The United Nations and the Palestinian refugees: an analysis of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, 1 May 1950--30 June 1971 Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Gama, Abid Husni, 1943- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 09/10/2021 10:36:06 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/565262 THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES: AN ANALYSIS OF THE UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST, 1 MAY 1950-30 JUNE 1971 by Abid Husni Gama A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA . THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Abid Huani Gama________________________ entitledThe United Nations and the Palestinian Refugees* An Analysis of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. 1 May 19^0-10 June 1971 be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of ______ Doctor of Philosophy___________________ (o Dissertation/Director Date After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance:* f c u T k) . This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial ful­ fillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allow­ able without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manu­ script in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his appreciation to the faculty of the Department of History for their guidance and ■aide He especially wishes to extend his deep gratitude and appreciation to Dr. William J. Wilson, the major professor and the dissertation director. The author wishes also to express his appreciation for the encouragement and invaluable recommendations given to him by Dr, Richard R, Cosgrove and Dr, Ludwig -W, Adamec of the guidance committee in the preparation of this dis­ sertation. The author wishes also to express his deep gratitude to his family for their financial provision which made it possible for the author to attend The University of Arizona, Finally, the author would like to express his sincere gratitude to Inaam, Mona and Khalid for their love, patience and understanding, without which this dissertation, might not have been finished. iii TABLE OP CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES o o o o o o -o o o o o o o o o o o o oviii ABSTBACT OOOOO OOO-OOO OOOOOOOOOO O lx 1o INTRODUCTION oooooooooooooooooooo 1 2o THE PALESTINE PROBLEM; AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVENTS AND PROCESSES THAT LED TO THE CREATION OF THE PALESTINE REFUGEE PROBLEM 0 o > .. 5 Palestine Throughout the Ages 00o0ooooo Persecution of the Jews . 0. *'000000.0000 The Jews in the West „ » * « = = 00 o 0 o o The Jews in the East 0 , » * ^ * *. * » * * * The Search for a Solution 0 * * * * = <> o * - vo-^^vn <0 Zionisxn 00 000 0 000000000 00000 12 Palestine; Meaning and Significance 000000 14 Pledges and Counter Pledges; The Struggle for Palestine, 1912-1920 00000000000 18 Zionism and Britain , 000000.0000000 21 The Balfour Declaration , , , * * * * , * , 26 Meaning and Significance 00,0000000 26 Pledges to the Arabs , o , , = * , * 0 0 o' * o 29 Sir Henry McMahon , * ■» '« , « » 000 o * . o 31 Commander David George Hogarth , * * , 00 o 33 Lto Colo Jo Ro Bassett , , , o , o * , o o © 34 Declaration to the Seven , , © , © © © © o © 35 Anglo-French Declaration © „ , = © © © © © © 36 Palestine at the Paris Peace Conference © © © © 37 -Arab Deiiiand s o o © © © © ©o © © © 0. 0 © © © 37 Zioni st PIans © © © © © o © © © © © © © © © Z|.0 Woodrow Wilson; Between Arab and Zionist © 41 Palestine Under the Mandate, 1920-1947 © © © © © 49 Provisions of the Mandate © © © © © © © © © 49 Zionxst Aims. ©©©©©©©©©©©©ooo ^2 Jewish Immigration into Palestine © © © © © © © 53 Consequences © © © © © © © © © o © o © © © o 55 British Reaction:to Jewish Immigration © © © © © 56 Churchill White Paper © © © © © © © © © © © 56 The White Paper of 17 May 1939 © © © © © © © 57 Zionist Reaction to Britain © © © © © © © © 59 Churchill and Zionism © © © © © © © © © © © © © 60 Roosevelt,s Reaction ©©©©©©©©©©©©o o o 61 i v TABLE OF CONTENTS— Continued' Page Truman and Zionism oooooocooooooo Position on Palestine 000oo000oo Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry ! | Truman-Bevin Dispute o o o o o o o o o o o , 66 Zionist Terrorism in Palestine: Its Meaning and Consequence s. o * @ o ■ » o o o ooo o o o » 67 Palestine at the United Nations O 40 O 0. 