Weizmann Asks United Nations for Partition As Only Feasible Solution for Palestine

Declaring that anything less than "Jewish soveriegnty for the whole of Palestine" is "admittedly a compromise," Dr. Chaim Weizmann, former president of the World Zionist Organization, told the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine today that he nevertheless advocated "partition and independence of the partitioned part," as the only feasible solution of the Palestine problem.

"I am convinced," he said, "that partition, in spite of its difficulties, in spite of the great sacrifice it means for us, is such a solution because it is final. It will give us the opportunity of continuing and expanding our work in peace, and it will give the Arabs assurance that we are not going to encroach upon their rightsnd their territory," He gave as a prerequisite to partition the following two conditions:

1. The area of the Jewish state must be so drawn as to give it accessibility to the water and electrical power resources so that the country can be effectively developed for the absorption of large-scale immigration. 2. It must be given such an area of yet undeveloped and unsettled land as to provide room for these newcomers.

STATE SHOULD COMPRISE COASTAL PLAIN, GALILEE, NEGEV AND PART OF JERUSALEM

If he were asked to propose a blueprint for partition, Dr. Weizmann added, he would urge that it must at least comprise the areas tentatively proposed in the Jewish state project of the Peel Report–Galilee and the coastal plain–and, in addition, the Negev and the Jewish area of Jerusalem."

Dwelling on the importance of the attitude towards Palestine taken by the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union, Dr. Weizmann praised Andrei Gromyko’s (##)ightful" speech at the special session of the U.N. General Assembly in May, de-(##) that "it could have been made by a Zionist–he’s not a Zionist–but it was a (##) Zionist speech."

The venerable Zionist leader lashed out at terrorism, in the course of an attack on the White Paper. "The White Paper, " he said, "released certain phenomena in (##)h life which I oppose with all my force. The rule "Thou Shalt Not Kill was (##) us on Mount Sinai. It was inconceivable ten years ago what occurs now. I (##) my head in shame when I speak of it before you." He asserted that the Mandate (##) not unworkable per se, but had been rendered unworkable since the issuance of (##) White Paper. "The People put in charge of carrying out the Mandate had no faith (##) and were unsympathetic towards it," he charged.

Replying to Sandstroem, who asked him to amplify his ideas concerning a solution of the Palestine problem, the one-time head of the World Zionist Organization (said?) "We have a great responsibility to help stabilize the Middle East. I think I speak the mind of a great many Zionists, who, after soul-searching, conclude that we (##) for a form of partition satisfying the just demands of both the Jews and Arabs. (##) realize that we cannot have the whole of Palestine. It is up to the Almighty to keep his promise in his own time. It is up to us to do our best in our imperfect way. I do not want to play on the emotions of the distinguished delegate from India, but partition is a la mode. In India they have something to partition. They can do it with a knife.  We must do it with a microscope."

Dr. Weizmann commented that "it was great irony that after the British cut off Transjordan, which is the greater part of the Palestine which the Balfour Declaration understood to be Palestine, that the British then turn to us and throw in our face the fact that we are trying to bring Jews into the small Palestine they have left us."

SAYS PARTITION WOULD DISPEL ARAB FEAR AND GIVE JEWS EQUAL STATUS

Outlining the advantages of partition, Dr. Weizmann said that, firstly, "it would be final and help dispel some of the fears of our Arab neighbors. It would also mean equality of status, which," he stressed, was of prime importance, "since as long as they consider the Jews inferior they are not anxious to make peace. However, the Jewish part must be capable of absorbing 1,500,000 persons in a comparatively short time, and it cannot be standing room only."

"I have a plea to make," he added dramatically. "I respectfully pray that you will come to a decision of that kind, and above all see that it is carried out immediately. We have had many reports–we could cover the surface of Palestine with reports which have become dead letters. I appeal to you with all the strength at my disposal. The foremost thing is to wash out the White Paper–scrap it, throw it on the dust heap where it belongs. I do not know of any single document responsible for so much trouble, so much evil. I repeat, the area we seek must be able to accommodate a million and a half people–that is the size of the problem which is urgent at present."

Replying to Indian delegate Sir Abdur Rahman, who asked whether partition would bring trouble from the Arabs, Dr. Weizmann said : "It would be foolish, if I were to say that everything will go smoothly. Nothing goes smoothly in the world. I do believe that a great many thoughtful Arabs, if they feel this project is set in motion with all the authority and dignity and moral force which you and the United Nations command, will eventually not disagree.

