not only to the recommendations which have met with the unanimous approval of the Special Committee but also to those which have been approved by the majority of that Committee."

The United States position was amplified during the general debate in the Ad Hoc Committee. The United States Representative emphasized that "the urgency of the problem is so great that the General Assembly must recommend a solution at this session." He expressed the support of the United States Delegation for the basic principles of the unanimous recommendations and the majority plan which provided for partition and immigration. However, he stated the view that "certain amendments and modifications would have to be made in the majority plan in order to give effect to the principles on which that plan is based." For example, he said, Jaffa should be included in the Arab state because it is predominantly an Arab city. He suggested that "all inhabitants of Palestine, regardless of citizenship, be guaranteed access to ports and water and power facilities on a nondiscriminatory basis; that constitutional guarantees, including guarantees regarding equal economic opportunity, be provided for Arabs and Jews alike; and that the powers of the Joint Economic Board be strengthened."

The Soviet Delegation also favored the partition of Palestine, this being the only major issue in which the United States and the Soviet Union were in agreement at the Assembly. The Soviet Delegation stated that the essence of the question was the right of self-determination of Arabs and Jews in Palestine and supported the majority plan because it seemed impossible to reconcile the opposing points of view of the two peoples. The United Kingdom, as mandatory power in Palestine, consistently refrained from supporting either the majority or minority plan in the UNSCOP report.

After two weeks of general debate, the Ad Hoc Committee proceeded to the next step-discussion of 17 resolutions and amendments submitted by members during the debate. The Chairman proposed that no vote on matters of principle should be taken at that stage but that the problem should be further considered by subcommittees. A proposal that the Committee should first take decisions on the basic questions of substance, moved by the Soviet Union, was defeated,

14 to 26.

Two subcommittees were set up. Subcommittee 1 was composed of representatives of Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, Poland, South Africa, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela, and it was instructed, in accordance with a United States resolution, to consider the partition plan recommended by the majority of the UNSCOP Committee. Subcommittee 2 was composed of representatives of Afghanistan, Colombia (which

served briefly), Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen; it was directed to consider proposals by the Arab nations for an independent unitary state in Palestine. The Chairman of the Committee asked the Vice Chairman and the Rapporteur to join with him as members of a conciliation committee to attempt to reduce the area of disagreement as much as possible between the Arabs and the Jews.

Representatives of the United Kingdom, as the mandatory power, attended the meetings of both subcommittees in order to furnish information and assistance. A representative of the Jewish Agency sat in Subcommittee 1, and a representative of the Arab Higher Committee in Subcommittee 2, to give such information and assistance as might be required. The Arab Higher Committee did not accept an invitation to sit with Subcommittee 1 when the latter discussed the question of boundaries, being prepared to assist only with regard to the question of the termination of the mandate and the creation of a unitary state.

SUBCOMMITTEE 1 ON PARTITION

The subcommittee on partition elected K. Pruszynski (Poland) as Chairman, and Rodríguez Fabregat (Uruguay) as Rapporteur. The subcommittee, after study of the UNSCOP majority plan by a number of small working groups, made many modifications in the plan. The views of the Jewish Agency regarding desirable changes were given detailed consideration. Major revisions in the plan were made with respect to boundaries, economic union, the City of Jerusalem, and procedures for implementation.

1. Boundaries

Subcommittee 1, and later the Ad Hoc Committee, accepted the boundaries of UNSCOP in principle but examined them in considerable detail with a view to reducing so far as was reasonably possible the size of the Arab minority in the Jewish state, and to taking into account considerations of security, communications, irrigation, and possibilities of future development. Jaffa was excluded from the Jewish state and created as an Arab enclave. This and other boundary changes resulted in a reduction of the Arab population in the Jewish state estimated at the time to be between 78,000 and 81,000. The United States proposed that the entire Negeb, the large desert area in the south of Palestine, should be transferred to the Arab state, in view of its predominantly Arab population and its relationship to Arab routes of communication, but such a change did not prove acceptable. However, the Ad Hoc Committee agreed that the town of Beersheba, an area to the northeast thereof, and a portion of the

Negeb along the Egyptian frontier should be incorporated in the Arab state. It was also agreed that a demarcation commission should fix the exact boundary lines on the spot.

2. Economic Union

The UNSCOP proposals concerning economic union were accepted with certain technical modifications, which were made with a view to reconciling the powers of the Joint Economic Board with the widest measure of economic autonomy for the two states. Certain pro

visions were also added to insure that the economic union would operate in a nondiscriminatory manner.

3. The City of Jerusalem

The Subcommittee rejected, with the support of the United States, proposals that Jerusalem should be divided into three parts, the Jewish area to become a Jewish enclave, the area of the Old City to be governed under an international regime, and the Arab area to become part of the Arab state. It was provided, however, that Jerusalem should be administered by the Trusteeship Council under a special statute, rather than under the international trusteeship system as recommended by UNSCOP. The Trusteeship Council was directed to elaborate and approve a detailed statute of the City of Jerusalem, designed "to protect and to preserve the unique spiritual and religious interests located in the City of the three great monotheistic faiths throughout the world, Christian, Jewish and Moslem", and "to foster co-operation among all the inhabitants of the City...

