American intercession at the United Nations on the Suez Canal transit issue was asked this week-end in a Senate speech by Republican Senator Kenneth Keating of new York.
Sen. Keating condemned Egypt’s anti-Israel blockade practices, stating “we cannot leave this problem only to Secretary-General Hammarskjold.” He said the time had come when the United States should again formally raise this matter in the United Nations.
(In Cairo, Nasser told an audience yesterday that Israel would not be allowed to use the Suez Canal. He scoffed at reports that Israel planned to raise the matter before the United Nations and repeated that he will “wage total war” against Israel if the Jewish State will pursue “an aggressive policy” against Egypt. His speech was broadcast throughout the country.)
Sen. Keating expressed hope that President Eisenhower and the Administration “will assume the responsibility to see to it that our representative in the United Nations does everything within his power to bring the Suez Canal problem to a head.”
The Senator said that “so long as any country is acting illegally, we should be very loath to give that country aid to further its illegal purposes.” He indicated agreement with a view of withholding aid to Egypt previously expressed by his colleague, Sen. Jacob K. Javits, also a New York Republican.
Sen. Keating told the Senate that some may think the Suez problem only affects Israel but “it is decidedly of more importance than that.” He said the interference with Israeli maritime commerce involves others “because it has been the experience in international affairs that illegality in one area feeds upon itself and may involve illegality in another area.”
He said that President Nasser of the United Arab Republic is preventing the Danish ship Inge Toft from trans porting a cargo to the Far East, “which has nothing to do with military affairs,” in a manner that is totally without legality.
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