UN backgrounder on Palestine

 1917 – 1947: British mandate

Palestine was among former Ottoman territories placed under UK administration by the League of Nations in 1922. All of these territories eventually became fully independent States, except Palestine, where in addition to “the rendering of administrative assistance and advice” the British Mandate incorporated the “Balfour Declaration” of 1917, expressing support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”. During the Mandate, from 1922 to 1947, large-scale Jewish immigration, mainly from Eastern Europe took place, the numbers swelling in the 1930s with the Nazi persecution. Arab demands for independence and resistance to immigration led to a rebellion in 1937, followed by continuing terrorism and violence from both sides. UK considered various formulas to bring independence to a land ravaged by violence. In 1947, the UK turned the Palestine problem over to the UN. Read more.

1947 – 1977: Partition plan, 1948, 1967, 1973 wars, inalienable rights

After looking at alternatives, the UN proposed terminating the Mandate and partitioning Palestine into two independent States, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish, with Jerusalem internationalized (Resolution 181 (II) of 1947). One of the two envisaged States proclaimed its independence as Israel and in the 1948 war involving neighbouring Arab States expanded to 77 percent of the territory of mandate Palestine, including the larger part of Jerusalem. Over half of the Palestinian Arab population fled or were expelled. Jordan and Egypt controlled the rest of the territory assigned by resolution 181 to the Arab State. In the 1967 war, Israel occupied these territories (Gaza Strip and the West Bank) including East Jerusalem, which was subsequently annexed by Israel. The war brought about a second exodus of Palestinians, estimated at half a million. Security Council Resolution 242 (1967) formulated the principles of a just and lasting peace, including an Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in the conflict, a just settlement of the refugee problem, and the termination of all claims or states of belligerency. The 1973 hostilities were followed by Security Council Resolution 338, which inter alia called for peace negotiations between the parties concerned. In 1974 the General Assembly reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, national independence, sovereignty, and to return. The following year, the General Assembly established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and conferred on the PLO the status of observer in the Assembly and in UN conferences. Read more.

Palestine Partition Map Majority Proposal

A sketch map of the plan on partition of Palestine, with economic union, proposed by the majority of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. The plan envisages the division of Palestine into 3 parts: a Jewish state, an Arab State (dark tint), and the City of Jerusalem (white), to be placed under an International Trusteeship system. 1947, United Nations (Lake Success), New York. UN Photo.

Middle East Populations Uprooted by Israel/Arab Conflict

Some of the many thousands of Arab refugees making the difficult crossing of King Hussein Bridge (formerly Allenby Bridge) from the Israeli-occupied west bank of the Jordan River into Jordan. 1967. UN Photo.

1977 – 1990: Lebanon, ICQP, Intifada

In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon with the declared intention to eliminate the PLO. A cease-fire was arranged. PLO troops withdrew from Beirut and were transferred to neighboring countries. Despite the guarantees of safety for Palestine refugees left behind, a large-scale massacre took place in the Sabra and Shatila camps. In September 1983, the International Conference on the Question of Palestine (ICQP) adopted the following principles: the need to oppose Israeli settlements and Israeli actions to change the status of Jerusalem, the right of all States in the region to existence within secure and internationally recognized boundaries, and the attainment of the legitimate, inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. In 1987, a mass uprising against the Israeli occupation began in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (the intifada). Methods used by the Israeli forces resulted in mass injuries and heavy loss of life among the civilian Palestinian population. In 1988 the Palestine National Council meeting in Algiers proclaimed the establishment of the  State of Palestine. Read more here and here.

Security Council Demands Cease-Fire Observance by All Parties in Lebanon

The Security Council demanded Israel withdraw its forces “forthwith and unconditionally” from Lebanon up to its internationally recognized boundaries. 06 June 1982. United Nations, New York. 

Secretary-General Meets with Chairman of Palestine Liberation Organization

Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations, meets with Yasser Arafat, Chairman of Palestine Liberation Organization, in Geneva. 27 June 1988. UN Photo.

