The three members of the U.N. Palestine Conciliation commission today began the practical aspect of their assignment when Mark Ethridge, U.S member went to Tel Aviv, and Claude de Boissanger of France and Eussein Yalchin of Turke went to Jericho to inspect Arab refugee camps there. A report from Tel Aviv said that Ethridge had lunched with American representative James G. MacDonald and then returned to Jerusalem.
A report on the Ramallah radio, controlled by Tran Jordan, stated that the Commission members would shortly embark on a five or six-weak tour of Middle East capitals. After that, the broadcaster said, they would go to Geneva to write their report to the Security Council.
Yesterday, de Boissanger told newsmen that the Commission must submit its report no later than September, 1949, but may complete its work earlier. He pointed out that the Commission’s terms of reference are 20 wide that it may actually arrive at any solution, provided it meets with agreement by both the Arabs and the Jews.
He stated that it was his opinion that the problem of Jerusalem would be the most difficult for the Commission to solve. (Reports published in the New York press today stated that the Commission was considering a protest to the Israeli Government against the abolition of the military administration in Jerusalem. It was stated that the Commission member felt that the Israeli action represented a step toward the annexation of the city, thus threatening the establishment of an international regime in Jerusalem.)
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