UN General Assembly Resolution 181
Partition Plan 1947 Israel and Occupied Territories 2002
Between 1900 and 1947, the Jewish population in Palestine increased from 10% to 30% due to immigration of European Jews. Because of civil unrest, the United Nations proposed in 1947 that Palestine be divided into a Palestinian Arab state and a Jewish state.
The UN Partition Plan recommended that 55 percent of Palestine, also the most fertile region, be given to the Jewish settlers who compromised 30 percent of the population. The remaining 45 percent of Palestine was to comprise a home for the other 70 percent of the population who were Arab. The Palestinians rejected the plan because it was unfair. During Israel's "war of independence," 700,000 Palestinians were driven out of their homes and 418 villages were depopulated and destroyed, what is today referred to as 'ethnic cleansing'. By 1949 Israel had captured 78% of historic Palestine. Click here to read all of UN Resolution 181. (In 1967 Israel captured the remaining 22% of Palestine. Currently 3 million Palestinians live under the oldest and most brutal military occupation in history.)
Elements of Resolution 181 which have never been accepted by Israel, include:
1. The creation of a Palestinian State, whose boundaries are specified.
2. The designation of Jerusalem as an International zone.
3. The adoption of a constitution for the Jewish State, of which the State of Israel
does not have till today.
4. "No expropriation of land owned by an Arab in a Jewish State should be allowed
except for public purposes".
5. Persons residing in Palestine shall "become citizens of the State in which they
are resident and enjoy full civil and political rights."
6. Jaffa should be an Arab Enclave in the Jewish State.
More information on history and Jewish/Palestinian populations in Palestine
More information from JATO on Right of Return and Palestinian Refugees
Jews Against the Occupation home page