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General Assembly
14 April 1948
UN
ITED NATIONS
Department of Public Information
Press and Publications Bureau
Lake Success, New York
Press Release PAL/158
14 April 1948
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Second Special Session
Background Material
THE U.N. AND
PALESTINE
April 1947 -- April 1948
It is just a year since the problem of
Palestine
first came before the
Un
ited Nations. On 2 April 1947, the
Un
ited Kingdom, mandatory power in
Palestine
un
der the League of Nations, asked that the
Palestine
question be placed on the agenda of the Second Regular Session of the General Assembly and that a Special Session be convened to constitute a Special Committee to prepare for Assembly consideration of the subject.
On 28 April 1947 the First Special Session of the Assembly began work.
Since then, the
Un
ited Nations has tried to find a solution for this two thousand year old problem, meeting many difficulties due to the multiplicity and variety of the political views and of the interests involved. However, it seemed that a solution had been found when, at the end of the first stage of the
Un
ited Nations dealings with the
Palestine
problem, the
resolution
in favor of
partition
was adopted by the Assembly on 29 November 1947. Difficulties became visible again with the beginning of the second stage -- that of implementation. A third stage began when another Special Session was convened at the request of the Security Council which adopted a US proposal to this effect on 1 April 1948.
HOW THE QUESTION OF
PALESTINE
REACHED THE U.N.
Following the First World War, the League of Nations created a system of mandates, including among others the former Turkish dependencies, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Trans-Jordan and
Palestine
. All except the latter acquired independence before the League of Nations was officially liquidated in April 1946.
As to
Palestine
its case was a particularly complex one. The mandate of the League of Nations had confirmed the right of the Jewish people to a national home in
Palestine
(a right recognized in 1917 by Great Britain), and guaranteed at the same time the rights of the Arab population. Respect for all religious beliefs was also included.
During the mandate both Jews and Arabs entered claims for the entire country with the Jews insisting that Jewish immigration continue, and the Arabs opposing it. The mandatory power finally put immigration on a reduced quota. The situation became increasingly critical during the years just preceding the Second World War, and still more so after the war.
After the failure of numerous attempts to stop the periodic crises in the country, the mandatory power decided to ask the General Assembly of the
Un
ited Nations to formulate a recommendation on "the future government of
Palestine
." The UK invoked Article 10 of the Charter which permits the Assembly to make recommendations to members of the Organization as well as to the Security Council on questions within the scope of the Charter or derived from the duties and functions of the organs of the
Un
ited Nations.
Recommendation of the General Assembly following the deliberation
of the Special and Regular Sessions of 1947
The General Assembly met in special session last April and May and elected the
Un
ited Nations Special Committee on
Palestine
(
UN
SCOP) and assigned it the task of making an on-the-spot study of the problem in
Palestine
. The members of this Committee were: Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, India, Iran, Netherlands, Peru, Sweden, Uruguay and Yugoslavia.
In its regular session, the Assembly adopted on 29 November of the same year a plan based on the majority proposal made by this Commission.
The Assembly recommendations were for the establishment in
Palestine
of an independent Arab state, an independent Jewish state, and an autonomous territory, the City of Jerusalem,
un
der the authority of the
Un
ited Nations. All of them are to function within an economic
un
ion. This plan was designated to come into force not later than the 1 October 1948.
The Assembly vote was 33 for, 13 against, 10 abstentions and 1 absent.
The Assembly plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for
Palestine
, but rejected by the Arab Higher Committee as well as by the Arab Member States of the
Un
ited Nations.
The Assembly finished its work by assigning the execution of the plan to a commission, to the Security Council and on certain special questions, to the other Councils of the
Un
ited Nations.
The
Palestine
Commission
The Commission is composed of five representatives of small powers -- Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Panama, Philippines, Bolivia. It was created by the Assembly, but it was to act
un
der the guidance of the Security Council. Its task was to aid the transition in
Palestine
from the mandatory regime to the new arrangements called for by the Assembly. It would also exercise certain governmental functions during this transitional period. It would define the frontiers; establish Provisional Councils of Government in both States which would recruit an armed media from the residents of each state, set up administrative organs of government, etc.
The Security Council was invited
un
der the plan to give directives to the Commission and to consider measures that might become necessary should the peace in
Palestine
be menaced.
The Trusteeship Council was asked to develop a statute for the City of Jerusalem, and to name a governor for the City responsible to the Council.
