The U.N. General Assembly today referred Palestine question to its Political Committee and then promptly adjourned. The Political Committee will start its meetings tomorrow morning at Lake Success under chairmanship of T.F. Tsiang, of China.
Meanwhile, the United States was quietly circulating a 47-article draft of trusteeship agreement to a handful of key delegations which will be presented to Political Committee tomorrow as a working paper. The draft is a detailed elaboration of the 15-point program for Palestine trusteeship which Senator Warren R. Austin, ?d of the U.S. delegation, presented informally to members of the Security Council weeks ago. Under this plan, Palestine would he governed by the U.N. Trusteeship council for a minimum of three years, or until the majority of Arabs and Jews agreed a plebiscite on the form of a new regime.
According to Austin’s original proposal, an undesignated number of U.N. ?ber states would agree to underwrite the peace and stand ready to send troops to Palestine if called upon by the U.N-appointed governor-general. While this nature of the project is not spelled out, it is assumed that the countries involved ? the U.S., Britain and France.
U.S. URGES ABOLITION OF LAND PURCHASE RESTRICTION, FAVORS IMMIGRATION
The U.S. draft agreement would specifically abolish the present restrictions the purchase of land in Palestine. There shall be “no limitation on the sale, ?rchase or use of land,” it reads, “which discriminates on the grounds of race, nationality, community or creed.”
This feature, designed to appease Jewish demands, is counter-balanced by ?uses on immigration which are expected to be filled in after consultation and negotiation with the Arabs and Jews. The American proposal divides immigration into ## categories: general and displaced persons. The number of “non-displaced persons” ##itted to Palestine is to be determined annually by the U.N. governor-general in accordance with Palestine’s absorptive capacity.
Other salient recommendations in the U.S. proposal are:
1. The United Nations at large shall be the administering authority, acting ?rough a governor-general designated by and responsible to the Trusteeship Council, until a bi-cameral legislature c come into being; 2. The governor-general will be pointed for a three-year term, subject to renewal in the event that the Jews and Arabs fail to accept an alternative plan for self-government; 3. The “House of preventative,” as it is called in the U.S. draft, would have an Arab majority ?nce would be elected by proportional representation. The upper chamber, however, ?uld consist of 30 members: 15 Jews and 15 Arabs.
Palestine citizenship would be extended to all persons resident in the country on July 1, 1947 “who are not on that date the nationals of any states outside of Palestine” and those who file by Nov. 1, 1948, a renunciation of their former nationality.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
