1940s |

Partition of Palestine Is Voted In By The United Nations – 11/29/1947

The conflict between Arabs and the Jewish people have been going on for decades. Sadly, it is a conflict that has cost life on both sides with no real solution in the immediate future. While history marks the original fallout between the two groups occurring roughly a century ago, an event that occurred in the 1940s did not help the situation. Although there was a fierce opposition from Arabs, the United Nations votes for an independent Jewish state to be created and the partition of Palestine.

Looking back at how the conflict had started between the two in Palestine, it dates all the way back to the 1910s when Jews and Arabs tried to lay claim to British-controlled territory. The Jewish people were called Zionists as they were newly immigrants from Russia and Europe who traveled to their ancient homeland in order to settle and create a Jewish national state. The Palestinian Arabs native to the land wanted to stop Jewish immigration while creating a secular Palestinian state.

Jews and Arabs battled openly in Palestine starting in 1929 and Britain tried to win over the Arabs by trying to limit immigration of the Jewish people. Jewish immigration into Palestine was considered illegal during WWII and was happening during the time of the Holocaust. Feeling that the British had betrayed the cause of the Zionists, Jewish radical groups used terrorist tactics against forces of the British in Palestine. The United States would eventually support the Zionist cause in 1945 as WWII was coming to an end. Being unable to come up with a beneficial solution, Britain decides to turn to the United Nations for a remedy in which they voted for the partition of Palestine on November 29th, 1947.

Even though the Jewish people made up less than half of the population of Palestine, it was voted that more than half of Palestine would be owned by the Jewish people. However, with the support of volunteers from other countries, the Palestinian Arabs battled the forces of the Zionists; however, they would hold total control of their share declared by the U.N. in Palestine which included some Arab territory. Britain eventually withdrew when their mandate expired which led to the Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion to proclaim the existence of the State of Israel. Unfortunately, this led forces from Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan and Syria to invade the next day.

Even though they were not as well equipped, the Israelis not only were able to fend off the attack by the Arabs but were able to acquire key territories such as the Palestinian coast, Galilee and a section of territory that linked the western section of Jerusalem to the coastal region. The U.N.-brokered cease-fires in 1949 granted the State of Israel control of the areas that were obtained permanently. During the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs left Israel which then gave a huge Jewish majority within the country.

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Mark Hinderberg

Writer

Retired History Professor at Vanderbilt University. Love taking a portal through time and sharing my knowledge with anyone else who loves reading about history. It is my passion and my greatest hobby.