Occupied With "Occupation"

The first question I was asked when interviewed by France24 was "why do you insist upon living in 'occupied Palestinian territory?'.

My reply was that it simply is not 'occupied', well, at least not be me or Israel for that matter.

I received this from Eli Hertz who presented it at the meeting of the Board of Governors of the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists on December 3, 2009 in Washington D.C. and I excerpt:

...the "Mandate for Palestine"...laid down the Jewish legal right to settle anywhere in western Palestine, the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, an entitlement unaltered in international law...Fifty-one member countries - the entire League of Nations - unanimously declared on July 24, 1922:

"Whereas recognition has been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country."

On June 30, 1922, a joint resolution (the Lodge Fish Resolution) of both Houses of Congress of the United States unanimously endorsed the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people," confirming the irrevocable right of Jews to settle in the area of Palestine – anywhere between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea...On September 21, 1922, President Warren G. Harding signed the Lodge-Fish Resolution, endorsing the Balfour Declaration and the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

...a "Convention [Treaty] between the United States of America and the United Kingdom with respect to the rights of the two governments and their nationals in Palestine,"...contains the entire text of the "Mandate for Palestine"...Proclaimed, December 5, 1925.

In ratifying the Convention, the United States of America formally recognized the terms of the "Mandate for Palestine" and the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.

Any attempt to negate the Jewish people's right to Palestine - Eretz-Israel - and to deny them access and control in the area designated for the Jewish people by the League of Nations is an actionable infringement of both international law and the Supremacy Clause...

...I believe that this body has the capacity to help defeat the "Occupation" mantra by insisting that the land of Israel has been given to the Jewish people as of right, and in accordance with existing international law.

Occupy yourselves with that!