BRITAIN CHARGED WITH UNWILLINGNESS TO COOPERATE WITH UNITED NATIONS
The report virtually charges the British Government with unwillingness to cooperate in the carrying out of the U.N. decision. It emphasizes the fact that the British rejected the U.N. recommendation that a port for Jewish immigration be opened by February let in the Jewish area of Palestine and cites other instances of British con-cooperation.
The Commission objects especially to the British insistence that its members should not enter Palestine until two weeks before the termination of the Palestine Mandate. Making it clear that the Commission’s presence in Palestine is urgent for the successful accomplishment of its mission, the report declares that it “does not find satisfactory the suggestion that the Commission should not come to Palestine until approximately a fortnight before the termination of the Mandate.”
On the other hand, the report credits the Jewish Agency with cooperating in the implementation of the U.N. decision. At the same time, it points up the continued Arab refusal to join in the preparations for Arab statehood and promises to devote a future report to the Commission’s analysis of the “implications of this refusal.”
In reference to the future activities of the Commission, the report emphasizes that its work of delimiting boundaries, preparations to ensure the continuity of essential public services, selection and activation of Provisional Councils of Government creation of an aimed militia and negotiations relating to an Economic Union can be effectively undertaken only when the Commission is present in Palestine.” It also stressed that in-view of the highly technical nature of the problems involved in implementing the U.N. decision and the limited time available to the Commission, the “Commission attaches the greatest importance to the progress of its negotiations with the Mandatory Power.”
On the economic aspects of the problem, the report states that a preliminary study of these aspects has been made, that it has taken steps toward the appointment of a Preparatory Economic Commission and that it has outlined a number of problems which must be dealt with. It says that the Commission is laying the basis for the opening of extensive negotiations with the Mandatory. The “most urgent problems” to the discussed, it points out, “concern the negotiation of contracts to ensure adequate feed supplies after the termination of the Mandate, the problem of communications services in the period after the termination of the Mandate, currency problems and the maintenance of continuity of fiscal arrangements.”
REPORT ON SECURITY WILL BE READY IN MID-FEBRUARY, LISICKY SAYS
The question of Palestine security will be “treated in a responsible manner in fortnight,” Karel Lisicky, chairman of the Implementation Commission, said this afternoon at a press conference following the issuance of the Commission’s first report to the Security Council.
Lisicky said that all of the five members of the Commission were unanimous in their support of today’s report. “We have no ambition to be heroes or martyrs of the United Nations,” he said, adding that he appreciated Britain’s solicitude for the commission’s welfare, but that the British had assumed responsibility for law and order and are therefore responsible for the Commission’s safety, even if it decided to proceed to Palestine before the date set by Britain.
“The Commission is interested only in doing its duty,” he stated.The date of the Commission’s going to Palestine depends on Britain and on the security situation he declared. The Commission’s decision to go to London en route to Palestine still holds, he announced.
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.
