One of the effects of the UN partition plan was the newly distributed land and therefore the Creation of Israel. Once published, the Arabs were immediately opposed to the plan, using the argument that the partition would breach the rights of the majority of the Palestinian people, and that a great number of Arabs would be trapped as minorities in the Jewish State. They also argued the point that since they weren’t responsible for the Holocaust, the Western Powers should try find a home for the Jews elsewhere. They also criticized the plan as it stated that Jews would receive more land despite the fact that Arabs made up two thirds, or 67%, of the population. On the other hand, the majority of the Jewish people accepted the plan, although they disapproved of the rule that stated that various Jewish settlements, as well as Jerusalem, were to be placed in the Arab state. Disagreement between the two states increased conflict, and fighting began almost as soon as the plan was approved, starting with the Arab Jerusalem Riots of 1947. Soon after, soldiers from Syria and Iraq started to cross into Palestine to assist the Arabs, and the Haganah organized Jewish defence forces in preparation for war.
Another effect of the UN partition plan, as a result of the unfair land distribution, was the 1948 War. Once the state of Israel was created, the Arab states refused to recognise its right to exist, and instead chose to believe that Zionists had overrun Palestine and that Israel should be destroyed. On May 14th, 1948, Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, declared independence and Israel announced itself as an independent nation, one day before the British mandate over Palestine was due to expire. Immediately, forces from the Arab states of Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon invaded and captured east Jerusalem in an effort to delay the creation of the Jewish state. The Israelis defeated the Arab forces, as the Arab soldiers had little experience and lacked modern weapons, and they ended up winning 50% more land then had been allocated to them by the United Nations. A series of ceasefire agreements between Israel and the Arab states finally brought an end to the war; however Israel was left in control of their new territory and the war resulted in over 700,000 Palestinian Arab refugees.
The third effect of the UN partition plan was the vast numbers of Palestinian refugees. By the end of the 1948 War, over 700,000 Palestinian refugees were forced to flee from their homeland to live in neighbouring Arab countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq, with Jordan having the greatest number at 827,877 refugees. During the 1948 war, on April 9th, 1948, the Palestinian Arab village of Deir Yassin, located near Jerusalem, was attacked by a Zionist force. 154 men, women and children were murdered in an attempt by the Jews to scare the rest of the Palestinian population into leaving. It is believed by the Palestinians that the Jews purposely terrorized them into leaving so that they could take their land to complete the new Jewish state. Refugee camps in neighbouring Arab countries soon became bases for Palestinian Arabs who wished to fight the Jews and win their homeland back, and they won the support of President Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt.
Overall the UN partition plan led to, and increased, conflict within the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of people have died, lost their homes, and fought for a place to live. The outcomes of the partition plan range in importance, from the Creation of Israel, one of the main roots of the conflict, to the 1948 War, to the hundreds of thousands of refugees still spread over the Middle East. The decision made by the UN to create the state of Israel was and is one of the main reasons for dispute between the Arabs and Jews today, and the cause of the wars that have been and are yet to come.
