A five-point supplementary memorandum giving specific amendments to the various trusteeship proposals which would guarantee Jewish rights in Palestine and Jewish immigration into Palestine was submitted by the Jewish Agency to the United Nations Conference on International Organization during the weekend, it was disclosed today at a press conference addressed by Henry Monsky and Dr. Nahum Goldmann.
Another memorandum asking that the Big Four joint amendment to the Dumbarton Oaks proposals be enlarged so as to call for not only promotion and encourageint of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, but for protection and safeguarding of those rights and freedoms was submitted to the UNCIO by the joint committee of the American Jewish Conference, the World Jewish Congress and the Board of deputies of British Jews, Monsky revealed.
The memorandum of the joint committee also urged the UNCIO to replace the and “essentially” with the word “solely” in one of the amendments submitted by the four sponsoring powers which provides that matters essentially within the scope of damestic jurisdiction be outside the scope of the new United Nations Organization, Mr. bosky disclosed. The word “essentially,” he said, may be interpreted “so as to make it impossible for the new United Nations organization to intervene in any marginal causes where human rights and fundamental freedoms are impaired. Under such circumstances the organization may be powerless to halt nations which embark on domestic programs flagrantly violating and totally disregarding human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
TWO TVA ENGINEERS EN ROUTE TO PALESTINE IN CONNECTION WITH THE LOWDERMILK PLAN
Dr. Goldmann announced that two American engineers who have been working for the TVA have been sent to Palestine in connection with the Lowdermilk plan which provides for the irrigation and electrification of large areas in Palestine so as to make possible the absorption of additional hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants. {SPAN}(##){/SPAN}hed how the project would be financed, he said that the Jews would expect that in addition to their own funds the big powers would extend loans as soon as a Jewish commonwealth is established.
Dr. Goldmann defined “Jewish Commonwealth” as meaning “a majority of the inhabitants in the country to be Jews.” He outlined the argument of the Jewish Agency against partition and emphasized that the Zionist program does not foresee the transfer of Arabs from the Jewish Commonwealth, but, on the contrary, provides equal rights for all Arabs as well as other inhabitants of the country.
The Zionist leader told the preas conference that the U.S. proposal on trusteeship is basically acceptable to the Jews. He emphasized that any proposal to make Palestine a bi-national state on the basis of equal voting power for Jews and Grabs would not be acceptable because it would not work and would create a permanent deadlock, Asked whether the Jews would be willing to accept a plebiscite in Palestine, Dr. Goldmann replied that such a plebiscite would have to be conducted also among Jews outside of Palestine since the Palestine mandate affects the Jewish people as a whole and recognizes the Jewish Agency, which represents the Jewish people of the world, as their official representative for Palestine.
PALESTINE WILL BE AFFECTED BY CONFERENCE DECISIONS, GOLDMANN STRESSES
In explaining ‘why the Jewish Agency found it necessary to submit a supplesentary memorandum to the UNCIO, Dr. Goldmann said: “It has been repeatedly stated that the Palestine question will not be on the agenda of this conference because territorial questions are not to be discussed. Nevertheless, the Palestine issue is relevant to the trusteeship question now before the conference, for Palestine is held under a mandate or trusteeship, which was created by the League of Nations after the last war for the benefit of the Jewish people. We are, therefore, vitally concerned that any trusteeship plan which is written into the United Nations charter shall expressly safeguard the rights of the Jewish people to Palestine and shall place no obstacles or impediments in the way of the exercise of those rights.
“An examination of the various trusteeship proposals reveals that the definition of the purposes of the trusteeship is couched in general terms,” Dr. Goldmann continued. “As a result adequate allowance is not made for the unique character of the Palestine mandate with its dynamics in matters of population and its objective of creating a national home for a people still to come to the country.
The five proposals offered in the supplementary memorandum of the Jewish Agency urged the UNCIO to:
“1. Include in the chapter of the charter of the United Nations dealing with international trusteeship a clause designed to preserve existing Jewish rights acquired under the mandate system of the League of Nations.
“2. Center responsibility for the transfer of League of Nations mandates to the authority of the United Nations in the hands of the permanent members of the security council together – in the case of any particular territory held under mandate by a United Nation not a member of the security council – with the nation holding such mandate.
“3. Define the beneficiaries of the trusteeship system so as to take into account the rights of the Jewish people as a whole to Jewish immigration and settlement in Palestine.
“4. Qualify provisions for non-discrimination or the ‘open door’ in regard to trusteeship areas by imposing requirements of reciprocity.
“5. Vest the General Assembly and the Social and Economic Council with power sufficient to enable them to carry out their supervisory functions in regard to trusteeship areas.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
