“Neutral” Mayor for Jerusalem

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26772, 15 May 1948, Page 7

“Neutral” Mayor for Jerusalem

Rec. 11 p.m. NEW YORK, May 13. Mr Harold Evans, presiding clerk of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers), has been appointed municipal commissioner of Jerusalem. Pablo Azcarte, head of the United Nations advance party in Palestine, will act as commissioner until Mr Evans arrives. Mr Evans is a lawyer and has had a long record as administrator in Pennsylvanian State Affairs. He has been a member of, . the . American Friends Service-’CommatleCsince 1917. He has never been to Palestine. The General Assembly’s Political Committee to-night considered an amended American proposal To send a United Nations mediator to Palestine to try to promote peace between Jews and Arabs, to try to arrange continuity of common public services in Palestine, and to report regularly to the Security Council and the Secretarygeneral. The mediator would have no power beyond United Nations moral weight. Another sub-committee adopted a French-American proposal for the appointment of a special commission for Jerusalem (distinct from Mr Evans, who will act as a “neutral” Mayor), with powers to try to recruit police. The Arab Higher , Committee informed the Political Committee to-day that it had agreed with the Jews to a truce covering all Jerusalem, and , guaranteeing Jews access to the Wailing Wall, one of their holiest places. The United Press Washington correspondent reports that the Secretary of State, Mr George Marshall, last week, in talks with Moshe Shertok, Foreign Ministerdesignate of the proposed Jewish Government, and representatives of the Arab League, advised them against proclaiming sovereign States after the termination of the British mandate. He is reliably reported to have told both sides that if they proclaimed sovereignty they would henceforth be “on their own.” A British Foreign Office spokesman announced in London that the British Political Mission in Jerusalem, with Sir Hugo Dow at its head, would be ready to represent British interests throughout Palestine from the time the mandate ended. Egyptian Forces Ready to Move A message from Cairo says it is officially announced that Egyptian Army forces will begin moving across the Palestine frontier at one minute past midnight on Saturday. A state of siege will simultaneously come into force throughout Egypt. A Jewish Agency spokesman recently declared that the Jews would regard the entry of Arab forces, even in the Arab sections of Palestine, as a hostile act. . King Abdullah, of Transjordan, has hoisted his flag over Jericho, and his troops have taken over guard of the Allenby bridge from the British forces An Iraqi brigade, which has been in Transjordan for some weeks, has been reinforced, and is preparing to move into Palestine. . The correspondent predicts that the first stage of the struggle, when the British complete evacuation, will be manoeuvres by various Arab leaders to peg their claims to sections of Arab Palestine.

Martial Law in Egypt Egyptian Cabinet members approved individually the draft of a royal decree declaring martial law in Egypt as a security measure in connection with Egyptian military moves supporting the Palestine Arabs, says the Cairo correspondent of the Associated Press. The draft decree provides for the appointment of the Premier, Nokrashy Pasha, as military governor. Egyptian Jews, fearing repercussions from the Palestine events, are making heavy bank withdrawals. The demand for gold sovereigns has sent the price up by 7s. The Jewish Provisional Government decided to proclaim a Jewish State and Government on the evening of tomorrow, to avoid a proclamation after the Jewish Sabbath begins, says a Jerusalem message. The declaration will enter into force one minute after midnight to-morrow.