The mandate system is sometimes described as a waystation between colonialism and independence. The population of Palestine had lived under foreign overlords, but not in classic colonialism. Under Turkey, the Palestine Arabs enjoyed considerable autonomy in local governance. They even held seats in Turkey's parliament. Britain not only assumed full control but, in collaboration with the Zionist Organization, inserted an outside population bent on taking over the country. The League of Nations, more through its weakness than as a matter of its policy, provided cover for Britain, lending an aura of pseudo-legality to its project. When the Arabs staged an armed revolt, as they did in 1936, Britain put it down so harshly that their capacity to protect themselves was severely reduced. As a result, the European settlers who came under Zionist auspices were able, a decade later, to force most of the Arabs out of the country.

The star of self-determination shone briefly at the Paris Peace Conference as Britain felt itself compelled to subject its conquest of Arab territory to a procedure that gave the appearance of limiting Britain's power. That appearance was largely illusory. Britain could decide on its own to remain in Palestine and to govern it. Britain could define the territory of Palestine. The mandate system required Britain to consult the population on the choice of a mandatory, and to allow for an indigenous government. Britain ignored these stipulations, and the League Council did nothing to enforce them. The Covenant, to be sure, gave the Council no enforcement authority, leaving Britain a free hand. The mandate system presupposed that a mandatory would hold legal title to the territory. Britain never gained that title, so even by the Council's standards, Britain had no legal authority over Palestine.

The peace treaty by which Turkey renounced sovereignty, the Treaty of Lausanne, gave no sovereignty to Britain or its Allies. Britain conceded that fact, as we saw, in the Permanent Court of Justice. It acknowledged to the Court that Britain had taken Palestine militarily during World War I and was holding it on that basis and on that basis alone.