Myths
and Facts - Partition
MYTH
“The United Nations unjustly partitioned Palestine.”
FACT
As World War II ended, the magnitude of the Holocaust became known. This
accelerated demands for a resolution to the question of Palestine so the
survivors of Hitler's "Final Solution" might find sanctuary in a
homeland of their own.
The British tried to work out an agreement acceptable to both Arabs and
Jews, but their insistence on the former's approval guaranteed failure
because the Arabs would not make any concessions. They subsequently
turned the issue over to the UN in February 1947.
The UN established a Special Commission on Palestine (UNSCOP) to devise
a solution. Delegates from 11 nations* went to the area and found what
had long been apparent: The conflicting national aspirations of Jews and
Arabs could not be reconciled.
The contrasting attitudes of the two groups "could not fail to give the
impression that the Jews were imbued with the sense of right and were
prepared to plead their case before any unbiased tribunal, while the
Arabs felt unsure of the justice of their cause, or were afraid to bow
to the judgment of the nations."1
Although most of the Commission's members acknowledged the need to find
a compromise solution, it was difficult for them to envision one given
the parties' intractability. At a meeting with a group of Arabs in
Beirut, the Czechoslovakian member of the Commission told his audience:
"I have listened to your demands and it seems to me that in your view
the compromise is: We want our demands met completely, the rest can be
divided among those left."2
When they returned, the delegates of seven nations — Canada,
Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, The Netherlands, Peru, Sweden and Uruguay —
recommended the establishment of two separate states, Jewish and Arab,
to be joined by economic union, with Jerusalem an internationalized
enclave. Three nations — India, Iran and Yugoslavia — recommended a
unitary state with Arab and Jewish provinces. Australia abstained.
The Jews of Palestine were not satisfied with the small territory
allotted to them by the Commission, nor were they happy that Jerusalem
was severed from the Jewish State; nevertheless, they welcomed the
compromise. The Arabs rejected the UNSCOP's recommendations.
The ad hoc committee of the UN General Assembly rejected the Arab demand
for a unitary Arab state. The majority recommendation for partition was
subsequently adopted 33-13 with 10 abstentions on November 29, 1947.3
“It is hard to see how the Arab world, still less the Arabs of
Palestine, will suffer from what is mere recognition of accomplished
fact — the presence in Palestine of a compact, well organized, and
virtually autonomous Jewish community.”
— London Times editorial4
MYTH
“The partition plan gave the Jews most of the land, and all of the
cultivable area.”
FACT
The partition plan took on a checkerboard appearance largely because
Jewish towns and villages were spread throughout Palestine. This did not
complicate the plan as much as the fact that the high living standards
in Jewish cities and towns had attracted large Arab populations, which
insured that any partition would result in a Jewish state that included
a substantial Arab population. Recognizing the need to allow for
additional Jewish settlement, the majority proposal allotted the Jews
land in the northern part of the country, Galilee, and the large, arid
Negev desert in the south. The remainder was to form the Arab state.
These boundaries were based solely on demographics. The borders of the
Jewish State were arranged with no consideration of security; hence, the
new state's frontiers were virtually indefensible. Overall, the Jewish
State was to be comprised of roughly 5,500 square miles and the
population was to be 538,000 Jews and 397,000 Arabs. The Arab State was
to be 4,500 square miles with a population of 804,000 Arabs and 10,000
Jews.3a Though the Jews were allotted more total land, the majority of
that land was in the desert.
Further complicating the situation was the UN majority's insistence that
Jerusalem remain apart from both states and be administered as an
international zone. This arrangement left more than 100,000 Jews in
Jerusalem isolated from their country and circumscribed by the Arab
state.
Critics claim the UN gave the Jews fertile land while the Arabs were
allotted hilly, arid land. This is untrue. Approximately 60 percent of
the Jewish state was to be the arid desert in the Negev.
The Arabs constituted a majority of the population in Palestine as a
whole — 1.2 million Arabs versus 600,000 Jews. The Jews never had a
chance of reaching a majority in the country given the restrictive
immigration policy of the British. By contrast, the Arabs were free to
come — and thousands did — to take advantage of the rapid development
stimulated by Zionist settlement. Still, the Jews were a majority in the
area allotted to them by the resolution and in Jerusalem.
In addition to roughly 600,000 Jews, 350,000 Arabs resided in the Jewish
state created by partition. Approximately 92,000 Arabs lived in Tiberias,
Safed, Haifa and Bet Shean, and another 40,000 were Bedouins, most of
whom were living in the desert. The remainder of the Arab population was
spread throughout the Jewish state and occupied most of the agricultural
land.5
According to British statistics, more than 70% of the land in what would
become Israel was not owned by Arab farmers, it belonged to the
mandatory government. Those lands reverted to Israeli control after the
departure of the British. Nearly 9% of the land was owned by Jews and
about 3% by Arabs who became citizens of Israel. That means only about
18% belonged to Arabs who left the country before and after the Arab
invasion of Israel.6
MYTH
“Israel usurped all of Palestine in 1948.”
FACT
Nearly 80 percent of what was the historic land of Palestine and the
Jewish National Home, as defined by the League of Nations, was severed
by the British in 1921 and allocated to what became Transjordan. Jewish
settlement there was barred. The UN partitioned the remaining 20-odd
percent of Palestine into two states. With Jordan’s annexation of the
West Bank in 1950, and Egypt's control of Gaza, Arabs controlled more
than 80 percent of the territory of the Mandate, while the Jewish State
held a bare 17.5 percent.6a
MYTH
“The Palestinian Arabs were never offered a state and therefore have
been denied the right to self-determination.”
