92. The conclusions of the Sub-Committee are embodied in the following three draft resolutions, which the Sub-Committee recommends for the acceptance of the General Assembly.
The General Assembly.
Considering that the Palestine question raises certain legal issues connected, inter alia, with the inherent right <300>of the indigenous population of Palestine to their country and to determine its future, the pledges and assurances given to the Arabs in the First World War regarding the independence of Arab countries, including Palestine, the validity and scope of the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate, the effect on the Mandate of the dissolution of the League of Nations and of the declaration by the Mandatory Power of its intention to withdraw from Palestine,
Considering that the Palestine question also raises other legal issues connected with the competence of the United Nations to recommend any solution contrary to the Covenant of the League of Nation* or the Charter of the United Nations, or to the wishes of the majority of the l>eople of Palestine,
Considering that doubts have been expressed by several Member States concerning the legality under the Charter of any action by the United Nations, or by any Member State or group of Member States, to enforce any proposal which is contrary to the wishes, or is made without the consent, of the majority of the inhabitant* of Palestine,
Considering that these questions involve legal issues which so far have not been pronounced upon by any impartial or competent tribunal, and that it is essential that such questions be authoritatively determined before the United Nations can recommend a solution of the Palestine question in conformity with the principles of justice and international law,
Resolves to request the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion under Article 96 of the Charter and Chapter IV of the Statute of the Court on the following questions:
(a) Whether the indigenous population of Palestine has not an inherent right to Palestine and to determine its future constitution and government;
(b) Whether the pledges and assurances given by Great Britain to the Arabs during the First World War (including the Anglo-French Declaration of 1918) concerning the independence and future of Arab countries at the end of the war did not include Palestine:
(c) Whether the Balfour Declaration, which was made without the knowledge or consent of the indigenous population of Palestine, was valid and binding on the people of Palestine, or consistent with the earlier and subsequent pledges and assurances given to the Arabs;
(d) Whether the provisions of the Mandate for Palestine regarding the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine are in conformity or consistent with the objectives and provisions of the Covenant of the League of Nations (in particular Article 22), or are compatible with the provisions of the Mandate relating to the development of self-government and the preservation of the rights and position of the Arabs of Palestine;
(e) Whether the legal basis for the Mandate for Palestine has not disappeared with the dissolution of the League of Nations, and whether it is not the duty of the Mandatory Power to hand over power and administration to a government of Palestine representing the rightful people of Palestine;
(f) Whether a plan to partition Palestine without the consent of the majority of its people is consistent with the objectives of the Covenant of the League of Nations, and with the provisions of the Mandate for Palestine;
(g) Whether the United Nations is competent to recommend either of the two plans and recommendations of the majority or minority of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, or any other solution involving partition of the territory of Palestine, or a permanent trusteeship over any city or part of Palestine, without the consent of the majority of the people of Palestine;
(h) Whether the United Nations, or any of its Member States, is competent to enforce or recommend the enforce-<301>ment of any proposal concerning the constitution and future government of Palestine, in particular, any plan of partition which is contrary to the wishes, or adopted without the consent of, the inhabitants of Palestine,
Instructs the Secretary-General to transmit this resolution to the International Court of Justice, accompanied by all documents likely to throw light upon the questions under reference.
Back to topThe General Assembly,
Having regard to the unanimous recommendations of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, that the General Assembly undertake immediately the initiation and execution of an international arrangement whereby the problem of the distressed European Jews will be dealt with as a matter of extreme urgency for the alleviation of their plight and of the Palestine problem,
Bearing in mind that genuine refugees and displaced persons constitute a problem which is international in scope and character.
