Thanking both Moslems and Jews for their cooperation during the sessions of the Wailing Wall Commission, Eliol Loefgren, chairman of the Commission, in his statement at the end of the session Saturday afternoon, said that he believed the Commission had been provided with sufficient material to make a decision and report on the rights of both Moslems and Jews to the Wailing Wall.
Stating that he appreciated that the decision of the Commission should have in view the improvement of conditions leading to peace and goodwill between Jew and Moslem, the chairman added that the “fruits of justice can not ripen except in an atmosphere caused by a proper appreciation of one another’s interests which often appear opposed although in reality these interests can serve in common for both sides.”
FINAL ATTEMPT TO PERSUADE MOSLEMS
The Commission, which left for home Saturday evening after a final vain attempt on the part of Loefgren to persuade the Moslems to promise that they would accept the ruling of the Commission, was bidden farewell by representatives of both Moslems and Jews, and a general atmosphere of friendliness prevailed. The Grand Mufti and representatives of the government were among those who were present when the special train carrying three men who are to make a momentous decision left the station.
VERDICT TO BE BASED ON JUSTICE
“We will, as Commissioners for the League of Nations,” said Loefgren, “base our verdict on what, in our best belief, is right. We are determined to do our duty without being influenced by conflicting motives of a purely political nature. We are representatives who wish to help in the creation of peace.”
The League of Nations, said M. Loefgren, would await and receive the report without bias. However intricate the case, he said, despite its conflicting religious sentiments and traditions, the hearings had been useful in helping the commission to ascertain facts “which rightly understood and frankly told have a reassuring effect on agitated minds.”
Saying that both the Moslems and the Jews were responsible not only to their own generation but to posterity, Mr. Loefgren made a final plea to both sides to attempt to reach an accord. “Irrespective of sentiments and political agitation and excitement,” he declared, “it should be possible for both sides to arrive at a friendly settlement in a spirit of mutual understanding and respect.”
The Commission, declared its chairman, would much prefer a voluntary solution to an enforced verdict and “with great satisfaction will receive proposals and arrangements either party cares to offer before September 1. We stand ready to offer all possible assistance.”
The Commission, Chairman Loefgren said, would prepare its report with the least possible delay. Meanwhile, he emphasized, it was to be understood that the regulations issued by the government in regard to the practice at the Wailing Wall were to remain in force until eventually altered, cancelled or replaced. “Until then innovations should not be made, or actions taken by either side which are of a nature which would alter the present Wailing Wall status quo,” he concluded.
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