The Impact of the Soviet Factor on the Work of the Anglo-American Commission for the Investigation of the Situation in Palestine (1945–1946)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the Soviet influence on work of Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine according to the memoirs of its member Bartley Crum, who in 1947 published a book “Behind the Silken Curtain”. Anglo-American Committee’s work took part in Europe and the Near East in 1945–1946 and, as a result, the committee came to the conclusion that the solution of the refugees’ problem is to permit Jewish refugees to go to Palestine. The Soviet Union was excluded from the work, and even though some officials from the State Department and lots of British officials were afraid of the Soviet expansion and the increase of Soviet influence in the Middle East, the real impact was rather small. However, the deep distrust between former alliances made the solution of the Palestine problem uncompleted, the report of the Committee evoked the protest in the Arab world and the negative reaction of the Soviet government. Arab-Israeli conflict has not been settled yet. Although the relations between European Jews, Muslims and European nations have changed drastically, the new challenges in foreign relations connected with refugees’ problem and the Middle East conflicts demand the contribution of all main actors.

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