U.N. Body Decides to Continue Palestine Conciliation Committee

The United Nations Special Political Committee today adopted–over the express objections of its sponsors–the four-power resolution calling for continuation of the U.N. Conciliation Commission for Palestine.

The proposal, which was amended to such an extent that three of its original sponsors–the United States, Britain and France–voted against it, and Turkey, the fourth sponsor, abstained, was adopted by 43-13, with two abstentions. The Soviet bloc nations and Israel also voted against the resolution. On the other hand, the Arab states, which originally opposed the resolution and asked for abolition of the Commission, voted for it.

The Committee also-defeated a Soviet proposal to dissolve the Commission as a failure. An Israeli recommendation that the Commission be replaced by a Good Offices Committee–consisting of the same three members as the Commission and whose services would be available only upon the request of the parties concerned–was withdrawn.

The resolution as adopted and amended provided for asking the governments concerned to observe the resolutions of the U.N. General Assembly on the Palestine issue. It recommends that the Commission membership be enlarged to seven and should continue its efforts to achieve agreement between Israel and the Arab states and to secure implementation of Assembly resolutions. Neither of these points was included in the original resolution.

The Israel delegation rejected the resolution’s injunction to the parties concerned to carry out the letter of the U. N. Assembly’s resolutions, insisting that previous U. N. resolutions were only “an expression of international opinion at the time of their adoption.” Acceptance of the amendment for carrying out the Assembly resolutions–introduced by Indonesia and Iran–would mean internationalization of the Jerusalem area and re-admission of the Palestine Arab refugees to Israel.