0 o o , 68 Partition of Palestine, 1947-1949 o o o o o o , 69 United Nations Special Committee on Palestine > 69 Partition with Economic Union oooooooo > 70 The Jewish State oooooooo <><,000 , 71 T^ie Arah State o o o 0 0 o o o o © o -o o.o 4 72 Jerusalem o o o o oooooooo ooo o . 72 Partition and Pressure Politics 0000000 . 73 Consequences of Partition 00000 «. o 0 0 = , 77 Arah .Response o o o © © © © © © © © o © o Zion3.st Response o © © © © © © ©. © © © o © i 78 Early United States-Israel Relations © © © » 79 The Arab-Israeli War of 1948 ° © © © © © © © © , 82 The Arabs in the Jewish State o 0 0 0 0 o , 82 The Position of the Arab States , 89 The Official # r © © © © © © © © © © © © © , 91 The Role of the United Nations © © © © © © , 93 The 1949 Arab-Israeli Armistice Agreements © © » 96 Definition of a Palestinian Refugee © © © © © , 98 Introduction © © © © © © © © © © © o © © © 3 98 The United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine Definition © © © © © © © © The International Refugee Organization Definition © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 102 The UNRWAPRNE Definition © © © © © © © © © © 104 An Israeli View © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 105 The Need for a New Definition 000000 © 108 . Who is a Palestinian? 0000000 o o o © 109 PRELUDE TO UNRWAPRNE » © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 113 Introduction © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 113 Early United Nations Involvement © © © © © © © © 11$ United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees (UNRPR) © © © © © © © © © « © © © © © 118 United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UN OCR} © © © © ©. © © ©.© © © © © © 121 TABLE OP CONTENTS— Continued Page The UNCOP Between Israeli Rigidity and Arab. Flexibility . = « » « = » = o « 123 The United Nations Economic Survey 1^2. S S i o n (UNjiSM) ooo oooooooo o o o- 130 AN ANALYSIS OF THE UNRWA?RNE, 1 MAY 1950- 30 JUNE 1971 o o oooo o o o oo o o o oooo The Establishment of the UNRWAPRNE = 137 The Task of the UNRWAPRNE ooo oooooo 139 The Size of the Task , ooooooooooo llj.0 The Administration and Organization of ■ the UNRWAPRNE o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 1l|1 Introduction o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 141 The Organization of the UNRWAPRNE 142 The .Chief Executive Officer „ <, = „ .» » 144 The Employees and Staff of the UNRWAPRNE 146 Cooperation and Coordination of Relief and Works Effort @ © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 147 Introduction © © © © ©o©©©©©©©© 147 The UNRWAPRNE and Other United Nations Organizations © © © © © © © © © © © © 149 The UNRWAPRNE and Other International Voluntary Organizations „ © © © © © © 151 The UNRWAPRNE and the Host Governments © 152 The Operations of the UNRWAPRNEs 1 May 1950- 30 June 1971 © © = © © © 0 00 - 0 0 153 Introduction © © © © © 0 0- 0 0 00 153 Relief Services © © © ooooo 0 154 Special Hardship Cases 00 0 0 00 167 Health Services © © © ooooo 0 167 Curative and preventive . Services 168 Education and Training Services 0 178 Self-Support Activities 0 0 0 0 00 189 Emergency Operations © ooooo 0 196 Financial Operations ,© o p b 0 06 •207 Consultation with the UNO CP © © ©' © © © © © Status of the Palestinian Refugees in the Host Countries ©. © © © © ■ © © © © © © © © © 217 Lebanon. © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 218 Syria ©■ © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 219 Jordan ©o©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© 220 Gaza © © © © © © © © ,© © © © © © © © © © 220 Israel and the Occupied Territories © © 221 vii TABLE OP CONTENTS— -Continued Page Legal Aspects of the Work of the UNRWAPRNE „ 0 222 Legal Matters « o o o o o o o o o © © © © 224 Claims Against Governments © © © © © © © © 225 5© CONCLUSION o 229 The Intended Role of the UNRWAPRNE © © © 229 The Present Role of the UNRWAPRNE © © © 231 The Future Role of the UNRWAPRNE © © © © 233 The Future of the Palestinian Refugees , 239 APPENDIX