Lausanne Conference, 1949
Encyclopedia
The Lausanne Conference, 1949 was convened by the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine
(UNCCP) from 27 April to 12 September 1949 in Lausanne
, Switzerland
. Representatives of Israel
, the Arab states Egypt
, Transjordan
, Lebanon
and Syria
, and the Arab Higher Committee
and a number of refugee
delegations were in attendance to resolve disputes arising from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
, mainly in accordance with Resolution 181 and Resolution 194.
Amongst the issues discussed were territorial questions and the establishment of recognized borders, the question of Jerusalem, the repatriation of refugees (and whether the issue could be discussed separately from the overall Arab-Israeli conflict), Israeli counter-claims for war damages, the fate of orange groves belonging to refugees and of their bank accounts blocked in Israel. Israel's position on borders was that the borders should be based on the ceasefire lines, with minor modifications, and "she flatly refused to return to the line of the 1947 partition plan." The Arabs, however, insisted that any deal had to be resolved on the basis of United Nations
Resolution 194 which they had rejected previously. The issue of Jerusalem was relegated to a subcommittee.
In July 1949, Israel made an offer to accept the return of 100,000 refugees (sometimes referred to as "The 100,000 Offer") to Israel, contingent upon Arab agreement to a comprehensive peace, and to resettlement of the remaining refugees in Arab countries. Israel also put forward a proposal called the "Gaza Plan," whereby Israel would repatriate some 200,000 refugees and 70,000 Arabs in Gaza as citiziens if Egypt would relinquish control of Gaza Strip
to Israel, and the international community would provide aid for refugee resettlement.
, and because the Israelis wanted United Nations
membership, which required Israeli agreement to allow the return of all refugees. Once Israel was admitted to the UN, it retreated from the protocol it had signed, because it was completely satisfied with the status quo, and saw no need to make any concessions with regard to the refugees or on boundary questions. Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett
had hoped for a comprehensive peace settlement at Lausanne, but he was no match for Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, who saw the armistice agreements that stopped the fighting with the Arab states as sufficient, and put a low priority on a permanent peace treaty.
Among the Arabs, only King Abdullah
of Transjordan (today's Jordan) worked for a permanent peace treaty with Israel, in part because he had annexed the West Bank and wanted the Israelis to recognize this. When Abdullah's secret negotiations and agreements with Israel were exposed, he was assassinated on 20 July 1951 in Jerusalem by a Palestinian. In the end, no agreement was reached. The failure to settle the refugee question led to the establishment of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
to care for the needs of refugees.
delegations refused to talk directly with Israel, UNCCP shuttled back and forth between the parties. with the purpose of resolving the issues arising from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
, in particular the issue of responsibility for the refugees, property rights and borders.
Initially, Israel was asked to "break the ice" by making a good will gesture. Israel then announced that it would pay compensation to the refugees for their abandoned properties. The United States
, however, applied considerable pressure to Israel to accept a number of refugees. Israel's position on refugees was that the Arab states were responsible for the Palestinian refugee problem since it was their aggression that caused the initial tragedy, and that therefore it was an Arab problem. Arabs, however, said the responsibility for the situation was Israel's and "insisted ... that all the refugees should be allowed to choose between returning to their previous homes in what used to be Palestine and receiving compensation."
According to Michael Fischbach in his book Records of Dispossession: Palestinian Refugee Property and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, besides the delegations representing Israel and the Arabs states, there were three delegations that were arrived to represent the refugees, including a group called the General Refugee Congress that had been formed in Ramallah
in March 1949. This group was one of a number of groups that had sprung up hoping to represent various Palestinian interests. The leaders of the Congress were Aziz Shehadeh and Muhammad Mir al Hawwari. Fishcbach writes
While the main issue at Lausanne was the fate of the refugees, they also discussed "in detail" some of the issues relating to refugee property. The Israelis "explained the activities of the Custodian of Absentee Property". The discussion covered whether property issues could be addressed separately from the overall Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli counter claims for war damages, the fate of the refugee orange groves, and the fate of refugee bank accounts blocked in Israel.
Israel insisted on discussing the refugee and the property issue only as a part of the resolution of the entire conflict, while the Arabs insisted on dealing with the refugee issues separately, on their repatriation.
Fishbach writes:
According to Benny Morris
, the "Arab delegations arrived united in the demand that Israel declare acceptance of the principle of repatriation before they would agree to negotiate peace. .....The Israeli delgation, he Sharett said, had 'come prepared to tackle [the refugee problem] with sincerity and above all in the spirit of realism.' 'Realism' meant no repatriation."
