By Nizar Sakhnini

At 4:00 P.M. on May 14, 1948, "State of Israel" was proclaimed in Tel Aviv. About 8 hours later, the White House announced: "This government has been informed that a Jewish State has been proclaimed in Palestine, and recognition has been requested by the provisional government thereof. The U.S. recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel." (De jure recognition came about in January 1949.)

Two major factors made this proclamation possible: British and American help, on the one hand, and treachery of the Arab rulers, especially Jordanian King Abdullah who was in tacit agreement with the Zionists, on the other.

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On December 11, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution no. 194, which established the Palestine Conciliation Commission (PCC) consisting of the representatives of the US, France, and Turkey to assume the functions given to the UN Mediator on Palestine. . . Moreover, the resolution resolved that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return. It also instructed the PCC to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees. The efforts of the PCC were unsuccessful. All other efforts made later for a peaceful resolution, starting with the Rogers Plan of 1969 and not ending with the Annapolis Peace Conference in November 2007 faced a similar fate. And the reason is simple: the Zionists wanted all of Palestine and wanted it without its people.

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