Considering that the question of refugees and displaced persons is indivisible in character as regards its possible solution,
Considering that it is the duty of the Governments concerned to make provision for the return of refugees and displaced persons to the countries of which they are nationals,
Being further of the opinion that where repatriation proves impossible, solution should be sought by way of resettlement in the territories of the Members of the United Nations which are willing and in a position to absorb these refugees and displaced persons,
Considering that Palestine, despite its very small area and limited resources, has absorbed a disproportionately large number of Jewish immigrants and cannot take anymore without serious injury to the economy of the country and the rights and position of the indigenous population,
Considering that many other countries with much greater area and larger resources have not taken their due share of Jewish refugees and displaced persons,
Having adopted its resolution 62 (I) of 15 December 1946 calling for the creation of an International Refugee Organization with a view to the solution of the refugee problem through the combined efforts of the United Nations, and
Taking note of the assumption on 1 July 1947 by the Preparatory Commission of the International Refugee Organization of operational responsibility for displaced persons and refugees,
Recommends
1. That countries of origin should be requested to take back the Jewish refugees and displaced persons belonging to them, and to render them all possible assistance to resettle in life;
2. That those Jewish refugees and displaced persons who cannot be repatriated should be absorbed in the territories of Members of the United Nations in proportion to their area, economic resources, per capita income, population and other relevant factors;
3. That a special committee of the General Assembly should be set up to recommend for acceptance of the Members of the United Nations a scheme of quotas of Jewish refugees and displaced persons to be resettled in their rcspective territories, and that the special committee <302> should, as far as possible, work in consultation with the International Refugee Organization or its Preparatory Commission,
Back to topThe General Assembly,
Taking note of the declaration by the Mandatory Power of its intention to withdraw from Palestine,
Considering that Palestine is a mandated territory whose independence was provisionally recognized by virtue of paragraph 4 of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations,
Recognizing that the only solution in consonance with the objectives of the Covenant of the League of Nations and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations is one that is acceptable to the majority of the people of Palestine,
Being satisfied that the partition of Palestine is unjust, illegal and impracticable and that the only just and workable solution is the immediate establishment of a unitary, democratic, and independent State, with adequate safeguards for minorities.
Believing that peaceful and orderly transfer of power from the Mandatory to the government of the people of Palestine is necessary in the interest of all concerned,
Recommends
1. That a provisional government, representative of all important sections of the citizenry in proportion to their numerical strength, should be set up as early as possible in Palestine;
2. That the powers and functions of the present administration of Palestine should be vested in the provisional government as soon as the latter is constituted:
3. That the Mandatory Power should begin the withdrawal of its forces and services from Palestine as soon as the provisional government is installed, and should complete the withdrawal within one year:
4. That the provisional government should, as soon as practicable, enact an electoral law for the setting up of a constituent assembly, prepare an electoral register, and hold elections for the constituent assembly;
5. That the constituent assembly should also function as a legislature and that the provisional government should be responsible to it until elections for a legislature are held under the new constitution;
6. That while the task of framing a constitution for Palestine must be left to the constituent assembly, the following basic principles shall be strictly adhered to:
(a) Palestine shall he a unitary and sovereign State;
(b) It shall have a democratic constitution, with an elected legislature and an executive responsible to the legislature;
(c) The constitution shall provide guarantees for the sanctity of the Holy Places covering inviolability, maintenance. freedom of access and freedom of worship in accordance with the status quo;
(d) The constitution shall guarantee respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion, and freedom of religious belief and practice in accordance with the status quo (including the maintenance of separate religious courts to deal with matters of personal status);
(e) The constitution shall guarantee the rights of religious bodies or other societies and individuals to maintain, in addition to educational establishments adminis-<303>tered by public authority, educational institutions of their own, subject to normal government supervision and inspection ;
(f) The constitution shall recognize the right of Jews to employ Hebrew as a second official language in areas in which they are in a majority;
(g) The law of naturalization and citizenship shall provide, amongst other conditions, that the applicant should be a legal resident of Palestine for a continuous period to be determined by the constituent assembly;
(h) The constitution shall ensure adequate representation in the legislature for all important sections of the citizenry in proportion to their numerical strength;
(i) The constitution shall also provide for adequate reflection in the executive and the administration of the distribution of representation in the legislature;
(j) The constitution shall authorize the legislature to invest local authorities with wide discretion in matters connected with education, health and other social services ;
(k) The constitution shall provide for the setting up of a supreme court, the jurisdiction of which shall include, inter alia, the power to pronounce upon the constitutional validity of all legislation, and it shall be open to any aggrieved party to have recourse to that tribunal;
(l) The guarantees contained in the constitution concerning the rights and safeguards of the minorities shall not be subject to amendment or modification without the consent of the minority concerned expressed through a majority of its representatives in the legislature.
Back to topNo footnotes in this chapter. Back to top