The U.N. Palestine Commission today formally resolved to continue its work notwithstanding the decisions taken by the Security Council last night to convoke a special session of the General Assembly on Palestine and to call for an Arab-Jewish truce.
In adopting this resolution, the Commission will, nevertheless, proceed with its work cautiously. Commission member pointed out that they must anticipate the possibility that the special session of the Assembly may produce no alternative plan for partition. Therefore, they argued, they must go ahead with their work, including the selection of Provisional Council of Government. How far the Commission is prepared to move towards the implementation of its plan for the establishment of a Jewish Provisional Council of Government will be decided at its meeting on Monday.
The sole opponent to the resolution was the representative of Denmark who thought any formal resolution even hinting at this time at political action might only serve to inflame passions in Palestine when truce efforts were in progress. He preferred that the Commission confine itself to action on such non-political problems as food, currency and administrative services.
The Commission revealed that the situation in Palestine is in a “state of chaos.” On May 15, Palestine will have only a two-weeks wheat supply on hand, the Commission said. The group decided today to send a representative to Washington to negotiate with the British Food Mission there on the possibility of alleviating the situation.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
