S/PV.302 Security Council

1 have no more speakers on my list so we will now vote on the draft resolution submitted by the United States delegation [document 8/749]. As 1 said this morning [301st meeting], we shall vote on the draft paragraph by paragraph. The United Kingdom representative is invited to state the additions or changes he wishes to submit in the form of amendinents to each paragraph. 1 shall, of course, put the proposed amendments to the vote first. Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kfugdom) : As a matter of procedure, may 1 call attention to the fact that in document 8/755 submitted by my delegation there are three amendments which are in the nature of additions to the United States draft resolution, and one· which proposes a change or a substitution of the text in a particular paragraph of the United States proposal. Paragraphs 1, 4 and the last paragraph. are. all additions, and the third paragraph constitutes a sugges~ion for a change or a substitution. Of the additions, my first paragraph is in the form of a paragraph belonging properly to the preamble, and in this document, in which 1 have tried to combine the amendments with the original United States proposai [document 8/749], it will be seen that this occurs first. I do not know what the ruling of the President will be, whether we should fint take the United States paper and consider my.amendment which at one pomt suggests a change and then consider the additions which 1 propose, or whether we should take the additions in the order in which they stand in the paper presented by my delegation. If the latter procedure is adopted, that would The PRESIDENll' (translated [rom French): We shall adopt the second course suggested by ·the United Kingdom representative, that is to say that we shall take the first paragraph of the United States delegation's draft resolution and considèr the first paragraph of the United Kingdom proposal as an amendment [document , S/755]. . Th~s we shall begin with the following tat in the United Kingdom draft: \ "The Security Council, , "Bearing ·in mind the change in the juri~cal status of Palestine consequent upon thetemunation of the Mandate, and the necessity for further clarification of this status;" Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): The United States will be obligedto abstain in respect to this additional paragraph.for the .following reasons: The United States proposal is simply CI." cease-fire proposal. It is not related in any way to the ,polit,ical question involvGd in the additional paragraph off~ed by the delegation of the United KingqOm. If we were to accept this amendment~ what would be its effçct upon the cc:ase-fire? Would it help us to arrive at a ceasefire?Would it interlere with the operation of a cease-fire? It seems to the United States that the acceptance of this amendment would throw something into the situation that would cause delay or might completely prevent a cease-fire. Today aIready we have list.med to some very le~ed, debates upon thé legal question involved herç, aild we are not undertaking to solve this question.U we were to engage in that deb~te, l vcmiQl'c to say that Jerusalem·might fall and per9~J»Sbe w.îped..off the map beforewe got du'ough with it. Therefore, the United States delegation wil1be obliged toabstain. ,.Sir Ale~aride" C~AN (United Kingdom) : l'only wÎsh ta i-ecall what 1 ~aid ~ my. speech ,the.other 'day when 1 .~utlin~dthis idea [2~6th meeting]. 1 said: "my GoveniIIlent would like to sec inc1uded in the resol~tion some provision for a thorough study of the present juridical status of Palestine. By this, of course, my Government does not mean that actiof: on the other parts of the resolution should be delayed". •. '·Other.members of the Security Council have indicated .their desire for something of this kind, and 1thought that perhaps this paragraph which is under examination was the best way of giving effect to it. ~Jr. LaPEZ (Colombia): ln connexion with . the original paragraph we are discussing, 1should like' to say that if it applies only to military operations, perhaps the representative of the United States would consider, an amendment in the drafting of the paragraph. 1t now reads: 'The PRESIDENT (translated trom French): J çlid'. in fact, ,suggest that we should fit$t consider the British amendment, whic.h is, an. addi- #on to the fit$t paragraph of the United Statés t~~t. ,If the rçpr~.el)tatiye of Colqmbia agrees, ! ,;Will ~lç thé United States representative ta r.~ply t() ~ suggestion later, when we come ta 1;Jlë,paragraph in question. Are there any further comments? Mahmoud Bey FAWZI (Egypt): 1 want to say, most respectfully, that 1 think there is no reas(m for anyone ta object to 'a further clarification of the status of Palestine. For our part, we have no doubt whatsoever, butsorne people seem to have sorne doubt, while others se'em to' be 'luite certain that the status of Palestine iS not what the Egyptian delegation and sorne other delegatio~ think it is. For this reason, 1 submit thlit the United Kingdom amendment should he approved, especially as it does not suspend and does not delay anything and is not detrimental to anyone's rights. United States of America The PRESIDENT (translated from French): We will now turn to the first paragraph of the United States resolution. If 1 am not mistaken, there are no amendments. The text is as follows: . UTaking into consideration that previous res,olutions of the Security Council in respeCt to Palestine have not been complied with and that militaty operations are takingplace in Palestine;" Before putting this paragraph to the vote, 1will -ask the United States representative whether he has a~ything to say regarding the remarks made ' someminutes ago by the representative of Colombia. Mr. AÙSTIN (United States of Atp.erica) : It is not dear to the United States delegation why there isany need toinsert.the qualifying adjective "military" as suggested bythe representative of Colombia. As we understand it, this paragraph, ' aswritten, is a state'ment of facts; it is .not limited to the military aspects. We, have made various requests from timç to time and none of them has