President Trumen today called on the people of the United States to refrain from any activities which would aggravate the situation in Palestine while the United Nations considers the question of a solution of that country’s problems.
In a statement issued today from the White House, the President declared that “it is in the interest of the United States, as well as of the United Nations, that the efforts of the U.N. to solve this problem meet with success.” Emphasizing that “the search for a fair and workable solution of the Palestine problem is one of the most difficult and important tasks confronting the U.N.,” Mr. Truman warned against activities which, he said, “render still more difficult the tasks which the United Nations has before it.”
The text of the Truman statement follows:
“The General Assembly of the United Nations in special session on May 15, 1947, unanimously adopted the following resolution: The General Assembly calls upon all governments and peoples, and particularly on the inhabitants of Palestine, to refrain, pending action by the General Assembly on the report of the special committee on Palestine, from the threat or use of force or any other action which might create an atmosphere prejudicial to an early settlement of the question of Palestine.
“The search for a fair and workable solution of the Palestine problem is one of the most difficult and important tasks confronting the United Nations. It is in the interest of the United States as well as of the United Nations that the efforts of the United Nations to solve this problem meet with success. Activities calculated further to inflame the passions of the inhabitants of Palestine, to undermine law and order in Palestine, or to promote violence in that country are certain to create an atmosphere prejudicial to an early settlement of the Palestine problem and to render still more difficult the tasks which the United Nations has before it.
“I therefore urge every citizen and resident of the United States, in the interests of this country, of world peace, and of humanity, meticulously to refrain, while the United Nations is considering the problem of Palestine, from engaging in, or facilitating, activities which tend further to inflame the passions of the inhabitants of Palestine, to undermine law and order in Palestine, or to promote violence in that country.”
Jewish circles here see the President’s statement as aimed at groups that have been publishing advertisements in the U.S. press which have been interpreted as inciting to violence against the British authorities in Palestine. The British Government recently submitted several protests to the State Department against these advertisements.
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