The United Nations General Assembly, now in special emergency session, should bring Israel and the Arab states together for direct negotiations for a “just and durable peace,” the American Jewish Committee urged last night. The proposal was contained in a statement wired Secretary of States John Foster Dulles by the AJC steering committee after an emergency session here.
The statement to Mr. Dulles, signed by Irving M. Engel, president, and Jacob Blaustein and Judge Joseph M. Proskauer, honorary presidents, asked him to press the General Assembly to act in line with the AJC proposal before recessing its current session. It asserted that a return to the status quo in the Middle East “cannot be tolerated” because of Arab open proclamations of war against Israel, their boycott and blockade of Israel, border incursions, the plight of the Arab refugees, the failure to develop the resources of the Middle East and the threat of Soviet penetration of the area. The statement suggested specifically:
“1. The United States should propose that the UN General Assembly, before recessing, require the Arab states and the state of Israel to enter into direct negotiations for a just and durable peace;
“2. Refusal by any nation so to negotiate in good faith for a durable peace should be branded by the United Nations as an act incompatible with the Charter; if deemed necessary, such sanctions shall be invoked as the Charter contemplates against those who disturb the peace of the world;
“3. The treaty so arrived at should be guaranteed with the United States as one of the guarantors.”
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