Palestine · A closer look
1947
Partition
On 29 November the UN General Assembly voted for Resolution 181, dividing Palestine into a Jewish state on about 56 per cent of the land and an Arab state on about 43, with Jerusalem under international rule. Jews were then a third of the population and owned around seven per cent of the land. Arab leaders rejected the plan. Fighting began within days.
What the proposal contained
Resolution 181 recommended two states linked through an economic union, with a special international regime for Jerusalem. It set out arrangements for minority protections and a transition from British rule. The proposed borders created interlocking territories containing mixed populations. Partition was therefore more complicated than drawing a line between two separate communities: its operation depended on institutions and cooperation that did not already exist.
Source: UN General Assembly: Resolution 181 (II), 29 November 1947
Why the vote did not settle the conflict
The proposal followed the work of a UN special committee after Britain referred the question of Palestine to the organisation. The Jewish Agency accepted partition as a basis for statehood, while Arab leaders opposed dividing the country against the wishes of its majority population. The General Assembly's vote was a recommendation. It did not itself establish functioning states or create a force capable of implementing the scheme on the ground.
Source: UN: The United Nations and the question of Palestine
From a plan to a different map
Fighting between communities followed the vote and widened into war as British withdrawal and Israel's declaration of independence approached in May 1948. The resulting territorial arrangements differed substantially from the UN map. Israel was established, but the proposed Palestinian Arab state was not. Understanding that difference is essential when reading the partition plan: it records an intended settlement, not the borders produced by the war.
Source: UN: The United Nations and the question of Palestine