S/PV.295 Security Council

ln accordance with the decision Ûtken this morning, the oilly item on this afternoon's agenda, which replaces the original one [document SiAgenda 295J, is consideration of the Palestinian question. If there is no objection, this agenda will be takèn as adopted. 56. ContinuatEon _of the discussion on the Palestine qu~stion At the invitation of the President, M ahmoud Bey Fawzi, the representative of Egyptj Mr. Malik, the representative of Lebanon; Jamal Bey Husseini, the 'representative of the Arab Higher Committee; and Mr. Eban, the representative of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, took their places at the Security Council table. . Gen~ral McNAUGHTON (Canada): The representatives on the Security Council have followed with the c10sest attention the discussions which have taken place in reference to the questions prQposed by the representative of the United States to be addressed to the severaI partie.s concerned with the situation in Palestine.s 1 think the representatives are now aIl aware of the difficulties which are evident in the phrasing of these questions.in such a manner as to meet the various objections which havebeen raised, and so that there will be no unfairness to either of the sides of the dispute. However, 1 ask the question whether it would not he more effective to deal with this matter of obtaining information in a less formaI and perhaps more practical manner than that of adopting a Security Council resolution on the subject? The Secur.i.ty Council aIready has a Truce Commission in the field which was established by a resolution [document 8/727J it passed itself. The' Security Coum:il also has the resolution adopted during the second special session of the General Assembly' which established a Mediator instructed to report to the Security Council and to receive instructions from the Security Council. It is my opinion that the Security Council should employ the machinery which'now exists to obtain the information requested. The men on the spot may obtain it in a form which appears best calculated to give the Security Council a precise and up-to-date picture of the situation as it actuallyexists. 1 venture to suggest, therefore, that the President be authorized by the Security Council to refer these questions or their equivalent to the Truce Commission. As 1 have said on a previous occasion [292nd meetingJ, it is very important that the Truce Commission be enlarged and developed so as to be in a position to satisfyat aIl times and promptly the Security Council's requirements here for information, and 1 should venture also to appeal to the nations which are members of that Com- . mission to supplement their present contributions in personnel, communication equipment and staff, so as to meet the urgent need of the Security Council for information. Jamal Bey HUSSEINI (Arab Higher Committee): There is something 1 do not understand in question (e) under the second group of questions, which have been addresseri to the Arab Higher Committee. It reads as follows:

On this particular point there have been several stages corresponding to the Security Council's attempts to find a basis for a truce acceptable to both parties. The, last of the~e efforts was the text which the United States representative made known to the General Assembly's First Committee~; that document was sent to our Truce Commission as a suggestion, but was rejected by both Jews and Arabs. That is my last recollection of truce negotiations. Mr. L6PEZ (Colombia): The information thatis called for by this questionnaire would be very useful, as has been stated here repeatedly. However, l doubt greatly whether it. is really necessary to have it for the purpose of reaching a decision on the proposaI submitted by the representative of flle United States [document S/749]. l believe it is enough to read the text of that proposaI to realize that we have all the necessary information to enable us to take a decision.on it without waiting for this additional information. With the permission of the President, l am going to comment on the four paragraphs of the draft. resolution. We have received, as you aU may remember, a cablegram addressed ta the President of the Securi'ty Council from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt [document S/743] in which he informs the President of the Security Council that "Egyptian armed forces have started ta enter Palestine ta establish security and arder in place of chaos and disorder:" We also have a cablegram from King Abdullah [document S/748] which begins "We were compelled ta enter Palestine to protect unarmed Arabs against massacres sinlllar to those of Deir YâsÎn." , l repeat, we may desire additional information, but we have enough to determine that there is a clear threat to the peace. Paragraph 3 of the United States resolution reads: "Orders aIl Governments and authorities to cease alid desist from any hostile military action and to that end issue a cease-fire and stand-fast order to their military and para-military forces to become effective within thirty-six hours aftel' the adoption of this resolution." The question might arise whether an order should be given to aIl Governments and authorities without nientioning a single. one of them, or whether, as is usuaIly done, the Security Council should issue' a cease-fire order and call upon .certain Governments to perform specifie actions. For the latter purpose, it might be necessary to wait until aIl the parties concerned have sent in their replil:S in order to make a complo:t~ appraisal of the situation. But 1 also submit that we know enough alreàdy from these documents l have just read, from other documents that have come to hand from the Jewish Agency and the Arab Higher Committt:e, and from the declarations of the Governments interested in this situation, to ascertain to whom these recommendations or instructions should be addressed. That evidently does not, require us to wait. The representative ofOthe United States said this morniilg [294th meeting] that the reply to this questionnaire was necessary for thepurpose of implementilig this resolution. 1 very respectfully submit that, for the reasons 1 have aiready given, it is not very c1ear in my mind that this reply to the questionnaire is strictly rtecessary. It may be useful for sorne other purposes. We may have to take sorne more important decisions, but for this specific purpose, 1 again say that 1 am very much in doubt that it is necessary. On the other hand, we stand ta lose perhaps two, three or four days without doing anything, in a situation that we aIl have agreed is very urgent. One more reason why 1 beueve the Security Council should give careful consideration to thesè remarks, is the fact that it is now being proposed that these questions should be addressed to the Truce Commission. 1 do not want to insist, but after all, we have to face the realities of the situation, and they are that for several weeks we have not been able to get information from the' Truce Commission. 1 doubt very much that we shall get any satisfaction if we place this additionai burden on' that Commission. 1 am very much in favour of finding a much easier way if replies to these questions cannot be obtained as soon as possible. To summarize briefly, first, it is in no way necessary to wait for replies to this questionnaire before we begin to discuss the proposaI o~ the· United States representative. Secondly, 1 believe that severai amendments will have to be introduced to that proposaI, but that of course shouid come at a Iater stage. Although 1 believe it would be much easier ta have these questions addressed to the Truce Commission, 1 am not sure that we would get a prompt reply. On the other hand, we should be losing the advantage of getting a direct and responsible reply from the Governments con- œrned or of not getting a reply, which is another way of presenting a case before the Security Counci1. 1 would greatly prefer that the different Governments and parties gave their own information to the Security Council, so that there would be no quest~on as to where they stood, the more so when it is not necessary·to wait .for that . information to go ahead w;.th our discussion. 1 marked question (g), and would read as follows: "Do you have among your armed forces foreigners who are not Palestinian citizens? If sa, how many or in what percentage?" This matter has been discussed several times; that is, that. there are among the Jewish forces in Palestine 'foreign elements who have recently arrived and who are not Palestinian citizens. How many of these foreign elements are there, àIld what is their percentage or number? At the same time, 1 agree W;ith the suggestion submitted by the representative of Canada that the President of the Security Council obtain the information sought to be obtained through these questions through the Truce Commission in Palestine. It would be easier to have one source occupied in that task instead of sending the questions to different places whence the answers. would not be easily forthcoming. The questions would be sent to Yemen and other places where communications are poor, while in Palestine the communications are good, and aIl these States now have representatives in Palestine with whom contact could easily be made. Information may be obtained much more easily in that way. When the draft resolution is discussed, I should like to have an opportunity to speak on it.

