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Zion
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29 November 1947, at 4 p.m. President: Mr. O.ARANHA (Brazil). [A part of the original document has been deleted.] The PRESIDENT: I call upon the Rapporteur of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question. Mr. THORS (Iceland): During the debate yesterday, at least three representatives — the representatives of Pakistan, Iraq and France — and today, the representative of Lebanon, referred to the conciliation Sub-Committee that was set up by the Ad Hoc Committee. This conciliation Sub-Committee was composed of three members: the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, Mr. Evatt; the representative of Siam and myself. The leadership and main responsibility rested in the hands of our energetic Chairman. Unfortunately, Mr. Evatt has now left for Australia. I cannot help stating that the observations regarding the absence of effective conciliation would have been more appropriate if they had been made before Mr. Evatt's departure. Every opportunity was given to raise the matter in the Ad Hoc Committee. Let me now recall what statements Mr. Evatt made to the Ad Hoc Committee. On 19 November 1947, at the twenty-third meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee, the representative of Venezuela said: "This Committee set up three Sub-Committees, not two, and this third Sub-Committee was a sub-committee of conciliation. At the suggestion of my delegation it was constituted as a committee of one, the Chairman, who was given full powers to bring together the two important parties in the dispute. I respectfully submit to the Chair that it would be a good plan if the Chairman could inform us of his efforts on that behalf and the result, if any attained." The Chairman replied: "All I can say is that my colleagues, the Vice-Chairman, the representative of Siam, and the Rapporteur, have not overlooked their duty. We made certain suggestions that the parties should come together at a certain time, but the very nature of these negotiations makes it impossible to indicate the replies received and the suggestions that were made. This has been going on all the time, but frankly, judging by the response, it seems to me difficult to expect that matter to be carried to any successful conclusion. At any rate, up to the present time everything has been done in that direction that could possibly be done. Certain correspondence was entered into in order to carry out the wish of the full Committee, but I think it would only tend to confuse the matter if I did more than indicate that we all felt that it was an important assignment which was given to us and that we have not been idle." On 22 November, at the twenty-eighth meeting, Mr. Evatt made a further report in response to some remarks by the representative of El Salvador. Mr. Evatt said: "I do not believe that Dr. Castro was present at our meeting when I reported to the Committee on the situation that arose in connexion with the attempt to conciliate the parties on the matter. The Vice-Chairman, the Rapporteur, and your Chairman explored the ground from every possible point of view. We reached the conclusion that right up to the present time no more could be done. It was because agreement between the two main interests was so difficult to obtain that the matter came to the United Nations. Speaking for myself, I reached the conclusion that conciliation could not be advanced, despite our attempts, our interviews, and our correspondence, until the Ad Hoc Committee, subordinate as it is to the General Assembly, had taken a decision." From these facts, the members will note that all attempts to bring about conciliation seemed doomed in advance. Both parties were intransigent. Each party seemed confident that it would win its case either in the Committee or in the General Assembly. The conciliation Sub-Committee followed developments closely both in Sub-Committee 1 and in Sub-Committee 2. Unfortunately, the gulf between the two parties was too great then to be bridged by conciliation. The Arabs did not seem to be willing to permit large-scale immigration of Jews and to grant independence to a Jewish State in Palestine. The Jews would not accept anything less than reasonably free immigration and the prospect of independence. Between these definite contentions, no conciliation could be found during the consideration of the problem by the United Nations. The Arab Higher Committee was approached by UNSCOP on more than one occasion and was invited to assist in the work of UNSCOP, but it refused. In the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question, the representative of the Arab Higher Committee stated that he was prepared to take part in the discussions only with respect to that item of the agenda dealing with the establishment of an independent unitary state, but not with respect to the UNSCOP reports; either the majority or the minority report. Again, in Sub-Committee 1 of the Ad Hoc Committee, the Arab Higher Committee was invited to assist the Sub-Committee on the question of boundaries, and again the reply was that it was prepared to assist only in connexion with the discussion of the establishment of an independent unitary state Now, at the eleventh hour, just when the vote is to take place, there are criticism of the work of the conciliation Sub-Committee and vague suggestions concerning the possibility of conciliation. Actually, the conciliation Sub-Committee tried everything possible, but in vain. Moreover, up to the last few minutes there has been no concrete or specific offer of conciliation or compromise. It seems to me that the moment for conciliation might come once the United Nations has taken its firm decision, and both parties have to face hard facts, and not before. I venture to hope that the wisdom of the leaders of both sides will make it clear to them that it is better for them to live together as good neighbours than to risk being lost separately. It should be one of the main duties of the five nation commission, if elected, not only to administer Palestine during the transitional period, but to make every effort to achieve conciliation between the peoples of the Holy Land. .... (The original UN document A/PV.128 continues.)
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