Jerusalem U – Resolution 181: The Zionist Dream Comes True
Did you know that in 1947 the UN voted to create an Arab state alongside a Jewish one in what was Mandate Palestine? Resolution 181 would have split the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean into two separate states. So, what happened to UN Resolution 181 and just where is this promised Arab state? In this week’s History of Israel Explained, we tell all.
To understand what is probably the most complicated aspect of the Arab-Israeli conflict, we’re jumping back to the early days of the last century when the British issued the Balfour Declaration, which expressed their support for Jewish national homeland in Palestine. The British tried to make that support into reality years later with a land split that would have seen a “large” Arab state and a teeny-tiny Jewish one. (Spoiler: the Jews accepted it). For a whole lot of reasons, the split never happened and the result is the impasse we currently all know.
Today, the idea of splitting the land of Israel between Arabs and Jews seems incredible. But it really could have happened. What do you think? Had the Arabs accepted the partition plan that would have solved the conflict with a two state solution would we have seen a very different political landscape or would each side still have felt the other had something that belonged to them? Drop your reactions in the comments below.
