Rep. Jacob K. Javits of New York today served notice in a letter to the State Department that he may question the U.S. appropriation to the International Refugee Organization if the I.R.O. should fail to pay the cost of transporting displaced Jews to Israel.
The International Refugee Organization suspended financing the movement of Jewish DP’s to Israel on May 18, 1948, on the grounds that Palestine was a war area and not safe for settlers. In the letter, Javits asked for information about the forthcoming I.R.O. meeting to be held at Geneva on Jan. 25 at which he said the question would be raised.He said he understood the American delegation to the conference, headed by George Warren, had proposed to reaffirm its. previous position that Jewish DP’s should be treated in the same manner as other displaced persons and that their transportation to Israel should be financed by the I.R.O.
Declaring that he understood the British delegation is opposed to such a stand, Javits expressed the hope that the American delegation would make it clear “that international politics shall not be played with a humanitarian project. The by-laws of the I.R.O. plainly establish that it is the body to resettle displaced persons without regard to political considerations,” he pointed out.
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.