The Peace Process of the 1990s

A Peace Conference was convened in Madrid in 1991, with the aim of achieving a peaceful settlement through direct negotiations along 2 tracks: between Israel and the Arab States, and between Israel and the Palestinians, based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). The multilateral track negotiations were to focus on region-wide issues such as the environment, arms control, refugees, water, and the economy. A series of subsequent negotiations culminated in the mutual recognition between the Government of Israel and the PLO, the representative of the Palestinian people, and the signing in 1993 of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (DOP or “Oslo Accord”), as well as the subsequent implementation agreements, which led to the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, the elections to the Palestinian Council and the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority, the partial release of prisoners and the establishment of a functioning administration in the areas under Palestinian self-rule. The involvement of the UN has been essential both as the guardian of international legitimacy and in the mobilization and provision of international assistance. The 1993 DOP deferred certain issues to subsequent permanent status negotiations, which were held in 2000 at Camp David and in 2001 in Taba, but proved inconclusive. Read more.

Members of Security Council Vote on Palestine’s Participation

The members of the Security Council vote in favour of permitting the observer for Palestine to participate in the Council’s discussion on the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territory. 05 October 1990. UN Photo.

2000-present: Second intifada, separation wall, Road Map, etc.

The visit by Ariel Sharon of the Likud to Al-Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem in 2000 was followed by the second intifada. Israel began the construction of a West Bank separation wall, located mostly within the Occupied Palestinian Territory, ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice. In 2002, the Security Council affirmed a vision of two States, Israel and Palestine. In 2002 the Arab League adopted the Arab Peace Initiative. In 2003, the Quartet (US, EU, Russia, and the UN) released a Road Map to a two-State solution. An unofficial Geneva peace accord was promulgated by prominent Israelis and Palestinians in 2003. In 2005, Israel withdrew its settlers and troops from Gaza while retaining control over its borders, seashore and airspace. Following Palestinian legislative elections of 2006, the Quartet conditioned assistance to the PA on its commitment to nonviolence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements. After an armed takeover of Gaza by Hamas in 2007, Israel imposed a blockade. The Annapolis process of 2007-2008 failed to yield a permanent status agreement. Escalating rocket fire and air strikes in late 2008 culminated in Israeli ground operation “Cast Lead” in Gaza. The UN Security Council adopted resolution 1860. Violations of international law during the Gaza conflict were investigated by the UN (“Goldstone report“). The 2009 PA programme to build State institutions received wide international support. A new round of negotiations in 2010 broke down following the expiration of the Israeli settlement moratorium. In 2011 President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the application of Palestine for membership in the UN. UNESCO admitted Palestine as a Member. Exploratory Israeli-Palestinian talks were held in early 2012 in Amman. In November another cycle of violence between Israel and Gaza concluded with an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire. On 29 November 2012 Palestine was granted non-member observer State status in the UN. The General Assembly proclaimed 2014 an International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. A new round of negotiations begun in 2013 was suspended by Israel in April 2014 following the announcement of a Palestinian national consensus Government. Another round of fighting between Israel and Gaza took place in July-August 2014. In 2016 the Security Council adopted resolution 2334 on settlements. In 2017, the US Administration announced recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and subsequently, the US and certain other embassies were moved to Jerusalem. In 2020, the US mediated agreements to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco (“Abraham Accords”). In 2022, the UN General Assembly requested the ICJ to render an Advisory Opinion on the legality of the prolonged Israeli occupation that started in 1967, and the implications for Member States. 2023 saw another round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. On 15 May 2023, following a request by the General Assembly, the UN commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Nakba for the first time. In October of 2023, another escalation between Gaza and Israel began.

The Jews illegally emigrated into Palestine and then used terror and murder to supplant the native Arab population

 CJPME Factsheet 7, published July, 2004: This Factsheet Provides demographic information of Historical Palestine prior to 1948 in an effort to tell the often erased story of Palestine's indigenous people. The Zionist Movement has long called Palestine “A land without a people, for a people without a land,” a slogan that galvanised Jews to move to Palestine and eventually led to the large-scale displacement of indigenous Palestinians.