Benny Morris, in Birth writes:
The Israelis insisted on discussing solutions to refugee problems only in the context of an overall settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This agreed with the commission's stance that
The Commission found this proposal to be unsatisfactory and declared that
The Arab delegations insisted on dealing with the refugee problem separately from an overall settlement, and refused to deal directly with the Israeli delegation. The commission found that
and that
Overall,
United Nations Conciliation Commission
The United Nations Conciliation Commission was created by UN General Assembly Resolution 194, in order to conclude the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.On December 11, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the proposal to set up the committee with delegates of three nations. France, Turkey and the United...
(UNCCP) from 27 April to 12 September 1949 in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Representatives of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the Arab states Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and the Arab Higher Committee
Arab Higher Committee
The Arab Higher Committee was the central political organ of the Arab community of Mandate Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and comprised the leaders of Palestinian Arab clans under the mufti's...
and a number of refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
delegations were in attendance to resolve disputes arising from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, mainly in accordance with Resolution 181 and Resolution 194.
Amongst the issues discussed were territorial questions and the establishment of recognized borders, the question of Jerusalem, the repatriation of refugees (and whether the issue could be discussed separately from the overall Arab-Israeli conflict), Israeli counter-claims for war damages, the fate of orange groves belonging to refugees and of their bank accounts blocked in Israel. Israel's position on borders was that the borders should be based on the ceasefire lines, with minor modifications, and "she flatly refused to return to the line of the 1947 partition plan." The Arabs, however, insisted that any deal had to be resolved on the basis of United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Resolution 194 which they had rejected previously. The issue of Jerusalem was relegated to a subcommittee.
In July 1949, Israel made an offer to accept the return of 100,000 refugees (sometimes referred to as "The 100,000 Offer") to Israel, contingent upon Arab agreement to a comprehensive peace, and to resettlement of the remaining refugees in Arab countries. Israel also put forward a proposal called the "Gaza Plan," whereby Israel would repatriate some 200,000 refugees and 70,000 Arabs in Gaza as citiziens if Egypt would relinquish control of Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
to Israel, and the international community would provide aid for refugee resettlement.
Perspectives of Israeli "New Historians"
On 12 May 1949, the conference achieved its only success when the parties signed a joint protocol on the framework for a comprehensive peace, which included territories, refugees, and Jerusalem. Israel agreed "in principle" to allow the return of all of the Palestinian refugees. This Israeli agreement was made under pressure from the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and because the Israelis wanted United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
membership, which required Israeli agreement to allow the return of all refugees. Once Israel was admitted to the UN, it retreated from the protocol it had signed, because it was completely satisfied with the status quo, and saw no need to make any concessions with regard to the refugees or on boundary questions. Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett
Moshe Sharett
Moshe Sharett on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second Prime Minister of Israel , serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurion's two terms.-Early life:...
had hoped for a comprehensive peace settlement at Lausanne, but he was no match for Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, who saw the armistice agreements that stopped the fighting with the Arab states as sufficient, and put a low priority on a permanent peace treaty.
Among the Arabs, only King Abdullah
Abdullah I of Jordan
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn] عبد الله الأول بن الحسين born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah...
of Transjordan (today's Jordan) worked for a permanent peace treaty with Israel, in part because he had annexed the West Bank and wanted the Israelis to recognize this. When Abdullah's secret negotiations and agreements with Israel were exposed, he was assassinated on 20 July 1951 in Jerusalem by a Palestinian. In the end, no agreement was reached. The failure to settle the refugee question led to the establishment of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is a relief and human development agency, providing education, health care, social services and emergency aid to 5 million Palestine refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as in the West Bank and the Gaza...
to care for the needs of refugees.
Zionist perspectives on the talks
As the ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
delegations refused to talk directly with Israel, UNCCP shuttled back and forth between the parties. with the purpose of resolving the issues arising from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, in particular the issue of responsibility for the refugees, property rights and borders.
Initially, Israel was asked to "break the ice" by making a good will gesture. Israel then announced that it would pay compensation to the refugees for their abandoned properties. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, however, applied considerable pressure to Israel to accept a number of refugees. Israel's position on refugees was that the Arab states were responsible for the Palestinian refugee problem since it was their aggression that caused the initial tragedy, and that therefore it was an Arab problem. Arabs, however, said the responsibility for the situation was Israel's and "insisted ... that all the refugees should be allowed to choose between returning to their previous homes in what used to be Palestine and receiving compensation."