The Economic and Social Council was to name the non-Palestinian members of the Joint Economic body called for in the Assembly's recommendations on the establishment of an Economic
Un
ion.
Developments since the Assembly decision on
partition
Since the adoption of this program, the situation in
Palestine
has seriously deteriorated. The hostility of the Arab world to "
partition
" has been shown with force. The Jews have shown themselves more decided than ever in favor of their national aspirations. The bloodshed in
Palestine
has raised the fear of still graver developments. As to the mandatory power, the
Un
ited Kingdom has confirmed its intention of giving up the mandate on 15 May, and of withdrawing British troops from
Palestine
by 1 August. The UK has also advised that it will not share governmental responsibilities in
Palestine
with other authorities prior to the ending of the mandate. During this same period relations between the great Powers did not improve.
The Trusteeship Council has done the work assigned to it, although it has postponed its formal decisions on the statute for Jerusalem
un
til late April. The Economic and Social council has taken preparatory steps to get candidates names for this Joint Economic Body. The
Palestine
Commission was
un
animous in reporting to the Security Council that it needed an armed force. Its departure from Lake Success to
Palestine
was delayed and it has been able to send only an advance guard of its Secretariat to the Holy Land.
As to the Security Council, the authority with the duty of guiding the work of the Commission, and permanent guardian
un
der the Charter of peace and security in the world, it had to face the difficulties described by the
Palestine
Commission.
On March 5, the Security Council asked its permanent members to consult in order to present a recommendation on the instructions to be given to the
Palestine
Commission with a view to implementing the Assembly recommendation. Four of the permanent members -- the fifth, the
Un
ited Kingdom in line with its policy of abstaining from
UN
decisions on the future Government of
Palestine
, attended consultations of the permanent members only to reply to questions -- reached an agreement on two principles, which were presented to the Council on 19 March:
(1) the Council should make it clear that it is determined not to permit the existence of a threat to international peace in
Palestine
;
(2) the Council should take further action by all means available to it to bring about the immediate cessation of violence and the restoration of peace and order in
Palestine
.
On the same day, 19 March, the US delegate in the Security Council submitted a new proposal in
Palestine
. This called for a temporary trusteeship for
Palestine
, a special session of the Assembly to decide this, and for the efforts of the
Palestine
Commission to implement
partition
to be suspended. The US delegation stressed that
partition
could not be implemented by peaceful means.
Convocation of Second Special Assembly Session on
Palestine
On March 30, two
resolution
s submitted by the US were adopted by the Security Council. The first called for an immediate truce in
Palestine
and for the Jewish Agency of
Palestine
and the Arab Higher Committee to make representatives available to the Council for the purpose of arranging a truce. This
resolution
was adopted by all members of the Council.
The second
resolution
requested the Secretary-General to convene a special Assembly "to consider further the question of the future government of
Palestine
". Nine members of the Council voted for this
resolution
, two -- the USSR and the Ukraine, abstained from voting.
As to the Trusteeship problem not mentioned in this
resolution
s, it was the object of informal meetings of Security Council members arranged by the US delegation, while the President of the Security Council met with Jewish and Arab representatives in order to discuss the truce proposal.
In the meantime, the
Palestine
Commission continued its work. On April 13, it adopted
un
animously a report on its activities to be submitted to the Special Session of the Assembly. In this report the Commission stated "that the armed hostility of both Palestinian and non-Palestinian Arab elements, the lack of cooperation from the Mandatory Power, the disintegrating security situation in
Palestine
, and the fact that the Security Council did not furnish the Commission with the necessary armed assistance, are the factors which have made it impossible for the Commission to implement the Assembly's
resolution
."
The report further pointed out that "the steadily deteriorating situation in
Palestine
leads to the inescapable conclusion that, in the absence of forces adequate to restore and maintain law and order in
Palestine
following the termination of the Mandate, there will be administrative chaos, starvation, widespread strife, violence and bloodshed in
Palestine
, including Jerusalem."
On the eve of the Special Assembly, the Security Council convened on 15 April to discuss a draft
resolution
calling for immediate truce in
Palestine
, including a standstill of political activities. This draft was submitted by Dr. Alfonso Lopez of the Colombian Delegation who is the current President of the Council. No decision was reached.
The Council is to meet again Friday night, 16 April at 9:00 p.m. at Lake Success to continue the discussion.
(Text of the draft
resolution
submitted by Dr. Lopez is available as a Press Release PM/873).
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