On the eve of the opening of the Big Four conference in Geneva tomorrow, the American Zionist Council issued today an appeal to the leaders of the Big Powers to issue a declaration “affirming Israel’s right to existence as a sovereign and free nation and guaranteeing its territorial integrity.” The appeal was signed by Rabbi Irving Miller, chairman of the Council, which represents the entire Zionist movement in the United States.
Asserting that the Middle East “represents a vital factor in the attainment of the peace objectives of the Geneva Conference, “Rabbi Miller emphasized the “increasingly menacing impact of the Arab-Israel conflict upon the world in general and the Middle East in particular makes an equitable solution of this problem a vital keystone in the arch of better understanding and world peace.”
The statement points to the repeated efforts of the State of Israel to negotiate peace with the Arab states. “From its very inception on May 14, 1948, the young State of Israel has been dedicated to its own prophetic vision of brotherhood and peace,” Rabbi Miller declared. “Even while its men and women were giving their lives in a war of liberation forced upon it by the neighboring Arab countries, the State of Israel extended the hand of peace to its neighbors and their peoples, inviting them to cooperate with her for the common good of the entire region.”
The Zionist leader recalled that the United Nations resolution of November 29, 1947, which was the legal basis for the declaration of the State of Israel, represented on the part of the nations of the world an act of historic atonement to the Jewish people for 2,000 years of exile and persecution, culminating in the Nazi holocaust which destroyed six million Jews. At the same time he noted that Soviet Russia joined the majority of the nations in voting for this resolution.
Calling for a forthright declaration in guaranteeing Israel’s territorial integrity, Rabbi Miller said that “such a declaration would go a long way toward dissolving the present atmosphere of tension in that part of the world.” He further maintained that “such a declaration would be the logical basis for a solemn appeal by the Big Four to the Arab leaders to sit down at a peace table with the State of Israel for direct negotiations.”
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.