"Perhaps the Mufti will not acquiesce–perhaps some of our side will not acquiesce–but I do not think that these are insurmountable difficulties. Do not (## prolong?) our agony. It has lasted a long time. You have it in your power to put the (##) of cooperation with the Arabs in our hands. God has chosen this small country as a medium through which He has sent great messages to the world. May it not happen (##) Perhaps, once more a message of peace will come out of this country which (##) so sorely in need of peace."

SPECTATORS APPLAUD WEIZMANN; ANSWERS QUESTIONS ON ARABS

Dr. Weizmann concluded his prepared address at this point, and the audience, (## which?) was the largest since the hearings began, broke out into applause, which the chairman, Emil Sandstroem, made no attempt to halt.

In a brief period of questioning which followed, Sandstroem asked Dr. Weizmann (##) recognized "any reservation in the Balfour Declaration regarding the rights and (##)ion of other sections of the population." The Zionist spokesman replied that (##) the issuance of the Mandate the Arab social, economic and physical conditions (##) been bettered. He added that politically the Arabs never had the position in Palestine that they had in Syria and other Arab countries.

Sandstroem then asked whether the Mandate contemplated the use of force. Dr. Weizmann replied : "Had the Mandatory proceeded without delay, no force would have been needed. The Arabs were quite ready to see us enter, but as soon as they saw vacillation they made the Mandatory’s position difficult.  If the Mandatory cannot do its duty, it is the duty of the Mandatory to produce an alternative solution."

The chairman asked whether Emir Feisal, who signed a treaty of friendship with Dr. Weizmann, declaring his willingness to have the Jews return to Palestine, was not entitled to consider the agreement invalid after he had been expelled from Damascus (by the French.) To this Weizmann replied: "Yes, the promises to the Arabs were not carried out at the time. But now the Arabs have gotten all the independence they were claiming under Feisal."

REJECTS FEDERALIZATION AS TOO INDEFINITE

Sandstroem recalled the federalization plan proposed last year by Britain. Dr. Weizmann commented that it did not have the advantages of partition, which was final and definite. "Anything indefinite will allow either the Arabs or the Jews to attempt to get something better. While partition means a sort of Solomon’s judgment. It is what the French call ‘pis aller,’ the least of two evils. A federal state will also mean a third party. Under partition there will be a sort of economic cooperation, but it would be better to be separate politically, leaving to the forces of {evolution to unite economically."

Rahman then took up the questioning. He was very courtecus and agreeable in contrast to his belligerent manner when questioning David Ben Gurion yesterday. "India stands for love and peace, and when I put questions to you, Dr. Weizmann, it is peace and love that are motivating them," he said. "You have read of the unfortunate partitioning of India. A line of demarcation is not a permanent thing. If the Arabs have more force, or the Jews have more force, each will seek to break the line. That is not a permanent solution for promoting love and peace."

Weizmann replied that if the U.N. proclaimed partition, it would ultimately lead to peace. He said that it was the committee’s job to create maximum conditions under which such an eventuality would be possible. He added: "It takes (## time?) Give us time, give us benevolence, give us the possibility to turn around, give us a chance to make friends."

Rahman interrupted with the assertion that Jews were themselves practicing discrimination, citing a regulation of the Jewish National Fund that Arab labor may not be employed on land which it owns. "Don’t you see that this makes for hatred?"

EXPLAINS WHY ARABS NOT EMPLOYED ON JNF LAND

Dr. Weizmann pointed out that in Arab sections no Jews were employed and asked {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} Jews were expected to do what others refused. "We are told that we can bring {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} only if we find work for them," he continued. "To find work we must spend {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} which we collect from poor Jews. The money is given by Jews for Jewish employ{SPAN}(##){/SPAN} Once the Arabs employ Jews, the situation might change," he said.

Dr. Jorge Garcia Granados, Guatemalan member, asked him to clarify the dis(##)tages of "a federal state ruled by a council of the United Nations," with each(##) having the power to legislate for itself and giving the Jewish people all un(##)gulated areas. The Jewish leader asked for several hours before answering the (##).

The Uruguayan delegate, Prof. Enrique Fabregat, referring to a letter from (##) Marshal Smits which Dr. Weizmann had read, asked whether he believed that it (##) all the opinions of the South African leader on Palestine. Dr. Weizmann

SMUTS’ LETTER TO WEIZMANN ADVOCATES PARTITION AS ONLY SOLUTION

"As I told you in London last year," Smuts wrote to Dr. Weizmann under date {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} 29, "I see now at this sad stage no escape except by way of partition. I was {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} for an undivided Palestine, but after all these failures and missed opportunity {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} I see no other way out of the present impasse. Palestine never was undivided {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} great past, and perhaps a fair share of it for Jewry may once more be the nu{SPAN}(##){/SPAN} of a national home and a Holy Land. Now that the United Nations Committee has {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} appointed to assemble the facts and search for recommendations, my expression {SPAN}(##){/SPAN}inion as one of the original authors of the Balfour Declaration may carry some {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} with the committee. At any rate, it is something concrete and definite, and {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} another further delay.

