The makeshift peace agreement which ended the Palestine War appeared to be just another temporary settlement. Military positions determined borderlines, and Jerusalem was cut in half. But in spite of violent Arab threats, the peace has lasted, and there is now the growing possibility that it will be permanent. The only political change since the end of the war was Jordan's formalization of its control of Arab Palestine.

Two developments have maintained the status due and preserved comparative peace in the Middle East during this year. The first is the inability of the United Nations to enforce its resolution on Jerusalem; the other is the breakdown of Arab unity.

UN Resolution

On December 9, 1949, the UN's General Assembly passed a resolution favoring the internationalization of Jerusalem. Both Israel and Jordan strongly objected to the resolution, but it was passed by a combination of the other Arab countries and the Latin American bloe. The Trusteeship Council was to draw up a plan for carrying out the resolution.

Roger Garreau of France, President of the Trusteeship Council, decided on a broad interpretation of the resolution. He said it would be impossible to apply the resolution if strictly interpreted. He look the realistic stand, "If the two governments which have the power in Jerusalem did not accept the statute for an international city, we could do nothing. We would be completely impotent."

Iraq, a member of the Council, bitterly fought any compromise with the original resolution. The Council finally decided that the Garreau Plan (internationalization only of special areas around holy thrones) strayed too far from the Assembly's vote. Instead, it adopted a "Statute of Jerusalem," a set of administrative regulations, but it has been unable to decide how or when these regulations can go into effect.

Israel and Jordan have meanwhile refused to work with the Trusteeship Council in any way. Both countries have indicated they intend to keep their hold on Jerusalem. Israel has moved most of its government offices there, declaring the city the nation's historic capital. Jordan's annexation of Arab Palestine, including the Arab sector of Jerusalem, greatly strengthened Abdulla's hold on the city. The best the Trusteeship Council can now do is to report back to the General Assembly and let that body take another slab at the problem.

Arab League Unity

Meanwhile, the Arab League has been unable to unite the Arab world in a great crusade to crush Israel, as it threatened to do. The League did not like the peace seetlement that ended the war in Palestine. It promised to avenge its defeats, and asked its members to invoke economic sanctions against all countries which recognized the new state of Israel. But the League could not unify its members in peace any more than it could unify its armies during the war.

King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan turned out to be the only ruler with an effective army and the only one who might have been strong enough to carry out the Arab League's threats. But he preferred to work towards the consolidation of Arab Palestine and Trans-Jordan under his "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan," and now thinks he can profit more from a peace agreement with Israel than from a war.

Syria and Lebanon are suffering too much from an inflation caused by the last war to bother starting a new one. Iraq was never militarily effective, and Saudi Arabia did not enter the Palestine war too seriously. In the field of economic sanctions, Saudi Arabia is enjoying its oil royalties too much to use sanctions. Iraq is making it difficult for American oil interests because of the United States' support of Israel, but it has not yet taken any definite action.

Egypt is currently the only threat to the peace. Its army is sizeable, and its anti-Israel sentiment is very strong and very vociferous. An armaments race is in progress between Egypt and Israel, but many observers think that cooler heads may prevail in Cairo.

The Middle East will always be important for three reasons. First, its oil resources are among the richest in the world, and many nations are eagerly awaiting the full development of these resources. Secondly, this area has been of great strategic importance ever since the days of Hammurabi. Thirdly, the people of three religions want free access to the shrines of Jerusalem. For these reasons, the rest of the world is looking forward to a solution of the Middle East muddle and the assurance of a permanent peace there.