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A Return to the 1947 Partition Plan?
(Winnipeg Jewish Review) Frank Loewenberg - All of the Arab states voted against the UN Partition Plan - UN Resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine - that was adopted by the General Assembly on Nov. 29, 1947. Now, 64 years later, the Palestinians have second thoughts about their rejection of the plan. The UN Partition Plan unambiguously calls for the establishment of a Jewish state. This provision is contrary to the Palestinian Authority's stated position that it will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The Partition Plan specifically states, "No discrimination of any kind shall be made between the inhabitants on the ground of race, religion, language or sex." "Arabs and Jews who...reside in Palestine...shall...become citizens of the state in which they are resident and enjoy full civil and political rights." Yet PA President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly made it clear that there is no room for Jews in the future state called Palestine. UN Resolution 181 calls for the establishment of a special international regime for the City of Jerusalem, which it defines as including Bethlehem. Are the Palestinians really willing to give up Arab control of Bethlehem? The writer is a professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan-University.