"It must be hearthbreaking misery for you to live amid all that scene of frus(##) and suffering–of lawlessness and counter-lawlessness. You who have labored (##) and so long to enter upon the promise… I blame no one; I praise no one. I (##) pray that great mercy will once more come and wash out even the memory of these (##)…"

Weizmann had a prepared text before him when he spoke, but he had obvious difficulty in reading it, despite the fact that it was printed in large letters. He, (##)before, spoke almost extemporaneously, consulting the text from time to time. The (##) Zionist leader appeared considerably older and wearier than he did last year, (##) he testified before the Anglo-American inquiry committee. When the questioning (##) concluded, he was assisted from the stand by David Horovitz and Major Aubrey Eban (##) the Jewish Agency staff.

BEN GURION RESUMES ANSWERING QUESTIONS; QUIZZED ON BIRO-BIDJAN

Following Dr. Weizmann’s testimony, Sandstroem called on Ben Gurion to reply {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} the queries which Rahman had no time to complete yesterday. The Indian delegate {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} whether the Jews had occupied Palestine without a break from ancient times up {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} now and whether God had not promised the land to Is{SPAN}(##){/SPAN}, the son of Abraham and {SPAN}(##){/SPAN}. Ben Gurion replied to the first question that the Jews had been in continuous {SPAN}(##){/SPAN}upancy, except for a period after the Crusades. To the second question, he said {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} God had promised Palestine to "the seeds of Isaac." When Rahman asked if it {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} not true that Arab villages had been obliterated by the establishment of Jewish {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} lonies, Ben Gurion expressed satisfaction that the question had been asked and said {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} it would be answered later by the Agency’s economic experts.

To Rahman’s question whether he "knew something" about Biro-Bidjan, Ben Gurion (##)ated that he knows of it only from reading, since he had never visited the place.(##) added that he knew that it is an autonomous Jewish region, but without a Jewish (##)jority.

Rahman demanded: "You know it has 20,000 square miles and only 100,000 people?" Ben Gurion replied with an air of parplexity. "I do not know why that is (##)levant."

The Iranian delegate Nasrollah Entezam, who spoke in French, asked whether the (##)inciple of self-determination could not be applied to a solution demanded by both (##)rabs and Jews–namely independence. Ben Gurion replied that this was purely a moral (##)ssue. "Jews are for a state wherein all inhabitants are absolutely equal. Ninety (##)ight percent equality is not equality, it is discrimination," he insisted.

"In an Arab state, even a democratic one, there cannot be freedom of immigra(##)ion, and equality then becomes a demand for a Jewish state–immediately. A Jew must

BEN GURION SAID. BEN GURION OUTLINES JEWISH STAND ON FEDERALIZATION

Czechoslovak delegate Karel Lisicky pointed out that the committee had heard {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} Weizmann favor partition and asked what the Agency’s opinion was of a possible {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} state, adding: "I do not insist on an answer now, you can take your time." {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} said that the Agency would answer that query in due time, but that he wish{SPAN}(##){/SPAN} some remarks now.

Ben Gurion declared that Dr. Weizmann occupied such a unique position in Jew (##) that he had the right to express his opinion on partition even without being (##) mandate. He further cited a resolution adopted at the 22nd World Zionist Con(##)declaring that the Zionists would consider partition if it were offered to them.

Regarding federalization, he said that if it means that the Jewish state (##) dependent upon the will of the central federal government–the Jews will not (##) it. If, however, it means an independent Jewish state with a status equal to (##) any other state, "a Jewish state that will be able to bring in as many Jews (##) desires and develop its own country"–the Jews will be ready to enter a federal(##) an equal footing, he declared.

"Two things are vital to our existence and human dignity," he continued, "the (##) of a Jew who cannot stay where he is to come to Palestine and settle, if there (##)nomic room for him and, secondly, that the Jewish people be in Palestine as any (##) people are in their country. If sovereignty is abolished throughout the world, (##) bless it–whatever the rule is for any other people, we claim it for our people (##)he said. "We want a state of our own and it can federate with all who agree, (##) a member of the United Nations."