be~n complied with. Thcrefore, unless there is a good reason' for limiting the text, wè do not wish' to make thischange. Mr. L6PE~ (Colombia): 1 made my ~ugges­ tion just after hearing the statement of the representative of the United States 'to the effect that th_is,applied only to military operations; however it is qUitë satisfactory to me that the'textshould ,he left unaltered. The ,PRESIDENT' (translated trom French): lshall nowput the text, as 1 have just read it, tothe vote. " A vote was taken by show of hands. The first paragraph of the United States draft resoluiion w,as adopted unanimously. ' Mr. AUS'I'IN (United States of America): The paragraph in question reads: \ "Determines that the situation in Palestine constitutes a threat to the peace and a breach of die peace within the meaning of Article 39' of the Charter;" During the short ~e in which we havebeen considering this resolution, events have been reported to us by our Truce Commission and by others; statements have been made here by· the . representatives of Member States and others; there has been a message from King Abdullah; and information has reached us in other ways emphasizing a fact which Sh01J1d have been obvious to us all the time-name1y, that the situation in Palestine is not merely a threat to the peace but a breach of the peace of a very serious nature. Never before have 1 argued the phase of the matter which involves the consequences of that breach-that is to say its reaching out into international life-but the time has come when wc; are about ta vote on this matter· and when 1 think we cannat ignore the international character of this breach of the peace. Probably the most important and the best evidence we have on that subject is contained in the admissions of the countries whose five armies have invaded Palestine that they are carrying on a war. Their statements are ~e best evidence we have of the international character of this aggression. There is nothing in' the resolution aboutaggression; it is a ward which is not included in the text but whiéh has been mentioned in the statements of theseaggressors. They tell us quite , frankly· that their business in Palestine is political anç! that they··are thete ta establish a unitary State. Of course, thestatement that they are there ta make peace is rather remarkable in view of the , fact that they are wagiIig war. We find that this is' chani.cterized on the part of King Abdullah by a-certain contilmacy towards the United Nations ' and the Sec'ur~ty Council. He has sent us an answer to our ,questions. These were questions a.ddressed to him; as a ruler who is occupying land outside his domain; by the Security Council, a body which is .organized in the world ta ask these questions of him. As will be seen from page 2, of document S1760-the fust page of which contains the actual questions---in a reply addressed ta the President of the Security Coun- ~ "1 aIso would like to point out that the Security Council refused more"than once to recommend ~o the .General Assembly the admission of the Transjordan Government t~ the United Nations. "Therefore, my Goyemment does not feel that there is room for reply. to the questions addressed ta it.."· .(Signed) FA~ZI AL MULKI lforeign Minister The. contumacy of that reply to the Security Council is the very hest evidence of. the illegal purpose of this Government in invading Palestine' with armed forces and conducting the war which it is wagingthere. It is against the peace; it is not on behalf of the peace: It is an invasion with . a definite purpose. The representative of Syria·has stated [299th meeting] that this act, and the acts of thé 6ther : five armies, arewithiil the 'Charter, that they are ;actsofa regional "organization advanémg into. Palestine at the invitation of a' majority of the people of that country, which it is claimed; had no .Govemment. Thereby he admitted the intematlonal character. of whatever act this is. He walked'right into th~.Charter of the Unite~ Nations, which is ~ international Charter,. and saw fit to ~all to 'our attention Articles 51 and 52 of the Charter as a justification for this invasion. }Je omitted, probably QY an inadvertency, . to refer to that· Article which shows that this actof the regional .organization in PaleStine is contrary to the Charter, that it is in, violation of the Charter,and'stridly an iUegal act. The representative of Syria omitted to refer ta Article53, which .provil1es, among other things: ". But no enforcement actionshall be taken under regional arrangements or by regional Those States defined in paragraph 2 are enemy States. Of course, that is not the èase here. TherefQrc, here we have the highest, type of evidence of the international violation of the law: the. admission by those who are committing this violation: .It is not necessary to dwell upon the juridical stàtus of·Palestine in order to have a cease-fire resolution adopteu by the Security Couneil. Therefore, we are not pressing any daim about the .juridical status. But it is perfectly obvious to aU that that part of Palestine which is under . the de facto government of the Provisional Government of Israel is not a. part ,of the regional org~lJ1izaticin towhich the representative of Syria has referred. Therefore, this is not the co-opera· tive effort such as he would have us believe. This ~s hostility by a group, a coalition, a region-call it Cl. regional organization if you like-àgainst an Qrganized community which, at least, daims· before us that it is aState. We do not have to pass 'upon the question of whether or not it is a State. AlI we have to considet iS the fact tbat this is what is going on in Palestine. Bût·here, if seemS to us~ is something which is of considerable' signifiéance. We are infoÏ'med that the Govemment of.Syria,.in agreement with the Arab League States, has proclaimed a blockade of the territorial waters of Palestine, and has issued wamings .to foreign shipping. . 1.. this not international? It is elementary that the proclamation of a blockade constitutes a claim .of belligerent rights. The exercise of belligerent rightsdepends upon .the existence of war, whether it be international war or civil war. The. daim .to exercise belligerent rights' must rest upon a recognition of the belligerency of the opposing party. . 