MIDDLE EAST CRISIS HAS GRIM REALITY

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28104, 20 October 1956, Page 13

MIDDLE EAST CRISIS HAS GRIM REALITY

Work Of United Nations Military Observers DANGEROUS CROSSROADS OF HISTORY AND HOSTILITY (Bb MAJOR G. J. AUSTIN, Royal New Zealand Artillery, who is serving as a United Nations Military Observer in Palestine.] 'T'O appieci.de the job which we New Zealanders are doing for the ended Nations 1 nice Supervision Organisation in Palestine, you must first absorb a little of the background picture. As no New Zealand officer so far posted to the supervision organisation in Palestine speaks .fluent French, all have been posted to headquarters in .Jerusalem, or to the Mixed Armistice Headquarters in Jerusalem or Gaza. At the moment, LieutenantColonel \\ . M. Brown, Captain C. Fanselow and I arc with the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom-Israel Mixed Armistice Commission ll ? a ,! 11 ’! ,n< Ma i or A. \V. Cooper and Captains H. P. T. \A illis, L. B. Shannon and B. M. Burrows in Gaza.

By the terms ot the General Armistice Agreements of 1949 signed by Israel and each individual Arab State on her perimeter. Mixed Armistice Commissions consisting of delegates from each Arab State and Israel were set up under the chai) manship of a senior United Nations Militarv observer representing the Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Super? vision Organisation, to execute the provisions of armistice agreements and to assist in reducing border tension. Each Mixed Armistice Commission is allotted a team of military observers to carry out its investigations and other tasks. These are from a truly international corps—officers from Holland. Australia. Belgium. Canada. Denmark. France, New Zealand. Norway. Sweden, and the United States. All speak English. In writing about our New Zealand observers I might well be writing about any of the others. Those of us starting our duties in Jerusalem are. I feel, fortunate. We New Zealanders are volunteers for the job. wanting to do our part for world peace. We also come as visitors to the Holy Land. And there is no better place than Jerusalem from which to visit the Holy places. Our appointment as United Nations military observers carries certain specific privileges and immunities denied the normal tourist. It has been agreed by the nations party to the 1948 General Armistice Agreement that we may cross the demarcation lines freely at arranged places: and there are two of these in Jerusalem. Nazareth. Mt. Tabor. Galilee in the north. Jericho to the west. Bethlehem to the south are therefore all within easy driving distance. Going about our duties along the Jordan-Israel armistice demarcation line which stretched from just south of Galilee down to the Red Sea. we pass through more—Beisan. on whose City walls Saul and his son were

nailed after their defeat on the nearby Gilboa mountains: Endor, where he consulted the witch not far away. Gideon watched his men drink from a stream hereabouts: only a kilometre or two away Jezebel was thrown from the rooftops: a little farther to the east Solomon based his chariots at Megiddo So the past unfolds 'or us as we pass by about our tasks. Every kilometre is old in story. The military observer is caught by the fascination □f old stories about an ancient land. Narrow No-Man’s Land There is grim reality to our daily task, however. Each new day may Dring with it a complaint that a vehicle has been blown up on a mine of shooting against civilian traffic on roads or railway, of theft, murder, and border clashes. Here in Jerusalem the city has been unnaturally split in two. The old walled town with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and to the west the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane are in Arab Jordan. A narrow no-man's land separates it from its new suburbs now in the Jewish State of Israel. War-torn buildings, barbed wire and military positions mark this no-man's land, in which a trespasser will be shot on sight. Should anything have to be recovered from it. then that. too. is a job for our übiquitous observers. But he very carefully arranges with both sides that he will enter at a certain time and by a certain route. Our duties with the Mixed Armistice Headquarters at Jerusalem are interesting and varied. During my time here ‘Major Alan Smith and I arrived back in July. 1954. as the first New Zealand militarv observers with UNTSO. Palestine). I recall homes dynamited. murders, armed robberies, a battalion-strength attack mounted on a village, expulsions of people from one state to another, arson, over-flight, in fact battle, murder and sudden death in grim reality. On receipt of a complaint that there has been a breach of one of the General Armistice Agreements, the Mixed Armistice Headquarters will send out an investigation team to find out what has hanpen°d and. if possible, why A written report of the team’s findings is circulated to both parties to the a ement. as well as to the United Nations. This report is strictly factual and is written with the knowledge of responsibility tn find out and report on the whole tru f h concerning the incident to two hostile States as well as the United Nations. Undistorted Picture Sought Over the ground the observers go. inch by inch, with the witnesses' statements in mind, trying to get an und;storted picture of what actualb’ happened They must pick up all evidence for inspection by M ; xe4 Ar nistice Headquarters later: decide from emntv cartridge cases, spent bullet'; examination of shell-hnles. mortar craters, and bullet strikes, what weapons were used: find out how many men were involved, and whether

