Britain Will Not Help the U.N. to Enforce Palestine Partition, Bevin Tells Parliament

Britain will not help to enforce the U.N. Partition decision on Palestine, Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin told the House of Commons today. His statement came in reply to a question as to whether Britain, as a member of the United Nations and of the Security Council, would take a positive attitude towards the implementation of the partition plan by making practical and constructive proposals for the establishment of a United Nations armed force.

Replaying to other questions, Bevin said that Britain could not leave its troops in to Jerusalem to contribute to the defense of the city. This is now the responsibility of the United Nations, he declared.

Secretary for Defense A.V. Alexander told Commons that the British Government will reconsider its present commitments with regard to delivering arms to Arab states under treaty obligations if it is established that these states are diverting the arms to Palestine. Members of Parliament were also told that negotiations are now proceeding between British representatives and the U.N. Palestine Commission for clearing the refugee camps on Cyprus prior to the British withdrawal from Palestine.

There is a serious danger that the Jews of Palestine, relying on the United Nations, will attempt to gain too much and will end up by losing out completely, the liberal Manchester Guardian warned today in a lead editorial.

Calling on the Security Council, if it can do nothing about the situation in Palestine, to be honest in its confession so the Jews will know where they stand, the editorial suggests that in such an event the Jews might be wiser to withdraw from the Negev and concentrate on a smaller area which they could hope to defend by themselves.