The Proposed Internationalization of Jerusalem (1947–1950)

Abstract

In connection with Britain’s proposed withdrawal from Palestine (see Section C below), the UN General Assembly said in November 1947 that the large prize of Jerusalem (and its surrounding area, including Bethlehem) should go to neither of the groups who were gearing up for war but should have a separate and permanent international status. The UN Trusteeship Council was asked to prepare an appropriate statute for the city. It proposed that that Council (where there is no veto) should appoint a Governor to administer Jerusalem on behalf of the UN, that the city should be demilitarized, and that law and order should be maintained by a special police force responsible to the Governor and recruited outside Palestine. The Jews were far from happy about the idea, but went along with it as part of a package which offered them their own state. The Arabs, however, would accept nothing less than a Palestinian Arab state with Jerusalem as its capital.