The French Communist Party deviated somewhat from the Moscow Party line on the Middle East today and endorsed a joint platform with the non-Communist Federation of the Left. Among other things, the platform called for a comprehensive settlement between Israel and the Arab states, recognition of Israel behind guaranteed borders and free navigation for Israel in the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aqaba.
The platform was the culmination of eight months of painstaking bargaining between the Communists and the moderate and left-wing Socialists to work out a mutually acceptable program of domestic and foreign policy. Foreign policy was and remained the greatest area of dispute. On the Middle East, the Communists differed sharply with the Socialists in demanding Israel’s “immediate and unconditional withdrawal” from occupied Arab territories. The Socialist groups held that Israel’s withdrawal must be preceded by peace negotiations with the Arabs. Points of agreement between the two included respect for the rights of the Arab states and settlement of the Palestine Arab refugee problem.
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.
