Arabs Attack Germany at U.N. for Beparations Pact with Israel

Arab delegates at the United Nations today came out with an attack against Germany for concluding a reparations agreement with Israel. The attack was made during a debate in the Ad Hoc Political Committee on a report of U.N. relief work for Palestine refugees.

The Lebanese delegate Fouad AMMON contrasted the amounts spent on the Arab refugees with the sum spent on Jewish refugees in Israel, and mentioned the “voluntary help being offered by the Bonn Government.”

“We regret to see the new Germany inaugurate in such a way its entry into international life,” he said. “Let us hope that the German Government will not ratify the proposal submitted to it.” He was supported by the representative of Iraq who stated that he reserves the right to deal with this issue “without restriction.”

The Egyptian delegate Abdel Monem Mostafa said that “the representative of Lebanon had stated the situation very well.” He analyzed the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, and bitterly attacked Israel in recalling the conditions which had led to the establishment of the U.N.R.W.A.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestine Arabs, fleeing “Zionist terrorism,” had abandoned their homes and property and sought asylum in the neighboring countries, he said. Initial responsibility for their relief had fallen onto these countries and into private relief organizations, but the resources of these letter had been insufficient for such a large-scale problem, resulting from the United Nations partition resolution, Mr. Mostafa said. The United Nations, recognizing its share of responsibility, had established the agency and passed resolutions providing for the repatriation and compensation of the refugees, he added.

EGYPT CHARGES ISRAEL WITH REFUSING TO COMPLY WITH U.N. DECISIONS

Israel had refused to comply with these resolutions and had settled “foreign Jewish immigrants” in the homes of the refugees, Mr. Mostafa said. Furthermore, Israel was “aggravating the problem” by expelling Arabs still in the territory under their control, he declared.

The refugee problem had no connection with the economic development of the states of the area, he said. The economic development of these states had to be worked out by the states themselves, “without foreign interference,” and the proposed projects could not be used to exert “pressure” on them. On this understanding, Mr. Mostafa said, the states concerned could agree to “temporary measures” to improve the lot of the refugees. A final solution could be found only in the repatriation of the refugees, he claimed. He then read two cables received from refugee organizations insisting on repatriation. He asked that these be placed in the record.

U.S. delegate Philip C. Jessup analyzed the significance of the U.N.R.W.A. program for the refugees, for the Near East states and for the United Nations. For the former, it “provides relief where relief in needed but offers real hope of a self-sustaining and self-respecting future;” for the Near East States, it “means a substantial increment in financial and human assets” and an easing of the problems facing the region; for the United Nations, it offers “a graphic example” of how the international community can deal with problems of “widespread human misfortune,” he declared.

It is now up to the General Assembly, he continued, “to take the necessary administrative steps to maintain the progress” already under way. In doing this, “it is important not to lose sight of the magnitude of the agency’s task and the extent of its accomplishments,” he said. Mr. Jessup praised the “skill and devotion” with which the U.N.R.W.A. director, John B. Blandford, Jr., had so far carried out his tasks.

FOUR-NATION PROPOSAL ASKS INCREASE IN RELIEF FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES

A joint draft resolution was presented to the Ad Hoc Political Committee this morning by the delegations of France, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, “recognizing that immediate realization” of the goals for reduction of relief expenditures by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East “has not proved possible,” and authorizing the agency to increase its relief budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1953 to $23,000,000.

The agency would also be authorized “to make such further adjustments as it may deem necessary to maintain adequate standards,” with a consequent reduction in the funds approved for reintegration projects.

A relief budget of $18,000,000 would be approved for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1953, with this figure subject to review at the eighth session of the General Assembly, and the agency would be authorized to allocate funds for reintegration according to times schedules “deemed appropriate.”