Details+of+the+majority+report

Lexi Koon

1948 War Vocabulary / Ch. 3

7.Details of the majority report

The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) decided in 1947 on how to fix the problem facing Palestine regarding the Arabs and Jews. They came to a conclusion on how to spilt up the 10,000 square miles of Palestine. The Arabs were to receive 4,300 square miles (43%) of Palestine, and the Jews were to receive 5,700 square miles (56%) of Palestine. During this time, however, Jews made up half of the population. From the 57% of the Jews land, they owned 6-8% of the total land area, and 20% of the total farming land. The Arabs were given land that was to be the less fertile hill country of central Palestine and northern Galilee. The Jews land was more fertile costal plain from a line south of Acre to a line south of Jaffa. Jews also were given Jaffa (which was mostly all Arab) and the Negev Desert. But, they were not given Jerusalem or Hebron. Though the Jews were at an advantage with the amount of land, the Jewish boundaries made them almost indefensible against the Arabs in a time of conflict. Overall, the Arab state would have 725,000 Arabs and 10,000 Jews, and Jerusalem would have 100,000 Jews and 105,000 non-Jews.