Abba Eban, a liaison officer then to the UN Special Committee on Palestine, in his Autobiography, gives us a glimpse of that day in November 29, 1947, where he successfully attained approval for the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab segments. Also, an interesting footnote on Carlos P. Romulo to once and for all douse our much touted tie-breaker role in the historic vote. He wrote:
When the General Assembly came together on November 27, we were plunged into gloom. There was every reason to fear that if the vote was taken, we would fall short of theExcerpts From: Abba Eban, An Autobiography, pages 97-99two-thirds majority. The day before, the odds had seemed to be in our favor. But at precisely that moment the French delegate, Alexandre Parodi, had called for a postponement of the session. In the twenty-four hours since then, we had lost ground. The representative of Uruguay, Professor Rodriguez Fabregat, embarked on a long discourse that could not uncharitably be regarded as a filibuster. As the minutes ticked away, all hope seemed to be receding. It was then that the chairman, Ambassador Aranha, revived our hopes. He discovered that the hour was late, that the decision to be made was important and that the following day was an American national holiday, Thanksgiving Day. With a firm hand, oblivious of Arab protest, he adjourned the session. It was clear we would know our fate on November 29, and that November 28 would be a day of unremitting toil...
(Forward to November 29)
...I made for the United Nations General Assembly headquarters, which was in ferment of tension. Newspapermen, television and radio correspondents from all over the world were concentrated in the lobbies, while the delegates’ seats and visitor’s gallery were crowded as they had never been before The United Nations was facing a momentous opportunity at a very early stage of its career. On the podium, pale and solemn were the President of the Assembly, Oswaldo Aranha, Trygve Lie and the equally well nourished Assistant Secretary-General Andrew Cordier. Aranha called the meeting to order and invited the representative of Iceland to the rostrum. Thors, to my relief, was magnificent. He stated with firm conviction that despite every examination or all avenues, he and his committee were convinced that an agreement in advance was impossible. The only hope of conciliation lay in an act of judgment and decision. If the world community was firm in support of partition, then partition would come into existence and those who opposed it now would have no course but to acquiesce.From that moment on, the debate went inexorably our way. An attempt by Chamoun to secure a postponement in order to discuss the federal proposal was firmly ruled out of order by Aranha and opposed with impressive unity by Gromyko and Hershel Johnson. By this time the United States and the Soviet Union were becoming irritated by the delaying tactics imposed on the General
Assembly by the Arab and the British delegations. Here, for the first time since the end of the war, two Great Powers were reaching agreement on a major international issue, and countries of lesser responsibility were preventing their accord from coming into effect. General Carlos Romulo of the Philippines, who had spoken against partition two days before, had now disappeared, and a new Filipino delegate spoke as ardently for the partition plan as Romulo had spoken against. Liberia also had swung around in our favor. To my relief, my own “clients” – the Benelux countries – now recorded their firm intention to support the partition plan. There was still the fear that a French abstention might upset this prospect.
Finally the speechmaking came to an end, and a solemn hush descended on the hall. Aranha announced his intention to call for a vote in alphabetical order. Some of us who were present still retain a memory of the tone in which Cordier recited the votes. “Argentina?” “Abstain.” “Afghanistan?” “No.” “Australia?” “Yes.” “Belgium?” “Yes.” “Bolivia?” “Yes.” “Byelorussia?” “Yes.” And so it went on. When France loudly said “Oui,” there was an outbreak of applause in the hall, which Aranha sternly suppressed. By the time we had gone half way through the alphabet, we knew that we were safely home. Finally, after the announcement of Yugoslavia’s “abstention,” we heard the historic words: “Thirty three in favor, thirteen against, ten abstentions, one absent. The resolution is adopted.”...
This November will mark 60 years since the famous and fateful UN partition vote that paved the way for Israel's creation. The Knesset plans to reenact the vote with fanfare.
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