By an unexpected vote of 35 to 13, with 11 abstentions, the U.N. Special Political Committee today approved the resolution adopted several days ago by its subcommittee on Jerusalem to establish a separate Jerusalem area under international trusteeship in accordance with the U.N. partition decision of Nov. 29, 1947.
The American, British and Israel delegations voted against all parts of the resolution and against the resolution as a whole. The resolution stresses the legal supremacy of the U.N. partition decision, defines the area of Jerusalem as a 100 square-mile territory and requests the Trusteeship Council to readopt the 1947 statute for Jerusalem with more democratic provisions and to “proceed immediately with its implementation.” It further says that the Trusteeship Council “shall not allow any action taken by an interested government or governments to divert it from adopting and implementing the statute for Jerusalem.”
Commenting on the outcome of the vote, a spokesman for the Israel delegation stated: “We made our position very clear and we shall continue to advocate it in the General Assembly.” John Ross, member of the U.S. delegation, said that he and many other delegates “would have to reevaluate the situation closely” before the Assembly vote is taken.
The Swedish, Dutch and Cuban delegations withdrew their moderate alternative resolutions after a roll call was taken on each major paragraph of the resolution submitted by the subcommittee on Jerusalem. However, they reserved the right to reintroduce their proposals at the General Assembly session, where a two-thirds majority is necessary for any resolution to be adopted.
ISRAEL DECLINES TO COOPERATE WITH THE DECISIONS TABULATION OF VOTES
Israel voted “no” on the paragraph of the resolution calling upon the interested states to cooperate with the decision. The delegate of Sweden, announcing his temporary withdrawal, also declared that his government will have no part in trying to enforce a decision reached without the consent of the interested parties. “I express the sincere hope that all who have voted for this resolution are prepared to bear the full responsibility of its implementation,” he said.
Voting for the resolution were the following delegations: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Byelorussia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Salvador, France, Greece, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Ukraine, Soviet Union and Yemen.
The following delegations voted against the resolution: Chile, Guatemala, Haita, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, South Africa, Britain, United States, Uruguay and Yugoslavia. Abstaining were: Canada, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Philippines, Thailand and Venezuela.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
