The UN and the Arab-Israeli
Conflict
A lot of time has been spent at the UN
relating to the Arab Israeli conflict.
The UN was the “midwife” of Israel’s birth.
The UN took over
responsibility of Palestine
from the British.
The UN recommended
Partition of Palestine and
the creation of the State of
Israel.
It was the UN that
instigated truces,
ceasefires, and sent
unarmed observers to
implement them, for the
first time in its history.
After the 1948-1949 War, the UN took responsibility
for the nearly 750,000 Palestinian refugees.
The UNRWA was created to handle the issue
of refugees.
(UN Relief Works Agency)
Came up with the definition of a Palestine refugee:
A person ‘whose normal place of residence was
Palestine during the Period of June 1 1946 to May
1948 and who lost both home and means of
livelihood as a result of the 1948 and 1967 conflicts.
Most of the funding comes from America and
Europe.
At first, it provided just food and shelter,
clothing.
Today, it provides schools, healthcare and
emergency aid.
Today there are 59 refugee camps in Jordan, Syria,
Lebanon West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The UN greatest success was the handling of the
Suez Crisis.
Both the US and USSR condemned the BritishFrench military action and acted quickly to force
the withdrawal of British and French forces from
the Canal Zone.
The UN also put together its first ever peace
keeping military force in a weeks time, and
received support from its member countries.
Canada’s
Secretary of State
for External Affairs
“This is the most popular
army in history- an army
which everyone fights to get
into”
Lester B
Pearson,
Canadian
Prime Minister
1963-1968.
The UN supervised the gradual
withdrawal of Israeli troops
from the Sinai and monitored
the Israeli-Egyptian border.
6000 troops from 10 countries under Canadian
command.
For ten years, the UN supervised the EgyptIsraeli border and won world praise for
maintaining peace there.
However, in 1967 the UN was criticised for its role
that led to the Six-Day War.
UN troops had been on Egyptian soil for ten years,
but were asked to partially leave by Nasser so he
could be ready for an Israeli attack.
The UN stated that a partial
withdrawal was not possible
(all or nothing) so Nasser
requested for a complete
withdrawal.
Nasser would end up
closing the Gulf of Aqaba to
Israeli shipping.
Two weeks later they would be at war.
Many blamed UN secretary General U Thant for
failing to stand up to Nasser.
Many suggest that the
UN withdrawal should
have been debated at the
UN in an emergency
meeting as Nasser
requested.
Others suggest he should have agreed to a
partial withdrawal.
However, U Thant was in a difficult position…
Canada left right away, the first time Egypt
asked for a withdrawal.
Israel refused to have UN troops on its
territory.
Nasser had threatened to disarm the UN
force if they didn’t leave.
UN Resolution 242
The UN was not able to stop the fighting in the
1967 war for 6 days.
UN resolution 242 was adopted following the
war which called for a just and lasting peace
in the middle east.
Little progress has
been made, but it did
lead to talks between
Egypt and Israel in
1979.
The UN and the 1973
October War
The UN was able to declare a ceasefire based on a
deal between the USA and the USSR.
A UNEF force was created and
used to monitor ceasefire lines in
the Sinai and Golan Heights.
Following the 1973 War, the UN and its role in the
Arab –Israeli conflict grew less and less.
The Arab-Israeli conflict would no longer occupy the
UN as obsessively as it once did…the Secretary
General who succeeded U Thant was hardly a major
player. The 1973 War made it clear the Arab-Israeli
conflict had now become an issue for great powers
who did not need the UN very much in their wheeling
and dealing.
Arafat at the UN, 1974.
Yasser Arafat was flown
to the UN building in
New York amidst the
tightest security in the
organization’s history.
This was following
Black September and
the hijacking and
hostage taking by
several PLO members.
Arafat hinted at a possible mini state solution, as
opposed to the destruction of Israel.
This was a major shift in Arafat’s demands.
In the aftermath of the October War, the guerilla
chief had made strategic decision to turn away from
the armed struggle, and the Terror tactics this
involved, to negotiate a two-state solution to the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict… Arafat recognized that
the Jewish state, then a twenty-five years old, was
the military superpower of the region, enjoying the
full support of the United States and the recognition
of nearly all of the international community. Israel
was here to stay.
Despite being considered a terrorist by many
western nations, Arafat was able to speak at the
UN because of the Soviet Union and several other
countries help.
An excerpt fro Arafat’s speech.
The roots of the Palestinian question are not the
result of a conflict between two religions or two
nationalisms. Neither is it a border conflict
between two neighboring states. It is the cause of
a people deprived of its homeland , dispersed and
uprooted, and living mostly in exile and in refugee
camps… Today I have come bearing an olive
branch (a symbol of peace) and a freedom fighter’s
gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.