Discussions at the U.N. Special Political Committee on the future status of Jerusalem took a new turn today when Nasrollah Entezam, of Iran, chairman of the Committee, appointed a three-member group consisting of Mexico, India and Denmark to propose–by the end of tomorrow’s session–a subcommittee which will be charged with drafting a single resolution on Jerusalem. The chairman suggested to the group that the subcommittee be limited to 11 members.
Meanwhile, representatives of two Soviet nations–Byelorussia and the Ukraine–today called for full implementation of the U.N. partition decision of Nov. 29, 1947, by establishing Jerusalem as a corpus separatum under the U.N. Trusteeship Council. The two Soviet delegates expressed their opposition to the Jerusalem plan proposed by the U.N. Conciliation Commission.
The Byelorussian delegate called the Commission plan “undemocratic” because the members of the Administrative Council it would set up would be appointed instead of elected by the citizens of Jerusalem. He, as well as the delegate from the Ukraine, declared that America and Britain, guided by strategic oil and military interests, deliberately designed the Conciliation Commission plan to torpedo the United Nations partition resolution.
The delegate of Denmark also criticized the Commission’s plan. He said that this plan is inadequate but added that his country would nevertheless support any plan that would give effective U.N. control for the Jerusalem area. The Uruguayan delegate called for caution and greater consideration in dealing with the Jerusalem problem. He suggested the possibility of an interim agreement limited to the protection of the Holy Places.
Today’s debate on Jerusalem was opened by the representative of France. He corrected the impression that France has changed its position with regard to the Jerusalem issue and emphasized that France still supports the Conciliation Commission plan, but only stresses the political and financial problems involved in implementation of this plan.
The representatives of Iraq, Lebanon and Yomen also spoke on Jerusalem at today’s session. The Iraq delegate demanded the scrapping of the original Palestine partition resolution and formation of an Arab Jerusalem. The other two Arab delegates called for internationalization of Jerusalem. Israel delegate Aubrey S. Eban was scheduled to address the Committee late this afternoon but his speech was postponed until tomorrow, owing to the lengthy talk of Dr. Charles Malik, of Lebanon.
(The New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune published editorials during the week-end opposing internationalization of Jerusalem and suggesting that the United Nations limit its authority to the Holy Places themselves, leaving unquestioned control of the city of Jerusalem to Israel and Transjordan since these two countries are actually in de facto possession of the city.)
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.
