American Zionist Council Opposes U.N. Commission Plan for Jerusalem; Rebukes U.S. Pressure

Opposition to the recommendation of the U.N. Conciliation Commission to place Jerusalem under international jurisdiction was expressed here today by the American Zionist Council at a press conference addressed by Louis Lipsky, chairman of the Council, which represents all Zionist groups in the United States.

Declaring that “the proposal would be rejected by every Jew in every land as being both unjust and impracticable,” Mr. Lipsky pointed out that the new city of Jerusalem–Jewish Jerusalem–is 95 percent Jewish in population. “It is inconceivable that there should be a sovereign state of Israel without a Jewish Jerusalem,” he said.

“As Americans and as Jews, we protest the placing of Jerusalem under alien jurisdiction, and segregating the city built by Jews–an integral part of the new settlement–from the new-born state of Israel, as a moral outrage and an offense against history and tradition,” the chairman of the Zionist Council declared.

Mr. Lipsky also voiced the deep concern of American Zionists over the many “disturbing reports” that the United States Government is “now pressing for a solution to certain aspects of the problem of the Middle East which we are bound to regard as hostile to the basic interests of Israel.” He added that these reports cannot be dismissed “with the easy phrases of diplomatic language.”

The Zionist leader called for a “Fair Deal” attitude by President Truman toward Israel. He requested an end to all “overt or covert pressures” on Israel to cede parts of its territory to Arab states, and urged the United States not to support any policy which would call upon Israel “to absorb impossible numbers of Arab refugees who fled Palestine at the behest of Arab war leaders.” He also called for active American support for the initiation of direct negotiations between Israel and the Arab states, looking toward final peace settlements.