A special online event is being held on Sunday, marking the 100th anniversary of the San Remo Conference, where Allied powers assigned to Great Britain the task of establishing a national home for the Jewish People in Palestine.
The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council as an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference, and was held at Villa Devachan in Sanremo, Italy, from April 19 to 26, 1920 (See: San Remo: The Original ‘Deal of the Century’).
Recalling today the 100th anniversary of the San Remo Resolution, whereby the world powers recognized the ancient connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and the right of the Jewish people to a national home on that land was given the force of International Law.
— David M. Friedman (@USAmbIsrael)
The San Remo Resolution passed on April 25, 1920, and determined the allocation of Class “A” League of Nations mandates for the administration of three then-undefined Ottoman territories in the Middle East: “Palestine,” “Syria,” and “Mesopotamia.” The boundaries of the three territories were “to be determined [at a later date] by the Principal Allied Powers.”
The conference was attended by the four Principal Allied Powers of World War I who were represented by the prime ministers of Britain (David Lloyd George), France (Alexandre Millerand), Italy (Francesco Nitti) and the ambassador of Japan Keishirō Matsui.
The all-day event, organized by Im Tirtzu and Canadians for Israel’s Legal Rights (CILR), features a lineup of ten talks in English and Hebrew from an array of prominent Israeli personalities.
The speakers include former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the USA, Danny Ayalon; author Caroline Glick; Professor Eugene Kontorovich; former MK Yehuda Glick; Dr. Mordechai Kedar; Professor Avi Bell; Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner; Professor Talia Einhorn; Hebron spokesman Yishai Fleisher; and CILR Co-Chairs Goldi Steiner and Irving Weisdorf.
Several members of the Israeli government issued special messages in honor of the event, among them Justice Minister Amir Ohana; Culture Minister Miri Regev; Labor and Science Minister Ofir Akunis; Deputy Security Minister Avi Dichter; former Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein; MK Michal Shir; MK Keti Shitrit; MK Matan Kahana; MK Ofir Sofer; and Yesha Council Chairman David Elhayani.
“This historic event was one of the stepping stones of forming a national home for the Jewish people,” said Justice Minister Amir Ohana. “I am grateful to have this opportunity to commend Im Tirtzu and Canadians for Israel’s Legal Rights for commemorating in a special event such an important occasion in our nation’s life.”
Former Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein noted: “For some reason, during all of the political discussions these days on our rights to the land, people tend to forget that already 100 years ago the international community decided that the national home for the Jews will be here [in Israel].”
Goldi Steiner and Irving Weisdorf, Co-Chairs of CILR, called on the Israeli government to declare April 25th, the date on which the San Remo Resolution was passed, a national holiday.
“Time is overdue,” said Steiner and Weisdorf. “Declare with pride the San Remo National Holiday. Make this your legacy. The Jewish People and history will remember you.”
Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg said that “the San Remo Conference was a watershed moment in the history of the Zionist movement, and we must continue what started all those years ago and apply sovereignty on all parts of the Land of Israel.”
