JEWISH OPPOSITION STATED

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25450, 23 March 1948, Page 5

JEWISH OPPOSITION STATED

Dr. Abba Silver, chairman of the? American section, of the Jewish Agency, said to-day that the United States proposal for a United Nations trusteeship over Palestine meant that United States troops would have to fight Palestine’s Jews. “It is unthinkable,. but I have seen many unthinkable things happen in this crazy wottld of ours.” Dr. Silver, who was addressing the administrative council of the Zionist Organisation of America, said that a trusteeship decision could be carried out only by force, and the united States would have to assume most of the responsibility for this.

If a United Nations force were sent to Palestine—and it would have to be sent if the trusteeship proposal were adopted—the United States would be in it and Russia would be kept out. "Whether tfce soldiers under a new regime wear French, Chinese, or American uniforms will not make a particle of difference. The opposition will still be there.” Dr. Silver alleged America’s change of policy had been caused by “powerful United States oil interests, who Saw their interests endangered because of Arab opposition to partition." The oil companies, he added, had organised a systematic campaign to get the United States to alter its decision on Palestine. The Moscow radio, in its first comment on the United States’ withdrawal of its backing for the partition oi Palestine, said that the United States had dropped its support for partition to make it easier for America to acquire Middle East oilfields and bases.

The Arab League’s political committee, which is meeting in Beirut, ha» issued a communique announcing its readiness to accept a truce in Palestine provided the United Nations: (1) thP arms the Ha&anan: and (3) halts further Jewish immigration. * The