THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION
OF THE
PALESTINE PROBLEM
1917-1988
UNITED NATIONS
New York, 1990
FOREWORD
This study has been prepared by the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat for, and under the guidance of, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 32/40 B of 2 December 1977. The study was published in keeping with the following guiding principles suggested by the Committee:
"The study should place the problem in its historical perspective, emphasizing the national identity and rights of the Palestinian people. It should survey the course of the problem during the period of the League of Nations Mandate and show how it came before the United Nations. It should also cover the period of United Nations involvement in the problem."
The study is in four parts covering the period 1917 to December 1988.
Part I, published in 1978, offers historical background of the question of Palestine reaching as far back as 1915. This part surveys in detail the period 1917 to 1947, during most of which Palestine was governed under a mandate granted by the League of Nations.
Part II, published in 1979, covers the evolution of the Palestine problem from the time it was taken up in the United Nations to the late 1970s, i.e. 1947 to 1977.
Part III, published in 1984, deals with further development of the question of Palestine into the 1980s and covers the period 1978 to 1983.
Part IV, added in 1990 to the three previously published parts, covers the period 1984 to 1988, during which a series of landmark events took place. These developments signified a qualitatively new phase in the evolution of this long-standing political, socio-economic, humanitarian and moral problem, still awaiting its resolution.
Note should be made that the present study consists of the four parts, published in different years, and consolidated in one volume for the convenience of the reader.
CONTENTS
|
Page |
||
|
FOREWORD |
iii |
|
|
INTRODUCTION |
2 |
|
|
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. |
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE PALESTINE ISSUE THE BALFOUR DECLARATION THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS MANDATES PALESTINE MANDATED MANDATED PALESTINE – THE "JEWISH NATIONAL HOME" MANDATED PALESTINE – PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE MANDATED PALESTINE – THE PARTITION PLANS PALESTINE AND THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS THE ENDING OF THE MANDATE |
4 8 18 21 34 43 48 56 63 |
|
NOTES ANNEXES |
73 80 |
|
|
INTRODUCTION |
98 |
|
|
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. |
THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPECIAL SESSION ON PALESTINE THE UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PALESTINE (UNSCOP) THE AD HOC COMMITTEE ON PALESTINE THE PARTITION OF PALESTINE THE END OF THE MANDATE AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ISRAEL PALESTINE AND THE UNITED NATIONS: 1948-1967 PALESTINE AND THE UNITED NATIONS: 1967-1977 THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE |
99 105 115 124 132 140 147 157 |
|
IX. |
THE STATUS OF THE PALESTINIAN ENTITY |
162 |
|
NOTES ANNEXES |
166 172 |
|
|
INTRODUCTION |
186 |
|
|
I. |
PALESTINE AND THE UNITED NATIONS: 1978-1983 |
190 |
|
A. Emergency special session of the General Assembly on the question of Palestine B. Invasion of Lebanon by Israel in 1982 C. Israeli settlements in the occupied territories D. The status of Jerusalem E. Violation of human rights F. International Conference on the Question of Palestine |
190 191 193 196 196 198 |
|
|
II. |
CONCLUSION |
203 |
|
NOTES ANNEXES |
204 205 |
|
|
INTRODUCTION |
226 |
|
|
I. |
THIRTY-EIGHTH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE |
226 |
|
II. |
ISRAELI POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY |
228 |
|
A. Violation of human rights in the occupied territory B. Acquisition of land and Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip C. Israeli policies on the water resources of the occupied territory D. Israel's exploitation of Palestinian labour resources E. Economic value of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip markets for Israel |
228 230 232 233 234 |
|
|
III. IV. |
SEARCH FOR A PEACEFUL SOLUTION OF THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE INTIFADAH: PALESTINIAN POPULAR UPRISING IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY |
236 251 |
|
A. Beginning of the intifadah B. 1988: The year of the uprising |
251 252 |
|
|
V. |
CONCLUSION |
272 |
|
NOTES |
273 |
|
ST/SG/SER.F/1
Document Type: Publication, Study
Document Sources: Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR)
Subject: History, Palestine question
Publication Date: 31/12/1988