The revolution and pacts (61). The Bernadotte plan. Dual rejection. The dirty border war (II). ‘An American Odyssey'. "I feel very sad about this appointment ... I can't help but have fears for him as long as he's in that troublesome zone." – Mrs Bunche in Manhattan upon learning of her husband's appointment as UN Chief Mediator in Palestine. Ralph Buuche, a brilliant American Negro, with a PhD (Harvard), was professor of political science at Howard University, believed passionately that conflicts could be resolved through negotiation, without resort to the use of force. He dedicated more than twenty years of his life to achieving the goal of international peace. Without question, Bunche's achievements had saved the lives of many, many thousands of Arabs and Jews. His use of ‘preventive diplomacy' has become a textbook example of settling a dispute by quiet diplomacy. When Egyptian-Israeli armistice negotiations were all over, Col. Mohamed Ibrahim Seif el-Dine of Egypt stated that Dr. Bunche was “one of the greatest men in the world”. Dr. Walter Eytan of Israel supported this view and said that the mediator's efforts had been “superhuman”. Bunche, in his unassuming way, gave credit to the two delegations and to his staff. Ralph Bunche's successful endeavours had proved that the UN could fulfill its peacekeeping mandate. This was the first major challenge faced by the UN, and a great deal was at stake for the new international organisation. In 1950, the Nobel Prize Committee has recognised the crucial role he had played and acknowledged it by bestowing its first peace award to a black man in 1950. When the news came that Bunche had won the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize, he considered declining it because, in his opinion, representatives of the UN ought not to be rewarded with prizes for their work for peace. But Trygve Lie insisted that he receive the Peace Prize – the UN needed all the publicity it could get. The choice of Bunche as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate was well received the world over. In Sweden, it was seen as an indirect tribute to Folke Bernadotte. In Norway, a newspaper wrote that the prize was a message to non-white people of the world. Only the Soviet press was dissatisfied. The legacy of Nobel Prize winner Ralph Bunche has almost faded from public consciousness in the 40 years since his death. Given the historical significance of his life as a diplomat and scholar, and his impact on the shape of twentieth-century political life, this neglect is particularly lamentable. He was a national icon in the decades after World War II. His role as the behind-the-scenes mediator of the 1949 armistice between Israel and its four Arab neighbours marks the only time in the history of this Middle Eastern conflict that an agreement has been signed by all parties. It was also the event that precipitated his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Ralph Bunche's life and legacy have been made into a 2 hr. documentary film by William Greaves (2001) based on a biography by Brian Urquhart and narrated by Sidney Poitier (Bahamian American actor, film director, author and diplomat). Moreover, a series of 12 teaching videos on the life and legacy of Dr. Ralph Bunche has been released by William Greaves Productions to coincided with the centenary of Ralph Bunche's birth in 2004, celebrated in various cities across the US. Based on the award-winning documentary, the series offers a more comprehensive, in-depth look at Ralph Bunche's life and legacy, including a number of important areas not covered in the 2-hour PBS programme. [email protected]