I request those of you who have suggested amendments to communicate them to me in writing, in order to facilitate the discussion whicli is to taJœ place on the details of the questionnaire. I would like to make two remarks on the statement just made by the Colombian representative; I must say that 1 fully agree with hh-n on the first two points. . c'est .I did not think that the United States âelega.- tion's draft resolution [document 8/749] was dependent on the replies which would be made to the questionnaire. That is why, following the suggestion of the Belgian representative, 1. propos:;d yesterday that wç should discuss, immediately, the r.eSolution submitted to the Security Council. I made the same proposal this morning. We did not follow that course, because we realized that most of the delegations were not yet in a position to discuss the resolution itself. In my opinion, however, the, resolution is not \ My second remark concerns the third point raised by Ml'. Lopez, namely, the' possibility of sending the questionnaire through the Truce Commission. 1 cannotdo better than . to give you the latestinformation received from the French Consul. 1 have already communicated sorne of this information to the Security Council, as 1 think we must pool. all the information we mayhave. . . The first telegram whioh 1 am about ta read is dated yesterday. It reads as follows: "Arab machine-gun posts on the walls to the east are plainly and constantly directed at the Consulate radio station. Machine-gun fire on three sïdes is riddling with hl~llets the Consulate building, in whichthere are already six wounded. More towns are being shelled by Arabs threatening seriéus destruction. 1 do not know what the .situation is in the Old J~wish City of JerusaIem. C~mmunications are e~tremely difficult owing ta the breakdown of telephone lines. 1 am without news of my colleagues on the Truce C9IDmission." . The second telegram, which was addressed to me, not in code, and which 1 will read to you as 1 received it, "las forwarded to me from Paris today. It reads as follows: "Strong Jewish attack aime~ at penetrating Old qty was laun~hed 1.2.15 a.m. by violent heavy martar preparation against walls. facing Consulate between Mount Zion and Jaffa Gate. Battle raged aIl night and seemed to have been unsuccessful. '.Yesterday at.7 p.m. the New City was shelled. Arab and European quarters hit,· including sector of the King David and YMCA. Red Cross, Consulate still isolated and without news of colleagues on the Tiuce Commission. (Signed) NEUVILLE." l report these telegrams because they show that it is difficult, and indeed aImost imp'ossible, for the Commission to work in its present circumst?1lCè<:. ,This l'aises several questions, and' 1 think we shall have to return to this matter later on because, às our Colombian colleague and aIso, 1 ihink, the Canadian representative, have already suggested, we should .endeavour ta improve the instrument which we have at our disposai on the spot, as it seems to be aImost incapable of fulfilling its task at present. ln any case, 1 do not think we can.count on transmitting, through the Truce Commission, a questionnaire which we are. able ta forward directly, ta the parties concerned. Mr. VAN LANGENHOVE (Be1gïum) (translated jrom French): 1 am wondering whether there is some confusion conceming the Truce Commission. Under the terms of the 8.ecurity Council , resolution of 17 April [document 8/723] the Truce Commission for Palestine is to be comppsed of representatives of those members of the Security Council which have career consular officers in Jerusalem; it does not provide that it should he composed of aIl consular officers in Jerusalem. Should the Council decide, therefore, to send the qp.estionnaire to the parties con- ~ cerned through the Truce Commission, it could be done in New York or any other capital. Should the Councij, decide, as has been suggested, to send the questionnaire to the members· of the Truce Commission, it would be sufficient .to address it to the representatives of the members of the Truce Commission who are here. Mr. EBAN (Jewish Agency): 1 should like to address myself very briefly ta sorne of the additional auestions and amendments which have been suggested with respect to this questionnaire~ 1 presume that the principle to be aimed at is to achieve equilibrium, that is to say, if'a certain question is put to one party, a question in a sinilliar sense, adapted to the particular circumstances, should appear in the list of questions addressed to the other party. It is in that spirit that 1 want to make two brief observations. The representative of Lebanon suggested [294th meetingJ the addition of a: question which has not been 'formulated, but the' sense of which was that Arab Governments should be .asked whether they have su.ffered invasion of their territory. If the question thus suggested by the representative of Lebanon is introduced into the fust group of questions, it would seem to be obvious that a sirnilar question should be introduced, in a form suitable ta the circumstances, into the 'third group of questions; that is, if It will be remembered that, this morning, the representative of the United Kingdom suggested the addition of a question whereby an answer from the Jewish authorities would be r ~quired ta the question whether arrangements h;we been made for the introduction by them into Palestine of men of military age from outside.· The admis· sion of immigrants to the State of Israel is a matter over which the Provisional Government of that State has full control and jurisdiction, both by reason of its own independent status and by virtue of the principle specifically laid down in the resolution of the General Assembly of 29 November: which still stands on the books, Therefore, whatever principle the Council applies to its decision as to whether or not to include questions of this nature, should apply equally to both sides. Mr. L6PEz (Colombia): The representative of, Belgium has made what appears to be an incidental remark, but one which seems to me to be very important. He thinks that apparently there is sorne confusion in the minds of the members of the Secl1rity Coul1cil as to the composition of the Truce Commission. 1 really do not know .if he meant to i.·nply that this is also the case in respect to the duties of the 'J'ruce Commission. At any rate, 1 think he has done the Security Council a great service by bringing this matter ta its attention. He has very just1y called our attention to the fact that the resolution. establishing the Truce Commission [document 8/727] provides that this Commission shall . be "composed of repres~ntatives of those members of the Security Council which have career consular officers in JerusaIem," which is not the same as saying that the Truce Commission shaH .be composed of the career consuls of the countries represented ID the Security Council. The fust question to which it would be very important for the Security Council to have the The resolution of the Security Council, dated 23 April 1948 [document 8/727] requests the Truce Commission-whoever they may be, once they are appointed by those States which are members of the Security Council--"to report to the President of the Security Council within four days regarding its activities and the development of the situation, and subsequently to keep the Security Council currently informed with respect thereto." 1 do not wicsh to appear too critical of the Truce COIILTIlÏSsion, but 1 have too many times . caUed the attention of the Security Council to the fact that we have not been .currently informed as provided by this resolution. On the eontrary, what appears from the evidence is that the members of the Truce Commission continue. to act as consuls of those States represented on the Commission, and that is probably why they communicate with those States and not with the Security Council. But the resolution, 1 respeetfully submit, calls for the Truce Commission "to report to the President of the Security Council," and not to the States members of the Security Council represented on the Truce Commission. .le It now appears that the members of the Truce Commission are dispersed. One member is in Transjordan; another member, we know, is in Jerusalem, and he says that he cannot communicate with the other members of the Commission. l, for one, am very grateful for the opportunity given me by representative of Belgium to 'représentant clarify this matter, because the more 1 consider this Consular Commission, the more ground for complaint 1 find. Just a haH hour ago, we were given a telegram transmitted by the Commission of Good Offices in Indonesia, which aIso is a consular commission, and 'which for months and • This seems to me to be a very serious condition of afi'airs, because we continue to take action on the basis of· using a Truce Commission that is not func'"ioning, that is dispersec1., that does not get toge: 11er, and that does not report to the. Security Council. 1 believe fuat is a situation which calls for a prompt and an effective remedy; otherwise, we shall be losing our time as we continue to pass one resolution after another, referririg the matter to a Truce Commission that is not acting. At best, sorne of its members will communicate with their principals in New York,but the Security Council as such will never have the satisfaction of receiving direct information as provided in the resolution of the Security Council of 23 April 1948. After the interpretation of the ahove remarks the representa#ve of Colombia made the following statement: 1 wish ta clarify the French interpretation of my previous statement. The telegram received from Indonesia was sent by the present Commission. My remarks referred to the original ConsuIar Commission in Indonesia.

