Political Committee Defeats Proposal to Give Arab Part of Palestine to Transjordan

The Political Committee of the U.N. General Assembly today continued voting on the British proposals for a final solution of the Palestine problem and all amendments to the resolution.

Among the multitude of paragraphs and sub-sections voted on an item-by-item basis by the top-ranking committee of the Assembly, few backed by the Anglo-American bloc failed to pass. among the most important defeats suffered today by the British delegation was the Committee’s rejection of a proposal to hand over to Transjordan the Arab part of Palestine. The vote on this section was 24 against, 18 for and 12 abstentions. This was a second major proposal of the Bernadotte plan which was buried by the U.N.

In place of instructions to the conciliation commission to consider the Bernadotte recommendations in seeking a final solution, which was defeated in the Committee yesterday, Dean Rusk of the U.S. delegation and Lester Pearson of Canada, offered an amendment which was accepted overwhelmingly. In effect, the U.S. -Canadian amendment rendered vague the instructions of the U.N. to the conciliation commission. In its final form it said that the Committee” instructs the conciliation commission to take steps to assist the governments and authorities concerned to achieve a settlement”

CONCILIATION COMMISSION ASKED TO PLAN INTERNATIONALIZATION OF JERUSALEM

Over the continuing objections of Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Shertok , the Committee adopted the British proposal that the conciliation commission draft a plan for the internationalization of Jerusalem. The original proposal, plus Colombian and French amendments, also provided that the city be demilitarized, that the U.N. Trusteeship Council be responsible for its administration, and that the city be made accessible to all inhabitants of Palestine.

The Committee also adopted a paragraph of the British resolution, calling for international protection of the Holy Places. The Political Committee also voted to instruct the commission to seek arrangements to facilitate the economic development of Palestine, as recommended by Count Bernadotte. Other votes called on the governments concerned to cooperate with the commission and to assist in the implementation of the over-all resolution on Palestine, and ordered the commission to report periodically to the Security Council and U.N. members.

Another vote called for the return of the Arab refugees to Palestine as early as practicable, without awaiting the conclusion of a formal peace. The conciliation commission was also instructed to facilitate their repatriation, economic rehabilitation, the payment of compensation to them and to maintain close relations with the U.N. director of relief for the refugees.

Another major point which was rejected, was a recommendation to the Security Council that after the establishment of frontiers in Palestine any attempt to alter them by force should be regarded as an act of aggression.

SHERTOK GIVES VIEWS OF DEMILITARIZATION OF JERUSALEM, CONTROL OF SHRINES

At various times during the day, Shertok voiced the Israeli position on the Israeli caretaking of shrines of all religions, on international control of the Holy Places and on the proposed demilitarization of Jerusalem. On the last problem, the Israeli Minister said:

“At the time the acting mediator studied this problem he concluded that de militarization would not do, but that on the contrary Jerusalem would have to be militarized and a large international force would have to be introduced, Anyhow, the Jews of Jerusalem will not be able at this stage of uncertainty in Palestine and in the world at large to rely on a token force for safety after the experiences of the past year. I submit, therefore, that at this stage we should reach no definite decision as to the status of Jerusalem and should leave the whole question to the conciliation commission which should study the matter on the spot for later conclusions and a report-back and final decision at a later stage.”

The Israeli Government was doing its utmost to holy the Nazareth Arabs get jobs or relief, Shertok said. All religious buildings in Nazareth were intact and worship was proceeding regularly. “The supreme Catholic authorities in Galilee expressed complete satisfaction with the arrangements,” Shertok declared. “I would like to reaffirm our full, whole-hearted agreement with the supervision of all Holy Places and shrines all over Palestine.”