1 do not intend, at ':his time, to discull.'J the grave questions involvedin this c1aim, nor do 1 intend to discuss here and now the validity of the blockade which has been proclaimed. 1 refer to the proclamation of the blockadé alleged to be applicable ta foreign shipping off the coast of Palestine merely for the purpose of adding another bit of evidence to establish the fact that there is a threat to the· peace and a breach of the peace in Palestine. It is impossible to maint~.that foreign shipping ri." the coast of Palestine is subject to the ex~rcisf' ';Jf belligerent rights, and, at the same time, to assert that there is no tlJreat to the peace br b.e',·...:h of the peace within If-it is a genuine position thàt their purpose is to.maintain peace, will it hurt them to adopt this draft resolution? No. Ifthat were their true 'position, they could perform their obligations~ Everyone knows that thisclraft resolution, if adopted 'by the Security Càuncil, w()uld ha'Ve a binding effect. This wou~d comtitute a finding, a' decision by the Security Council, and every Member of the United Nations would bebound by it and bound' to help keep Abdullah where he belongs; becaùse we find that Article 2, paragraph 5 states: . "AlI Member shall givç the Unitéd Nations , every asistance, in any'action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shalI refrain ,frçm giving assistance to any,State against which the United Nations îs takiug preventive"-that is what itsays-"or enfQfCement action." ,And paragraph 6 states: "The Organization shall'ensure that States which arenot membersof the United' Nations act,~ accordance with these ,Principles so far as mayne necessary for, the maintenance of international peaceand security." ,NowletuS Iookat Article 4~, This wouId apply to every Member of the United Nations if the S,ecurity Council were tO,adopt tbis clraft resolutionpropos~d by the United States. This,wouId be a decision. Article 48 provides J:hat: ' . "The act~ollrequiredto carry out the decisions oi the Security Couneil for the maintenanc~ of intemational peace andsecunty shall be taken by all Membersof the United Nations, orby sorne of the~" asthe Security, Council may determinè. '''Such decisions shall be carriêd otitby the Mell1bers of, the United Nations directly' and thr~)Ugh their .action in.. the apPt:0priate inte:t:- n~~onal' agencles of WhlCh they are members."' This draft resolutionpoints lfirectly at certain Members of tlle United Nations d.11d calls ,upon them to,ce3$efire. ' But how does Article 25 apply to Members of the Uniteâ Nations? Let us read it:, ' 'fT1Iç Members of the United Nations agre~ t() accèpt. and carry out the dedsiollil of the' Security Council in, aCŒrdance with the present Charter." " There are certain consequences" that fol1owLadésobéissmce msobedienceto the decisions of the Security Council. Itis, not necessary to step right off into ' Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): After the very eloquent-speech which we have just heard from the represent.ative of the United -~S!ates,.1 aImost hesitate to ask the .President to allow me to say just a few words. The ot.'Ier day, 1 statèd at sorne length the view of my Govemment on this point [296th meeting]. That view h3.$ not changed, and there- ~ore 1 need not repeat what 1 then said. 1 think 1 can say that my ,Government if 'not blfud to what is being done by the parties concerned in Palestine in sa far as that is known to my Government. 'L...e ,. question is how to deal, with the situation. " - My·Govemmentwould hesitate to invoke Article 39 of the Charter, .and it thinks that. rncmbers 'of the 'Security Councilshould hesitate . to invoke that Article, unies!> we, are aU prepared eventually to employ ·force, inc1uding, .if necessary, even; the introduction of armed force into . Pale~tine.Exactly what would suchforce achievê b~tterthandid the forces of the United Kingpom during the last twenty"five years and more? How should we be much nearer, a settlenient if snch 'force were introëluced? Itseems to me thatjt would be questionable for a mero~r of the Security CouIicil to invok~ Article 39 unless !bat member were resolved' to· carry through, if necessary, aIl the aitions foreseen under Chapter VII of the Ch~rter. It seemed to ine that the g~neral sense of the recent special session of the General Assembly was to start.out on a line of truce and ttlediation. 1II.:.:: th:even sine< thed6se of the,special . . For our part, we still think that to attempt by various means to build upon truce and mediatian is the more hopeful line~, Fain~ tqough it he, there is hope that under the pressure of eveiits such a line may·lead us to àn ùltiInatc settlement ·of·this terrible. p...oblettl~ '. ,;. '~.' .., TIie PRESIDÈNT (trtinslated Irom French): Ibere are s~l two spèakers ~n my liste 1 would teniind thèm that the general discussion has already taken place and theiefore ask them to .D1ake their remarks as brie! ~as They conveniently can.· . Mahmoud Bey FAWZI (Egypt): 1 shaIl quite readily abide by the request made by the Presid~t for brevity. In any case, 1 could never hope to be as able a speaker as the representative of the United States who, a short while ago, bestowed upon us a goodly and instructive amount of.the overflowmg bounties ofhis eloquence. 1 shall .even avoid quoting the Charter, Article for Article, thus indefinitely prolonging our discussion. . The representative of the.United States spoke of Egypt-and 1 be!ieve of other Arab States -'as ~'âggressors." He spoke, of tlieir action in Palestine as an "invasion." 1 think we can alI a~e~ !bat th~e a~e strong words, very strong words mdeed. 