Jews’ immigration to Palestine dates back to 1922 and a major trigger behind this migration was Britain ruling over the place since that time. Arabs did not like Jews” interference and ultimately tensions between both parties started growing.
Resolution 181 or the Partition Plan was one of the international efforts to resolve the conflict.
The United Nations General Assembly suggested dividing Palestine into Arab and Jewish states and declaring Jerusalem as a separate entity to be governed by a special international regime.
The resolution was strongly supported by Jews since they saw it as a legal basis for the creation of Israel. On the other hand, the proposal was rejected by Arabs. However, the resolution was then passed by 33/56 votes in support of resolution.
Although the main aim of Resolution 181 seems to be to come up with a win-win solution for both Jews and Muslims, it failed to gain the consent of Muslims to divide Palestine into two separate states. Where Jews claim that the city is of great religious importance for them, Palestinians are also not ready to share the land. Because the Resolution was not accepted by Arabs, the problem still prevails and there is continuous tension between Palestine and Israel.
The Israel-Palestine conflict has been a point of strong interest for international authorities and different countries have different views on resolving the issue.
But the common point that all main international bodies support is the idea of establishing two separate states for Muslims and Jews in Palestine and keeping Jerusalem as a shared entity. This solution has not been implemented yet because Jews want the whole ownership and complete control of the city.
In essence, although Resolution 181 did not end the conflict existing between Muslims and Jews, it is certainly one of the great historical achievements of Jews since it led to the establishment of their separate state Israel.
Like other key international powers, the United States does have a keen interest in the issue. Although the country is a strong supporter of Jews, it historically has been suggesting a diplomatic solution to the problem.
Asโad Ghanem, from the School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel, explored in his study how Trumpโs โDeal of the Century (DoC)โ directly supported the settler-colonial project to convert Palestine into a Jewish-Zionist state.
Although the DoC is commonly known as โ The Trump Peace Planโ and it was introduced with a stated vision of improving the lives of Israeli and Palestinian people, the meeting in which the plan was presented and finalized, did not include any representation from Palestinians.
This point probably makes the plan controversial as the consent of one direct stakeholder seems not to matter at all. The author asserts that regardless of different opinions and reactions from different international bodies and concerned countries, Trumpโs plan is essentially an Israeli-Zionist document that was just presented within the framework of an international declaration by the United States, the sponsoring state of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, says Asโad Ghanem.
Also, US support has always been there for Israel in multiple spheres and as part of this strong and clear support, US also has been playing its part to declare Jerusalem as a unified capital of Israel.
The Deal of Century is just a formal continuation of this documented support.
Although the document is formally entitled “Peace to Prosperity”, any unbiased analysis cannot declare it as a win-win solution and one that brings good for both parties, Israel and Palestine. Because the meeting in which Trump announced his DoC, (held on January 28, 2020), lacked any representation of Palestine.
Hence, things seem to turn into a different scenario, from Resolution 181 to the Deal of Century as the former one presented a win-win solution to the problem while the latter one focused just on the good of one party, Israel. This conclusion is just based on the content and main theme of both important documents, Resolution 181 and DoC. Individual opinions may vary based on the context in which each one is considered and analyzed. You can refer to the study cited here to read a detailed analysis of DoC.
The following is the link to the study:
Ghanem, A. A. (2020). The Deal of the Century in ContextโTrump’s Plan is Part of a Long-Standing Settler-Colonial Enterprise in Palestine. The Arab World Geographer, 23(1), 45-59.
