Vote 33 to 13 to Give Jews a Homeland, Associated Press, Des Moines Sunday Register, Nov. 30, 1947.

NEW YORK, N. Y. (AP)-The United Nations assembly late Saturday approved partition of Palestine into sovereign Arab and Jewish countries by next Oct. 1.

The vote was 33 to 13-a seven-vote margin over the necessary two-thirds majority.

The six Arab countries then walked out of the assembly chamber in protest, refusing to be bound by the historic U. N. decision giving the Jews the homeland they have sought for more than 2,000 years.
1947 Session Ends.

A short time later, the United Nations assembly finally adjourned its 1947 session at 6-59 p. m. The session began Sept. 16.
The partition decision defied Arab threats to bathe the Holy Land in blood.

The partition plan, engineered by the United States and Russia, calls for Great. Britain to leave Palestine by Aug. 1, letting a five nation U. N. commission split the territory into Arab and Jewish states that will receive independence 60 days later.

In computing the two-thirds requirement, only the “yes” and “no” votes were counted. Ten countries abstained and Siam was absent.

Last-Minute Offer.

The assembly’s action ended weeks of stormy debate. It came after a last-minute Arab offer to compromise on a plan for a federalized government in the Holy Land, composed of Jewish and Arab states.

But the offer was too late. The assembly scarcely discussed the Arab move before voting.

The assembly then elected Bolivia, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Panama and the Philippines to serve as a five-nation commission to rule Palestine between the time Britain withdraws and the date of independence.

Funds Voted.

The assembly also approved an appropriation of “not to exceed two million dollars” to finance the Palestine transition.

Each Arab delegation declared its country would not be bound by the decision. The six Arab delegations then arose and stalked out in a group.

Pakistan followed the six Arab countries-Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen and Syria. Pakistan is the new Moslem country created out of the partitioning of India last Aug. 15.

Charter Destroyed.

Before stalking out, Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia, scion of King Ibn Saud and leader of the Arab group, declared that the assembly’s action had “destroyed the charter.”

Emil Adel Arslan of Syria told the assembly that the charter “was murdered.”

Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, chairman of the American section of the executive of the Jewish
U. N.—

Agency for Palestine, haled the actor..

“The Jewish people will forever be grateful to the nations which contributed to the decision,” Dr. Silver said in a statement outside the chamber.

“We are especially appreciative of the leadership provided by the United States and the Soviet Union.”

The British abstained on all votes on Palestine. They repeatedly said they would not take a major role in enforcing any decision not acceptable to both Jews and Arabs; that their sole desire was to get out of Palestine as speedily as possible.

Franue Takes Stand.

There was a burst of applause when France, whose decision was in doubt to the very end, voted for the partition proposal.

The Philippines also switched to the “yes” column from a declaration earlier last week opposing partition. An informed source said this was done on instructions received from President Manuel Roxas himself.

Haiti, which also spoke against partition, voted for it on the final ballot.
The roll call vote by countries-

For partition (33)- Australia. Belgium. Bolivia Brazil. White Russia, Canada. Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia. Denmark. Dominican Republic. Ecuador. France. Guatemala. Haiti. Iceland. Liberia. Luxembourg. The Netherlands. New Zealand. Nicaragua. Norway. Panama. Paraguay. Peru, Philippines. Poland, Sweden, Soviet Ukraine, South Africa. Soviet Russia. United States. Uruguay. Venezuela.

Against partition (13)- Afghanistan. Cuba, Egypt. Greece. India. Iran. Iraq. Lebanon. Pakistan. Saudi Arabia. Syria. Turkey and Yemen.

Abstaining (10)- Argentina. Chile. China. Colombia. El Salvador. Ethiopia. Honduras. Mexico. Britain. Yugoslavia.

Absent (1)- Siam.

A World Problem For Many Years

Palestine has been a top-ranking world problem since World War 1 days.

Although the Jews had looked toward Palestine before World War 1, they did not become too active until the Balfour declaration in 1917 in which the British government came out for a Jewish national home in the Holy Land.

The Arabs protested. But in 1922 the League of Nations council approved a mandate placing Palestine under British administration and that mandate became effective in 1923.

Disturbances Begin.

Palestine was relatively quiet from 1923 until 1936, when three years of Arab-inspired disturbances began.

The royal (Peel) commission recommends partition or Palestine for the first time in 1937. But the next year the Woodhead commission rejected such a division.

In 1939 the British government issued a “white paper” restricting Jewish immigration.

The Arab league, now made up of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Transjordan and Saudi Arabia, was organized in 1943. One of its principal objectives was the establishment of Palestine as an independent country federalized nation with Jerusalem as the capital.
Australia Neutral.

Australia, the eleventh nation, did not come out for either report.

Thus the assembly meeting in September had the spadework completed on this problem. Accordingly, it set up a special 57 nation Palestine committee and got down to business.

Britain made her position clear without delay. The British said they desired to terminate the mandate and withdraw completely from Palestine as quickly as possible. They said also they would not assume the major role in enforcing any U. N. decision on which the Arabs and Jews did not agree.

The U. S. came out for partition first and then Russia endorsed the U. S. position. This agreement between the two big powers which have fought bitterly over many U. N. issues surprised numerous delegates but encouraged them in their task.

On Nov. 25 the Palestine committee voted for partition. 25 to 13, with 17 nations abstaining and two absent.

The partition plan ran about 10,000 words, giving instructions for the creation of the countries and giving detailed lines for the jigsaw borders.

Population Breakdown.

The Jewish agency estimated that under the plan the Jewish country would have a Jewish population of 533,000 and an Arab population, plus others, of 397,000, for a total of 935,000. To this the agency added 10,000 Jews living in Jerusalem which it said it assumed would choose citizenship in the Jewish nation and form an integral part of it as far as citizenship was concerned.

The agency also estimated that the Arab country would have 804,000 Arabs and others and 10,000 Jews for a total of 814,000. It noted that the Arab and other population of Jerusalem was 105,500.

The agency noted that the total area of Palestine is approximately 10,000 square miles, of which the proposed Jewish country would have 5,500 square miles and the Arab nation 4,500.