1 believe that to calI any Mémber of the United Nations an aggressor or an invader is practically the strong('.st accusation that can be levelled at that Member. It is very serious ' Ùldeed. , When the representative of the United States à~tempted to,name the subject of the aggressioD; ~ he 'could do was ta say that it was an organized communïty that cl~ to he aState.' Ina previous statement, lexpressed the hope that 'the t.hird paragr~ph of tlie Umted KIngdom amendment would be'adopted, but some ~f ~e'.me~~ers did nofsee fit to have any further -clarification of the status of Palestille. ThereCore, once' .again we" encounter ·the difficulty of wbat -isthe preSent' status of Palestine. As'long as ,thtre'is'no .agreement uponthat pOlln, hoW' , Ibgically",futd in'the'light·of the :Charter~ can° it be saidthatany Statehas encrbachedupon the territory ofanother State? -. We, for our part, claim-this has been said many times, and1 am sorry to have to repeat it-,that the whole of Palestin,~ is an independent State, the sovereignty over which is vested in its legal population. '-:'h;'i\t flJpulaticn has invited us ta help them in re\',toring Md m~lntain- 1submitted to the Security Council, the other day, that if, ID going to 'put out a tire in the house .of our next-door neighbour, we are not thanked for that act. at lèast we should not be blamed for it f292nd m:éetingl. Now, that blame is taking the form of our being calIed aggreSsors and invaders. That is very serious indeed. 1 havé a srnalI' surprise,. perhaps, for everyone seated at the Security Council table. There has , oeim aggression; there has been an invasion.. But the surprise ends there-because 1 stafe ànd affirm that that aggression· and that invasion. have been perpetrated and are continuing to be perpetrated by world Zionism. World Zionism is working against peace in the Middle East, it is trying to nip in the bud the life of·the . new Shte of Palestine, which covers the whole of Palestine. What Egyptand the other Arab States are accomplishing in Palestine is a healthy, sane and orderly police act, not a political aet. The reptesentative of the United States, in his very leamed speech, said-I may not be repeating his exact words-that we, the Arab States, were making war while pretending tamake peace, or something to that effect. How are ag- . gressors, as 1 calI them, how are disturbers of order handled? 1 have lived long enough in New York and in the United States to know that when there is a disturbance of order, or when there is a fire somewhere, the fire department or the police do not go to the spot carrying bouquets. They go there carrying the necessary means to put the fire out or with the necessary Ineans to re-establish order. .attiré When 'Ye are talled upon to put an end to such dmturbances of order, the nature of which 1 mentioned to the Seeurity Council at this moming's session here [301st meetingl, and as an example of which 1 spoke to Deir Y~in; you c:mnot ~e)tp.ect us to go there carrying bouquets elther. We have to use, and we are usÎ1~g, in a very orderly manner., the means for re-establishing order. Therefore, 1 cannot help not only disagreemg with the United States draft resolution but also resenting the implications of this paragraph. 1 do not think that wou:d bring a contribution to the re-establishment of arder and . peace in our part orthe world. 1 think it would . bequitc the contrary; and 1 hope it will not be adopted. . Mr. EL-KHOURI (Syria): 1 shall be brief, as the President requested. 1 had no .rntention of speaking on thissubject any further because 1 haye, discussed alI the points previously and sufficlently. Butas the representat.iveof the United In the first place, he said that there was no need for further evidence; that the answers received today from the Arab GOv~ernments were sufficient to constitute a -confession that there is a breach of peace and a threat to peace in .Palestine. We know very weIl.that· our reryresentati(lns and the replies to the questions asked br the Security Council were read carefully and clearly during the morning meeting of the Security Council [301st meeting], and they were distributed to the members of the Security Council in the form of documents. We never acknowledged that therewas a threat topeace. We explained very c1early that we were there at the application of the majority of the people <?f Pales- . tine, a country which has no international status toenable it ta be considered as another State of the.Arab States, so that entering it could not be wnsidered as an act of aggression or a threat to peao::e. In our replies, we stated very clearly that we wcre in the country at the invitation ùf the , people; that we we:re there because of their insistent requests and that, at the same time, we wer~ on 4rab territory, and not on any other. territory. _ The representative of the United States mentioned my reference to Articles 51 and 52 of the Charter. While 1 didnot refer, in the reply of my Government, to any of the Articles of the Charter, everything my Govérnment said in this respect may be found in the following sentence: "Palestine is also an associate member in the Arab League which is a regional arrangement obliged to settle disputes within itsarea:" [Dooument 8/768.] That does not mean that we agree or admit that.it is a threat to the peace or a breach of the peace whichis. mternational in scope.- There ·is nothing in that sentence which gives 8uch an iniplication. If the representative of the United Statesinterprets it inthat way, 1 will supply the explànation so that it might not be so understood by hjm.-' > - Tliere is one other point regarding Syria to which the representative of the United States has referred, here in the Security Council when he stat~d that Syria had decided up.n a naval blockade of Palestine. Syria has no forces with which to put such a blockade into effèct. If my Govemment has issued such a declaration, 1have not heard of it. 1 do not know whe\:her or not that may be true. . The representative of the United States stated thatKing Abdullah had declined to submit a reply-, and, therefore, that this -constituted sufficient evidence as to his guilt.I do not know of ~r. GHORRA (Lehanon): We have heard the reference made by the representative of the United States to my Government as an "aggres- . sor." 1 should like to read a statement made by the representative of France in the Security Council the ather day [298th meçting]. The representative of France stated: "If, on the other hand, we adopt at least a part uf the United States draft resolution, which notes thàt there is a threat to the peace-and here 1will make a point which I-did not stress before: the United States resolution makes no reference to aggression, it does not name an aggressor and therefore avoids aIl the involved and problematic discussion which wÇ)uld arise in -that connèxion c ••" .