LAKE SUCCESS: Arab United Nations Dele­gates, presenting their Sub-Committee report on Palestine, called today [Nov 19] for a unitary state and declared that the United Nations had no legal right to partition the country.

These were the highlights of the report of the Sub-Committee which considered the case against partition. First, the partition proposal was “contrary to the mandate and a direct violation of the principles of the League and United Nations Charter”. Secondly, the Arabs “have first claim to Palestine by reason of centuries-old occupation and possession and right of indigenous population to self-determination”. Thirdly, any doubt about the McMahon-Hussain correspondence (in which British promises to Arabs were alleged to be inconsistent with promises to Jews) should be settled by the International Court of Justice.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2022