Alito wraps up testimony in Supreme Court confirmation hearings News
Alito wraps up testimony in Supreme Court confirmation hearings

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] completed its questioning of Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito [official profile; JURIST news archive] on Thursday, the fourth day of its confirmation hearings for the Third Circuit jurist. Alito, who appears headed for approval, declared his admiration for his predecessor, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor [OYEZ profile], praising "her integrity and her dedication to the case-by-case process of adjudication." Before questioning began, committee chairman Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] said that an overnight search of Concerned Alumni of Princeton [Wikipedia backgrounder] records uncovered no evidence that Alito was an active member of the controversial Ivy League alumni group upon which Democrats focused some of their questions [JURIST report] Wednesday. Meanwhile, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) [official website], a member of the committee, denounced the nomination hearing process [AP report] in a TV interview Thursday morning, saying it served no purpose because nominees dodge the panel's questions and suggesting that instead, nominations should proceed directly to the Senate floor for a vote. The confirmation hearings are now concluding with testimony from outside witnesses. AP has more.

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.