Mansfield Calls Suez Issue One of ‘real Problems of Middle East

Senator Mike Mansfield, Montana Democrat, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, told the Senate today that remaining among “the real problems” of the Near East were “the denial of the use of Suez on an equal basis to all,” the Arab refugee problem, the border question and “the smoldering hatred and suspicion between Israeli and Arab.” He also referred to the “monstrous poverty” in Arab lands contrasted with the vast wealth of a few. He said that “none of these–the real problems of the Near East–appear to be any closer to solution than they were a decade ago.”

Sen. Mansfield declared that the United States must decide which governments in the Near East support justice and peace and which exploit passions for “selfish or destructive ends.”