Palestine Government Must Abandon Role of Mediator But Take Steps to Reach Settlement; Budapest Newspaper Publishes Report of Secret Session (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The government of Palestine must abandon its present policy of declaring its readiness to act as a mediator between the contending parties and, instead, assume an active role toward bringing about a friendly agreement between the Moslems and the Jews of Palestine concerning their dispute over the Western Wall, commonly known as the Wailing Wall, the relic of Solomon’s Temple.
This is the view taken by the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations which met in Geneva in September and which considered a petition by the Zionist Executive, protests by rabbis and a complaint by Moslem Palestine leaders. The “Pester Lloyd” in a despatch from Geneva claims today that it is in possession of a copy of the observations of the Permanent Mandates Commission, held secret pending their approval by the Council of the League of Nations.
The Mandates Commission considered various legal and positive aspects contained in the petition of the Zionist Organization and in the remarks offered by the British Government, the report states. The Commission was satisfied that although the complainant and the responsible administration stress different points, no important material differences exist between their expositions, which leave no doubt concerning the occurrences. Both also fully agree regarding the best way to improve the present unfortunate situation which wounds religious feelings and is equally unpleasant and inconsistent for the administration which is interested in the maintenance of order and impartial justice amongst contradicting demands by rival religions and races in Palestine.
The Mandates Commission will warmly welcome possibilities for the reaching of an agreement between the Moslem and Jewish communities and will sharply condemn every obstacle or postponement placed in the way of this. The Commission, although condemning the occurrences, refrains from rebuking any persons whose action or non-action accentuated thees occurrences. Such occurrences, however, endanger the peace and grieve all to whom Palestine is dear and holy. The Commission hopes, therefore, that no effort will be spared to reach a just and friendly agreement which alone can prevent recurrences.
The Commission does not regard it as sufficient that the part of the government shall be confined to expressing readiness to mediate between the parties. It is absolutely essential that the Palestine government takes definite steps to reach a settlement in which the moral and legal rights of the Jews and Moslems will be fully and equally considered. The Commission expresses the definite hope that no party, through unreasonable demands and unendurable objections, would shoulder the responsibility of forfeiting the possibility of settlement, the report declares.
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.
