U.N. Conciliation Commission Recommends Direct Talks Between Israel and Arabs

Calling for replacement of the “negative peace” in Palestine by a “positive peace” founded on normal relations between Israel and the Arab states, the United Nations Palestine Conciliation Commission last night recommended to the General Assembly that it urge the Arabs and Jews “to engage without delay in direct discussions under the auspices of the United Nations and, with its assitance, to arrive at a peaceful settlement.”

The commission recommended that the problem of Arab refugees should be given first priority in such discussions. Spelling out the terms for solution of this problem, it proposed return of that number of refugees to Israel which would be consistent with their own best interest, immediate payment of compensation for the lost property of non-returning refugees and the providing of facilities for resettlement of non-returnees in the Arab countries with the technical and financial assistance of the U.N.

The recommendations are contained in a supplement to the Comission’s regular report to the General Assembly, which was issued several weeks ago. Emphasizing the purely military and transitional character of the armistice agreements, the Commission asserts that they will never succeed in providing the guarantees of stability characteristic of the peace based on a final settlement of all questions. Such negative undertakings of non-aggression, the Commission finds, must be replaced by “positive peace.”

The Commission lists these factors which it says have prevented the conclusion of a positive peace: establishment of a new state in alien territory; the lulling effect of the armistice agreements; and the failure of Arabs and Jews alike to dispel doubts about their spirit of conciliation.

“A new harmony,” says the Commission, which is made up of France, Turkey and the United States, “can result only from a compromise by which, firstly, the new state of Israel will do its best to counteract the dislocations caused by its own establishment among the Arabs, and secondly, the Arab countries will endeavor to adapt their policy to the new state of affairs.”

The recommendations by the Palestine Conciliation Commission come at a time when Arab leaders here have taken every opportunity to reaffirm publicly their rejection of direct peace discussions with Israel and their opposition to a peace settlsment in the Middle East. On the other hand the Commission’s call for direct discussions is essentially a proposal that has been pressed upon the Commission by the Israel Government for more than a year.