1 agree with therepresentative of Colombia with regard ta the cOJIlposition of the. Commission. 1 tbink it was always understood that it was com- . posed of the representatives of thethree countries on the spot in Jemsalem. Others might have been appointed, but actually it was always understood that the Commission was composed ih that way. But 1 do not agree with the representative of Colombia when he appears ta criticize at least the French member of the Commission for baving continued ta send me telegrams independentIy of those. sent in the name of the Commission. On tIÏe one hand, the French Consul is not entitled ta speak on behalf of bis colleagueswhen he is eut off from the other members of the Commission, and on the other band, he is not on that account deprived of the right or relieved of the duty to keep bis Government informed, and if necessary to keep me informed, according ta the circumstances. l.fr. LOPEZ (Colombia): Evidently 1 did not succeed in making myself clear. AlI my criticisms of the Truce COII1IIWsion apparently do not apply ta the French ConsuJar Office. On the contrary, 1 have said that wnen we send a telegram ta the Tmce Commission we should make it clear that its members can reply separately inorder that we might be sure t'J obtahl the French reports.

1 thank the representative o~ Colombia for bis statement. It should he quite clear, however, that what has just been said does not justify any distinction being made between the French Consul and the other CORSuls.. MOl"eOVer, it should be pointed out, at least in regard to one ofthem, that be is· not in Jemsalem becausehe left that cityto carry oùt our instructions by tryingto get in ,touch with the Aràb authorities. . , If there is no objection to this a...mendment 1 will take it as adopted. Mr. TSIANG (China): l accept that text. The .PRESIDENT: 1 believe the representative of the United Kingdom suggested thatthe adoption of this amendmeut should be accompanied by a corresponding change in question (c). Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): 1 do not think it is nécessary now, because when 1suggested that, the oruy change to question (a) was to introduce the words "in areas in Palestine where the Jews are the majority." But then, later, the question concerns "forces . . . operating (1) in Palestine, and (2) in areas in Palestine where the Jews are the majority". Therefore, 1 think that question (c) can now stand as it is. "

Daes the Egyptian representative wish to speak on this point? Mahmoud Bey FAWZI (Egypt): For reasons of conformity, 1 would suggest that wherever the expression "Arab areas" is used, we use instead "areas in which Arabs are. a majority." For example,question (d), in ~he fiist group of' questions mentions "Arab areas of Palestine." 1 submit that we should make it read "areas in which Arabs ar~ in the majority." The PRESIDENT (translated trom French).: Are there any comments on this suggestion? Perso~a11y, 1 think it is right. Question (d) _w.i.ll be amended as suggèsted. Mr. TSIANG (China): 1 think it would be useful if. we modified question (c) in the same manner as we modifiecf question (a), becatise the information required on the two separate questions under (a) is different in nature and' throws additional light on the problem we are facmg,

1 think that is understood. 1 shaIl merely request you to remind me of the expression at the appropriate time so that there may be no mistake. Taking into account the comment of the Chinese representative, questiop (c) would read as foIlows: "On what basis is it claimed that such forces are entitled to enter: (1) Palestine; (2) areas (towns, cities, districts) of Palestine, where the Jews are in the majority, and conduct operations there?" . Then foIlows the Egyptian r~presentative's remark which applies to questions (d) and (e). ~.1r. TSIANG (China) : Àfter the word "areas" there is a parenthesis, specifying towns, cities and districts. 1 hope that the parenthetic phrase will be incorporated in the other parts of the questionnaire.

We are thus agreed on the first part ~ "Questions to the Arab States". As far as 1 can remember there were no comments on the second part: ~'Questions to the Arab Higher Committee". Mr. ARCE (Argentina) (translated trom Spanish): 1 should like to know where we stand with regard to'questions (t) and Cg).

The Argentine representative is right. We have before us an amendment suggested by the Lebanese representative. 1think it fits in at the end of thefirst part and consists of the following addition: "Have the. Jewish forces violated your frontiers and penetrated your territory, and what damages have they caused?" As regards this addition, 1wonder whether the question of damage should be introduced here. 1 am afraid it may com,plicate matters. At the moment it is not so much a question of the damage caused, as of whether forces have entered the territories concern~d. OtherwÏSe. we shall aiso be asked to discuss the damages caused to theother side; and there would be no end to the matter. Do you agree that'we adopt this addition with the exception of the word "damage"? Does the

This addition will form question (h,). The Lebanese representative made another remark this morning which applies to question (f). His objection was that the Council should not question the Arab Governments on an}' agreements they may have entered into among themselves. In my opinion t1Us is a doubtful question since the Lebanese representative's remark relates to agreements which affect the very point with which we are clealing, name1y, the maintenance of peace, which is precisely within the province of the Security Council. 1 have, therefore, sorne;: doubt about the objection T.'aised this morning, . and would like the Couücil's opinion. Mr. VAN LANGENHOVE (Be1giùm) (translated trom French): Is the question not dealt with in Article 102, paragraph 1 of the Charter?

Would you be kind enough to read the text since you have it before you? Mr. VAN LANGENHOVE (Belgium) (translated trom French): It reads as follows: "1. Every treaty and every international agreement entereà into by any Member of the United Nations after the present Charter com~ into force shall as soon as possible be registered with the Secretariat and published by it."

1 am reminded in the same connexion of Article 54 of the Charter which reads: "The Security Council shall at all times he kept fully 'informed of activities undertaken or in contemplation under regional arrangements or by regional agencies for the maintenance of international peace and security." ,Mr. ARCE '(Argentina) (translat'ed trom Spanish): These treaties must surely already have been registered with the United Nations Secretariat; there,is no need to ask that question.

The Secretadat has sa far received no information to that effect. Mr. ARCE (Argentina) (transllJ.ted trom Spqnish): 1 shaH ask for a vote on 'mis point. 1 have the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 7, most constantly in mind, and 1 think it would be better to decide by vote whether that question is to he included or not. .

-8ïnce a vote has been requested, it must be taken. If 1 have understood the Argentine representative. correctly, the vote will relate only to question (f) of the first part. ' questio~ of whether questions (f) and (g) should be included in the first part of the questionnaire! A vote was taken by show oth{lnds. There were 4 votes in tavour. No turther voting occurred. The proposalwas rejected~ not having obtained the affirmative vptes ot seven members.

