1923, the British-run Government of Palestine concluded bilateral agreements on Palestine’s borders with the neighboring countries (Syria, Lebanon, Trans-Jordan and Egypt). Accordingly, on Paul Weis, Nationality and Statelessness in International Law (Leyden: Sijthoff & Noordhoff, 1979), Chapter One. 16 Asem Khalil, “Palestinian Nationality and Citizenship: Current Challenges and Future Perspectives,” European University Institute Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies CARIM Research Report 2007/7 (2007): 1. 17 See ibid., 2. 18 See, e.g., Mutaz M. Qafisheh, The International Law Foundations of Palestinian Nationality: A Legal Examination of Nationality in Palestine under Britain’s Rule (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2008); and Weis, Nationality and Statelessness in International Law, Chapter One. 19 “Anglo-French Declaration,” November 7, 1918, http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Anglo-French_ Declaration. 20 Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919, reprinted in A Survey of Palestine, Prepared in December 1945 and January 1946 for the Information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, Vol. I (Washington, DC: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1991), 2–3. 21 The Mandate for Palestine, 24 July 1922, reprinted in ibid., 4–11. 15 The Palestinian Refugee Problem: An Overview 3