Israel releases Palestinian prisoners News
Israel releases Palestinian prisoners

[JURIST] Israel released 500 prisoners Monday in a 'goodwill gesture' that was first proposed at the Sharm al-Sheikh summit held nearly two weeks ago and was approved by the Israeli parliament [JURIST report] last Sunday. The 500 prisoners are the first to be released under the new truce; 400 more are expected to be released in the near future. Palestinian groups are demanding the release of all the estimated 8,000 Palestinian captives [Palestinian Prisoners' Society advocacy website], but Israel has pledged only to release those not arrested in connection with deadly attacks. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also presented his cabinet selections to the parliament for approval on Monday. The selection process was reportedly long and drawn out, but the parliament eventually accepted all of Abbas' recommendations. The Jerusalem Post has local coverage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.