PALESTINE PLAN

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 August 1946, Page 7

PALESTINE PLAN

Partition Proposals Outlined ..

JEWISH ACTS CONDEMNED

(Recd. 10.55 a.m.) LONDON, July 31. Opening the House of Commons debate on Palestine, Mr. Herbert Morrison said it was being held under the shadow of tragedy—the outrage at the King David Hotel—which must have moved even the most war-hardened. The greatest obstacle against the success of the police and military in tracking and arresting those responsible was the refusal of the Jewish population in Palestine to co-operate with the forces of law and order.

The British Government, he said, was determined to bring the. perpetrators of the hotel outrage to account. “The curse of Hitler is not yet fully removed. Some of his victims fleeing from ravaged Europe have carried with them the germs of those very plagues from which they sought protection.” Mr. Morrison said that 446 Jews, whose records showed association with terrorist organisations, had been arrested since the hotel bombing. There was clear evidence that some, if not all, of the perpetrators came from Tel Aviv. Therefore, military operations were carried out yesterday to apprehend them.

“Zionism is regarded by its supporters as an expression of the profound, splendid impulse in the Jewish people’s souls,” Mr. Morrison continued. “Let them beware lest this modern perversion of their faith bring ruin on them.

“The leaders of the Jewish community in Palestine, we feel bound to say, have failed to preserve their movement from the contagion of false ideals. Many of them seem to have been led into courses that their own consciences must have at first condemned.” General Barker’s Letter.

Referring to the letter which General Barker, the military commander in Palestine, sent to officers forbidding British soldiers having social relationships with Jews, Mr. Morrison said the Government was satisfied that General Barker’s instructions were justified in the present disturbed state of the country. “At the same time, making all allowances for the provocation to which our forces are exposed, and recognising that the letter was written shortly after the hotel outrage, the Government feels it must dissociate itself from the actual terms in which the letter was couched.”

Mr. Morrison said that the British and American experts who recently examined the Palestine committee’s report recommended Britain and America to support the suggestion to the United Nations General Assembly that the Uni led Nations members receive a proportion of Jewish displaced persons in their territories. The experts recognised that Palestine alone could not absorb all the Jewish victims of persecution and proposed that Britain and America also try to arrange the resettlement, of a substantial number in Europe itself. In addition, it was clear that room had to be found for many overseas. All the experts’ recommendations were unanimous.

Mr. Morrison said he understood America was resuming normal immigration and expected to receive some 53,000 immigrants yearly from Europe. Plans were also being made for many displaced persons to go to Brazil and other South American countries. The experts also suggested the establishment of an international refugee organisation to deal effectively with the problem generally.

Admission of Jews.

The experts detailed a plan for the establishment of semi-autonomous provinces in Palestine under a central Government and added that they believed that under this plan the Palestine committee’s recommendation for the admission of 100,000 Jews was practicable. America would be asked to take the sole responsibility for the sea transportation of refugees from Europe to Palestine. Britain had told America she had accepted the recommendations as a basis for negotiation. President Truman had decided to discuss them with the American members of the expert committee and Britain had invited Jews and Arabs’ representatives to confer on them. Under the experts’ proposal Palestine would be divided into four areas, as follows: —

1. The Jerusalem district, comprising Jerusalem and Bethlehem and their immediate environs. _

2. The Negeb district, comprising the uninhabited triangle in the south of Palestine. 3. The Jewish province, comprising land on which Jews are settled and a considerable area around the settlements. . . 4. The Arab province, comprising the remainder of Palestine, which is almost wholly Arab in land and population. The boundaries would be purely administrative, having no significance for defence, customs, or communications purposes, and unchangeable except by agreement. American Co-operation. Mr. Morrison said the A success Ol the plan for provincial autonomy depended on American co-operation. If the plan was acceptable to all, Britain intended that it should be embodied in a trusteeship agreement for Palestine. The 100,000 immigrants proposed would be selected primarily from Germany, Austria, and Italy. Every effort would be made to complete the operation within a year from the date immigration started. The Jewish organisation- had accepted the financial responsibility. The experts saw no reason why the finance should not come from reparations. from contributions from world Jewry, and from loans. They also suggested that America should be asked to. grant the Palestine Goveminent a substantial amount, to be used freely for financing Arab development, and for extraordinary expenditure during the transitional period, after which Britain should be asked to be responsible for budgetai y deficits. , The expert committee proposed that the provincial Governments be empowered to limit.the number and determine the qualifications of all making permanent homes in their territories. The- provincial Governments would be required to guarantee civil rights and equality for al

and freedom of interterritorial transit, trade and commerce. - The central Government would exclusively deal with foreign relations, customs, excise, and law and order, including police and armed forces, and possess all the powers not expressly granted the provinces. Central Government.

An elected legislative chamber would be established in each province and an executive, consisting of a Ministerial council. Bills would require the High-Commissioner’s assent, which would be withheld only if the provisions were inconsistent with the instrument of government. The central Government would be empowered to intervene if a provincial Government failed to perform or exceeded its proper functions. It would not be empowered to authorise immigration in excess of that proposed by the provincial governments. In Washington to-day President Truman ’ directed the Cabinet committee on Palestine to return from London to Washington to enable the whole problem to be reviewed.