UN 1947 partition plan for Palestine

Far be it from me to disagree with Barack Obama.  Far be it from me to stray into areas of law I know nothing about – like International Law.  Far be it from me to comment on an area which is almost certain to have me branded as “zionist” or “anti-semetic” or possibly both.  However …

US President Barack Obama has confirmed that the USA will veto any proposal to admit Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.  He has commented that you cannot create a Palestinian State by UN Resolution – it must come through dialogue and agreement with Israel.

Now I’m all for dialogue and agreement, but it occurs to me that the modern state of Israel itself was, um … created by UN Resolution (and opposed by its neighbours).

Specifically, Resolution 181 of the UN General Assembly in November 1947 directed the partition of Palestine into a Jewish State, an Arab State and a UN protectorate surrounding Jerusalem.  While this commanded a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly, it was opposed by Arab Palestinians and the Arab League.  This was followed by a declaration of independence, war and a big sticky mess which is still causing conflict, confusion and loss of life after all these years.

Interestingly, the Palestine Liberation Organization claimed that its 1988 Declaration of Statehood was a direct consequence of resolution 181(II) which arguably continues to provide international legitimacy for the right of the Palestinian people to sovereignty and national independence. The references in 1988 to the Covenant of the League of Nations and the Partition plan founded upon claims of a pre-existing Palestinian statehood.