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The Myth of the U.N. Creation of Israel
Foreign Policy Journal
The map of Palestine from 1947 National Geographic
by Jeremy R. Hammond | October 26, 2010
This essay is available for download in !" format at the a#thor$s website.
There is a widely accepted belief that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181
created Israel based upon an understandin! that this resolution partitioned "alestine or
otherwise conferred le!al authority or le!itimacy to the declaration of the e#istence of the state
of Israel$ %owe&er despite its popularity this belief has no basis in fact as a re&iew of the
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resolution's history and e#amination of le!al principles demonstrates incontro&ertibly$
Great (ritain had occupied "alestine durin! the
)irst *orld *ar and in +uly 1,-- the .ea!ue of
Nations issued its mandate for "alestine which
reco!ni/ed the (ritish !o&ernment as the
occupyin! power and effecti&ely conferred to itthe color of le!al authority to temporarily
administrate the territory$01 2n April - 1,34
see5in! to e#tract itself from the conflict that had
arisen in "alestine between +ews and Arabs as a
result of the 6ionist mo&ement to establish in
"alestine a national home for the +ewish people
0- the United 7in!dom submitted a letter to the U$N$ reuestin! the 9ecretary General to
place the uestion of "alestine on the A!enda of the General Assembly at its ne#t re!ular
Annual 9ession and reuestin! the Assembly to ma5e recommendations under Article 1: of
the ;harter concernin! the future !o&ernment of "alestine$0 theGeneral Assembly adopted Resolution 1:? which established the U$N$ 9pecial ;ommittee on
"alestine @UN9;2" to in&esti!ate the uestion of "alestine to prepare a report to the
General Assembly based upon its findin!s and to submit such proposals as it may consider
appropriate for the solution of the problem of "alestine$03
2n 9eptember >$> percent of thetotal area for their state$0, The UN9;2" report ac5nowled!ed that
*ith re!ard to the principle of selfDdetermination althou!h international reco!nition was
e#tended to this principle at the end of the )irst *orld *ar and it was adhered to with re!ard to
the other Arab territories at the time of the creation of the EA' =andates it was not applied to
"alestine ob&iously because of the intention to ma5e possible the creation of the +ewish
National %ome there$ Actually it may well be said that the +ewish National %ome and the sui
!eneris =andate for "alestine run counter to that principle$01:
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In other words the report e#plicitly reco!ni/ed that the denial of "alestinian independence inorder to pursue the !oal of establishin! a +ewish state constituted a reBection of the ri!ht of the
Arab maBority to selfDdetermination$ And yet despite this reco!nition UN9;2" had accepted
this reBection of Arab ri!hts as bein! within the bounds of a le!itimate and reasonable
framewor5 for a solution$
)ollowin! the issuance of the UN9;2" report the U$7$ issued a statement declarin! itsa!reement with the report's recommendations but addin! that if the Assembly should
recommend a policy which is not acceptable to both +ews and Arabs the United 7in!dom
Go&ernment would not feel able to implement it$011 The position of the Arabs had been clear
from the be!innin! but the Arab %i!her ;ommittee issued a statement on 9eptember -,
reiteratin! that the Arabs of "alestine were determined to oppose with all the means at their
disposal any scheme that pro&ided for se!re!ation or partition or that would !i&e to a minority
special and preferential status$ It instead
ad&ocated freedom and independence for an Arab 9tate in the whole of "alestine which would
respect human ri!hts fundamental freedoms and euality of all persons before the law and
would protect the le!itimate ri!hts and interests of all minorities whilst !uaranteein! freedom
of worship and access to the %oly "laces$01-
The U$7$ followed with a statement reiteratin! that %is =aBesty's Go&ernment could not play
a maBor part in the implementation of a scheme that was not acceptable to both Arabs and
+ews but addin! that they would howe&er not wish to impede the implementation of arecommendation appro&ed by the General Assembly$01
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use of a minority in the country$ The United Nations 2r!ani/ation has no power to create anew 9tate$ 9uch a decision can only be ta5en by the free will of the people of the territories in
uestion$ That condition is not fulfilled in the case of the maBority proposal as it in&ol&es the
establishment of a +ewish 9tate in complete disre!ard of the wishes and interests of the Arabs
of "alestine$013
Ne&ertheless the General Assembly passed Resolution 181 on No&ember -, with The rele&ant te#t of the resolution statedH
The General Assembly$
Recommends to the United 7in!dom as the mandatory "ower for "alestine and to all other
=embers of the United Nations the adoption and implementation with re!ard to the future
!o&ernment of "alestine of the "lan of "artition with conomic Union set out belowJ
Reuests that
@a The 9ecurity ;ouncil ta5e the necessary measure as pro&ided for in the plan for itsimplementationJ
@b The 9ecurity ;ouncil consider if circumstances durin! the transitional period reuire such