According to Michael Fischbach in his book Records of Dispossession: Palestinian Refugee Property and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, besides the delegations representing Israel and the Arabs states, there were three delegations that were arrived to represent the refugees, including a group called the General Refugee Congress that had been formed in Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
in March 1949. This group was one of a number of groups that had sprung up hoping to represent various Palestinian interests. The leaders of the Congress were Aziz Shehadeh and Muhammad Mir al Hawwari. Fishcbach writes
While the main issue at Lausanne was the fate of the refugees, they also discussed "in detail" some of the issues relating to refugee property. The Israelis "explained the activities of the Custodian of Absentee Property". The discussion covered whether property issues could be addressed separately from the overall Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli counter claims for war damages, the fate of the refugee orange groves, and the fate of refugee bank accounts blocked in Israel.
Israel insisted on discussing the refugee and the property issue only as a part of the resolution of the entire conflict, while the Arabs insisted on dealing with the refugee issues separately, on their repatriation.
Fishbach writes:
According to Benny Morris
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
, the "Arab delegations arrived united in the demand that Israel declare acceptance of the principle of repatriation before they would agree to negotiate peace. .....The Israeli delgation, he Sharett said, had 'come prepared to tackle [the refugee problem] with sincerity and above all in the spirit of realism.' 'Realism' meant no repatriation."
Benny Morris, in Birth writes:
Criticism of participants
According to Yagil Levy,- The Lausanne Conference was convened in 1949 in the aftermath of the 1948 War, with Israel and the Arab states participating. The sides agreed on a protocol based on the Arabs' acceptance of the principle of partition in Palestine, implying recognition of Israel, and Israeli acceptance of the principle of the repatriation of the Palestinian refugees. Nevertheless, Israel, inspired by its newly defined security interests, signed the document but successfully impeded its translation into a political agreement (Levy, 1997, p. 60).
The Israelis insisted on discussing solutions to refugee problems only in the context of an overall settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This agreed with the commission's stance that
- The interrelation of all the aspects of the problem was too obvious to be overlooked." The Israeli government briefly offered to repatriate 100,000 refugees, but only as part of a final settlement in which all other refugees were absorbed by Arab states. Compensation would be paid, but not to individual refugees or Arab states, only to a "common fund" and only for land that had been under cultivation prior to being abandoned; not for any movable property or uncultivated land. The common fund would be reduced by an amount of compensation to Israel for war reparations.
The Commission found this proposal to be unsatisfactory and declared that
- the Government of Israel is not prepared to implement the part of paragraph 11 of the General Assembly resolution of 11 December 1948 which resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.
The Arab delegations insisted on dealing with the refugee problem separately from an overall settlement, and refused to deal directly with the Israeli delegation. The commission found that
- The Arab Governments, on the other hand, are not prepared fully to implement paragraph 5 of the said resolution, which calls for the final settlement of all questions outstanding between them and Israel. The Arab Governments in their contacts with the Commission have evinced no readiness to arrive at such a peace settlement with the Government of Israel.
and that
- no constructive progress towards a solution of existing problems would be possible unless all the parties to the dispute, at the outset of the discussions, expressed their determination to respect each other's right to security and freedom from attack, to refrain from warlike or hostile acts against one another, and to promote the return of permanent peace in Palestine.
Overall,
- For reasons that were beyond the Commission's task of facilitation, this movement did not come to pass. The respective attitudes of the parties on this matter--attitudes which produced a complete deadlock as regards the refugee question--are well known. The Arab States insisted upon a prior solution of the refugee question, at least in principle, before agreeing to discuss other outstanding issues. In their opinion, a solution of the refugee problem could be reached only as a result of unconditional acceptance by Israel of the right of refugees to be repatriated. Israel, on the other hand, has maintained that no solution of the refugee question involving repatriation could be envisaged outside the framework of an over-all settlement.
External links
- Resolution 194 text
- General Progress Report and Supplementary Report of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, Covering the Period from 11 December 1949 to 23 October 1950 (U.N. General Assembly Official Records, 5th Session, Supplement No. 18, Document A/1367/Rev. 1)
- Progress Report of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, Covering the Period from 23 January to 19 November 1951 (U.N. General Assembly Official Records, 6th Session, Supplement No. 18, Document A/1985)