A. Press accounts of various peace plans.. B. Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban's nine principles for peace__ C. "Settlement or Solution," address by Hon. Eugene R. Black__ (V) INTRODUCTORY REMARKS This study is intended to provide some basic information and background material on the current explosive Arab-Israeli situation. In any appraisal or reevaluation of U.S. policy and interests, account has to be taken of the fact that the United States has been involved in the Arab-Israeli issue since the beginning. Disengagement is not going to be possible. BACKGROUND TO THE CONTINUING NEAR EAST CRISIS Prior to World War I, Palestine and most of the area now occupied by the Arab States were part of the Ottoman Empire. The breakup of that empire as a result of the war made it possible to offer independence to both Arabs and Jews. During the war, the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration which recognized the historic connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and promised to help restore a national home for the Jews in that country. In 1922, the League of Nations gave Great Britain a mandate over Palestine to carry out the purposes of the Balfour Declaration. At the outset some Arab leaders were not opposed to the establishment of a national home for the Jews, but when their demands for immediate independence for the Arab States were frustrated by the British and French, the Arabs began their long campaign to oppose the establishment of the State of Israel. Between 1921 and 1939, Arabs fought with terrorism and strikes; the British, yielding to the Arabs, finally issued a white paper on the eve of World War II, restricting Jewish immigration and coloniza tion. After the war, the conflict between the Jews and Arabs was renewed. The British Government finally decided to turn the question over to the U.N. for its recommendation. The U.N. Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), an 11-nation commission, went to Palestine and recommended the partition of the country into two separate States, one Arab and one Jewish, with a corpus separatum for Jerusalem. The United States and the Soviet Union supported this recommendation. The Jews, who claimed all of Palestine, accepted the compromise partition resolution. But the Arab States rejected it and announced that they would go to war to block it. The U.N. established a commission to go to Palestine to implement the U.N. resolution. But the commission reported to the U.N. Security Council, on February 16, 1948: Powerful Arab interests, both inside and outside Palestine, are defying the resolution of the General Assembly and are engaged in a deliberate effort to alter by force the settlement envisaged therein. 2 The commission never went to Palestine. At the same time, the U.N. Trusteeship Council abandoned the task of drafting a trusteeship statute for the proposed international regime for Jerusalem. On May 14, 1948, the British announced they would terminate the mandate and leave the country. On the same day the Jewish leadership in Palestine proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. Also, on that day the Arab armies of Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, and Lebanon invaded the new State in an effort to destroy it. The Arab State which had been recommended in the U.N. resolution never came into existence as the Arab armies tried to seize the areas allotted to that State for themselves. Egypt seized the Gaza strip. Transjordan occupied the West Bank and the Old City of Jerusalem. For many weeks prior to the opening of the war, the city of Jerusalem was under siege as Arab forces tried to cut it off from the coastal areas. However, the Haganah, the Jewish defense force, opened a corridor between west Jerusalem and the Jewish State and broke the siege. The fighting was brought to an end under four separate armistice agreements negotiated between Israel and each of the Arab countries, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan. and Syria. during February through July 1949, under the auspices of Dr. Ralph Bunche. The demarcation lines were fixed in the armistice agreements. It was hoped that the armistice lines would soon be replaced by firm boundaries recognized in formal peace treaties. The U.N. Palestine Conciliation Commission, was created to undertake negotiations. But these negotiations were stalemated for many months and finally terminated. The crux of the issue since the adoption of the armistice agreements is the conflicting interpretations of their meaning. Arab opposition to the U.N. action was based on the assumption that the international body did not have the right to divide the country or the right to impose a solution on the peoples of Palestine. A major problem arose over the plight of the Arab refugees. The Israelis held that there would have been no Arab refugees if there had been no war and that their homelessness could be speedily resolved if there were peace. On the other hand, Arab States have long argued that the problem of the Arab refugees must be disposed of before any final settlement. There is a continuing dispute over the origin of this problem. Many Arab Palestinians fled their homes-some 750,000 according to the United Nations-and moved to the Arab States. Israelis contend that these refugees were induced by the Arabs to leave Israel in order to clear the area of friendly people before an expected Arab invasion. The Israelis also claim that the Arabs induced the exodus by issuing threats against some Palestinians and that the Arabs spread untrue rumors of Israeli atrocities against Arab communities under Israel's sovereignty. According to some Israeli sources, only 500,000 Palestinian Arabs fled their homes, a number equal to the number of Jews forced to flee from the Arab countries. Israelis contend that the two migrations are self-canceling. Arabs have denied making threats to the Palestinian Arabs and have said that there were Israeli atrocities against Arab communities in Palestine. The refugees, which the Arabs claim numbered close to 1 million, were forced from Palestine by the Israelis and therefore have the right to return to the property they abandoned. The Arabs deny forcing the Jews to leave their homes in Arab countries. Repatriation of the of refugees remains one of the Arab demands. The Arabs have always cited paragraph 11 of the U.N. resolution of December 11, 1948, which created the Palestine Conciliation Commission to negotiate an Arab-Israeli peace settlement. Paragraph 11 reads as follows: The Assembly resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible; Instructs the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation, and to maintain close relations with the Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees and, through him, with the appropriate organs and agencies of the United Nations. At the same time, however, the Assembly included paragraph 5, which called for negotiations and peace: Agreement by negotiations conducted either with the Conciliation Commission or directly, with a view to the final settlement of all questions outstanding between them. Arabs interpret paragraph 11 to mean that the Arab refugees have a right to repatriation. The Israelis contend that return of the refugees depends on their readiness to live at peace and therefore there must be negotiations for a final settlement. The armistice agreements signed at the end of the 1948 war left Jerusalem divided between Israel and Jordanian forces. Jordan annexed the Old City area under its occupation in 1950, Israel's area having already become a part of that nation. The United Nations continued to consider as valid that portion of the partition plan that created an international administration for the city. Later attempts to implement internationalization were rejected by the Israelis and the Jordanians. After the June 1967 conflict, Israel "integrated" the Jordanian section into the State of Israel despite two U.N. resolutions opposing the annexation. The United States was one of the few countries to abstain when the U.N. condemned Israel's annexation of Jerusalem for the United States has taken the position that Jerusalem should not be divided again. It favors an undivided city with adequate guarantees for all faiths. Throughout this period the Suez Canal had remained closed to Israel shipping because the Soviet veto prevented the U.N. from enforcing the 1951 Security Council decision calling on Egypt to open the canal. The Egyptians also closed the Straits of Tiran, cutting off Israel's access to the Indian Ocean. In 1955, the Egyptian Government turned to the Soviet Union for weapons and there was a steady deterioration in the relations between Egypt and Western nations. In the summer of 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, antagonizing the British and the French. At the same time, Egypt stepped up fedayeen (Arab commandos) raids from Gaza and entered into a military alliance with Jordan. These developments led to the 1956 Suez war. 22-633-69 |