~ 1 wish to qu<?te also a passage from the statemMt of the representative of the United States in which it is stated [29~th meeting]; , "We do not have to determine, as suggested . -by th.e representative of the United Kingdom~ who lB the aggressor, who is at fault~if both parties are at fault, or -which Clne is more -at faultthan the other." - After what we ha:ve heard today, 1 believe the assurances given to the Security' Counçil do not correspond -to the facts. The aggrcssors referred to are the Arab States, and this has revealed the intentions of the authors of the resolution. Ml': LO~EZ (Colombia): At the beginning of our dIScussIon today, the .representative of China taHed our attention to the fact that there was a v~ry c!ear division of opinion in the Council regardmg the United States proposai and the amend~ents submitted by the United Kingdom delegation. That division of opinion, if 1 am not .The representati~e of China. suggested [301st meetingl that the two delegations should meet to s.ee iftherè was any. possibility of reaching an agreement whi.chthey might wish ta bring befQre the Security Couneil. This not ha:ving beèn done, 1 should suggest the foUowing as a possibility: Thal,the paragraph which we are now discussing shauld be changed to read: "Determines that the situaûon in Palestine é;:onstitutes. a threa.t tointe.rnational peace and iecurity within the meanihg of the Charter." " .. . . Âll,of us seeIt:J, ta agree th~t there,is a threa.t t9 mterru..tiop,-al peace.. J;'here does nat seem to he. v~ry wuch questio.n concerning that facto l, fo.r onè., thillk t1}.at there is r~ally ne need to bring in tbequ,estion of whether or not there is an act of aggr~ion. Fu~ermore, 1 believe that we should leave the door wide open for mediation and conciliation. To that end, it might be advisable to consider what we might do under Article 40 which reads as f611ows: ' '~In order to prevent an aggli'a.vatiol\ af 1;he situation, the Secutity Council ma.Yi bdo~~ m~­ ing.the recommendations Of dtlciding UPOIl Ù1e measures provided for in Article 39, c~ upon the parties concerned. tO comply with suçh, provisional mC3$ures as .it deen1sheé~Ssâl'Y' 'or desirable.Such provisionalmeasurès shaIl· be without prejudice tO the rights, daims, or position of the parties concemed. The 'Security··Council shall duIy takeactount of failure ta comply with such provisional measures." ... ln accordance with this. Article, we migh~thcn. change the following paragraph ta read: . "Calls upon the Oovernments ot Egypt~ Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia-" Syri~,'.ffansjordan and Yemen, and, likewise, uPQn the Jewish and Arab çommun#ies .of .Palestine, withQut prejudice to the rights, claims or position of these cOMmunilies, to' absta~n from any hostilt military action agaïnst each other, ~d to that end to· issue a cease-fire. and stand fast order tO their military and par~-miiitary fa"c~, to become effective within thirty-s~ hours alter the adoption· of· this resolution." 1believe thatf in that way, we s40uld be recognizing the fact that there is a threat to the peaçe, without becoming involved in a discussion as to whother or oot thera h4\S be~p ~~wt Qf aggressioa. ht·addition, w(: ~hfiWd b~ l~avjng~~dor open to ~()nclliation,and we should.be acting in accordance with th€! rem~ining pFov~ions Qf the proposal which are directed tow~ds the cessation of fighting ID Palestine. Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): 1 can speak oruy for the United States in this matter. 1 believe that this is the type of amendment on which the United States might agree with the United King10m" if it would compo:se the differences. So you see, we are in a good state cif niind. We feel inc1ined to accept the amendinent provided the United Kingdom ac~· cepts it. If the United Kingdom cannot accept it, 1would prefer to have the issue raised directly by an amendment on which we would vote. If this amendment brought the United Kingdom and the United States together'-:"'the initiator of the draft resolution and the mover of the arnendments-I think we would accept it. Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): 1find myself in the same mood as the representative of the United States. However, 1 am afraid that 1 cannot, at the moment, accept or reject this proposaI which has just been.made, by the representative of Colombia. 1 have only just heard him read it, and 1 must reflect upon it. 1 believe it will be necessary for me to consult my Government. 1 could make some personaI observations on the proposai, but 1 do not think' ~his would be of any value to the Security Council,' and it might ultimately prejudge the decision of my Government or that of the United States. If the Security Council wishes to know whether this. compromise proposaI is going to get us out of our rlifficulty, 1 am afraid 1 must ask that the m~ .1' be adjourned for at least twenty-four hours, and probably rathcr more. 1 am sorry; but 1 do not have the authority to accept a compromise of that kind. Mr. EL-KHOURI (Syria) : 1 do not understand how some of the representatives can consider that the Colombian proposai is a compromise or that it brings any change in the meaning of the draft resolution presented by the United States delegation. It makt'.s no change l:!-t aIl. It suggests that the farm .be changed to: "Determines that the situation in Palestine constitutes ?- threat ta international peace and security with- ~ the m,eaning of the Charter." There is nothing m the Charter which corresponds to this expression except ArtiCle 39. A search of the Charter Mr. LôpF.Z (Colombia): 1 heg to differ very substantiaIly from the opinion of the representative of Syrîa. 