Questions about United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What was the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine?
The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was Resolution 181, adopted by the UN General Assembly on the 29th of November 1947, recommending the division of Mandatory Palestine into independent but economically linked Arab and Jewish states, with a Special International Regime for Jerusalem. The Arab state was allocated 42.88 percent of the territory and the Jewish state 56.47 percent, with the remaining 0.65 percent designated as an international zone.
How did the UN vote on the Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947?
On the 29th of November 1947, the UN General Assembly voted 33 in favour, 13 against, and 10 abstentions. All Western nations voted for the resolution except the United Kingdom, Greece, and Turkey. Asian countries, primarily those in the Middle East, voted against, with the Philippines as the exception.
Why did Arab states reject the UN Partition Plan for Palestine?
Arab states rejected the plan because Arabs formed two-thirds of the population and owned 93 percent of the arable land, yet the plan allocated 56 percent of the territory to the Jewish state. The Arab Higher Committee argued the plan violated the UN Charter's principle of national self-determination, and Arab delegations declared the day after the vote that the result had been obtained under great pressure and duress.
What pressure was applied to countries voting on the Palestine Partition Plan?
A telegram signed by 26 US senators with influence over foreign aid bills was sent to wavering countries. Reports named Liberia, Haiti, France, and the Philippines among nations subjected to lobbying or implied threats of aid cuts. President Truman later stated he had never faced as much pressure aimed at the White House as during the partition vote.
What happened after the UN Partition Plan for Palestine was passed?
The plan was never implemented. A civil war broke out in late 1947 between Palestinian Jews and Arabs, and on the 15th of May 1948, Arab states invaded after the British Mandate expired. By the end of the fighting, 85 percent of Palestinians living in areas that became the State of Israel had been expelled or fled. The proposed Arab state and the international zone for Jerusalem were never established.
What was the population of Palestine when the 1947 Partition Plan was drafted?
At the end of 1946, Palestine's population was estimated at roughly 1,846,000: approximately 1,203,000 Arabs, 608,000 Jews, and 35,000 others. Arabs owned 93 percent of the arable land and Jews owned approximately 7 percent, though Jews constituted about 33 percent of the total population.