British Government’s Proposals for Solution of Palestine Problem Outlined in Parliament

A jammed House of Commons listened intently today as Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin announced the Government’s long-awaited statement of policy on Palestine, and reported that the U.S.Government had agreed to the formation of an Anglo-American inquiry commission to study the question of the Jews in Europe and their emigration to Palestine.

“I stake my political future on solving of the Palestine problem, but not within the limited sphere as presented here, ” Mr. Bevin told the members of Parliament following an address in which he outlined the functions of the enquiry committee, which were simultaneously announced in Washington by President Truman.

He revealed that the British Government proposes to deal with the Palestine problem in the follwoing three stages:

1. Consulting with the Arabs with a view to continuing present immigration to Palestine.

2. Exploring with the parties concerned the possiblity of other temporary arrangements.

3. Preparing a permanent and, if possible an agreed solution for submission to the United Nations.

The Foreign Secretary stressed that the course which the British Government proposes “to pursue in the immediate future” will “in no way prejudice either the action to be taken on the recommendations of the committee of inquiry, or the terms of the trusteeship agreement, which will superceed the existing mandate, and will therefore control ultimate policy in regard to Palestine.

Bevin’s speech stressed the “dual obligation” of Britain to the Arabs and Jews and said “the lack of any clear definition of this dual obligation has been the main cause of the trouble which has been experienced in Palestine during the past 25 years.” He asserted that it had been “impossible” to find common ground between the Arabs and the Jews, alleging that “the differences in religion and language in cultural and social life in ways of thought and conduct are difficult to reconcile.”