Questions Cf) and..(g) will, therefore, be deleted from the first part of the questionnaire. We will now deal with the second' part. Mahm<fud Bey FAWZI (Egypt): 1 am sorry to interrupt, but 1 wish, before the Security Council passes to the second group of questions~ to reiterate my observations of this morning in connexion with the expression, "Jewish authorities in Palestine". For our part, we do not recogtPze the existence of Jewish authorities in Palestine. lam ready,to discuss this matter in detail, if the Security Council is not afraid of · losing too much time.. r havesuggested this morningsome other expression such as "the representative of the Palestinian Jews'.'. 1 said. that those aretheonly ones who, properly speaking, h::tve <mythingto do with thematter. However, if anyone eIse has a better way of expre..<:sing this thought, which 1 want the representatives of .the SecurityCouncil to believe is inspired mainly by the desireto be fair to bothsides, 1 · n,aturally' would we1come it. The PRESIDENT- (translated trom Flench): The question whicb has been taised applies to the third part. 1 think there were no comments regarding the second part. Mr.EL-KHOURI (Syria): Question (a) of the second group reads: "ls the Arab Higher .'Committee exercisin.g political authority in Arab sectiôns of Palestine?" Ido not think political authority should he referred to as being exercised in '~sections". "Politica:l authority'in Palestine" is sufficient; the .words "in Arab sections" should be de1eted. The. PRESIDENT (translatëd;, trom French): 1. think the sense remains the same. Question .ca), ne -'ever,will read as follows: "ls the Arab Hightr Committee exercising political authority in ~Palestine?" A question.arises in connexion with question (b). Ithas justbeen requeste<;l that the expression "where Arabs are in the majority" be substituted for "Arab 'sections". 1 think that · remark applies to question (b) of the sécond pàrt, and this amendment will he made., . Wc will nowcome to the third part. .Thex:e, is the question of. the heading which reads: Mr. EBAN (Jewish Agency): The remarks 1 made about the first formula suggested apply equally to the second which has now been proposed. Just as the only Jewish authorities in Palestine., are the Provisional Government of Israel, so the only representatives of Palestinian Jews are the members of the Provisional Government of Israel. To whomever the questions are. addressed, the replies can competently come only from the Provisional Government of Israel.

