“[I]n the case of the ‘independent nation’ of Palestine,” observed the British Secretary of Foreign Affairs privately, “we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country,” as was required by the League of Nations. Arthur Balfour, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, stated in 1919 that: Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long traditions, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land.29 The British Mandate in Palestine was thus based on an inherent contradiction: the simultaneous establishment of an independent state of Palestine for all its citizens on the territory of Mandate Palestine, and a Jewish national home within or on that same territory. The British administration in Palestine promulgated new laws, including the 1925 Citizenship Order and the 1928 Land (Settlement of Title) Order, which enabled Jews from around the world to acquire citizenship and immigrate to Palestine. Thousands of Palestinian Arabs who were abroad at the time were unable to acquire citizenship under the 1925 law.30 In early 1947, the British government informed the newly-established United Nations of its intention to withdraw from Palestine, ending nearly three decades of British rule. The UN General Assembly subsequently appointed a special committee to formulate recommendations concerning the future status of Palestine. The Assembly rejected requests by Arab states to obtain an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the appropriate legal outcome of the British decision to terminate the Mandate in Palestine, as well as the legal authority of the UN to issue and enforce recommendations on the future status of the country.31 In September 1947, the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) presented its final report, which included majority and minority proposals that reflected the inability of the Committee members to reach consensus 29 Statement by Arthur Balfour, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Office No. 371/4183 (1919), quoted in The Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem 1917–1988, Part I. New York: United Nations, 1990. 30 Out of 9,000 citizenship applications from Palestinians outside the country, British officials approved only 100. Based on an average family size of six persons, more than 50,000 Palestinians may have been affected. Palestine Royal Commission Report, Cmd. 5479. London: HMSO, 1937, p. 331. For a description of the problem facing Bethlehem families, see Musallam, Adnan A., Developments in Politics, Society, Press and Thought in Bethlehem in the British Era 1917-1948. Bethlehem: WIAM – Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center, 2002. 31 For the proposed texts of the questions to be submitted to the ICJ, see Iraq (UN Doc. A/AC.14.21); Syria (UN Doc. A/AC.14/25); and Egypt (UN Doc. A/AC.14/14). 16