U.S. Protestant Episcopal Bishops Hear Plea for Internationalization of Jerusalem

A plea for the internationalization of Jerusalem and for assistance to the Arab refugees was voiced here yesterday by a speaker before the House of Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. The appeal was made by the Rev. Walter C. Klein, American representative for the Anglican bishop in Jerusalem and Canon Residentiary at St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem, who described himself as “spokesman for your Christian brethren in Palestine.”

Canon Klein predicted that when peace comes to Palestine and if Jerusalem is not internationalized, the city will become a hotbed for smuggling and other “sordid practices” which would despoil the holy quality of the city. He said that the native Christian minority could only be protected and keep its “corporate existence” under an international statute. He also stated that unless Jerusalem “belongs to the world neither side will respect its peace.”

In order to save Arab Palestine from “unparalleled calamity,” Rev. Klein advocated that its boundaries be finally drawn under international guarantee. He also held that the “number of refugees must be reduced by the readmission of several hundred thousand of them to the state of Israel.” He charged that the refugees were “driven out by calculated terror.”