Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-02-21

telepision speech last nt0ht on
I come to you again to talk
about the situation in the Mid
die East. The future of the
United Nations and peace in
the Middle East may be at
stake.
In the four months since I
talked to you about the crisis
in that area, the United Nations
has made considerable progress
in resolving some of the difficult
problems. We are now. however.
faced with a fateful moment as
the result of the failure Of Israel
to withdraw its forces behind the
armistice lines. as contemplated
by the United Nations resolutions
on this subject.
have already today met with
leaders of both parties from the
Senate and the House Of Repre-
sentatives. and we have had a
very useful exchange Of views.
1t was the general feeling Of
that meeting that ] should lay
the situation before the Ameri-
can people.
Before talking about the spe-
cific issues involved, ! want to
make clear that these issues are
not something remote and alb
stract, but involve matters vitality
touching upon the future Of
each one of us.
The Middle East is a land
bridge between the Eurasian and
African continents. Millions of
tons Of commerce are trans
mitted through it annually. Its
own products. especially petro-
leum, are essential to Europe
and the Western world.
The United States has no
ambitions or desires in this re-
gion other than that each
country there may maintain its
independence and live peace
fully within itself and with its
neighbors and, by peaceful CO.
operation with othSIs, develop
its own spiritual and material
resources. But that much is
vital to the peace and well-being
of us all This is our concern
today.
So tonight I report to you on
the matters in controversy and
on what / believe the position
Of the United States must be.
Recalls October Events
When I talked to you last
October, I pointed out that the
United States fully realized that
military action against Egypt
resulted from grave and repeated
provocations. But also I said
that use of military force to
solve international disputes
could not be reconciled with the
principles and purposes of the
United Nations. to which we had
all subscribed. / added that our
country could not believe that
resort to force and war would
for long serve the permanent
interests of the attacking ma
tons, which were Britain, France
and Israel
So I pledged that the United
States would seek through the
United Nations to end the con-
fiict and to bring about a recall
of the forces of invasion, and
then make a renewed and
earnest effort through that or
ganization to secure justice
under International law for all
of the parties concerned.
Since that time much has
been achieved and many Of the
dangers implicit in the Situa-
ton have been avoided. The
Governments Of Britain and
France have withdrawn their
forces from Egypt. Thereby they
showed respect for the opinions
Of mankind as expressed almost
unanimously by the 80-nation
members of the United Nations
General Assembly.
want to pay tribute to the
wisdom of this action to our
friends and allies. They made an
immense contribution to world
order. Also they put the other
nations Of the world under a
heavy obligation to see to 1t
that those two nations do not
suffer by reason of their COM
pliance with the United Nations
resolutions. This has special
application. I think, to their
treaty rights to passage through
the Suez Canal which had been
made an International waterway
for all by the Treaty of 1888.
Cites Israeli Pledge
The Prime Minister of Israel.
In answer to personal commu-
nication. assured me early in
November that Israel would will
ingly withdraw its forces if and
when there should be created a
United Nations force to move
into the Suez Canal area. This
force was. in fact. created and
has moved into the canal area.
Subsequently, Israeli forces
were withdrawn from much Of
the territory Of Egypt which they
had occupied. However, Israeli
forces still remain outside the
armistice lines. notably at the
mouth Of the Gulf of Auaba
which is about 100 miles from
the nearest Israeli territory and
in the GAIA Strip which, by the
armistice agreement, was to be
occupied by Egypt. This fact
creates the present crisis.
We are approaching a fateful
moment when either we must
recognize that the United Ma
tions is unable to restore peace
IN this area, or the United Ma
tons must renew with increased
vigor its efforts to bring about
Israeli withdrawal.
Efforts for Withdrawal
Repeated, but. so far, unsuc-
cessful. efforts have heen nnada