The Special Committee on Palestine submitted its report to the UN General Assembly on schedule, on September 1, 1947. The Jewish Agency was heartened by the outcome. It had lobbied for partition, and that was the recommendation of the Special Committee's majority. The Zionist General Council, a body functioning under the World Zionist Organization, adopted a resolution applauding the majority recommendation and denouncing the minority recommendation.

The Arab reaction was predictably negative. The Arab Higher Committee, as we saw, distanced itself from the Special Committee precisely because it sought a single state in Palestine and feared a recommendation aimed at dividing it. The Arab Higher Committee reacted to the Special Committee's report by calling for a one-day commercial strike for October 3 to “protest against the schemes and recommendation of the UNSCOP.” “The Arabs of Palestine,” declared the Arab Higher Committee, “refuse definitely to acquiesce in any solution entailing the partitioning of Palestine.” Arab businesses throughout Palestine shut their doors on October 3. Absent acceptance on the Arab side, any proposed solution for Palestine would be difficult to implement. As a result, the Special Committee report was not seen as providing a solution for Palestine. Rather, it was regarded as giving the Jewish Agency a base from which to work.

The General Assembly decided to have the Special Committee's report considered first by an ad hoc committee of the whole of the General Assembly. Called the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question, this committee was to decide what to recommend to the General Assembly itself: whether to adopt the partition recommendation of the majority, whether to adopt the federal state recommendation of the minority, or whether to take some third approach.

AN “IGNORANT MAJORITY” IS UNDESERVING

The Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question held its first meeting on September 25, 1947. The effectiveness of the Jewish Agency's performance in Jerusalem was quick to reveal itself. Some individuals who had served on the Special Committee participated on behalf of their states. One was Jorge García-Granados, who represented Guatemala. García-Granados had supported the majority plan in the Special Committee. Not surprisingly, he spoke in favor of it. For García-Granados, it was unthinkable that the Jewish community would be part of a country in which the Arabs, as the numerical majority, might hold the keys to power.