DEMOGRAPHICS OF HISTORIC PALESTINE PRIOR TO 1948

Factsheet Series No. 7, updated: June 2022, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

 

Ever since the founding of the Zionist movement,[1] supporters of Zionism have downplayed the fact that historic Palestine had always had a healthy indigenous population.  As early as the 19^th and early 20^thcentury,[2] Zionists and their supporters repeated the myth widely: “A land without a people, for a people without a land.”  While this slogan encouraged Jewish emigration to historic Palestine, it also paved the way for one of the largest dispossessions of an ethnic group in modern history.  Both the demographic statistics themselves, as well as the history of Jewish emigration to Palestine in the 1930s tell an entirely different story.   

Demographics of Palestine under the Ottomans

Modern Zionism was a movement born in Europe in the 19^th century, but the Ottoman Empire controlled historic Palestine during the 19^th and early 20^thcenturies.  Starting in the 19^th century, a number of disparate Jewish groups in Europe had begun cooperating to begin modest agricultural settlement in historic Palestine.  These and other groups first came together formally in 1897 for the first Zionist Conference in Basel, Switzerland.[3] 

The population of Ottoman “Palestine” is difficult to estimate because:

1) There was no administrative district of Palestine. Ottoman census figures were for various districts, e.g. the Jerusalem, Acco and Nablus districts. The Acre district included areas in Lebanon, outside the borders of historic Palestine;

2) Both Arabs and Jews avoided the Turkish census for three reasons: a) to avoid taxes, b) to avoid military conscription, and c) to avoid questions of illegal residence;

3) The census figures didn’t include Bedouins (likely numbering over 100,000[4]) and foreign subjects (i.e. individuals with foreign citizenship, without Ottoman residency status) of which there were about 10,000 Jews.

Nevertheless, the Ottoman census of 1878 indicated the following demographics for the Jerusalem, Nablus, and Acre districts:[5]

Census Group	Population	Percentage
Muslim	403,795	85.5
Christian	43,659	9.2
Jewish	15,001	3.2
Jewish (Foreign-born)	Est. 10,000	2.1
Total:	472,455	100.0

 

Palestinian Demographics under the British Mandate Government

Jewish emigration to historic Palestine grew over the first decades of the 20^th century, especially during the 1930s.  As the Jewish population in Palestine increased, the indigenous Arab population put pressure on the British government to control the immigration.  Thus, in the 1920s, the British restricted Jewish immigration by fixing quotas and authorizing certain Jewish organizations to distribute immigration certificates as they saw fit.  Nevertheless, with increased persecution of Jews in Europe, many Jews were not willing to wait years for immigration certificates.  Thus, in 1934, the Vallos became the first chartered immigration ship to arrive in Palestine, carrying 350 Jews.  By the time WWII had begun, tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants had arrived illegally in Palestine by ship.  This illegal shipping of immigrants continued well into the 1940s.  While the British intercepted some of the ships, almost all of the immigrants were eventually able to settle in Palestine.[6]

The Jewish community found other ways to emigrate to Palestine, exploiting loopholes in the Mandatory government’s immigration regulations.  Students were not required to have immigration certificates to study in Palestine, so many enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and then remained in the country.  Young women entered the country claiming fictitious marriages to Palestinian residents.  Others arrived as tourists, and never returned to their former countries.  In 1935 alone, almost 5,000 Jews entered the county illegally through these various means.[7] 

In 1939, concerned with the rising tensions in Palestine due to the massive Jewish immigration – both legal and illegal – the British government issued Parliamentary Document 6019 (a.k.a the White Paper of 1939), slated to limit the Jewish population in Palestine to no more than one third the total.  If economic capacity permitted, 75,000 Jews would be allowed to come to Palestine, after which “no further Jewish immigration will be permitted unless the Arabs are prepared to acquiesce to it.”[8]   

Emigration Statistics to Historic Palestine during the British Mandate

The below are British estimates of the emigration to historic Palestine between 1920 and 1945, including people who entered as tourists and subsequently registered as immigrants. Most figures as of Dec. 31 of each year.   

