The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 1948 BRITISH DIPLOMACY JUSTIFIED

Wanganui Chronicle, 8 June 1948, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 1948 BRITISH DIPLOMACY JUSTIFIED

THE diplomatic policy of the United Kingdom in maintaining 1 appropriate relationships with the Arabs has been fully justified. Because of it the cease-fire agreement has been agreed io. Whether this cease-fire agreement will be fully implemented may be doubted, the belligerents being already locked in a blood feud in which there is no forgetting and no belief in the bona fides of the other side.

America has espoused the cause of the Jewish invaders of Palestine, which invaders have been able to find a place there under the protection of the British. The claim that it is contributing to the solution of the European Jewish problem is oeing pushed too far, but even so the accomplishment in absorbing Jews has been very great in Palestine, probably never exceeded anywhere else in the world in respect to inflow and resources of the country. Taken at a reasonable pace the process could probably have gone on for a long time, but the Jews were over anxious to , get control of the country. Now the cease-fire proposal has been I advanced the effort has been made on each side to make sure of i holding/what has already been gained. That being so the ag- | gressori in this instance were the likely winners by the coming i into operation of the truce and the defenders of their land, the Arabs, were the more resentful and less likely to listen to the voice of the mediator.

The British success in this direction, however, cannot stand alone. It will be necessary to keep the Arabs assured that the position in Palestine will not deteriorate insofar as their position and interests are concerned. This is the task that must devolve upon the United States of America. If Arab confidence in America declines further—and it must today be very low—then the resultant situation may hardly be expected to be retrieved once again by British influence. It is to be hoped that Anglo-American teamwork will in future be in evidence and that there will be from that team no breakaway activities such as the American defaeto recognition of the State of Israel without prior consultation between the Foreign Offices of America and Britain.