UN General Assembly
1947

The Arabs revolted against the idea of the national home, which was made possible only by the invasion of their fatherland and the settlement upon their soil of foreign immigrants under the protection of the bayonets and armed forces of a great Power. The Arabs never thought that this national home would undergo a metamorphosis which would turn it into a sovereign State. The British Government, on many occasions and by decision of its Parliament, declared that it never intended to give the national home the significance of a State, and the Committee’s majority surpassed in liberality even the gratuities of the Mandate. The Special Committee gave no weight to the explicit promises of His Britannic Majesty’s Government to King Hussein and other Arab officials and organizations in regard to recognizing the independence of Syrian districts, including Palestine.