The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 200
184 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN does not resolve the problem. It is one of those problems that has its roots in history and it is very difficult to see how peace can be brought to that region with the intrusion of an incongruous, hostile and extremely dynamic element in the heart of the Arab world. It is no use going on saying that the Arabs are being unreasonable. This is a matter in which history, emotions, fears are all inextricably mixed together. That the Arabs are not united and constitute a congress of comparatively weak states does not help the matter; it only makes it worse. Question : How close was the vote at the time ? Khan : I think they carried it by four or five votes. They got some of the Latin Americans also. Question : So, the fact that these three states voting for it, changing their position, made a very considerable difference. Khan : It made a crucial difference; as a two-thirds majority was required, two affirmative votes were needed to balance one negative vote. If those states who had declared from the rostrum that they would vote against the resolution had voted against it, the resolution could not have been carried. All this was done over the Thanksgiving adjournment. Well, that's a pity. Some people might say, "If the resolution had been defeated, what could have been done?" If that resolution had not gone through - it was towards the end of the session - the matter would have remained unsettled, but we had urged that a special session be called in the following spring, and that would have been some weeks before the Mandate would have expired. An effort could then be made along the lines that a group of Zionists themselves, a small group but an important one, had urged. That group was led by Dr. Judah Magnus, who was President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I had met him in Jerusalem in 1945 and we had discussed this problem. He had said in very clear terms, "Nothing will work which has not the support, or at least the acquiescence, both of the Arabs and of the Israelis, and I am working for that. " His idea was a bi-national state on the basis of 50:50, irrespective of what changes might take place in population. He realized that for a long time, the Israelis would probably be in a minority