4. Implementation of the Plan

The most difficult question which arose in the discussions of the UNSCOP majority plan related to the implementation of the plan. It was necessary to determine the method by which powers of administration would be transferred from the mandatory power to the Arab and Jewish states and the means by which internal law and order would be maintained during the transitional period.

As the Ad Hoc Committee began its work, the Representative of the United Kingdom stated that the United Kingdom was ready to assume the responsibility for giving effect to any plan on which agreement was reached between the Arabs and the Jews. However, the United Kingdom would not feel able to implement a policy which was unacceptable to the Arabs and Jews. In the absence of a settlement, he continued, the United Kingdom must plan for an early withdrawal of British forces and of the British administration from Palestine. In a later meeting the British Representative declared that his Government would in no case accept responsibility for the

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enforcement of United Nations recommendations, not acceptable to Arabs and Jews, either alone or in the major role. When Subcommittee 1 was drafting detailed proposals for the transfer of authority from the mandatory power to the new states, the British Representative stated that it was planned that the evacuation of the military forces of the mandatory power would be completed by August 1, 1948. While British troops remained in occupation in any part of Palestine, they would maintain law and order in those areas, but they would not enforce settlement against either Arabs or Jews. With respect to civil administration he stated that his Government reserved the right to lay down the mandate at any time after it became evident that the Assembly's decision was not acceptable to both Jews and Arabs. Thus the British civil administration would not necessarily be maintained throughout the intervening period until the completion of the military evacuation. When the two subcommittees made their reports to the Ad Hoc Committee, the United Kingdom made clear that it would not be prepared to transfer the authority of the Palestine Government to councils of government or local representatives, as both subcommittees had proposed, but would be prepared to hand over its authority to a United Nations commission. The commission could, if it desired, transfer its authority to local bodies.

Subcommittee 1 established a working group on implementation consisting of Canada, Guatemala, the Soviet Union, and the United States. The United States suggested an instantaneous transfer of authority from the mandatory power to the new sovereign states to take place on July 1, 1948. Up to that time the control of Palestine would be by the mandatory power. The General Assembly would establish a United Nations commission to advise and assist in the transfer process. The Soviet Union proposed a one-year transitional period, during which Palestine would be administered by a special commission operating under the direct authority of the Security Council. Guatemala suggested that a General Assembly committee of three delegates should administer Palestine for a brief transitional period. A Canadian proposal combined certain of the elements of the Soviet and United States plans. Independent Arab and Jewish states would be recognized immediately upon the withdrawal of the mandatory power. The Security Council, on the recommendation of the General Assembly and by virtue of its authority under articles 39 and 41 of the Charter, would take the necessary steps to carry out the partition plan.

The recommendations formulated by this working group were accepted by the Subcommittee. They contained two basic proposals. The first was that the British mandate should be terminated not later

than August 1, 1948. British armed forces should be progressively withdrawn, the withdrawal to be completed by August 1, 1948; and the independent Arab and Jewish states should come into existence two months thereafter, or in any case before October 1, 1948. The second was that the General Assembly was to appoint a United Nations commission composed of five members representing small powers, which would be guided by the recommendations of the Assembly and by such instructions as the Security Council might consider it necessary to issue. The measures taken by the commission would become immediately effective unless the commission had previously received contrary instructions from the Security Council. The commission would implement the Assembly's recommendations leading to the creation of the two states and would assist the mandatory power in performing its functions up to the time of the termination of the mandate. As finally decided, the Security Council was requested "to take the necessary measures as provided for in the plan for its implementation" and to "determine as a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression, in accordance with Article 39 of the Charter, any attempt to alter by force the settlement envisaged" by the plan.

Subcommittee 1 also recommended that the Assembly request the mandatory power to continué its responsibility for the maintenance of law and order and the conduct of essential public services in Palestine during the period between the adoption of the resolution on Palestine and the termination of the mandate.

According to the plan, furthermore, the commission, on arrival in Palestine, would consult democratic Jewish and Arab parties and public organizations and select provisional councils of government for the two states. These councils, acting under the commission, would have full authority in the areas transferred to their control by the commission. This included authority over immigration and land regulation. They would establish administrative organs. As soon as possible each of them would recruit a militia under the general political end military control of the commission. The commission would progressively turn over to the provisional councils the functions of government as they were laid down by the mandatory power. The provisional councils would hold elections on democratic lines for constituent assemblies in the two states. These assemblies would draw up the constitutions of the states, incorporating in them as fundamental laws parts of a declaration to the United Nations.. In addition, the constituent assemblies would choose the provisional governments to succeed the provisional councils. The plan also provided for the setting up of a preparatory commission to make arrangements for the Economic Union and a Joint Economic Board.