Constructing “Private” Historical Justice in State-Building
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Manal Totry-Jubran
Abstract
Wealthy philanthropic individuals operating within private law have been largely absent from the historical justice narrative of states in transition and, consequently, from normative discussion regarding the justification of their actions under the auspices of the market. This Article seeks to fill this void by examining the “private” historical justice of Jewish state-building prior to the establishment of Israel. Specifically, it focuses on the legal history of Baron Edmond de Rothschild’s settlement project during the Ottoman and Mandate periods and investigates the project’s normative implications. The Baron was a fundamental actor in the design of the Palestinian/Israeli space, as he supported existing Jewish settlements and established new ones. He also built several public institutions that continue to exist to date. I argue that the Baron’s settlement project needs to be addressed from a multidimensional aspect with regard to different groups that were affected by it. On the one hand, his settlement project was just towards the Jewish settlement because it provided a shelter for Jewish immigrants who fled Europe, and it realized the Jews’ right of self-determination. On the other hand, his project resulted in the coercive displacement of an underprivileged local Arab population called the fellaheen and unjustly infringed on their territorial rights.
Colonies of the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PICA) and Other Jewish Institutions’ Land
© 2020 by Theoretical Inquiries in Law
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- “Wretched Nurseries of Unceasing Discord”: Nationalism, War, and the Project of Peace
- Zionism and Political Liberalism: The Right of Scattered Nations to Self-Determination
- In Pursuit of Political Imagination: Reflections on Diasporic Jewish History
- Territorial Justice in Israel/Palestine
- Constructing “Private” Historical Justice in State-Building
- Inheriting the Right of Return
- Justifying the Right of Return
- Inclusion and Representation: The Settlement of Property Claims of the Dispossessed in the Aftermath of an Armed Conflict
- Disentangling Displacements: Historical Justice for Mizrahim and Palestinians in Israel
- How the Law of Return Creates One Legal Order in Palestine
- Historical Justice: On First-Order and Second-Order Arguments for Justice
- The Idea of Israel as a Jewish State
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- “Wretched Nurseries of Unceasing Discord”: Nationalism, War, and the Project of Peace
- Zionism and Political Liberalism: The Right of Scattered Nations to Self-Determination
- In Pursuit of Political Imagination: Reflections on Diasporic Jewish History
- Territorial Justice in Israel/Palestine
- Constructing “Private” Historical Justice in State-Building
- Inheriting the Right of Return
- Justifying the Right of Return
- Inclusion and Representation: The Settlement of Property Claims of the Dispossessed in the Aftermath of an Armed Conflict
- Disentangling Displacements: Historical Justice for Mizrahim and Palestinians in Israel
- How the Law of Return Creates One Legal Order in Palestine
- Historical Justice: On First-Order and Second-Order Arguments for Justice
- The Idea of Israel as a Jewish State