 

Net Emigration to Palestine[9]
Year	Jews		Non-Jews		Total
	Total	Percent	Total	Percent
1920	5,514	96.47%	202	3.53%	5,716
1921	9,149	97.97%	190	2.03%	9,339
1922	7,844	96.51%	284	3.49%	8,128
1923	7,421	92.87%	570	7.13%	7,991
1924	12,856	94.86%	697	5.14%	13,553
1925	33,801	97.58%	840	2.42%	34,641
1926	13,081	94.04%	829	5.96%	13,910
1927	2,713	75.47%	882	24.53%	3,595
1928	2,178	70.58%	908	29.42%	3,086
1929	5,249	79.94%	1,317	20.06%	6,566
1930	4,944	76.85%	1,489	23.15%	6,433
1931	4,075	73.65%	1,458	26.35%	5,533
1932	9,553	84.62%	1,736	15.38%	11,289
1933	30,327	94.84%	1,650	5.16%	31,977
1934	42,359	95.96%	1,784	4.04%	44,143
1935	61,854	96.43%	2,293	3.57%	64,147
1936	29,727	93.86%	1,944	6.14%	31,671
1937	10,536	84.46%	1,939	15.54%	12,475
1938	12,868	84.31%	2,395	15.69%	15,263
1939	16,405	89.00%	2,028	11.00%	18,433
1940	4,547	81.04%	1,064	18.96%	5,611
1941	3,647	85.41%	623	14.59%	4,270
1942	2,194	71.89%	858	28.11%	3,052
1943	8,507	86.22%	1,360	13.78%	9,867
1944	14,464	87.79%	2,012	12.21%	16,476
1945	12,032	86.04%	1,952	13.96%	13,984
Total	367,845	91.70%	33,304	8.30%	401,149

  

Population Statistics of Historic Palestine during the British Mandate

The below estimates are based on the reports of the British Mandate for Palestine and the Mandatory censuses, conducted only in 1922 and 1931. All figures following 1931 are estimates; most figures as of Dec. 31 of each year.   

Total Population in Palestine[10]
Year	Total	Muslims		Jews		Christians		Others
		Total	Percent	Total	Percent	Total	Percent	Total	Percent
1922	752,048	589,177	78.34	83,790	11.14	71,464	9.50	7,617	1.01
1931	1,033,314	759,700	73.52	174,606	16.90	88,907	8.60	10,101	0.98
1931	1,036,339	761,922	73.52	175,138	16.90	89,134	8 60	10,145	0.98
1932	1,073,827	778,803	72.52	192,137	17.90	92,520	8.61	10,367	0.97
1933	1,140,941	798,506	69.99	234,967	20.59	96,791	8.48	10,677	0.94
1934	1,210,554	814,379	67.27	282,975	23.38	102,407	8.46	10,793	0.89
1935	1,308,112	836,688	63.96	355,157	27.15	105,236	8.04	11,031	0.85
1936	1,366,692	862,730	63.13	384,078	28.10	108,506	7.94	11,378	0.83
1937	1,401,794	883,446	63.02	395,836	28.24	110,869	7.91	11,643	0.83
1938	1,435,285	900,250	62.72	411,222	28.65	111,974	7.80	11,839	0.83
1939	1,501,698	927,133	61.74	445,457	29.66	116,958	7.79	12,150	0.81
1940	1,544,530	947,846	61.37	463,535	30.01	120,587	7.81	12,562	0.81
1941	1,585,500	973,104	61.38	474,102	29.90	125,413	7.91	12,881	0.81
1942	1,620,005	995,292	61.44	484,408	29.90	127,184	7.85	13,121	0.81
1943	1,676,571	1,028,715	61.36	502,912	29.99	131,281	7.83	13,663	0.81
1944	1,739,624	1,061,277	61.01	528,702	30.39	135,547	7.79	14,098	0.81