they were soldiers; and eventually collate all this information into a comprehensive report. I .ater the Mixed Armistice Headquarters will discuss the case and. on the basis of this report, attempt to apportion blame for the incident.

There is other work to be done, too. Supervision of health campaigns is one. When the demarcation line is being marked on the ground, the United Nations, although not taking actual part in the operations, provide observers whose presence can help in avoiding incidents.

For the same reason an observation post has been manned in Jerusalem in an area where a man was shot and killed a month past. Observers are needed to make posable meetings at which captured infiltrators. strayed and impounded, livestock, and even corpses are returned to their own country. Police meetings to discuss smuggling, infiltration, and thefts are arranged and attended. I remember well how one observer recovered a Christmas turkev from the Jerusalem no-man’s land not far from Jaffa s Gate, and I myself twice entered an area in the same no-man’s land and chased out two mules. I was later told that it was believed that the place was sown with anti-personnel mines. The New Zealand observer may be called on to do any of these jobs. An investigation may involve a drive of more than 500 kilometres down to the Gulf of Aquaba and bark, or a stroll of a few metres to the Old City Wall.: Expensive Accommodation Unless the trip is very long and the job protracted, the observer based in Jerusalem is almost always back home at night. So he settles down. Accommodation is good both in Israel and Jordan, but is very expensive by our New Zealand standards. Hotels range from £ll 5s to £25 a W’eek for room and full board. There are also houses and apartments to rent for from £5 to £8 a week. These are in demand as most observers and United Nations staff members have their wives and families with them. Food is plentiful but dear. It costs a single man about £2O a week to live by our standards. The cost of living is high. From Beersheba and Gaza observers are sent to man the 12 observation posts along the demarcation line that form part of the plan to relieve border tension. These observation posts situated as they are on the sandhills round the Gaza strip are hot, dusty, without shade. From them the observers maintain radio contact with the main Mixed Armistice Committee office in Gaza itself.

The pattern of incidents here has. over the last 18 months been much more serious than along the remainder of Israel's demarcation lines. There have been heavier infantry engagements, shelling by artillery and heavy mortars, mining of roads and acts of terrorism at night. Hatred runs high

The United Nations Secretary-Gen-eral's visit in a few days’ time (this is written on August 7) gives us hope that this hatred born of fear may be lessened, and mutual understanding and tolerance grow. That will take a long time and need all the efforts of the UNTSO in Palestine to that end. That New Zealand realises this only too well, and that it is cheaper to prevent a war than to wage a war. is evident from her proportionately high representation of military observers with this organisation.

Major G. J. Austin, who wrote the article printed above, was one of the first two New Zealanders to go to Palestine as an observer —in July. 1954. There are now seven New Zealand observers in the Palestine organisation, and three in Kashmir. In Palestine there are, besides Major Austin, Lieutenant-Colonel W. M. Brown, who has also served four years in Kashmir. Major A. W. Cooper. Captains R. M. Burrows, L. B Shannon. C. Ranselow. and H. P. T Willis. In Kashmir, are Majors P F King, J. W. Bateman and J. B. Will.