consideration whether the situation in "alestine constitutes a threat to the peace$ If it decides
that such a threat e#ists and in order to maintain international peace and security the 9ecurity
;ouncil should supplement the authori/ation of the General Assembly by ta5in! measure
under Articles
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The matter was thus ta5en up by the 9ecurity ;ouncil where on Cecember , the 9yrianrepresentati&e to the U$N$ )aris lD7houri obser&ed that the General Assembly is not a world
!o&ernment which can dictate orders partition countries or impose constitutions rules
re!ulations and treaties on people without their consent$ *hen the 9o&iet representati&e
Andrei Gromy5o stated his !o&ernment's opposin! &iew that The resolution of the General
Assembly should be implemented by the 9ecurity ;ouncil lD7houri replied by notin! further
that
;ertain para!raphs of the resolution of the General Assembly which concern the 9ecurity
;ouncil are referred to the ;ouncil namely para!raphs @a @b and @c outlinin! the functions
of the 9ecurity ;ouncil in respect of the "alestinian uestion$ All of the members of the
9ecurity ;ouncil are familiar with the ;ouncil's functions which are well defined and clearly
stated in the ;harter of the United Nations$ I do not belie&e that the resolution of the General
Assembly can add to or delete from these functions$ The recommendations of the General
Assembly are well 5nown to be recommendations and =ember 9tates are not reuired by force
to accept them$ =ember 9tates may or may not accept them and the same applies to the
9ecurity ;ouncil$ 014
2n )ebruary ? 1,38 the Arab %i!her ;ommittee a!ain communicated to the U$N$ 9ecretary
General its position that the partition plan was contrary to the letter and spirit of the United
Nations ;harter$ The U$N$ has no Burisdiction to order or recommend the partition of"alestine$ There is nothin! in the ;harter to warrant such authority conseuently the
recommendation of partition is #ltra viresand therefore null and &oid$ Additionally theArab %i!her ;ommittee noted that
The Arab Cele!ations submitted proposals in the Ad %oc ;ommittee in order to refer the whole
le!al issue raised for a rulin! by the International ;ourt of +ustice$ The said proposals were
ne&er put to &ote by the president in the Assembly$ The United Nations is an International body
entrusted with the tas5 of enforcin! peace and Bustice in international affairs$ %ow would therebe any confidence in such a body if it bluntly and unreasonably refuses to refer such a dispute
to the International ;ourt of +usticeK
The Arabs of "alestine will ne&er reco!ni/e the &alidity of the e#torted partition
recommendations or the authority of the United Nations to ma5e them the Arab %i!her
;ommittee declared and they would consider that any attempt by the +ews or any power or
!roup of powers to establish a +ewish 9tate in Arab territory is an act of a!!ression which will
be resisted in selfDdefense by force$018
2n )ebruary 1? the U$N$ "alestine ;ommission tas5ed by the General Assembly to prepare
for the transfer of authority from the =andatory "ower to the successor !o&ernments under the
partition plan issued its first report to the 9ecurity ;ouncil$ It concluded on the basis of the
Arab reBection that it finds itself confronted with an attempt to defect its purposes and to
nullify the resolution of the General Assembly and callin! upon the 9ecurity ;ouncil to
pro&ide an armed force which alone would enable the ;ommission to dischar!e its
responsibilities on the termination of the =andate$ In effect the "alestine ;ommission had
determined that the partition plan should be implemented a!ainst the will of the maBority
population of "alestine by force$01,
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In response to that su!!estion ;olombia submitted a draft 9ecurity ;ouncil resolution notin!that the U$N$ ;harter did not authori/e the 9ecurity ;ouncil to create special forces for the
purposes indicated by the United Nations "alestine ;ommission$0-: The U$9$ dele!ate
*arren Austin similarly stated at the ->
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recommendations to it re!ardin! the !uidance and instructions which the ;ouncil mi!htusefully !i&e to the "alestine ;ommission with a &iew to implementin! the resolution of the
General Assembly$0->
Curin! further debates at the 9ecurity ;ouncil o&er how to proceed Austin obser&ed that it had
become clear that the 9ecurity ;ouncil is not prepared to !o ahead with efforts to implement
this plan in the e#istin! situation$ At the same time it was clear that the U$7$'s announcedtermination of the =andate on =ay 1> would result in the li!ht of information now a&ailable
in chaos hea&y fi!htin! and much loss of life in "alestine$ The U$N$ could not permit this he
said and the 9ecurity ;ouncil had the responsibility and authority under the ;harter to act to
pre&ent such a threat to the peace$ The U$9$ also proposed establishin! a Trusteeship o&er
"alestine to !i&e further opportunity to the +ews and Arabs to reach a mutual a!reement$
"endin! the con&enin! of a special session of the General Assembly to that end we belie&e
that the 9ecurity ;ouncil should instruct the "alestine ;ommission to suspend its efforts to
implement the proposed partition plan$0-?
