Informed British quarters in London today reported that the Truman-Attlee pact on Palestine is “an agreement upon a new approach to the Palestine problem rather than an agreement upon a policy.” The Prime Minister is expected to divulge the terms of the pact in the House of Commons on Thursday.
America has not at this stage committed herself to any out and dried policy with regard to Palestine, these quarters stressed. The concept which Washington and London have been examining within recent weeks is that of a Palestine solution which must fit into the wider patters of a settlement of the Jewish problem over the whole of Europe, they disclosed.
The Daily Herald, organ of the Labor Party, reports that the Truman-Attlee agreement provides for a joint Anglo-American commission to investigate Palestine immigration and the movement of Jewish refugees in the Anglo-American zones in Europe. The commission will be asked to ascertain how many refugees desire to go to Palestine and what are the prospects of their settlement in other parts of the world.
The diplomatic correspondent of Reynolds News, commenting today on the reported Anglo-American agreement, says that Britain and the United States are anxious to solidify their relations with the Arab states and are determined not to allow the Palestine question to lead to a conflict. “Various oil interests undoubtedly form a part of the picture,” he adds. The article-warns, however, that omission of the Soviet Union from the U.S.-British discussions would be “a serious matter,” since Russia would view with suspicion moves to build up a unilateral alliance between the western and Arab states, especially after the rejection of the Soviet demand for a trusteeship over some of the Italian colonies in North Africa.
A dispatch from the Jerusalem correspondent of the London Times yesterday, said that the Palestine issue “now lies between the Jewish and the British in Palestine.” The Arabs have receded from the scene, the dispatch said.
The secretary-general of the Arab League, Abdul Rahman Azzam Bey, in a statement issued here before leaving for Cairo, said it was too early for him to comment on suggestions that the Palestine problem be entrusted to the United Nations, but said the Arabs would have no objection if the United Nations discussed the entire Jewish problem, looking towards an international solution. The Arab League, he added, would be willing to join in such an international scheme to help the Jews.
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