Evening star., 1947-09-02
The U. N. and Palestine

If there were no passionate disagreement
between the Arabs and Jews, there would
be reason to hope for speedy progress
toward settlement of the Holy Land issue
on the basis of the majority report of the
United Nations Special Committee on
Palestine. Unfortunately, however. the
problem is so complex and explosive, and
the report itself so questionable in spots,
that bitter and protracted debate In the
forthcoming session of the U. N. General
Assembly seems certain, with no assurance
that the hot words will lead to satisfac-
tory compromise.
The main proposals of the committees
majority Canada. Czechoslovakia, Guate-
mala, the Netherlands, Peru, Sweden and
Uruguay may be summarized as follows:
Cd Palestine would be partitioned-more
accurately errymandered-jntotw two states,
one Jewish and the other Arab. (2) Each
of these states would become independent
two years from now, with the British man
date expiring at that time. 90 During the
transition, as a condition of independence,
the new countries would establish guaran-
tees mutually protecting human rights and
would agree on treaty of economic union.
a. During the same period, Britain would
permit the immigration of 100000 Jews into
the Jewish state. And (5) the City of Jeru-
salem and its environs-sacred alike to
Arab, Jew and Christian-would be admin
istered separately as permanent United
Nations trusteeship.
Although they fall considerably short of
Zionist demands, these recommendations
have won a cautious but favorable first re-
action among Palestine's 100000 Jews. But
the Arabs of the country, who number
100000, have voiced what appears to be
total opposition. They have made clear
that they want no more Jewish irnmigra
ton into any part of the Holy Land. They
have spoken out bitterly against PARTON
ing that would give the Jews about go per
cent of that land, including the all-Arab
port of Jaffa and most of the Mediterra-
mean coastal plain. Indeed, the extremists
among them-aware that the proposed
Jewish state would embrace 416,000 Arabs
as against 100000 Jews, while the Arab
state would embrace only 5000 Jews as
against 715,000 Arabs-have threatened
physical violence If the General Assembly
adopts the Palestine committees majority
proposals and seeks to enforce them.
Considered against such background,
the outlook for a near-future solution of
the Palestine problem seems discouraging
In the extreme. The Arabs appear to be
opposed even to the committees minority
proposal (advanced by India, Iran and
Yugoslavia) for a federated Arab-Jewish
state-an arrangement which, in effect,
would place the country under Arab con-
troll The extremist threats, of course, may
be discounted, but they serve nonetheless
as measure of the temper bedeviling the
effort to work out peaceful settlement for
the Holy Land. 1t is temper that will al
most certainly complicate the labors of the
General Assembly after 1t convenes on
September 16.
Nevertheless, despite the Arab attitude,
the committees majority recommendations
on Palestine merit the most earnest and
most statesmanlike consideration. They
are not perfect by any means, but they
represent the first concrete effort within
the United Nations to come to grips with
problem fit to confound the wisest of Solo
mons BY debating them to the full, and
given an dCHloSpllele VI pdVAeAeo dilo Aeo-
sonableness, the General Assembly-the
nearest thing we have to global parlia-
ment-may be able, however slowly, to
work out compromise satisfactory to all
sides. The issue, involving the tragic plight
of the Jews In Europe and the stability of
a strategically crucial part of the world
adds up to one of the greatest challenges
now before the U. N.