The 9ecurity ;ouncil "resident spea5in! as the representati&e from ;hina respondedH The
United Nations was created mainly for the maintenance of international peace$ It would be
tra!ic indeed if the United Nations by attemptin! a political settlement should be the cause of
war$ )or these reasons my dele!ation supports the !eneral principles of the proposal of the
United 9tates dele!ation$0-4 At a further meetin! of the 9ecurity ;ouncil the ;anadiandele!ate stated that the partition plan is based on a number of important assumptions the first
of which was that it was assumed that the two communities in "alestine would coDoperate in
puttin! into effect the solution to the "alestine problem which was recommended by the
General Assembly$0-8 The )rench dele!ate while declinin! to e#tend either appro&al for or
disappro&al of the U$9$ proposal obser&ed that it would allow for any number of alternati&e
solutions from the partition plan includin! a sin!le 9tate with sufficient !uarantees for
minorities$0-, The representati&e from the +ewish A!ency for "alestine read a statementcate!orically reBectin! any plan to set up a trusteeship re!ime for "alestine which would
necessarily entail a denial of the +ewish ri!ht to national independence$0
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The Authority of the U$N$ with Re!ard to "artition
;hapter 1 Article 1 of the U$N$ ;harter defines its purposes and principles which are to
maintain international peace and security to de&elop friendly relations amon! nations based
on respect for the principle of eual ri!hts and selfDdetermination of peoples and to achie&e
international coDoperation on &arious issues and promotin! and encoura!in! respect for
human ri!hts and for fundamental freedoms for all$
The functions and powers of the General Assembly are listed under ;hapter IM Articles 1:throu!h 14$ It is tas5ed to initiate studies and ma5e recommendations to promote international
cooperation and the de&elopment of international law to recei&e reports from the 9ecurity
;ouncil and other or!ans of the U$N$ and to consider and appro&e the or!ani/ation's bud!et$ It
is also tas5ed with performin! functions under the international trusteeship system$ Its authority
is otherwise limited to considerin! and discussin! matters within the scope of the ;harter
ma5in! recommendations to =ember 9tates or the 9ecurity ;ouncil or callin! attention ofmatters to the 9ecurity ;ouncil$
;hapter M Articles -3 throu!h -? states the functions and powers of the 9ecurity ;ouncil$ It istas5ed with maintainin! peace and security in accordance with the purposes and principles of
the U$N$ The specific powers !ranted to the 9ecurity ;ouncil are stated in ;hapters MI MII
MIII and II$ Under ;hapter MI the 9ecurity ;ouncil may call upon parties to settle disputes
by peaceful means in&esti!ate and ma5e a determination as to whether a dispute or situation
constitutes a threat to peace and security$ It may recommend appropriate procedures to resol&edisputes ta5in! into consideration that le!al disputes should as a !eneral rule be referred by
the parties to the International ;ourt of +ustice$ Under ;hapter MII the 9ecurity ;ouncil may
determine the e#istence of a threat to peace and ma5e recommendations or decide what
measures are to be ta5en to maintain or restore peace and security$ It may call upon concerned
parties to ta5e pro&isional measures without preBudice to the ri!hts claims or position of theparties concerned$ It may call upon member states to employ measures not in&ol&in! the useof armed force to apply such measures$ 9hould such measures be inadeuate it may authori/e
the use of armed forces to maintain or restore international peace and security$ ;hapter MIII
states that the 9ecurity ;ouncil shall encoura!e the de&elopment of pacific settlements of local
disputes throu!h re!ional arran!ements or a!encies and utili/e such to enforce actions under
its authority$
The functions and powers of the International Trusteeship 9ystem are listed under ;hapter II
