Palestine’s Future May Be Discussed at the United Nations’ Meeting in Quebec

The whole question of Palestine’s future may be undergoing a thorough discussion at the meeting of United Nations statesmen at Quebec this week, according to well-informed observers here.

The State Department refused to comment on Rep. Emanuel Celler’s charges (see page 3) that “there are those in our State Department who would have the Jews led into the slough of despond.” But the presence in Quebec of British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Secretary of State Cordell Hull, as well as the military leaders usually present at the Churchill-Roosevelt conferences, was taken here as assurance that political as well as military questions would be thoroughly canvassed by the leading policy makers of the two United Nations now most interested in the Middle East.

The successful completion of the Sicilian campaign, setting the seal of Anglo-American power in the Mediterranean, gives a new occasion for the discussion of Middle Eastern political problems at Quebec, it is believed here. Recent reports of an imminent Anglo-American Statement unfavorable to the Zionist cause now seem to have been at least premature. Such a statement is known to have been drafted and made ready for publication. Indeed, semi-official circles here believed three weeks ago that its publication would come at any moment. The statement now appears to have been indefinitely postponed, if not altogether suspended.

Zionist circles here have, for tactical reasons, refused to make any statement with regard to Congressman Celler’s charges against the officials of the State Department. They have also abstained from commenting on the report that a joint Anglo-American statement barring any discussions on Palestine in this country and in England has been submitted for approval to President Roosevelt by the State Department.