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THE UNITED NATIONS TRUCE SUPERVISION ORGANIZATION IN PALESTINE: A CASE STUDY IN INTERNATIONAL PEACE OBSERVATION APPROVED: Major ProfessoProfessorr i Minoar 'Professo r Chairfnan of the D^&afrtmenifrN^ f Political Science Dean <ff the Graduate School El-Nairab, Mohammad M., The United Nations Truce Super- vision Organization in Palestine: A Case Study in International Peace Observation. Master of Arts (Political Science), December, 1970, 167 pages, 1 map, 1 table, bibliography, 175 titles. Conflicts have always existed within the world community. The one in the Holy Land is not novel. The United Nations Organization, however, only very recently has devised methods to try to circumscribe, reduce or curb conflicts which are brought to its attention. Thus, "peace observation" came into usage only in approximately the last two decades in the workings of the world organization. The case under study is one of the first which the United Nations experienced. Here, a conflict, though as old as 1917, was brought to the attention of the world community only in 194 7, when violence broke out between the indigenous Palestine Arab population and the growing number of Zionist immigrants from Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. Consequently, a United Nations mission for observing a cease-fire was consti- tuted in June, 194 8. For fear of upsetting precarious balances, the United Nations found no alternative but to keep it for on- the-spot observation. The purpose of this study is to point out how, if in any way, the observation machinery affected the conflict, or, more specifically, how the powers or limitations of this observation structure either favorably or adversely affected its performance. 2 Emphasis in this study is placed upon primary source materials—UN documents—without, of course, discounting any other available source. The logic of its organization rests on two major points treated in seven chapters: one is to describe the authority vested in the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization—what it was supposted to do; and the other is to indicate -the extent to which it was able to imple- ment its mandate—what it actually did. Chapter One traces briefly the steps which led to the United Nations involvement; then follows three chapters which attempt to answer the first major point. Chapter Two delineates the legal basis for the United Nations1 actions as embodied in the enabling resolutions and voting records, and in the UN Charter. Chapter Three describes the functions, and Chapter Four shows how it is controlled. The following two chapters attempt to answer the second major point. Chapter Five shows the composition and the • quality of the observation machinery, and Chapter Six attempts to evaluate its effectiveness. Since there were so many com- plaints , charges and countercharges, only those incidents and situations in the latter chapter where the powers or limitations of the observation structure strongly affected performance are considered. Chapter Seven is an evaluation of the whole oper- ation. Each chapter is concluded with a summary. The overall conclusion is that a favorable balance between the peace observations1 mandate and its caliber is found to be vital to its success. Its success, in turn, is found to be a function of the character and nature of the boundaries, limitations 'in terras of reference, duration of the mission, attitude of the parties and the continuing plight of the Pales- tinian Arab refugees. These factors clearly indicate an under- lying political nature of the conflict. This leads to two ' conclusions: (1) as long as there is no political settlement, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization is likely to be frustrated in its performance; and (2) this type of pperation might not be suited for this type of conflict. THE UNITED NATIONS TRUCE SUPERVISION ORGANIZATION IN PALESTINE: A CASE STUDY IN INTERNATIONAL PEACE OBSERVATION THESIS Presented to, the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS By Mohammad Mahmud El-Nairab, B. A., B. S. Denton* Texas December, 1970 INTRODUCTION Conflicts have always existed within the world community. The communications revolution in our time has caused the occurence of conflict between any two or more parties to be felt immediately by the International community at large. It is now widely assumed that the interest and well-being of any state is greatly affected by events in other states. Con- flicts, too, like diseases, are more amenable to remedy when they are treated in their earlier stages. It was not until recently, however, that the world com- munity has looked for cooperative means to deal with conflicts which might endanger world peace. Thus, under the auspices of the Covenant of the League of Nations, it became not un- usual that a disinterested third party might call the attention of the world organization to a situation whose con- tinuance might endanger peace. It was not until very recentlyt moreover, that organized cooperation in that direction began to take shape. Thus, under the auspices of the Charter of the United Nations, the latter has become an important instru- ment for observing world peace. If the attention of the international body is called to a threatening situation, the first most logical and most limited action that can be taken Is to ascertain the facts. If hostilities have already begun, the first and most logical ill step that can be taken is to request and perhaps organize a way to implement a cease-fire, pending further action. It is for these Immediate and limited purposes that the term "peace observation" has come into usage in the very recent develop- ment in the workings of the United Nations Organization. Thus, peace observation is a method whereby the international body initiates a third party Intervention as early as possi- ble to circumscribe a conflict and prevent its spread, or prevent its development to an international one. This method is, by far, the best that can be applied under the circumstances and experiences the international organization has had since its inception. Evaluations of the use of this method have shown that it has been accompanied by varying degrees of success, de- pending on the individual case under study. In some, it has succeeded only In reducing or ending tensions or hostilities, without bringing about a settlement. In others, where hos- tilities have already ceased, peace observers have remained on the spot to prevent their resumption pending a peaceful settlement. Yet, frequently, observation caused a "cooling off" process to start. And finally, at times, peace obser- vation has failed totally. Nevertheless, one should bear in. mind the fact that peace observation is but the first step in the process of peaceful settlement. In retrospect, the fonnatlon of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine is a case of an lv international peace observation in question. Here, a large mission was sent to the area to supervise a cease-fire repeatedly requested by the Security Council in the months of April and Hay of 19^8. Only partial success accompanied the mission in its early presence, when a cease-fire was implemented on June 11, 19*1-8, but broken again on July 9 of the same year. With more threatening orders from the Secu- rity Council, the mission was able to implement another cease-fire on July 18, and it remained in the area to over- see armistice agreements signed, between the belligerents. It became apparent, however, that this was a case where peace observers had to remain on the spot to prevent the resumption of hostilities pending a settlement. It was hoped that the signing of armistice agreements would, be a short step toward this. Since then, the UNTSO has had a very interesting ex- perience in which it witnessed historical and political changes taking place, from time to time being frustrated by the "ups and downs;" being encouraged by relative degrees of. success, or discouraged to a larger degree by its failures. It is still present in the area, especially on the Syrian and United Arab Republic's cease-fire lines with Israel. Meanwhile, it may be assumed that the UNTSO's failure to maintain peace stems primarily from the political facts underlying the conflict. This assumption, in my judgment, certainly holds true. This study, however, does not in- tend to analyze the political facts that underly the basic v conflict. Its objective rather is to point out how the United Nations peace machinery of observation, or, more specifically, the UNTSO, affected the conflict. It follows that only those incidents and situations are considered where the powers or limitations of the peace observation structure strongly affected its performance, either favor- ably or adversely. By the same token, this study also assumes that during the Immediate future, the United Nations organs will continue to be used, as an important instrumen- tality for peace observation in the area. Two compelling reasons induced me to undertake this study. The first is the fact that, to my knowledge, there is no complete and separate study done about the UNTSO— whether in the Arabic or American literature. The other Is my closeness to the topic, for I have lived in the area, witnessed at least the general workings of the peace obser- vation machinery, and was employed by another United Nations agency there—the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Sci- entific and Cultural Organization) and UNRWA (United Nations Refugees and Work Agency). In my study I have tried to be fair and objective, but I am not impartial, for I have a deep conviction in the righteousness of the Palestinian cause. This might be reflected only in the chapter dealing with the historical and political background.

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