Articles 4> throu!h 8>$ The purpose of the system is to administer and super&ise territories
placed therein by a!reement with the !oal of de&elopment towards selfD!o&ernment or
independence as may be appropriate to the particular circumstances of each territory and its
peoples and the freely e#pressed wishes of the peoples concerned$ The system is to operate in
accordance with the purposes of the U$N$ stated in Article 1 includin! respect for the ri!ht of
selfDdetermination$ The General Assembly is tas5ed with all functions not desi!nated as
strate!ic which are desi!nated to the 9ecurity ;ouncil$ A Trusteeship ;ouncil is established to
assist the General Assembly and the 9ecurity ;ouncil to perform their functions under the
system$
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;hapter III Article 84 states the functions and powers of the Trusteeship ;ouncil which areshared by the General Assembly$ Authority is !ranted to consider reports accept and e#amine
petitions pro&ide for &isits to trust territories and ta5e these and other actions in conformity
with the terms of the trusteeship a!reements$
Another rele&ant section is ;hapter I entitled the Ceclaration Re!ardin! NonD9elfD
Go&ernin! Territories which states that
=embers of the United Nations which ha&e or assume responsibilities for the administration ofterritories whose peoples ha&e not yet attained a full measure of selfD!o&ernment reco!ni/e the
principle that the interests of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount and accept as a
sacred trust the obli!ation to promote to the utmost within the system of international peace
and security established by the present ;harter the wellDbein! of the inhabitants of these
territories
To that end =ember states are to de&elop selfD!o&ernment to ta5e due account of the political
aspirations of the peoples and to assist them in the pro!ressi&e de&elopment of their free
political institutions$
;onclusion
The partition plan put forth by UN9;2" sou!ht to create within "alestine a +ewish state
contrary to the e#press will of the maBority of its inhabitants$ Cespite constitutin! only a third
of the population and ownin! less than 4 percent of the land it sou!ht to !rant to the +ews more
than half of "alestine for purpose of creatin! that +ewish state$ It would in other words ta5e
land from the Arabs and !i&e it to the +ews$ The inherent inBustice of the partition plan stands in
star5 contrast to alternati&e plan proposed by the Arabs of an independent state of "alestine in
which the ri!hts of the +ewish minority would be reco!ni/ed and respected and which would
afford the +ewish population representation in a democratic !o&ernment$ The partition plan was
blatantly preBudicial to the ri!hts of the maBority Arab population and was premised on the
reBection of their ri!ht to selfDdetermination$ This is all the more uncontro&ersial inasmuch as
the UN9;2" report itself e#plicitly ac5nowled!ed that the proposal to create a +ewish state in
"alestine was contrary to the principle of selfDdetermination$ The plan was also premised upon
the erroneous assumption that the Arabs would simply acuiesce to ha&in! their land ta5en
from them and &oluntarily surrender their maBority ri!hts includin! their ri!ht to selfD
determination$
U$N$ General Assembly Resolution 181 neither le!ally partitioned "alestine nor conferred upon
the 6ionist leadership any le!al authority to unilaterally declare the e#istence of the +ewishstate of Israel$ It merely recommended that the UN9;2" partition plan be accepted and
implemented by the concerned parties$ Naturally to ha&e any wei!ht of law the plan li5e any
contract would ha&e to ha&e been formally a!reed upon by both parties which it was not$ Nor
could the General Assembly ha&e le!ally partitioned "alestine or otherwise conferred le!al
authority for the creation of Israel to the 6ionist leadership as it simply had no such authority
to confer$ *hen the 9ecurity ;ouncil too5 up the matter referred to it by the General Assemblyit could come to no consensus on how to proceed with implementin! the partition plan$ It bein!
