The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry

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• Secondary Education
• Age 13

The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry

The Anglo-American 

Committee of Inquiry

From the title, The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry was between which two nations?

Anglo-American
Committee of Inquiry

The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry

Background

The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry was a committee of prominent individuals from the United States and the United Kingdom assembled to investigate the causes of the conflict in the Middle East region known as Palestine. It was established in April 1946 by US President Harry S. Truman and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee.

The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry

Formation

The committee was proposed in a joint statement released by Truman and Attlee on April 11, 1946. The statement expressed the two governments' concern over the situation in Palestine and their intention to investigate the causes of the conflict. Initially, the committee was comprised of six members from the United States and six from the United Kingdom.

The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry

Purpose

The stated purpose of the Anglo-American Inquiry Committee was to conduct an impartial investigation of the political, economic, and social conditions in Palestine that had led to the unrest and conflict between Arabs and Jews in the region, including the situation of the Jewish refugees, the problem of illegal immigration, the economic and social realities of the country, and questions of land ownership and settlement. The committee was also charged with making recommendations on how these issues could be resolved and to explore potential solutions that could ensure peace and security in the region.

The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry

Role of the committee in the Palestine Conflict

The committee conducted extensive interviews with representatives of both Jewish and Arab Palestine, as well as British military and political figures. In addition to these interviews, the committee also toured the region and held hearings with various groups. During their investigation, the committee heard testimony from over 500 witnesses and visited Arab and Jewish settlements, refugee camps, and other sites of importance.

The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry

Role of the committee in the Palestine Conflict

Ultimately, the committee's report concluded that the unrest in Palestine was due in part to the lack of a political resolution to the region's dispute between Arabs and Jews. The committee's report, issued on April 25, 1946, recommended that 100,000 Jews be allowed to immigrate to Palestine and that the British should work towards the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine in cooperation with the Arab population. This recommendation was seen as a victory for the Jewish people, but also met with opposition from the Arab population which saw it as a violation of their rights in Palestine.

1. When was the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry formed?

1. 1945
2. 1946
3. 1947
4. 1948

2. The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry was created to investigate what issue?

1. The partition of Palestine
2. The liberation of India

3. What was the main recommendation of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry?

1. The creation of an independent Jewish state
2. The partition of Palestine into two separate states

4. What did the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry NOT recommend?

1. The relocation of Arab people living in Palestine
2. The restriction of Jewish immigration into Palestine

How many members were on the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry?

How did that go?

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1947

United Nations Votes for Partition of Palestine!

Despite strong Arab opposition, the United Nations votes for the partition of Palestine and the creation of an independent Jewish state.

 

The modern conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine dates back to the 1910s, when both groups laid claim to the British-controlled territory. The Jews were Zionists, recent emigrants from Europe and Russia who came to the ancient homeland of the Jews to establish a Jewish national state. The native Palestinian Arabs sought to stem Jewish immigration and set up a secular Palestinian state.

Holocaust and Zionism

Beginning in 1929, Arabs and Jews openly fought in Palestine, and Britain attempted to limit Jewish immigration as a means of appeasing the Arabs. As a result of the Holocaust in Europe, many Jews illegally entered Palestine during World War II. 

Radical Jewish groups employed guerilla tactics against British forces in Palestine, which they thought had betrayed the Zionist cause. 

At the end of World War II, in 1945, the United States took up the Zionist cause. Britain, unable to find a practical solution, referred the problem to the United Nations, which on November 29, 1947, voted to partition Palestine.

British Withdrawal

The Jews were to possess more than half of Palestine, though they made up less than half of Palestine’s population. The Palestinian Arabs, aided by volunteers from other countries, fought the Zionist forces, but the Jews secured full control of their U.N.-allocated share of Palestine and also some Arab territory. 

On May 14, 1948, Britain withdrew with the expiration of its mandate, and the State of Israel was proclaimed by Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion. The next day, forces from Egypt, Transjordan (now known as Jordan), Syria, Lebanon and Iraq invaded.

The Israelis managed to fight off the Arabs and then seize key territories, such as Galilee, the Palestinian coast, and a strip of territory connecting the coastal region to the western section of Jerusalem. In 1949, U.N.-brokered cease-fires left the State of Israel in permanent control of those conquered areas. The departure of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from Israel during the war left the country with a Jewish majority.

In what year did the United Nations vote in favor of partitioning Palestine?

1. 1946
2. 1947
3. 1948
4. 1949

What was the immediate result of the U.N. vote on partition of Palestine?

1. British forces ceasing guerrilla tactics against Jewish groups
2. The formation of the State of Israel

What was Britain's response to appease the Arabs?

Who issued the proclamation of the State of Israel in May 1948?

1. David Ben-Gurion
2. Prime Minister of Transjordan
3. President of the United States
4. U.N. Secretary General

How did that go?

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