San Remo Conference

In April 1920, the San Remo conference in Italy determined the boundaries of the territories captured by the allies during World War I: these included boundaries for the political existence of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine. The conference’s concluding resolution gave these territories international legality and legitimacy; it also included the wording of the Balfour Declaration, namely the British promise to facilitate the establishment of “a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.” In essence, Jewish self-determination was recognized at San Remo. Lord Cuzon, the British Foreign Minister called the San Remo conference conclusions, “the Magna Carta of the Zionists.” In July 1922, fifty-one countries of the League of Nations confirmed the San Remo Conference’s decisions, and with it the intent of the Balfour Declaration for the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine.