November 29: Partition of Palestine

In this day in 1947 the United Nations General Assembly approved the resolution 181 that meant to divide the British mandate in two ethnic states, one Jewish and another Arab, plus an international administration for Jerusalem. The proposal was prepared by the UN Special Comitee on Palestine (UNSCOP), which, despite of excluding any major power, showed clear differences inside, as three members (India, Iran and Yugoslavia) had voted for an alternative proposal on a federal state.

The General Assembly vote was 33 countries in favor (most European nations, many American ones and South Africa), 13 countries against (all the Muslim nations then independent, plus India, Greece and Cuba) and 10 abstentions (mostly Latin American countries, plus Ethiopia, Yugoslavia and the United Kingdom).

 
The partition approved by the UN (left) and the actual Jewish colonization of the province in 1947 (right)

While the decission was warmly welcomed by most Jewish organizations, except for some extremist groups, in the Arab side it was fiercely rejected, considering that it violated the rights of the majoritarily Arab (non-Jew) population. Jews were then only 33% of the total Palestinian population, yet the proposal gave them 55% of the territory. The population for the proposed Jewish State would be 498,000 Jews and 325,000 non-Jews. The population for the proposed Arab State would be 807,000 non-Jews and 10,000 Jews. The population for the proposed International Zone would be 105,000 non-Jews and 100,000 Jews.

Fighting began as soon as the resolution was approved, with the Jerusalem Riots of 1947, that were soon followed by the First Arab-Israeli War, which Israelis refer to as the War of Independence or Liberation, while Palestinians call it the Catastrophe.


Other events that happened on this day:

• 1864: Sand Creek massacre: Colorado militia volunteers kill at least 150 noncombatants of the Cheyenne and Arapaho nations.
  
• 1872: The Modoc War (a US Indian war) starts with the Battle of Lost River: 53 warriors commanded by Captain Jack held off 1000 US soldiers for 7 months.
• 1877: Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.
  

  Edison's phonograph

• 1945: The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is proclaimed.
  
• 1981: Actress Natalie Wood drowns in a boat accident in California.

Natalie Wood with Nick Adams



Edited by Maju