When the UN Dropped the Palestinian Question

The placing of the Palestine Question on the Agenda of the United Nations General Assembly was recently the cause of considerable publicity throughout the world. It is, however, important to note that what occurred was the reinsertion of the Palestine Question upon an Agenda on which it once existed as a fully recognized item. This was the case in the United Nations General Assembly until 1952 and the Security Council until 1967. The purpose of this article will be to examine the very questionable process by which the item was eliminated in each case from the attention of the United Nations until recent events forced it once again to the forefront.

George J. Tomeh was Syrian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1965-72, and is presently General Consultant to the Institute for Palestine Studies. The issue discussed was raised by the author in a series of articles in al-Nahar (Beirut) in June 1974.