Help Me Find This Petition Against the UN Partition Plan for Palestine
August 11, 2012 1:41 PM Subscribe
Help me find the petition, published in The New York Times, condemning the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine around the time it was passed in late November 1947.
I'm finding numerous references to this petition (like this one mentioning Benzion Netanyahu's signing of it), but no actual citations to its publication in the NYT.
I've used Google, print indexes, and research databases (including Historical NYT-- I don't, however, have access to the awesomer full-view version to see browsable page images online), and have scrolled through several days' worth of the NYT on microfilm around the date of the passage of the Partition plan, but can find nothing.
From what I can gather, this was a half-page ad, so it would be hard to miss if I can nail down the date it appeared. Finding a citation (an image of the petition with legible signatories, or a reputable list of signatories--i.e., a citeable publication listing who the signatories were-- would be an acceptable substitute) would save me many hours hunched over a microfilm reader. Help!
I'm finding numerous references to this petition (like this one mentioning Benzion Netanyahu's signing of it), but no actual citations to its publication in the NYT.
I've used Google, print indexes, and research databases (including Historical NYT-- I don't, however, have access to the awesomer full-view version to see browsable page images online), and have scrolled through several days' worth of the NYT on microfilm around the date of the passage of the Partition plan, but can find nothing.
From what I can gather, this was a half-page ad, so it would be hard to miss if I can nail down the date it appeared. Finding a citation (an image of the petition with legible signatories, or a reputable list of signatories--i.e., a citeable publication listing who the signatories were-- would be an acceptable substitute) would save me many hours hunched over a microfilm reader. Help!
If your local library has a ProQuest Newspapers subscription you should be able to access the full-page scans by selecting "page view" from the search results.
I've looked through Nov. 25 (first document in a keyword search for Palestine petition partition for that year/month) and it was not there. Now I'll go back and start doing Sundays.
posted by carsonb at 2:38 PM on August 11, 2012
I've looked through Nov. 25 (first document in a keyword search for Palestine petition partition for that year/month) and it was not there. Now I'll go back and start doing Sundays.
posted by carsonb at 2:38 PM on August 11, 2012
I can rule out Sunday, Nov. 23, 1947. The only thing close I found was an ad all the way in the back of the NYT Review of Books (pg 265) soliciting copies of "Jews Unite!" from the Mediators Publisher.
posted by carsonb at 3:20 PM on August 11, 2012
posted by carsonb at 3:20 PM on August 11, 2012
The way the Wikipedia entry (linked in question) is written, it sounds like the petition was after the publication of the partition plan on Nov. 29. So that would mean a Sunday in December 1948. However, it appears the vote on the partition plan followed a considerable period of debate, so it could have been October or November as well. Wikipedia cites no source, but it was probably picked up from the many obits of Benzion Netanyahu, many of which used very similar language. However, the mention of the petition in this pre-obituary piece on him supports the idea that the petition was after the vote.
posted by beagle at 3:57 PM on August 11, 2012
posted by beagle at 3:57 PM on August 11, 2012
Yep, I just cottoned on to that bit, beagle. Off I go to search through December!
posted by carsonb at 3:58 PM on August 11, 2012
posted by carsonb at 3:58 PM on August 11, 2012
Found it (or at least one such ad)! September 12 1947, page 12. Signed by Dr. B. Netanyahu among others. I saved a copy of the page image which you can download.
posted by zachlipton at 4:15 PM on August 11, 2012
posted by zachlipton at 4:15 PM on August 11, 2012
If you're curious, I used ProQuest Historical Newspapers, which has a New York Times archive. I did a simple search for 'palestine partition' (after no joy on 'Benzion Netanyahu') and set the document type to "display ad." With a date range of 1/1/1947-2/1/1948. That turned up 12 documents with no further metadata. The one I linked happened to be the first result.
If you're looking for more, I noticed there were a lot of letters to the editor from that time period, some of which may be of interest.
posted by zachlipton at 4:30 PM on August 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you're looking for more, I noticed there were a lot of letters to the editor from that time period, some of which may be of interest.
posted by zachlipton at 4:30 PM on August 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I can't get zachlipton's dropbox link to work, so I uploaded the PDF to here.
posted by carsonb at 4:33 PM on August 11, 2012
posted by carsonb at 4:33 PM on August 11, 2012
Thanks carsonb. Works for me, but either way it's covered now.
posted by zachlipton at 4:39 PM on August 11, 2012
posted by zachlipton at 4:39 PM on August 11, 2012
There are a lot of historical newspapers on this site. Here's a link to the petition in PDF format.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:08 PM on August 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:08 PM on August 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
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posted by beagle at 2:31 PM on August 11, 2012