1 would point out that if we follow the'Egyptian, representative's suggestion on this point we shan he faced with very, great difficulties. Moreover, we shall run a serious risk of pre-judging the question. 1 think we should start from the following facts: There are ~o parts ofthe population in Palestine, and there are Jewish authorities, whatever their legaLstatus may be. There is, iri fact, a body which answers to that description, and that is why 'we are addressing it. That is why the term "Jewish authorities" which leaves in reserve the substance of the question, is, in my opinion,. the best formula the Council could retain. 1 would adq that 1 believe we used the expression "local and municipal authorities" in one of the Committees of the Assembly, and that this 'term was approved.· Mahmoud Bey FAWZI ('Egypt): 1 do not want ta seem too insistent on this point. 1 said 1 was ready ta discuss it fully, but 1 shall limit myself ta a,few words to convince the Council, if possible, and, at any rate, to have it put in the record. When 1 said that we do not, for our part, ·know of, anything which can properly be called '.'Jewish authorities in Palestine", 1 believe 1 was consistent with~myself aÏ1d with the conception we have of this particular matter. 1 agree that "Jewish aùthorities" and "Jewish municipalities" were mentioned by the General Assembly; 1 remember that, tao. But \on the other hand, 1 remember that on 14 Mayat midnight, Jeru- ,salem time, the Mandate ended. Whatever locaI authorities existed before the termination of the Mandate derived their power, however limited it was, from the Mandate, froin the Authority which 'was administer.ip;g the Government of Palestine. But the very minute the .Mandate' ended, all the soveteignty over Palestine and all the derivatives of that sovereignty were ina Jull " sense re-vested in the people of Palestine. No authority could be dcrived or had without its beingchannelled through that soyereignty of the "-";';-.' Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): 1 assume it would he acèeptable to those who seet:n so anxious not to ask questions of the1 Provisional Government of Israel if we took this whole part right out and did not ask them any questions. Is that what thèy are driving at? Is there any sense to what we are doing here? We should caIl thisGovernment by its true name. It is the "Provisional Government of Israel". And it has been recognized by three countries at least. You cannot write that off the books. That is what itis called, and that is what is meant by this text. It is getting to the point of nonsense when we begin to talk about dodging the language of these questions by substituting something that is unreal for something that is real. 1 have up to this time offered no resistance at aIl' to these numerous petty criticisms and changes that havé no real, substantial objective~ What would be gained if you, struck out of the questionnaire the name, "Provisional Government of Israel"? Would _you gain anything s~bstantial-by it? To me this is getting to be terribly trivial. If you do not want to ask questions of the Provisional Government of Israel, that is one thing. To that, being the âuthor of this _questionnaire, 1 wciuld say "Amen" and "Very weIl, they are perfectly willing to volunteer the information; they do not nced the questions." Mr. Jamal Bey -HUSSEINI (Arab Higher Cpmmîttee),: If these quest~ons which have been raised here with regard to the name given ta the Je~h authoritiesseem to be quite "trivial" and unimportant to the United St~tes delegation, to, us they are of paramount importance. We feel that we are being dragged or pushed into the trap of accepting a conditionwe shall never accept. Thus this change seems to us to be of 'great importance, if you want' the questions answered' which yo~ have put to -us. , Mr. NISOT (Belgium) (translated from French) : We should endeavour to' find an expression that would be the most consistent ,\\:,ith the various views that have been expressed.We , coUId say ~ Engli<lh: "Jewish de facto authority in Palestine". Mahmoud Bey FAWZI (Egypt): 1 am not very fond, of interve:p.ing in this debate about this pointwith which we are dealing' now when 1 note, inparticular, that, àgainst mysincere desire, my intervention, instead of winding up the,discussion, is broadening it; and furthermore, Mr. GROMYKO (Union of Soviet Socialist . Republics) (translated trom Russian): Yester- day [293rd meeting] 1 express~d the fear that the discussion of the questionnaire could only distract 'our attention from the present situation in Palestine. l think that the discussion at yester- day's meeting of the Council, and especially at today's meetings, has proved that my fears were, _ unfortunately; justified. Since we rèceived the communications from the Governments of Egypt and other Arab States announcing that tb~ir forces had entered, Palestinian territory, and the communication from the Provisional -Govern- 'ment of the newly crcated Jewish State, wehave already spent three meetings discussing the ques- tion arising from these communications. Yet we have made no progress whatsoever. • Everyone knows that military operations are now taking place in Palestine, that there is fight- ing between the Arabs and the Jews, that the _regular troops of several Arab States have entered Palestine territory and are càrrying out military operations there. The Council does not know the scale of these military operations, :;:iOr how far thé forces of the Arab States have advanced into Palestinian territory, We posses-s no details on the actual situation in Palestine, but _ the information at our disposai enables us to form' a genetal picture of the situation. The information a~ailable leaves no doubt that mili- tary operatiom; are taking place between the Jews and the Arabs. We have received c<mfirma- tion of this fact, bath from the Government of the newly created Jewish State and from the Governments of the States whose troops have been sent into Palestinian territory to carry out those military operations. How can there bé any doubt? 