Silver, Shertok Appear Before “big Powers;” Gromyko Attends Talks As a “bystander”

Dr. Abba Hillel Silver and Moshe Shertok today ?ared before the representatives of three of the four major powers involved in the Four parley on Palestine in response to invitations from the United States, France China. Soviet representative Andrei Gromyko participated as a “bystander.”

United States delegate Warren Austin announced that similar invitations had ## forwarded to the representatives of the Palestine Arab Higher Committee in New York. No reply had been received, he said, adding that an attempt had also been made contact the Higher Committee in Jerusalem.

Asked if the invitations were extended on the basis of partition, Austin re### “Only partition, that’s the only basis, that’s what we are talking about.”

Dr. Silver proposed a nine-point program for action “by the Security Council. provides:

1. Assumption, of responsibility by the Security Council for implementation partition.

2. The Council should determine if an attempt of aggression and threat to ###ce is made.

3. It should determine what direct threat to peace is being made by the ###b state.

4. It should call on the Arab member states of the U.N. to stop mobilizing ##inst Palestine and to withdraw their nationals already in Palestine.

5. It should call on the Arab members to halt war propaganda against the ### decision.

6. It should call on the Mandatory to prevent further Invasion and expel ##aders already there.

7. The Council should instruct the Palestine Commission to proceed with all ##ed in all phases of implementation, especially the establishment of Provisional Councils of Government, and the organization and equipment of militias.

8. The Council should call open all member states to offer arms to those who ###ck the U.N. and to withhold them from all who defy the United Nations.

9. The Council should instruct the Palestine Commission to take all steps ### help in the maintenance of peace in Jerusalem.

Following the meeting of the Big Powers with the representatives of the Jewish Agency, Gromyko issued a statement saying that consultations by the Big Powers ##th Britain or with the Palestine Commission “only confuses the situation.” He sat ##rough today’s session as a non-participant and also took no part in an invitation ### the other three powers to the New York representatives of the Palestine Arab High## Committee to appear before them on Monday morning.

Before Dr. Silver submitted his nine-point program, Moshe Shertok replied to ###e questions formulated by the United States with consent of France and China. ### sum total of his replies is that the Jewish Agency will not retreat from the ##eral Assembly partition resolution.

Asked if any agreement between the Arabs and Jews was possible before termination of the Mandate, Shertok replied “no.” He said the Jews in Palestine are ready ## assume full responsibility for setting up administrative machinery and will maintain law and order, providing that the Mandatory cooperates.Asked if economic union ##s essential to the success of the plan, he replied “no.”

Asked by Senator Austin what capacity of immigration is intended in Palestine, Dr. Silver replied the Jewish plan is to admit 1,000,000 Jews into Palestine ## the next ten years. Palestine, he said, could absorb them, adding that there ##ed be no fear of inundation of Jews in the Middle East, since most of Europe’s ### respective immigrants were slaughtered.

Shertok was asked by Austin if he thought Article 40 of the Charter, in which ##e Security Council calls upon Interested parties to comply with preliminary re-emendations to avoid an aggravating situation, would be a sufficient step at this ##age. Shertok replied “yes” – as a first step it would set the Arabs thinking. It has never visualized that partition could be applied without some threat of force, ### added.

AMERICAN DELEGATION DENIES REPORTS IT ABANDONS PARTITION AS PALESTINE SOLUTION

A spokesman for the U.S. delegation today officially denied newspaper reports that the U.S. has abandoned partition as a formula for settling the Palestine dispute. {SPAN}###{/SPAN} a statement issued here without elaboration or explanation, the delegation declared:

“The purpose of the present consultations is to find a means for the peaceful implementation of the General Assembly resolution for partition of Palestine.Such ### solution is required because the peoples of Palestine must be able to live together, not fight constantly. This purpose is not being assisted by the refusal of ###e or more parties to take part in the consultations.

“Judgments on the possibilities of peaceful implementation should be based ### the answers to the questions and not on the questions. It has been pointed out already that the questions were not solely U.S. questions.”

The spokesman aid not specify which questions he meant, but it was assumed ### referred to ten questions submitted by the Big Four to the Palestine Commission. unanimous replies were drafted by members of the Commission within an hour after they ##ere received.

U.N. COMMISSION SAYS PARTITION CANNOT BE IMPLEMENTED BY PEACEFUL MEANS

The replies establish that “the Palestine Commission does not consider it possible to implement the partition plan by peaceful means either as a whole or in substantial part so long as the existing vigorous Arab resistance to partition persists.”

The Commission in its answers also points out that while it “can take and has in fact taken some preliminary steps toward the selection of the Provisional Council of Government for the proposed Jewish state, that Provisional Council will not be able to carry out its function to the sense of the plan, prior to the termination of the Mandate.” The position of the Mandatory power precludes any possibility or fulfilling by April 1 certain parts of the plan as regards either the Arab or the Jewish state, the Commission emphasized.

The Palestine Commission unanimously approved this afternoon its second monthly progress report to the Security Council. The report will be transmitted to the Council on Monday when discussion of the Palestine question will be resumed.