Posted post consists of tables with 1939 a photo with the results of the Chess Olympiad and a comment below it.
Among the participants, the table mentions Palestine (using the flag of the “State of Palestine” or Palestinian National Autonomy).
The comment attached to the photo states: “Chess Olympiad 1939 It was attended by the Palestinian team. Which is said to have never existed.”
in 1939 in Buenos Aires (Argentina) the eighth official Chess Olympiad took place – the first held outside Europe. It achieved a record number of participants (27 teams arrived), and the representatives of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania performed quite well.
The competition was clouded by the difficult political climate leading up to World War II. Therefore, there was controversy about how the Czechs could participate in the Olympics. Since the Czech Republic was already part of the Reich, but nominally as an autonomy (the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia), the Czech team could compete separately from the German team.
However, the organizers refused to use the symbolism of the protectorate and raised the old Czechoslovak flag.
The Palestinian national team decided to boycott the German chess players.
The reasons for this boycott are quite obvious – it was the anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish policy of the Third Reich. Perhaps this would not be an obstacle for representatives of modern Palestine, but the chess team represented a completely different entity – British, or mandated, Palestine.
Palestine, bet ne ta pati
Palestine, whose national team in 1939 arrived in Buenos Aires, was the territory of the so-called British Mandate.
Mandate territories the system arose after the end of World War I, when the victorious powers divided up the colonial possessions of the vanquished powers.
However de jure it was not annexation: a new international association— League of Nations – gave certain governments a mandate to rule over other countries.
It was believed that in time, when their level of development became sufficient for political self-determination, they would be granted independence.
In other words, the administrative power did not act as a regular colonial metropolis, but as a kind of civilizational “guardian”.
The territory of Mandatory Palestine was much larger than the territory of modern Israel (including the territories of the Palestinian National Authority and the Gaza Strip).
For the lands east of the Jordan River already in 1923. wide autonomy was granted, and in 1946 – full independence, forming the Emirate of Transjordan (now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan).
By the resolution of the San Remo Conference of the Entente States of 1920, the territory to the east of the Jordan River was joined to the British mandated territory of Palestine.
in 1921 Cairo Conferences by resolution, it is separated from Palestine – the Emirate of Transjordan is created.
This conference laid the so-called foundations of British policy in the Arab world. Transjordan was part of the British Mandate for Palestine.
For the lands east of the Jordan River already in 1923. wide autonomy was granted, and in 1946 – full independence, forming the Emirate of Transjordan (modern Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan).
The commitment to create a Jewish state
in 1922 were fixed in the League of Nations British Obligations to create a Jewish national focus in the administered territory.
“The Mandatory Authority is responsible for creating such political, administrative and economic conditions in the country as will ensure the establishment of a Jewish national home, as stated in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, as well as for the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, regardless of their race and religion assurance.
The Zionist Organization, so long as its organization and by-laws are, in the opinion of the Mandate Authority, suitable, shall be recognized as such agency. It shall, in consultation with His Britannic Majesty’s Government, take measures to secure the co-operation of all Jews who wish to assist in the establishment of a Jewish National Home.” – published in the commitment.
Confusion about flags
14 May 1948 according to the United Nations plan was established State of Israel.
The PNA, or State of Palestine, was established only in 1994 under the Oslo Accords, which ended the long armed confrontation between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
For this reason, it is incorrect to use the modern Palestinian flag as a symbol of the Palestinian national chess team in 1939 – it simply did not exist then, and neither did Palestinian autonomy (statehood).
123RF photo/Chess
It should be noted that the relevant sources on the history of the sport of chess generally use either the flag of Mandatory Palestine (which is the most accurate) or the flag of Great Britain (which is relatively correct, as the mandate was held by the British Empire at the time).
However, in 1939 To illustrate the Palestinian national team with the flag of modern Palestine or modern Israel would be to mislead the reader.
15min verdict: missing context. Historical concepts and symbols of statehood (flags) are confused.
The publication was prepared in 15 minutes in partnership with Metawhich aims to stop the spread of misleading news on the social network. More about the program and its rules – here.
Source: www.15min.lt
