Sen. Philip A. Hart, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Refugees and Escapees, today “clarified” his personal position on the report of Dr. Joseph E. Johnson, who as special representative of the United Nations Falestine Conciliation Commission, made certain proposals last year for repatriation and compensation of Arab refugees.
Dr. Johnson’s proposals were never submitted by the Palestine Conciliation Commission to the U.N. General Assembly, However, the Senate Subcommittee of which Sen. Hart is chairman, referred to them in a report presented last week to Congress and generally endorsed them.
In his statement today, Sen. Hart, a Michigan Democrat, said that it was not his intention to endorse the Johnson report as a solution for the Arab refugee problem. “Any solution,” he emphasized, “must be part of an agreement bringing permanent peace to the Middle East. The parties involved must themselves bring about this agreement. The settlement must recognize the integrity of Israel as a nation and, above all, our country must fulfill its commitment to see that Israel’s independence is not violated.”
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.
