On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine, creating an independent Jewish state. Both Jews and Arabs had claimed the area, and Jews from all over the world had been immigrating to the area in significant numbers in the first half of the 20th century (one article cited the increase in Israel’s Jewish population from a Census count of 83,790 in 1922 to a registration of 713,000 in 1948*). Of course war broke out, and as we know, conflicts and ceasefires in the area are ongoing.
The United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) provides access to a wealth of documents on the “question of Palestine,” including “Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine” dated November 29, 1947, and the 1937 report of the Palestine Royal Commission (aka Peel Report), in which the British Royal Commission of Inquiry recommended partition.
Interested in learning more? Andersen Library can help. Search HALCat to find titles such as The case for Palestine: An international law perspective (3rd-Floor Main Collection, DS119.7 .Q7219 2005), The Israel-Palestine conflict: One hundred years of war (3rd-Floor Main Collection, DS119.7 .G3895 2005), How Israel was won: A concise history of the Arab-Israeli conflict (3rd-Floor Main Collection, DS126.5 .T495 1999), and The 50 years war: Israel and the Arabs (2nd-floor Browsing VHS videos, DS126.5 .A15 2000). Search article databases for articles such as “Jewish Peoplehood, ‘Jewish Politics,’ and Political Responsibility: Arendt on Zionism and Partitions” (College Literature, 2011, vol.38:no.1, pp.57-74), “Alternatives to partition” (Foreign Affairs, 1937, vol.16:no.1, pp.143-155), and “Appeasement in the Middle East: The British white paper on Palestine, May 1939” (The Historical Journal, 1973, vol.16:no.3, pp.571-596).
Please ask a librarian if you’d like assistance with finding materials.
*Bachi, R. (1950). Statistical research on immigrants in the State of Israel. Population Studies, 3(4), 45-58.
