Secretary of State Submits Request to Britain for Admission of Jews to Palestine

British circles today confirmed that a request by President Truman that displaced Jews from Europe be admitted to Palestine has been submitted by Secretary of State James F. Byrnes to the Foreign Office.

At the same time, the Foreign Office issued a communique today announcing the conclusion of the conference of British diplomats in the Middle East who were summoned to London to give their views on British policy in the Middle and Near Eastern countries. The communique emphasized the “desirability of strengthening relations with the Middle East countries on the basis of mutual cooperation and promotion of their social and economic well-being.”

London newspapers warn that no one should be misled by the “modesty” of the communique. It is believed here that the conference played an important role in influencing the Labor Government to adopt a stand on Palestine, which, according to persistent reports, is a great departure from the policy espoused by Labor before its electoral triumph, and is causing great concern among the Zionists.

The London Times today publishes a letter from Izza Tannous, head of the Arab office here, demanding that “the people of Palestine” be consulted by the British Government with regard to trusteeships, now that the Labor Government has “already shown its attitude towards the trusteeship system,” and especially in view of the demand of the recent World Zionist Conference for the establishment of a Jewish State.

“The United Nations are not entitled to alter the position of the Palestine Arabs, except by granting them their promised freedom,” the letter says. “The Zionist policy could be imposed only by naked aggressive force, creating irreparable hostility between Jews and Arabs and rendering the United Nations’ trusteeship a mockery.”