Meeting of the United Nations Security Council at Lake Success, New York, in 1947. A representative of the Jewish Agency for Palestine and National Council of the Jews of Palestine [possibly Abba Hillel Silver] presents a statement approved by those groups on march 23, 1947. They object and are disappointed in the position taken by the United States regarding Palestine's administration, and state that at the end of the mandatory administration, a provisional Jewish Government will be established, not later than May 16th. The Soviet Union's representative to the UN, Andrei Gromyko, is seated at the same table, wearing dark glasses.
The 1947 Jerusalem Riots in Palestine. Views of Jerusalem from a distance. Downtown Jerusalem with traffic and pedestrians. British authorities begin moving pedestrians away from an area. Smoke erupts from smoke bombs in the street. British troops fire machine gun into the air. "Zion Hall" sign is on building in background. Smoke emerging from building windows. Firefighters hose down smoke bombs in street as crowds are held back. A policewoman helps an old man to cross a street. Fire rescue personnel lower a women from a building on a rope. A ladder is set against side of building. People are lowered to sidewalk on stretchers and carried to Israeli ambulance.
Formation of Israel in May 1948 and events leading up to it. October 1947: Jewish refugees from Europe aboard two ships arriving in Palestine, only to be turned away by British authorities and sent to internment in Cyprus. They get off from the ship Cyprus. A Jewish woman with her child at the dock. A sign reads 'United Nations Palestine Commission'. Delegates seated in a hall debating about the partition of Palestine between the Jews and the Arabs. Destroyed houses and buildings in Haifa after fighting between Israeli and Arab forces. Jewish troops holding guns walk on the ruins of building. The dead Jewish people on street. The troops stand in a group. Captured Arab prisoners in the Negev desert area, being directed by Israeli Defense Forces soldiers (IDF). The prisoners with their hands up enter a vehicle. Cars and people on a street with a traffic circle in Tel Aviv. Prime Minister of Iseral David Ben Gurion enters a building on May 14, 1948, to be installed as leader of the new government. The Jewish soldiers stand holding guns. A flag of Israel flatters in air. United Nations soldiers stand holding a white flag and join Israeli troops in recovering bodies of Israeli soldiers killed in ongoing skirmishes with Arab forces. The troops stand on a border. President of Israel Chaim Weizmann, a Jewish patriot, walks with officials. Soldiers stand on the side. The Israel delegates go to the United Nations and seek for Israel to be admitted to the United Nations. Delegates seated in hall. Middle Eastern Arab country representatives of the UN walk out of the hall in protest after Israeli receives the vote admitting it to the UN. The empty seats of the Arab countries. The new state of Israel is born. Flags are raised at the UN including the flag of Israel. People cheer and celebrate. From a July 2, 1964 newsreel of "Yesterday's Big Story".
During time of the 1947 Jerusalem Riots. A group of Israeli men walks past a building on a field. An open ditch and laying of a pipeline. Children planting in a field. Palestinians with rifles.
A newsreel titled 'US-Russia back UN plan for Holy Land' shows European Jewish refugees on board a former American vessel as they reach Haifa Palestine after traveling from a Black Sea port. Writing on ship says "Haganah Ship - Jewish State". Passengers hold up a dead infant for those on the docks to see, a victim of the overcrowded ship conditions. British forces patrol the docks before passenger disembark. Fatigued refugees, including families with small children, disembark from the ship as the injured and sick are carried away on stretchers. Passengers are sprayed with delousing agent powder to control spread of disease. Other passengers seen embarking a ship from dock for transport to Cypress detention camps, rather than facing deportation to Europe. Scene change to United Nations meeting at Lake Success New York. United States delegate, Herschel Johnson, addresses a meeting of General Assembly's Special Committee on Palestine, expressing support for proposed partition of Palestine.
British troops gather outside Barclays Bank in Palestinian. Sign reads “Barclays Bank (Dominion Colonial and Overseas)”. Guards stand at the entrance of the bank. Clients entering the bank. Cartoon explosion. British troops evacuate victims from the blast site at Goldsmith Officers Club. A medic attempts to resuscitate a victim. Medics carry an injured on stretchers. A man lying face down on a stretcher. Rescue personnel search through debris of the Goldsmith Officers Club building in Jerusalem following the Irgun bombing on 1 March 1947. A Goldsmith Officers Club sign lying among the debris. Rescue personnel climbs down a ladder. The blasted façade of the Goldsmith Officers Club building after the terrorist bombing.