1 do not think there can he any doubt about the matter. ,The representative of the United Stateshas submitted \ .to the Security ,Council a proposaI in connexion with the communications received from the Jewish State and from several Arab States. 1 must express a certain regret with regard to the tum which our discussion has taken, a certain ·regret that the questionnaire was proposed. If it had' not beenproposed, the Couneil would probablyhave proceeded at once to the discus- sion of the United StatesresolutÏon, and the dis- ·sion would, 1 imagine, have·yielded some positive results. But the United States representative )mbmitted .questions, which were immediately séized upon .by thos.e .who were reluctant to discuss the United Statesdraft resolution or any other concrete proposaIs. r We haveoeen .~CllSSing the questionnaire during thiee meetings. Everyone realizesthat the discussion givesusnothing, and that the Security COlincil is' wasting time on an almost fruitless debate. Ali· the information which the questions drafted by the United States represen- tative are designed to procure,could as well be obtained after the adoption of the United States reSolution or' any other resolution..· We are simply wasfmg time to nopurpose. , TheVSSR delegation cùnsiders' that the United States resolution could fonu a basis for' the takin.g· of a decision by the Seeurity Carmeil for the purpose of .remedying the existingsitua- tidn in Palestine. Some changes should. perhap~ be· made in the wording of the.draft resolution, . but it is the opinion of the USSRdeIegation that. fundamentally. it can serve as a basis for the adoptionofl-,n appropriate resoJution. The Consular Commission, that is to say, the Truce CClmmission, has been mentioned atid we have been told that the difficuities which the Council is now encountering, in particular with regard to the receipt of information on the situation in Palestine, are due to the fact that information is nat being forwarded by ·that Commission with sufficient regularity. 'I should like to remind the Council that the USSR dele- gation never expressed any optimism with regard to that so-called Truce Commission. When that Commission was being created and when proposaIs were -being made in regard to it, we pointed out that the aim of those pro- posaIs was by no means the establishment of a ,truce in Palestine. The Commission was actually , a screen ta conceal the. total inaction of the Security Council, which so far has hardly moved. l!- finger to improve the situation in' Palestine. Nevertheless, some representa:,tives on the Council are fond of 'taThing about the existence of a: COmmission on which we can lely. That Corn.;, mission is powerless, impotent, absolutely tooth- . less, incapable of accomplishing any useful work. 1 utile. . Conseil le rations, de de leurs de Commission simplement, et qu'elles travailler 1 should like to remind thç Security Council· of the circumstances in which the decision to circonstances create. the Commission was taken, [document 8/727J 8/727] and what kind of decision it was. The consiste decision to create the Commission was rwt aÎIned n'avait at facilitating the implementation of the Genêral application Assembly's resolution of 29 November 1947, but' blée at creating difficulties for its implèmentation. dait That resolution is now out of date, events have . en overtaken it. The second'special session. of the les General Assembly has shown that not a single deuxième, Government Which adopted a sceptical or nega- générale, live attitude towards the resolution of 29 Novem__.'1 Gouvernements ber 1947 was, able to obtain the. adoption ofany', sceptique other decision to replace it, that the oid resolu- - l'Assemblée If some representatives on the Council for- merly took a sceptical view of such statements on the part of the, USSR representative, l,think that now, in the light of recent experience, they will find it difficult to disagree with his assertions.· That is quite ùnderstandable. It is not a ques- tion of persona:lities, not a que.5tion of the Consuls composing the Commission. The fact is that the very idea of such a Commissl:on, and the tasks entrusted ta it exclude the possibility of normal and llSeful wOl'k by the Commission. ' It is a matter for surprise. that the Arab States and the representatives of certain other countries are utterly indifferent to the fact that no Arab State is bèing, created in Palestine. The Arab countries are prepared'to accept any decision, only they can thwart the possibility of the crea- tion of an Arab State in Palèstine together with the creation of a Jewish State. We are not concemed with the inefficiency of the persons comprising the Commission, nor are , we concemed with the fact that the Commission consists of only three members. The point is that the Commission, in relation to itspurpose and the nature of its tasks, was incapable of coping with its work. If we take a decision to reorganize or expand the Commission, l still do not think it will do any good. In fact, it will only do harm. The Security Cauncil would only create the illu- ' sion that it was doing something, whereas in fact it would show that the Council was doing noth- mg. It would be sGll another futile and tooth- less decision which would not remedy the position in Palestine. Why accuse the Commis- sion when the Secudty Council itseH is inactive? We, who are meeting here in the Council, show' ourselves to he, incapable of taking a decision possessing some degree of effectiveness. Wè should not try to make a scape-g9at of the Commission. The U:SSR delegation çonsiders that the Security Council should cease discussing the questionnaire, or at l~ast have done with immediate1y and dispatch it to the appropriate addresses. It is necessary ta discuss whatever proporlaIs may be submitted in connexion with the basic question·arising from the communica- tions of the Arab States and the new Jewish State conceming milii:ary operations, and aIso to discuss the Unitéd States draft resolution, the substance of which has not yet been considered. Up to the present moment, only the representa- tives of the Ukrainian SSR and the USSR, and Mr. Austin, the author of that resolution, have spoken on its substance.

