Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925


The Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925 was a law of Mandatory Palestine that created a Palestinian citizenship for residents of the territory of Palestine Mandate. It was promulgated on 24 July 1925 and came into force on 1 August 1925. The order remained in effect until 14 May 1948, when the British withdrew from the Mandate, and Palestinian citizenship came to an end. Israel enacted a Citizenship Law in 1952, while West Bank residents came under Jordan’s nationality law.

Key terms

The law gave effect to Article 7 of the Mandate for Palestine, which stated:
It also gave effect to the Treaty of Lausanne, which came into force on 6 August 1924, and stated that the Ottoman nationals who were "habitually residents" of what became Palestine "will become ipso facto" nationals of that territory.
The order granted Palestinian citizenship to "Turkish subjects habitually resident in the territory of Palestine upon the 1st day of August, 1925". Transjordan was specifically excluded. Under some circumstances citizenship was also conferred on some persons habitually resident abroad, as well as the children or wife of a Palestinian man. The order contained no test based on race or religion, except that people in the non-majority race could opt out of Palestinian citizenship if they were accepted by another state in which their race was a majority.
Ottoman citizenship arose from the Ottoman Nationality Law of 1869, which created a common Ottoman citizenship irrespective of religious or ethnic affiliation.
Under the order, Palestinian citizenship could be acquired by:
  • natural change from Ottoman to Palestinian citizenship
  • birth to a father who was a Palestine citizen himself, or birth within Palestine without acquiring the nationality of any other state
  • naturalization following a period of residence in Palestine
Palestinian citizens had the right of abode in Palestine, but were not British subjects, and were instead considered British protected persons.

Excerpts

Article 21: Definitions

Palestine natives living abroad

Regarding persons living outside Palestine, the Order made the following allowance.
However, in November 1925, The High Commissioner amended the last sentence of the above to read "two years from the 6th day of August, 1924", thereby leaving only nine months for applications. This gave many people insufficient time to apply, creating a large class of Palestinian natives whose only citizenship was Turkish. This situation was not rectified until 1939 when, acting on a recommendation of the Peel Commission, another two years was provided.