New Zealand and the UN partition of Palestine, 1947-49

This thesis is essentially a study of New Zealand's attitude, both official and unofficial, towards the partition of Palestine from November 1947 until January 1949, when the New Zealand Government extended de facto recognition to the state of Israel. It examines the view that New Zealand's support for the partition of Palestine was based on an equal concern for both the Arabs and the Jews, and on a desire to maintain Commonwealth interests in the area. This is said to be the basis of the current Government's policy of "evenhandedness". However, my research has shown that there was nothing even vaguely "evenhanded'' in Peter Fraser's Palestine policy. Fraser was ardently pro-Zionist and had little sympathy for the Arabs. Moreover, instead of choosing to be guided by the British,(who were opposed to the partition of Palestine, and who wished to maintain Arab goodwill), Fraser was prepared to defy both the United Kingdom, and the United States (when, the Americans temporarily opposed partition) in his support for the Jews and Resolution 181, which recommended the partition of Palestine