JDC Head Proposes International Task Force on Arab Refugee Problem

Creation of an international task force “to survey past, present and future programs by all agencies on behalf of Arab refugees” was proposed today by Charles H. Jordan, executive vice-chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee, on his return from the Middle East. He conducted a personal survey of the dislocation of Arabs caused by the June war.

He suggested that the task force be comprised of representatives of the United Nations secretariat, of voluntary agencies in the United States and other countries, and of governments most concerned with the problem.

Mr. Jordan, who is also chairman of the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service and of the Commission on Refugees of the International Council, emphasized that the proposed global task force should concern itself with more than immediate emergency relief measures.

He said it should consider “the absorption and rehabilitation of the refugees” on the premise that “every human being should have both the right and the opportunity to support himself by his own efforts to live as a self-sufficient and dignified human being. To help in achieving this will undoubtedly place very great responsibilities on both U.N.-sponsored and voluntary welfare agencies.”

NO EVIDENCE OF PRESSURE ON WEST BANK ARABS TO LEAVE

He also reported that there was “no evidence” that the movement of new Arab refugees eastward in Jordan was “being created or even encouraged by the Israeli authorities. Whatever may have taken place during and immediately after the war, my own observations indicate that those making their way to the east bank of the Jordan were doing so for a variety of strong personal reasons.” The most important, he added, was that of family reunion. He said a large number of families had been separated since the 1948 war and many were now making a strenuous effort to find long-lost relatives. He also cited the wish of the Arabs to continue to receive funds from relatives in Kuwait and elsewhere and the escape of former Jordanian and other Arab soldiers.

He reported a visit to Arab refugee centers in the Gaza Strip, deploring the fact that the problem had been permitted to “linger” for 20 years and declaring that “a whole generation of refugee families has already grown up, bred in the squalor and futility of dozens of refugee camps.” He said that, as a result of the 1948 war, between 650,000 and 700,000 Arabs became refugees and that 19 years later, the total had grown to 1,300,000 and would be 1,500,000 by 1970, when “more than 50 percent of the refugees will have been born in refugee camps.”

He reported on evidence of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel training in schools in the Gaza Strip taught almost exclusively by Egyptians and added that “periodic upheaval and war” were inevitable “in an environment of poverty, frustration and hatred.” He said this was “the heart of the problem” which all agencies aiding the Arab refugees should tackle.

UNRWA CHIEF URGES ARABS TO RETURN TO WEST BANK

Lawrence Michelmore, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, reported to the United Nations yesterday that 150,000 Arabs had left the west bank of the Jordan in the aftermath of the war and that of these, 80,000 to 100,000 might be refugees previously registered with UNRWA.

He urged the Arabs who fled from occupied Jordanian areas to accept the offer of the Israeli Government allowing them to return to the West Bank area by August 10. He stressed that facilities existed in the area for them and he also urged Arabs still living in the area to stay there.

The UNRWA official praised Israeli authorities for their cooperation, reporting that the situation generally in the West Bank area “appears to have improved.”