The 1951 Refugee Convention and Article 1D The 1951 Refugee Convention recognizes the special circumstances and status of Palestinian refugees as a group through a particular provision (Article 1D) for determination of Convention status and entitlement to Convention benefits. Article 1D provides: This Convention shall not apply to persons who are at present receiving from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees protection or assistance. When such protection or assistance has ceased for any reason, without the position of such persons being definitively settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, these persons shall ipso facto be entitled to the benefits of this Convention. Palestinian refugees were thus singled out from other refugees in two ways. First, a special protection and assistance regime composed of UNCCP, UNRWA and UNHCR was established. Second, a different and separate analysis based on Article 1D applies in the determination of the status of Palestinians as refugees. There were three main reasons why Palestinian refugees were singled out from other refugees when UNHCR was established and the 1951 Refugee Convention was drafted. First, the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem was a direct result of a decision taken by the United Nations, i.e., the Partition Resolution (Resolution 181(II)). After World War II, the British government relinquished its mandate over Palestine in favor of UN administration of the territory. On 29 November 1947 the United Nations adopted Resolution 181(II), which would partition Mandate Palestine into two states: one with a majority Arab population and another with a majority Jewish population, with Jerusalem as an international zone under international supervision.231Fighting erupted between the Arab population and Zionist militia only days after the adoption of the Partition Plan. The Jewish - Zionist colonists began acquiring territory that had been delineated as part of the Arab State under the Partition Plan. On 14 May 1948, the British officially left Palestine, and the Zionist leaders of the Jewish-Zionist colonists declared the creation of the State of Israel.232 More fighting ensued, and the newly created state acquired further territory which had been designated for the Arabs under the Partition Plan. In 1949 both parties signed the Armistice agreement, and fighting ceased. The 1949 Armistice Agreement established “The Green Line,” allotting far more land to the State of Israel than was contemplated in the Partition Plan.233Second, there was a general consensus among the drafters that Palestinian refugees as a group were genuine refugees in need of assistance and protection, and did BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Survey, 2010-2012, VII:xxii. Ibid., VII:xxii–xxiii. 233 Ibid., VII:xxiii. 231 42 232 Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees