Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry

The Anglo -American Committee of Inquiry ( English: Anglo- American Committee of Inquiry ) was a joint effort of the British and U.S. governments to resolve the conflict between Jews and Arabs in Mandate Palestine diplomatically. The appointment of the committee was announced on November 13, 1946. Its final report published by the Committee on 13 May 1947.

Background

Already the Churchill government saw the mandate administration of the disputed territory as a thankless task without benefit to the interests of the United Kingdom. The successor government under Clement Attlee tried to restrict Jewish immigration to 1,500 people per month. The two smaller Jewish Irgun and Lehi paramilitary groups forced then violence and terrorist attacks against British targets in Palestine. The Jewish Agency has responded with increased illegal immigration and a public resolution which called for the immediate immigration of 100,000 Jewish displaced persons from Europe. The U.S. President Harry Truman supported the demand and thus publicly opposed the policy of his British ally. As the British government did not want to jeopardize the good relations with the U.S. against the backdrop of the Cold War loomed, she searched for a way to involve the U.S. in a diplomatic conflict resolution.

Work

The committee was set up at the instigation of the British Foreign Office on 13 November 1946. The chair took over the British lawyer John Singleton. The committee consisted of twelve people, equal British and Americans. Among politicians, diplomats, journalists and lawyers. The work of the committee consisted of visits to camps for displaced persons in Europe, consultations with Arab leaders and inspections and consultations with both sides in Palestine.

On 12 May 1947 the Committee published its final report. This was followed by the demand of the Jewish Agency, as soon as possible to allow 100,000 immigrants. Also, it advised in a conversion of the British mandate in a UN protectorate under international supervision. As a long term solution to the conflict, a far-reaching autonomy of the two communities was being considered in a unified state. A subdivision of the country rejected the committee.

Reactions

The Jewish Agency welcomed the approval of the Committee for the number of immigrants, but rejected, all further claims. After publication of the final report, the Palmach, the elite force controlled by the Jewish Agency Haganah intensified attacks on British targets. The Arab League condemned the committee publicly in June 1947 and rejected all the advice of the committee. Jamal Hussein, a leading official of the Arab High Committee and nephew of Mohammed Amin al -Husseini threatened the British Prime Minister in a letter Jihad, the proposals of the Committee should be implemented. In addition, there were violent protests in Baghdad, Palestine and Beirut. The U.S. President Truman summed up as a result, a division of the Mandate of the eye.