Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry
The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry ( English Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry ) was a common attempt by the British and US governments the conflict between Jews and Arabs in Mandate Palestine to solve diplomatically. The appointment of the committee was announced on November 13, 1945. The committee published its final report on May 13, 1946.
background
The Churchill administration already saw the mandate administration of the disputed area as a thankless task without benefit to the interests of the United Kingdom. The successor government under Clement Attlee tried to limit Jewish immigration to 1,500 people per month. The two smaller Jewish paramilitary groups Irgun and Lechi then forced acts of violence and terrorist attacks against British targets in Palestine. The Jewish Agency responded with increased illegal immigration and a public resolution demanding immediate immigration for 100,000 Jewish displaced persons from Europe. The incumbent US President Harry Truman publicly supported the demand and thus opposed the policies of his British ally. Since the British government did not want to jeopardize good relations with the USA against the backdrop of the looming Cold War , it looked for a way to involve the USA in a diplomatic conflict resolution.
Act
The committee was established on November 13, 1945 at the instigation of the British Foreign Office. The British lawyer John Singleton took the chair . The committee consisted of twelve people, equally British and American. Including politicians, diplomats, journalists and lawyers. The work of the committee consisted of visits to camps for displaced persons in Europe, consultations with Arab heads of state and inspections and hearings of the two sides in Palestine.
On May 12, 1946, the committee published its final report. This followed the demand of the Jewish Agency to admit 100,000 immigrants as quickly as possible. It also recommended converting the British mandate into a UN protectorate under international supervision. As a long-term goal for resolving the conflict, extensive autonomy of the two ethnic groups in a unified state was considered. The committee rejected a division of the national territory.
Reactions
The Jewish Agency welcomed the committee's approval of the number of immigrants, but declined any further requests. After the final report was published, the Palmach , the elite force of the Jewish Agency-controlled Haganah, intensified attacks on British targets. The Arab League publicly condemned the committee in June 1947 and declined all advice of the committee. Jamal Hussein, a leading functionary of the Arab High Committee and nephew of Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, threatened the British Prime Minister with jihad in a letter if the committee's proposals were implemented. There were also violent protests in Baghdad, Palestine and Beirut. As a result, US President Truman envisaged a division of the mandate area.
Web links
- Full text of the final report , available as html; last accessed on April 4, 2011
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Benny Morris : 1948 - A History of the First Arab-Israeli War; New Haven, 2008; Pp. 30-35