>-Hmmm. Every country in the UN was admitted by a vote of the General
>-Assembly, so Israel is hardly unique in this regard. What is unique is that
>-Israel's admission into the United Nations was made conditional on its
>-acceptance of UN Resolution 194 - the right of return.
>
>Countries may have been admitted to the UN, but Israel was I believe one of
>the first countries whose existence was called into being by a vote of the
>United Nations. And any conditions on Israel made were obviously waived,
>since it continues to vote in the UN.
>
>And the Arabs never accepted Israel's existence at all-- and were about the
>only countries who voted against Israel's establishment.
***** On November 25, 1947, the ad hoc committee approved the partition recommendation of subcommittee I, by a vote of 25 to 13, with 17 abstentions. While sufficient to carry the plan in the subcommittee, this margin was short of the two-thirds majority that would be required for passage in the General Assembly. By this time the United States had emerged as the most aggressive proponent of partition. Most European countries, including the Soviet Union, supported it, but most Third World countries viewed it as an infringement of Arab rights.[42] The United States got the General Assembly to delay a vote "to gain time to bring certain Latin American republics into line with its own views."[43] U.S. officials, "by direct order of the White House," used "every form of pressure, direct and indirect," to "make sure that the necessary majority" would be gained, according to former Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles.[44] Members of the U.S. Congress threatened curtailment of economic aid to several Third World countries.[45]
As a last-minute compromise, and as a major concession, several Arab states proposed a plan for a federated government in Palestine. Similar to the Special Committee's minority proposal, this plan called for a federation with Jewish and Arab components.[46] Colombia asked the General Assembly to refer the matter back to the ad hoc committee for further efforts at producing a solution acceptable to both the Arabs and the Jews of Palestine.[47] There was little reason in the fall of 1947 to believe that the delicate political arrangement contemplated by the partition plan could find the necessary level of cooperation between the Jewish and Arab communities.
But the General Assembly proceeded to a vote on the partition plan. On November 29 it adopted a draft resolution embodying the partition plan as Resolution 181. The resolution narrowly gained the required majority of two-thirds -- 33 in favor, 13 opposed, and 10 abstaining. Included in the countries that switched their votes from November 25 to November 29 to provide the two-thirds majority were Liberia, the Philippines, and Haiti. All heavily dependent on the United States financially, they had been lobbied to change their votes. Liberia's ambassador to the United Nations complained that the U.S. delegation threatened aid cuts to several countries.[48] Some delegates charged U.S. officials with "diplomatic intimidation."[49] Without "terrific pressure" from the United States on "governments which cannot afford to risk American reprisals," said an anonymous editorial writer, the resolution "would never have passed."[50] The fact such pressure had been exerted became public knowledge, to the extent a State Department policy group was concerned that "the prestige of the UN" would suffer because of "the notoriety and resentment attendant upon the activities of U.S. pressure groups, including members of Congress, who sought to impose U.S. views as to partition on foreign delegations."[51]...
...The day after Resolution 181 was adopted the Jewish Agency called on all Jews age seventeen to twenty-five to register for military service in the Haganah.[72] It began purchasing armaments in the United States,[73] and the Haganah operations chief prepared a map showing "the strategic characters of every Arab village."[74] The Arab Higher Committee made no military decisions but called on Palestinian Arabs to hold a three-day commercial strike to protest the partition plan.[75]
[42] _Yearbook of the United Nations 1947-48_ (1949), p. 245. Sally Morphet, "The Palestinians and Their Right to Self-Determination," in R.J. Vincent (ed.), _Foreign Policy and Human Rights: Issues and Responses_ (1986), p. 85, at pp. 86-87. [43] _New York Times_, November 30, 1947, p. A64. [44] Sumner Welles, _We Need Not Fail_ (1948), p. 63. [45] Alistair Cooke, "Final UN Vote on Palestine Postponed," _Manchester Guardian_, November 27, 1947, p. 5. Alistair Cooke, "More Complaints on Pressure," _Manchester Guardian_, November 29, 1947, p. 5. Mohammed K. Shadid, _The United States and the Palestinians_ (1981), p. 35. Alan R. Taylor, _Prelude to Israel: An Analysis of Zionist Diplomacy, 1897-1947_ (1959), pp. 103-104. J.R. Gainsborough, _The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Politico-Legal Analysis_ (1986), p. 34. W. Roger Louis, _The British Empire in the Middle East 1945-1951: Arab Nationalism, the United States, and Postwar Imperialism_ (1984), pp. 485-486. Henry Cattan, _Palestine and International Law: The Legal Aspects of the Arab-Israeli Conflict_ (2nd ed. 1976), pp. 82-87. [46] _New York Times_, November 30, 1948, p. A1. [47] _Yearbook of the United Nations 1947-48_ (1949), p. 245. [48] Michael Palumbo, _The Palestinian Catastrophe_ (1987), p. 31. [49] Millar Burrows, _Palestine Is Our Business_ (1949), p. 71. [50] Editorial, "The Partition Gamble," _Christian Century_, vol. 64, p. 1541 (December 17, 1947). [51] "Report by the Policy Planning Staff on Position of the United States With Respect to Palestine: Top Secret," January 19, 1948, _Foreign Relations of the United States 1948_, vol. 5, p. 546, (1976). [72] [Simha] Flapan, [_The Birth of Israel: Myth and Realities_ (1987)], _supra_ note 25, pp. 30-33. [73] _New York Times_, January 11, 1948, p. A1. [74] Harry Sacher, _Israel: The Establishment of s State_ (1952), p. 217. [75] _New York Times, December 1, 1947, p. A1.
(John Quigley, _Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice_, Durham and London: Duke UP, 1990, pp.36-7, 39) ***** -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>