Middle East: What it all began with

Vladimir Isayev Deputy Director Institute of Oriental Studies Russian Academy of Sciences RIA Novosti Moscow

On Nov. 29, 1947 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing two states -- an Arab and a Jewish -- on Palestine's territory and making Jerusalem an independent administrative unit with a special international regime.

As many as 55 years have passed since that day, but regrettably two of the three items of this resolution have not been implemented, while the Middle East has turned into one of the most explosive regions of the world which has gone through five wars over the past half-century and in which violence has not stopped for a day.

Taking all this into consideration, some people can naturally ask with ample reason: "Was not the UN decision in November 1947 premature, may be, it added to the Middle East problem on resolution of which the entire world community has been unsuccessfully working for many years now?" Of course, now, after more than 50 years have passed, it should be admitted that the UN decision was taken in a hurry and was badly prepared. Both Jews and Arabs lived in Palestine, which was a British mandate territory for many years, and they co-existed peacefully enough, though some excesses did happen.

Mass emigration of Jews, who tried to save themselves from destruction in the Nazi-occupied countries, to Palestine began during the World War II. This emigration continued also after the end of the war, which certainly did not rouse any enthusiasm among the Arabs who lived there, especially because the Britons turned a blind eye to the actions of such extremists as Menachem Begin who destroyed Arab villages, throwing the villagers out of their homes. In essence, terrorist acts in the region began at that time and were organized both by the Jewish and Arab extremists at the Britons' connivance.

The world community's sympathy for the Jews who suffered so much during the war, and the desire to help them organize their life and receive a state of their own eventually led to the adoption of the UN resolution. It was backed by all the powers, which had won the World War II, among them the Soviet Union.

They say, however, that Joseph Stalin who agreed at a conference of the Soviet Union's top leadership with the necessity of recognizing the state of Israel, came up to the map, pointed to the Middle East region with his finger, and said: "There will not be peace here any longer". His words (if they were really uttered), alas, proved to be prophetic. Evidence of this are the four Arabic-Israeli wars (in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973), the Israelis' incursion into Lebanon in 1982, the permanent Palestinian intifada, the Islamic radicals' actions of terror, and the "retribution" operations of the Israeli army which take tens of human lives almost daily.

Returning to the UN resolution of 1947, it should be recalled that prior to its implementation a referendum among the inhabitants of Palestine was to be held, which had to show their attitude to the idea of setting up two states -- a Jewish and an Arab. But no referendum was held, and precisely this fact is now being exploited by those who speak of unlawfulness, illegitimacy of the decision taken by the UN.

The Arab countries opposed it tooth and nail, and the first Arab-Israeli war broke out back in 1948. Jerusalem, which was to become an independent administrative unit, became divided between Israel and Jordan. The Israelis captured West Jerusalem, and the Jordanians -- East Jerusalem. After the war of 1967 Israel seized, along with other Arab territories, whole Jerusalem, making it its capital which is not, however, recognized by the world community to be such.

As for Palestine, the resolution of the UN General Assembly establishing an independent Palestinian state was not implemented. Only one new state, Israel, appeared on the political map of the world instead of the two planned ones.

Why didn't the United Nations, whose decisions both on a special status of Jerusalem and on a Palestinian state proved to be violated, take right at that time, in the late 1940s, effective measures to make the countries of the region, first of all Israel, strictly adhere to all the provisions of the adopted resolution?

The point is that the UN itself had just been organized and did not know yet how to actively and promptly react to the situation. Besides, and this is probably the most important, the great powers -- the then Soviet Union, Britain and France, concerned over their own problems, engaged in the postwar rehabilitation and simply ignored the "squabble" in the Middle East.

At that time the U.S. did not attach importance to the Arab- Israeli conflict and, like now, showed interest primarily in the oil problems. For this reason, oil-rich Saudi Arabia, but not desert Palestine, attracted Washington's attention.

Years will pass, and Israel will become a strategic ally of the U.S. in the region, and Washington will have no reason whatsoever to counteract the Israeli policy aimed at retaining Jerusalem and hampering resolution of the Palestinian problem in the spirit of the UN demands.

But this problem does exist, and the fact it is unresolved is the main obstacle to peace in the region. This view is held by Russia, France and many other countries, which understand that establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state is the only way out of the Middle East drama.

It seems that the U.S., too, is beginning to understand this and has advanced its variant of settlement -- the so-called plan of Bush. But Washington has taken a special stand on Jerusalem. It is inclined to recognize this city as the capital of Israel, which makes it impossible to achieve peace.

Jerusalem must either become a special administrative unit, as it was envisaged by the UN decision of 1947, or be divided between Israel and Palestine. The city's area where Temple Mount and all Muslim and Jewish holy things are situated should be made an independent formation similar to the Vatican City, which is under the aegis of the World Council of Churches. It is a variant of solution of the problem. Other variants may also be found. The most important is that the search continues.