1 gather from the USSR representative's statement that we must avoid wasting time. We are discussing the questiOl1..THl,ire and have reached part three: "Questions ta the Provisional Govemment of Israel". The Egyptian representative's text has not been supported by any member of the Security Council. r therefore consider it is not under discussion. Another proposaI was ta say: "Questions to the Jewish, Authorities in Palestine". 1 think that Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): 1 agree.

Unless there is an objection, 1 shall consider this formula adopted. There were no comments on question (a). In accordance with the views expressed regarding the :heading, 1 propose that question (b) should read: "Do you have Jewish armed forces operating outside areas c1aimed by you?" The addition of the following ,words has been 'proposed by the United Kingdom representative: "or outside Palestine?" The text would thus be as fol1ows: "Do you have Jewish armed forces operating in areas c1aimed by you or outside Palestine?" i Mr. TSIANG (China): The amendIDents that were moved this morning cover this question, so 1 should like to have it read: "Do vou have armed forces operating in areas where the Arabs are in the majority?"

Are thereany comments on this proposal? 1 think it is a logical consequence of what we have already decided. . If 1 am nqt mistaken, no amendment to question (c) has been proposed. If 1 have understood rightly, the United Kingdom representative has proposed ~m addition to be inserted after question (c) as fol1ows: .nous . non "Have YOll arranged for the entry into Palestine in the near future of meu of military age .from outside Palestine? li so what are their numbers and where are they coming from?" Are there any cOnllnents on this point? Personally, 1 feel that the more we are informed, the better it will be. lbelieve there are no comments on the present question (d) whichnow changes its letter. There are also no comments, 1 believe, on questions (e) and (f). The Syrian representative proposed an amendment, but 1 should like to ask him whether that amendment does not duplicàte the one submitted by the United Kingdom represcr.';~.i.ive, which we have just adopted. The pwposd additional question is as follows: . "Do you have among Y0L:!' ~"[ned forces ,foreigners who are not Palestinîan dtizens? If , Speaking as the representative of FRANCE, object to, this additionaf paragraph which seems to me to touch tJpon the substance of the question. ,'<;A reference to t'foreigneis who arenot Palestinian citizens" would raise the whole question of the differenr.,~ between Palestinians by birth and immigrants, l think that would seri- {)usly involve the substance of the quçstio.n. Mr. EL-KHOURI (Syria): The amendment does not pertain oJ:.lly to' those Palestinian citizens who havebeen of Palestinian origin since the beginning of the Mandate. Those immigrants -who have been naturalized and who have thus become citizens of Palestine are aIso included. Therefore not orny dtizens of Palestinian origin but also immigrants who have become natural~ ized are included as citizens of Palestine. However, those who arlf :oming from outside are still foreigners. : It is ..heir numbers which are. required,. in· addItion ta their percentage. That is the difIerence between the two points. Ishould like to calI attention to a suggestion wmch l rq,ade !~arlier. The Security Cou:nèil has given f.avourable. consideration to a suggestïon 'made by tl1e representative of Lebanon, namely, .to ask the Arab States the question'as to whether their territories have suffered invasion from Jewish forces. 1 would S!1ggest that, in order to .retain theequilibrium of these questions; Mr. EBAN (Jewish Agency): With regard to the additional question suggested by the representative of Syria, l am not in a position. to say whether the Provisional Government 'of Israel regards citizenship in Palestine·which derives from the Mandate as being of very long duration. Ir' is certain that a citi"?;en~hip ordinance . will be enacted shortly by the Provisional Gov..; ernment, and, perhaps the relevance of the term "Palestinian citizenship" may ·be expressed in the reply whichthe Ptovisional Govt:rnment of Israel lyill give to .thisquestion. ~ -siinilir-questiolishcitiId he asked Ù1 respect «;>fthe' third group of questions, as follows: "Have Arah forces crossed the frontiers within which the Provisional Govèrmnent of Israel daims jurisdiçtion?'" 1 suggest that fav.ourable consideration mir;-!lt be given to that suggestion as weIl. Finally, with reg~::-d to the question introduced by the representat,ive oi the United" Kingdom concerning the immigration policy of the Provio sional Governtp.ent of Israel, it now appears that by deleting questions (e) and (f) frcm the :first group of ,questions, on the ground that they were alleged to', refer to the internal jurisdiction of States, the Secarity .Council would pe. acting de rité la droit un a nalité guée lois ment y palestiniens Juifs qu'aucun saurait d'une qui nance déclarer Mr. NAKHLE. rab Higher Committee): 1 assume that the Security Council still takes notice of the present international position of ,Palestine, according to intemational law. Until 14 May we had a British Mandate, and under that Mandate, a. Palestine citizenship ordinance was enacted. A body of Palestinian law was enacted under the Mandate regime, and until these laws are repealed by a properly and legally constituted authority, there will continue to be Palestinian citizenship, Palestinian dtizens, and foreigners. At present, there are orny 258,000 Jews in Palestine who are Palestinian citizens. The unilateral action of a minoritY-which is, in our opinion, a rebellious minority in 'the countryto try by a stroke of its pen ta repeal Palestinian citizenship, and to say thai: those Jews who are foreigners arc Palestinians, would. not, in rily submission, be accepted by any reasonable body. Therefore, this question 1> very pertinent. Why should the Security Council address a question to the Arab States or -ta the Arabs asking whether there are Arabs who are not Palestinians who are entering Palestinian territory, if it is going to tolerate the entry of foreign Jews, or if it considers that ·the enlistment of foreign Jews to fight on behalf of Palestinian Jews is iegal? Therefore, in my submission, that is a very important point, and the question moved by the representative of Syria should be accepted. g~rs. est prêt en gers le des aux palestiniens J'estime .tant qui Syrie. Comme renseignements vaudra. ritéobtienne ne . il qui tion la à lement, proportion de je noml que tiront Mr. EL-KHOURI (Syrîa): As the President has just sta'_ted, 1 think the more information we obtain, the better it.will, be. It is a matter of letting the Security Council have the information with regard to this point. l'do not believe this will prtlduce any effect or result,' bùt it· will simply be 'a matter of obtà.inin.ginformat;ion which would be helpful in considering this and fùture situations. 1 do not believe there is any hann in knowing the ratio between foreigners who are .now not Pakstiniau citizens and those who are Palestinian citizens. The Security Council should know' about that, and 1 think no harm would result in our obtaining such information. 1 hope the members will agree to this question.

