The Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question, also known as the Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine or just the Ad Hoc Committee was a committee formed by a vote of the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September 1947, following the publication of the report of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, which contained majority and minority proposals.
The committee was chaired by H. V. Evatt, who was later to write in his memoirs: "I regard the establishment of Israel as a great victory of the United Nations."[2]
The General Assembly vote for the formation of the committee was 29 to 11, with 16 abstaining. The creation of the committee was strongly opposed by Arab states, who wanted the question referred to the UN Political Committee, since according to Lebanon's Charles Malik, an Ad Hoc Committee would be more susceptible to the influence of “certain pressure groups”.[3]
Two subcommittees were created on 22 October to assess the UNSCOP majority and minority proposals. These subcommittees were broadly mutually exclusive, and the second subcommittee, composed primarily of Arab states and with the Higher Arab Committee advising, was largely ignored.
- ^ A/PV.128 Minutes of the 128th meeting, page 1424, "We shall now proceed to vote by roll-call on the report of the Ad Hoc Committee (document A/516). A vote was taken by roll-call... The report was adopted by 33 votes to 13, with 10 abstentions."
- ^ Norman Rose (10 July 2014). 'A Senseless, Squalid War': Voices from Palestine; 1890s to 1948. Random House. pp. 173–. ISBN 978-1-4481-6333-5.
- ^ U.N. Assembly Establishes Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine; Will Start Meetings Thursday, JTA, September 24, 1947