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U.N. Inquity Committee on Palestine Opens First Meeting Today; Arabs Threaten Boycott

May 26, 1947
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The final version of the agenda for the first meeting of the United Nations inquiry committee on Palestine which will open here tomorrow at 3 p.m. was announced today by the U.N. Secretariat. It consists of:

1. Opening of the meeting by Secretary-General Trygve Lie.

2. Election of a chairman.

3. Discussion of the committee’s plan of work.

It is not considered likely that the fact-finding commission will begin a discussion of its itinerary tomorrow. It is known, however, that informal talks have already taken place on the body’s methed of procedure and on the possibility of its visiting displaced persons camps in Europe to hear testimony from the refugees themselves. It is fairly certain that the probers will decide on European hearings.

Meanwhile, Paris El Khoury, Syrian delegate to the U.N., yesterday threatened an Arab boycott of the commission if it decides to visit the DP camps. Reiterating the oft-stated Arab position that there is no connection between the plight of the Jewish refugees and Palestine, El Khoury said: “It would be a cause of cutting off relations with the committee, I am afraid. Of course, I don’t know; and we still reserve the position of our governments.”

The Lebanese delegate, Charles Malik, declined to make any statement concerning his government’s position on the matter. He stated that the Arab delegations had forwarded their recommendations to their respective governments, whose decisions would probably be announced early in June.

(In Cairo, the former Mufti of Jerusalem told a press conference that he was painfully surprised” by the turn of events at the recent U.N. session on Palestine. Avoiding a direct answer to a question on the possibility of an Arab revolt in the event of an unfavorable U.N. decision, he declared: “I can only state that all Arabs are totally dissatisfied and will very likely press the Arab governments to support an armed uprising of the Arab peoples.” He also revealed that the Palestine Arab Higher Committee will meet shortly to discuss its attitude toward Britain and the problem of Zionism.)

YUGOSLAVIA ONLY NATION WHICH HAS NOT YET NAMED REPRESENTATIVE

With the exception of Yugoslavia, the eleven nations represented on the inquiry commission have already named their delegates. However, a number of them will not be able to arrive at Lake Success in time for the opening session and are expected later in the week.

Beside the organizational work, the members of the committee are expected to ## quickly the written data already in the hands of the Secretariat. About ten ##ys has been set aside for this work.

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