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apparent that the plan could not be implemented by peaceful means the su!!estion that it beimplemented by force was reBected by members of the 9ecurity ;ouncil$ The simple fact of the
matter is that the plan was ne&er implemented$ Numerous dele!ates from member states
includin! the U$9$ arri&ed at the conclusion that the plan was impracticable and furthermore
that the 9ecurity ;ouncil had no authority to implement such a plan e#cept by mutual consent
by concerned parties which was absent in this case$
The U$9$ 9yria and other member nations were correct in their obser&ations that while the
9ecurity ;ouncil did ha&e authority to declare a threat to the peace and authori/e the use of
force to deal with that and maintain or restore peace and security it did not ha&e any authority
to implement by force a plan to partition "alestine contrary to the will of most of its
inhabitants$ Any attempt to usurp such authority by either the General Assembly or the 9ecurity
;ouncil would ha&e been a prima facie &iolation of the ;harter's foundin! principle of respect
for the ri!ht to selfDdetermination of all peoples and thus null and &oid under international law$
In sum the popular claim that the U$N$ created Israel is a myth and Israel's own claim in its
foundin! document that U$N$ Resolution 181 constituted le!al authority for Israel's creation or
otherwise constituted reco!nition by the U$N$ of the ri!ht of the 6ionist +ews to
e#propriate for themsel&es Arab land and deny to the maBority Arab population of that land
their own ri!ht to selfDdetermination is a patent fraud$
)urther corollaries may be drawn$ The disaster inflicted upon "alestine was not ine&itable$ The
U$N$ was created for the purpose of pre&entin! such catastrophes$ Oet it failed miserably to doso on numerous counts$ It failed in its duty to refer the le!al uestions of the claims to
"alestine to the International ;ourt of +ustice despite reuests from member states to do so$ It
failed to use all means within its authority includin! the use of armed forces to maintain peace
and pre&ent the war that was predicted would occur upon the termination of the =andate$ And
most importantly far from upholdin! its foundin! principles the U$N$ effecti&ely acted topre&ent the establishment of an independent and democratic state of "alestine in direct&iolation of the principles of its own ;harter$ The conseuences of these and other failures are
still witnessed by the world today on a daily basis$ Reco!nition of the !ra&e inBustice
perpetrated a!ainst the "alestinian people in this re!ard and dispellin! such historical myths is
essential if a way forward towards peace and reconciliation is to be found$
Notes
01 The "alestine =andate of the ;ouncil of the .ea!ue of Nations +uly -3
1,--htt%&''avalon.law.yale.ed#'20th(cent#ry'%almanda.as%$
0- Great (ritain had contributed to the conflict by ma5in! contradictory promises to both +ewsand Arabs includin! a declaration appro&ed by the (ritish ;abinet that read %is =aBesty's
Go&ernment &iew with fa&our the establishment in "alestine of a national home for the +ewish
people and will use their best endea&ours to facilitate the achie&ement of this obBect it bein!
clearly understood that nothin! shall be done which may preBudice the ci&il and reli!ious ri!hts
of e#istin! nonD+ewish communities in "alestine or the ri!hts and political status enBoyed by+ews in any other country$ This declaration was deli&ered by )orei!n 9ecretary Arthur +ames
(alfour to representati&e of the 6ionist mo&ement .ord .ionel *alter Rothschild in a letter on
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No&ember - 1,14 and thus came to be 5nown as The (alfourCeclarationhtt%&''avalon.law.yale.ed#'20th(cent#ry'balfo#r.as% $0 United Nations 9pecial ;ommittee on "alestine Report to the General Assembly 9eptember
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Nations No&ember 11 1,34 htt%&''#nis%al.#n.or)'%dfs'99:1-2.%df$01> United Nations General Assembly 1-8th "lenary =eetin! United Nations No&ember -,1,34htt%&''#nis%al.#n.or)'#nis%al.nsf'*a+*adbf-22a-/2/61+b006dd+'61/f+6b*d*2+00/2/6ce600/22c*eO%en!oc#ment$01? United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 No&ember -,
1,34htt%&''#nis%al.#n.or)'#nis%al.nsf'*a+*adbf-22a-/2/61+b006dd+'
+f0af2bd*+6*b+/2/6c--0061d2/-O%en!oc#ment$014 United Nations 9ecurity ;ouncil ---nd =eetin! Cecember ,
1,34htt%&''#nis%al.#n.or)'#nis%al.nsf'*a+*adbf-22a-/2/61+b006dd+'ce-+bc*6122a--*/2/6e6*006*bf6O%en!oc#ment$018 )irst 9pecial Report to the 9ecurity ;ouncilH The "roblem of 9ecurity in "alestine
United Nations "alestine ;ommission )ebruary 1?
1,38htt%&''domino.#n.or)'#nis%al.nsf'/ba+a/c6cef/1b02/6-e000*-bc'fdf+-eb+6c-*d6-/2/6cc00cdba+O%en!oc#ment$01, Ibid$
0-: Craft Resolution on the "alestinian Fuestion 9ubmitted by the Representati&e of;olombia at the ->3th =eetin! of the 9ecurity ;ouncil )ebruary -3
1,38htt%&''#nis%al.#n.or)'%dfs';6.%df$0-1 U$N$ 9ecurity ;ouncil -> 1,38 htt%&''#nis%al.#n.or)'%dfs';6/.%df$0-
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1,38htt%&''domino.#n.or)'#nis%al.nsf'*a+*adbf-22a-/2/61+b006dd+'6+6bb+1de*2db*b/2/60ba006+dO%en!oc#ment$0