1 put the Syrian representative's proposaIto the sition Vote.. . . ..'A vote was taken by show of hands. There were3 votes in favour. No furtlter voting occured.The proposai was rejected, not having obtainedthe affirmative votes of seven memliets. Ifthis proposaI is not supported by any mem- ber of the Cauncil,I shall deaI with it in accord- ance with the, rules of procedure, as 1 did just 'DOW in the case of the Egyptian representative's suggestion; that is to say, 1 shall not put it to the vote. Sir AlexanderCAnoGAN (United Kingdom): It seems to me that would he a suitable phrasing. 1 \Vould propose' it.

Would the United Kingdom representative Iike to propose a textl Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): Th~ text ",hich 1 should like to propose is: ~~Have Arab forces penetrated into the territory over which you daim to have authority?"

1. put this amendment to the vote. A vote was taken by show of hands. There ,were 9 votes in favour. No further voting' occurred. The amendment was adppted. The :f'~ESIDENT ltranslated trom. French): If, as 1 believe" !:have Dot overlooked any of the suggestions, 'we have reached the end of the questionnaire, which will he st:nt to the various Governments an.d authorities. 1 do not suggest thatwe continue this meetingfurthèr. Before adjourning, however, there remainsone question tobeconsidered, namely, the time limit ta be 'allowedtheparties for their'replies. 1 think the time limit suggestedby the representative of Colonfbia.was forty-eight hours. 1 shall take a vote OIl that stipulation. Mr. EL-KnùuRI (Syria):' Withregard to the, forty~eight-hçlUrtime limit, whenwill this period cOmmence, as of DOW or as of such time as the Î11terested parties receive the communicati~n? We •shauld allow, at least forty-eight hours for the parties to meet. We have consumed approximately, thirtyhours in, formulating theJe questions. In order to prepare the answers~ there mustbe sufficient time.for them to be transmitted over long dist.:mces~ , ' '

The questionnaires will undoe!>tedly reach their destinations in much less time than it h~ t~ken uSJo cljscuss them. Th\:" Se~retp,rlatca~, .. dispatch th~m t4is evening.. 1 .o.ag('Ie.',t a time llmit Df

~.th~re is no objection to this amendment, it is, cet adopted. adopté. If there is no objection to what 1 have just proposed, and 1 think that the Syrian represende tative will agree to the stipulation, the time limit Syrie will be forty-eight hours from tomorrow noon. concerne heures As there ar~ i'iG objections, it iS adopted. décidé. Je rendus abstenue Mr. ARCE (Argentina) (translated trom Spanish): 1 should like to place it on record that the Argentine delegation abstained from voting duriug aIl these votes. nira. demain

The Security Council will meet at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow.