United Nations Palestine Commission
Encyclopedia
The United Nations Palestine Commission was created by 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 181. It was responsible for implementing the UN Partition Plan of Palestine and acting as the Provisional Government of Palestine. The 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine
1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine
The 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine lasted from 30 November 1947, the date of the United Nations vote in favour of the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the UN Partition Plan, to the termination of the British Mandate itself on 14 May 1948.This period constitutes the...

 and a lack of cooperation from the British government prevented the Commission from fulfilling its responsibilities.

Reasons for the Palestine Commission

As on 15 May 1948 Palestine; which was a legal entity administered under United Nations Mandate by His Britannic Majesty but was not a sovereign state ( it was not self-governing) yet the authority responsible for administration of Palestine on the termination of the British Mandate must perforce change. The role assigned to the United Kingdom in the implementation of the proposals put forward in the majority decision of the Ad Hoc committee were not compatible with the declared intentions of the United Kingdom Government. Also since the Mandatory Power intended to withdraw from Palestine without assuming any responsibility for the establishment of a new regime which would not command general consent in Palestine there would be no regularly constituted authority in the evacuated areas unless the United Nations recommended a way in which the gap could be effectively filled.

To allow for the smooth transition of power after the 15th May, 1948, Britain as the Mandatory Power was to hand over to the United Nations Palestine Commission as the Provisional Government of Palestine. The United Nations Commission was to be the statutory body for the Government of Palestine and the authority with which the British Mandate authority was to make an agreement regarding the transfer of the assets of the Government of Palestine. The United Nations Commission was also to be the authority for Palestine’s internal administration and for its foreign affairs. The title of the Government of Palestine was to rest on a resolution of the General Assembly.

Tasks of the Palestine Commission

The committee characterized its responsibilities as follows:
"(i) arranging for the progressive transfer of administrative authority from the Mandatory Power to the Commission and the establishment of Provisional Councils of Government; supervision of the functioning of the Provisional Councils of Government, including the maintenance of public order in the transitional period following the termination of the Mandate; delimitation of frontiers of the Arab and Jewish States and the City of Jerusalem; exercise of political and military control over the armed militia in each of the projected states; including selection of their high commands; the preparatory work in connection with the establishment of the Economic Union, including the creation of the Preparatory Economic Commission and the maintenance of the economic services with which it will be concerned in the transitional period; negotiations on the allocation and distribution of assets; maintenance of administration and essential public services following the termination of the United Nations Statute to the city of Jerusalem; and[sic] protection of Holy Places."

Formation

The first meeting was held at 11 am on 9 January 1948 in the Economic and Social Council Chamber of the 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...

, Lake Success, New York
Lake Success, New York
Lake Success is a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population was 2,934 at the 2010 census.Lake Success is in the Town of North Hempstead on northwest Long Island. Lake Success was the temporary home of the United Nations from 1946 to 1951, occupying the headquarters of...

;

The Commission's five members were:
  • Mr. Karel Lisicky (Chariman) from Czechoslovakia
    Czechoslovakia
    Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

  • Mr. Raul Diez de Medina (Vice-Chairman) from Bolivia
    Bolivia
    Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

  • Mr. Per Federspiel from Denmark
    Denmark
    Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

  • Dr. Eduardo Morgan from Panama
    Panama
    Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

  • Senator Vicente J. Francisco from the Philippines
    Philippines
    The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...


Preparations for Government

For the next 5 months the Palestine Commission familiarised itself with the general affairs of the Government of Palestine on Currency, Railways, 1948 Civil Aviation, and was kept abreast of events in Palestine by the UK Government The Palestine Commission was in consultation with the public bodies in Palestine with regards to forming a Provisional Council of Government although the postal service appeared to be a cause of delays in that process.

On 27 February 1948 The Palestine Commission adopted the following statement of policy with respect to the continuity of employment of the employees of the Mandatory administration in Palestine, and requested the British Mandatory Power to publish the statement or circulate it to all employees of the present Government in Palestine:

"The United Nations Palestine Commission, being under the terms of the resolution of the General Assembly responsible for the administration of Palestine immediately following the termination of the Mandate, hereby calls upon all present employees of the Palestine administration to continue their service with the successor authority in Palestine when the British Mandate is terminated. It is the policy of the United Nations Palestine commission as the successor authority to maintain services on the same terms and with the same rights for employees as those enjoyed under the Mandatory Government. The Commission requests all present employees of the Palestine Administration to inform at the earliest possible date, the Mandatory Government for communication to the Commission, whether they would be willing to remain in the service of the successor administration of Palestine on such terms."

Establishment of the Provisional Government

On 12 March the Palestine Commission was requested by the UK Government not to enter Palestine until 2 weeks before the termination of the Mandate.

On 17 March the Palestine Commission received a communication from the Hebrew Committee of National Liberation informing the Palestine Commission that they will be establishing a Provisional Council of Government of the Hebrew Republic of Palestine by April even though the Palestine Commission would not be in Palestine.

Communication of 26 April 1948 from the UK informing the UN Palestine commission that they are tardy for not being in Palestine to select the Jewish Provisional Government of Palestine.

Palestine Commission Adjourns Sine Die

The General Assembly adopted a resolution which relieved the United Nations Palestine Commission from the further exercise of its responsibilities, and its mandate from the General Assembly was effectively terminated on 14 May 1947.

On its 75th Meeting 17 May 1948 The Palestine Commission adjourned sine die.

Dr. Karel Lisicky (Czechoslovakia), the Chairman said:

"We disperse with our conscience clear. We have no fear about the judgement of history."

Dr. Lisicky added further
"in view of the fact that we legally cannot disband ourselves, we shall be dead under the legal fiction that we continue."


It was the general view of the Commission members that the General Assembly resolution of November 29 1947 remained intact and that therefore the Commission was not and could not be legally dissolved.
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