FACT
The Peel Commission in 1937 concluded the only logical solution to
resolving the contradictory aspirations of the Jews and Arabs was to
partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The Arabs
rejected the plan because it forced them to accept the creation of a
Jewish state, and required some Palestinians to live under "Jewish
domination." The Zionists opposed the Peel Plan's boundaries because
they would have been confined to little more than a ghetto of 1,900 out
of the 10,310 square miles remaining in Palestine. Nevertheless, the
Zionists decided to negotiate with the British, while the Arabs refused
to consider any compromises.
Again, in 1939, the British White Paper called for the establishment of
an Arab state in Palestine within 10 years, and for limiting Jewish
immigration to no more than 75,000 over the following five years.
Afterward, no one would be allowed in without the consent of the Arab
population. Though the Arabs had been granted a concession on Jewish
immigration, and been offered independence — the goal of Arab
nationalists — they repudiated the White Paper.
With partition, the Palestinians were given a state and the opportunity
for self-determination. This too was rejected.
MYTH
“The majority of the population in Palestine was Arab; therefore, a
unitary Arab state should have been created.”
FACT
At the time of the 1947 partition resolution, the Arabs did have a
majority in western Palestine as a whole — 1.2 million Arabs versus
600,000 Jews.7 But the Jews were a majority in the area allotted to them
by the resolution and in Jerusalem.
Prior to the Mandate in 1922, Palestine’s Arab population had been
declining. Afterward, Arabs began to come from all the surrounding
countries. In addition, the Arab population grew exponentially as Jewish
settlers improved the quality of health conditions in Palestine.
The decision to partition Palestine was not determined solely by
demographics; it was based on the conclusion that the territorial claims
of Jews and Arabs were irreconcilable, and that the most logical
compromise was the creation of two states. Ironically, that same year,
1947, the Arab members of the United Nations supported the partition of
the Indian sub-continent and the creation of the new, predominantly
Muslim state of Pakistan.
MYTH
“The Arabs were prepared to compromise to avoid bloodshed.”
FACT
As the partition vote approached, it became clear little hope existed
for a political solution to a problem that transcended politics: the
Arabs' unwillingness to accept a Jewish state in Palestine and the
refusal of the Zionists to settle for anything less. The implacability
of the Arabs was evident when Jewish Agency representatives David
Horowitz and Abba Eban made a last-ditch effort to reach a compromise in
a meeting with Arab League Secretary Azzam Pasha on September 16, 1947.
Pasha told them bluntly:
The Arab world is not in a compromising mood. It's likely, Mr. Horowitz,
that your plan is rational and logical, but the fate of nations is not
decided by rational logic. Nations never concede; they fight. You won't
get anything by peaceful means or compromise. You can, perhaps, get
something, but only by the force of your arms. We shall try to defeat
you. I am not sure we'll succeed, but we'll try. We were able to drive
out the Crusaders, but on the other hand we lost Spain and Persia. It
may be that we shall lose Palestine. But it's too late to talk of
peaceful solutions.8
MYTH
“The Soviet Union vigorously opposed partition.”
FACT
After the British decided to bring the Palestine issue to the UN,
Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin's adviser on Palestine asked a
representative of the Jewish Agency why the Jews agreed to let the UN
decide the fate of Palestine. "Don't you know," he said, "that the only
way a Jewish state will be established is if the U.S. and Soviet Union
agree? Nothing like that ever happened. It cannot possibly happen. It
will never happen."
In May 1947, however, Soviet delegate Andrei Gromyko said:
The fact that no Western European State has been able to ensure the
defense of the elementary rights of the Jewish people and to safeguard
it against the violence of the fascist executioners explains the
aspirations of the Jews to establish their own State. It would be unjust
not to take this into consideration and to deny the right of the Jewish
people to realize this aspiration.9
A few months later, the Soviet Union backed partition and, subsequently,
became the second nation to recognize Israel.
Notes
1Aharon Cohen, Israel and the Arab World, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1976),
pp. 369-370.
2Cohen, p. 212.
3 Voting in favor of partition: Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil,
Byelorussian SSR, Canada, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Liberia,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukrainian SSR, Union of
South Africa, USSR, USA, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Voting against partition: Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran,
Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen.
Abstained: Argentina, Chile, China, Columbia, El Salvador, Ethiopia,
Honduras, Mexico, UK, Yugoslavia. Yearbook of the United Nations,
1947-48, (NY: United Nations, 1949), pp. 246-47.
3aHoward Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our
Time, (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998), p. 292.
4London Times, (December 1, 1947).
5 Cohen, p. 238.
6 Moshe Aumann, "Land Ownership in Palestine, 1880-1948," in Michael
Curtis, et al., The Palestinians, (NJ: Transaction Books, 1975), p. 29,
quoting p. 257 of the Government of Palestine, Survey of Palestine.
6aHistoric Palestine comprised what is today Jordan (approximately
35,640 square miles), Israel (8,019 square miles), Gaza (139 square
miles) and the West Bank (2,263 square miles).
7Arieh Avneri, The Claim of Dispossession, (NJ: Transaction Books,
1984), p. 252.
8David Horowitz, State in the Making, (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953), p.
233.
9United Nations General Assembly, First Special Session, May 14, 1947,
UN Documemt A/PV 77.
*Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, India, Iran, the
Netherlands, Peru, Sweden, Uruguay and Yugoslavia.
From:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf3.html
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