1 believe that the Security Council has to decide whether there is a dispute that may . lead to a threat to or a breach of the peace, or 'whether we are confronted with a threat to the peace. Once we decide it is a threat to the peace, of course the Chapters of the Charter that will applyare those that refer to threats to the peace, and it is not by any-means a superficial matter. It is a matter of substance. So long as there is a dispute, we can apply Chapter VI" of the Charter. But once we have a situation in which notonly do we have fighting, but in which we have statement.s of the sort we have heard from some of the'representatives of the Arab countries in the Security Council itseH, we cannot run away from the fact that there is a f reat to the peace. . In order to be brief-in accordance not only with the President's wishes but with the wishes of, everybody, 1 believe-each one of us has refraineç1 from sa~g many things. There is, however,' one question which 1 s~lould like to discuss: the,question of intervention, which so far has been neglected throughout. Every one of the Arab countries says that it has go~e into Palestine for the purpose of restoring peace. Even the most ardent friends of the Arabs outside the Middle East will have to admit, 1 believe" that that is a very 'serious contention. The Arab" countries have been' asked' by the Se€l1rity Council on what grounds they daim the right to have entered Palestine, and they say that they have entered the country to restore peace. Once we begin to admit the right of a country's forces to enter some other country to restore peace, we shan have established a new way of throwing the principie of non-intervention overboard. However, that ismerely an incidental remark . on my part. The point here is that 1 believe we have a threat to the peace, and 1 distinctly said When 1 fust heard the suggestion for.a compromise, 1 had a doubt in my mind, because it seemed to me that it was rather in the nature of an attempt to plaster over a rath~r wide crack with sorne rather thin plaster; that it was thought, that by just taking out a specific reference to AJ.tic1e 39, that would get rid of the whole difficulty, ! io not think it does in substance, and 1 dr chink it does even in detail. ln substance, 1 am sure the .meaning wC1uld remain just the same. In detail, the word "threat" remains, and that word oecurs in Article 39 of the Charter and nowhere eIse. Therefore, if the ward "threat" is retained, what is meant, presumably, is a back door into Chapter VII; there is no g(~tting away from that. 1 do not think this is a real proposaI. 1 am afraid it is the same device by which the League of Nations rather deceived itself-finding a formula which could just be swallowed by bath sides, each, of course, retaining its own interpretation of what was meant, which always led to terrible confusion :;l.nd controversy later. 1 do not think that this rea11y gets us out of our difficulty. 1have said more than once, quite frankly, that my Government did not consider that we should proceed on the lines of the second paragraph of the United States draft resolution. Ibelieve that the formula which has been submitted, with the. best of intentions, by the representative of Colom-. bia would not cs,'Sentially change tb u.t p~),ragraph. Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): 1 want to observe that a postponement of the passage of sorne sort of relief to this situation might cost the lives of many people. In the present situation, 1 hope that we can advance to a vote on the text just 0as it is. 1 understand that no am~ndIIlent has been put forward forma11y, and we have learned that the United Kingdom could not act upon a vote ~n the amendment today. That would mean a postponement for qüite a long time because tomorrow is Sunday. Therefore, 'I hope that it will be possible to proceet:. ta the vote on the text as it is presented. The PRESIDENT" (translated from French).:, l, shaIl put. to •the vote' the secQnd paragraph of the draft resolution submittedby the United States de1egation, which 1 shaIl nowread: UDetermines thatthesituation in Palestine con- .stitutes a threat to the peaceand abreach of the. peacewithin the meaning of ArtiCle 39 of the Charter;" , A vote was takenby a show of hands;there were S'lotes in favour,none agl,Zinst and 6 abstentions.The P'Qftl.graphwas not adopted having failed to recèive the q,ffirmativevotp' of seven members. ' Votes for: Colombia France Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United States of America . Abstentions: Argentina Belgitnn Canada China -Syria Uniteq Kingdom The PRESIDENT (translu.ted from French): With regard to the third paragraph of the United Statesdraft resolutionthe United KiIlgdom proposes anamendment. S.irAlexanderCADOGÀN (United Kingdom): It will be seen. that th~ version of the third paragraph .of the .amendment submittédby niy delegation is somewhat different from this propos~d paragraph. It reads as follows: ~'c~ upon aIl parties concerned in Palestine to abstain fr<'m acts,ofarmed force against each other, andto that end ta issue a cease-fire order ..:to theirmilitary andpara-military forces ta becolÎleeffectïve within. thirty-six houts after the adoption of thiS resolution;" Mr. AUSTIN, (United States 'of America): 'Now that paragraph ~ of the United States draft' resolution has not bun accepted but has been . rejected; the, Unit ~ States is very anxious that action should be taken by the Security Council in this dreadfui situation. In the hope that some arrangement might he made,betweenthe mover of the amendment and ourselves which would he acceptable, to the r~t of the Security Councii, the United Statessays that it w1Jl support this amendment proyided certain changes are aç- ,cepted in it, namely, the deletion' of the words ;uCalls upon all parties concernedin Palestine to abstain trom acts of armed force againsteach other", and in lieu thereofthe insertion of the words: t'Calls upon ail Governments and authorities to abstain. from any hostile military action. 1 ask the repT~sentativeof the United Kingdom whether r.l~ not this suggestion is acceptable to him. 1 understand that this last amendment is in accord with the suggestion made by the President. If not, it is my dispoSition that this amendment should include the suggestion made by him. The PRESIDIENT (translated from French): 1 shaIl call on the representative of the United Kingdom to speak fust; then 1 will clarify what 1srod about the time limit. Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): The text which has just been suggested by the répresentative of the United States is perfectIy acceptable to me, as is aIso the suggestion which was made by the President with regard to the end of the pal'agraph. The PRESIDENT (translated from French): My suggestion regarding the starting point for the time limit was slightIy different from what has been understood; it consisted in de1eting the words: "within thirty-six hours after the ·adoption of this resolution" and itiserting instead the words: "within thirty-six hours after midnight, on 22 May". Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): New York time? 'The PRESIDENT (translated trom French): Yeso Mt. LOPEZ (Colombia) : On one or two occa- 'sions 1 have claimed, without much, success, that it would be advisable to name the Govemments ta which these instructions are' addressed. 1 very respectfully submit that it is not on1y rather unusual but rather extraord;nary that in such a situation as thiS, at the, very moment we are c1aiming that a very serious international complication exists there, and when fighting is taking place, that the Security Council should be carefully refraining ftom naming the Governments involved or the Governments to which these orders or instructi~nsare to be addressed. (traduit so~ d'Amérique d'ailleurs au au différente à supprimer qui suivront l'adoption et compter J'ai beaucoup haitable vernements Je seulement naire que, moment une des ments, les These instructions are to be addressed to all Governments, not only the Governments of the Middle East, but to "all Governments md au- thorities". 1 say, very respectfully, that it would b~ wise to name the Governments of the adjoining countries to whom the request is addressed. It may be that there are good reasons for not doing so. The PRESIDENT (translated from French): The suggestion thit has just been made by the Colombian representative must' either be ac- cepted by the representative who proposed the text, or be submitted as an amendment. 1 shaIl Mr. EL-KHoURI (Syria): ln April) when the Security Çouncil adopted its resolution calling for a truce [283rt! meeting], 1 voted for it be- ,. cause it contained a clause which made it a conditional truce. It was a stand-still agreement based on a suspension of aIl political activities. There is nothing about political activities in either of the proposals before us now. It looks as if political activities are to be aIlowed to con- tinue giving the Jews in Palestine a chance to further materialize their claims while the Arabs are ordered to keepqciet. The Arabs are not to oppose them or, to make any objections. AIso, there is nothing to follow this truce. Who is 'going torepatriate the very large Iiumber of refugees? Who is going to restore thèir be10ngings which were looted and their houses which were destroyed? Who is going to protect the Arabs re- maining in the area which the Jews claim to dominate? It will not be sàtisf~ctory unless you , give the Arabs an assurance. that the legal ques- tion of the international. status of Palestine will be considered as weIl as the question of whether ,or not the proclamation of the Jewish State is legal andright. On what basis would they stop fighting without ,having any assurance for the future? . For·these reasons 1 cannot agree to anything like theseproposals, unless there are sufficient assurances to pérSuade the. Arabs that their cla.ims andtheir rights will be considered and that political activities will not continue. Mr. L6PEz (Colombia): 1Just want to make it cleat that 1 have not formaIly moved any amendment..However, the one that 1 suggested took into consideration the point of view that has just been expressed by the representative of Syria. It suggest~d that these recommendations should be made without prejudice to the rights, daims and position of the parties. As regards the beginning of the paragraph, 1 -,realize IlOW that the expression "aIl Govern- ments" may.have b~en intencled toinclude Gov- eI'IJme.,lltshaving treaty obligations with some of suis ment Mr. TARASENKO (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) (translated trom Russian) : It appears that there has been a misunderstanding. My ques- tion refers to the Colombian amendment and not ta that submitted by the United Kingdom repre- sentative. Mr. AUl?TlN (United States of America): There is no Colombian amendment. Mr. ARCE (Argentina) (trans.lated trom Span~ ish): 1 indicated in a previous statement [298th meeting] that the Argentine delegation would vote for any proposaI made here with a 'view ta restoring peace in Palestine; but 1 have since r~~eived instructions from my Government to propose that a cease-fire oreJ,er should be issued so that restoration of peace mayactually begin,' . with a saving of both Jewish and Arab lives. . ~e proposaI under discussion corresponds ~th the IDtention of my Government, which is deter- mined not to intervene in politicai matters ·that do not concern it, but is equally determined to vote for any decision calculated to ensure peace. My Government's desire to restore peace is weIl known, and has·lately been demonstrated in .very concrete form. Thus instead of abstaining in the present case, 1 shall support the proposaI with my vote. 1should like to add that my vote has no politi- cal significance, and that 1 vote in favour of the proposal now submitted by the United King- _dom and t..h.e Ulüted States on the understanding that it is without prejudice to therights'of any of the parties to the dispute. In other' words, 1 em- phasize the same point as was mentioned by the . 'The PRESIDENT (translated from French): Does the representative of China submit that addition as a fonnalamendment? Mr. TSIANG (China): Yes. ,Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): 1 would ask the representative of China to read the text of the. amendment because 1 think he . has inserted bis suggested change in the original text of the United States delegation. It should . be inserted in the amendment that is now pending.

The exact text of the amendment, as it now stands, will be read. . Mr.. SOBOLEV (Assistant Secretary-General in. charge of Security Council Affairs): The proposed paragraph reads: "Calls upon all Governments and authorities to abstain from any hostile military action in Palestine and.tp. that end to issue a cease-fire oI:'der to then-. military and para-military forces to become effective thirty-six hours after midnight, New York standardtime, on 22 May." Mr. TSIANG (China).: 1 sugge~ the addition of myproposed phrase after the word "authorities". The text willthen read: "Calls .upon all Governments and authorities, without prejudice to the rights,claims or position of the parties concerned, to abstain from any hostilemilitary. ac:tiôn •.." Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): 1 have no objection to that. Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): Nor have J. General McNAUGHTON (Canada);-Ispeakonly tosupport the proposaI made by the representative of China. 1 think it is most important to set at rest any anxiety on this score. 1 do not

1 shall put this text to the vote. It now reads as follows: "Calls upon all Govemments and authorities, without prejudice to the rights, daims or position of the parties concemed, ta abstain from any hostile military action in Palestine, and to that' end to issue a cease-fire order ta their military and para-military forces, to become effective thirty-six hours after midnight, New York standard time, on 22'May 1948." A vote was taken by show of h'tlnds and the United Kingdom amendment further amended by the delegations of the United States and China was adopted by 10 votes with one abstention. ·Votes for: Argentina Be1gium Canada China Colombia F'rance , Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Kingdom United States of America Abstention: Syria The PRESIDENT < (translated from French): 'This text, of course, replaces the paragraph of the United States draft resolution that begins with the word "orders." ,We now corné to the fourth paragraph of the United Kingdomde1egation's proposal. ' Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): On instructions from my Government, 1 had suggested previously that a paragraph of this nature should beinserted in the resolution. When lfirst intimated that [296th meeting], 1 explained that, as the Security Council Truce Commis~ion. was attempting to bring about and to ~amtam a cease-fire and a truce ih Jerusalem ,ltself-which would not necessarily 'depend upon what was done ih the rest of Palestine in re1~tion ta the main problem-it might be weIl t~ lDSe!t a passage in the resolution· which would glVe support to the Commission in that ende.avour. With that object in mind, 1 suggested thlS text, which 1 propose might be inserted in the resolution at this point. Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): We accept that amendment. As a matter of fact 1 notice that 1 am using practically the same words as 1 had already used preVio.usly [293rd meeting]. Unfortunatciy, the course of events carniot lead me to alter the wùrds 1 use when 1 am confr6nted with a situation that is .contihually deterièirating. Having made that one point, however,''1 shall vote in favour of that text. . Mr. L6PEZ (Colombia): My delegation very strongly agrees with what has just been said by the President. We not onlybelieve that these proposais are very weak, but we aIso believe that they. are. very similar to the resolutipns which the ~ecùrity CoUIicil has adopted in the past and which, according to thefirst paragraph of the resolutionnow béfore Us, have not beeri complied with. , We doubt it very much but perhaps it might be more appropriate to say that we do not helieve that much good willbe accomplished br this draft resolution. We shall vote for it because we do not want to appear as opposing any step to bring about an improvement of the situation in Palestine. But we.do regret most sincerely, in the face of such a situation that the world kriows to exist in Palestine, and to wmch we have been drifting for so many 1nonths, that we should not be able to :10 anything else but repeat and give expression to our good wishes that the parties should agree to a truce. • We have not even taken a decision on the one point that the President brought to the considera:- tion of the Security Council this morning, the question of the security of the Truce Commission; Most like1Y1 ifthis matter is not brought up now, we will vote for this proposal, and we will disperse this evening and leave the Truce Commission to its fate without making adequate proyision or even a recommendation for their protection.. Thus, 1 repeat, with a very deep sense of futility, thatwe are going to vote for this propos~l.

1 intend to revert to the question of the Truce .ColllDÛSsion at the end of this meeting. . 1 shall now put to t.lte vote the amendment contained in the United Kingdom draft: "Calls !1pon the Truce Commission and upon all parties concerned to 'give the highest priority to the negotiation and maintenance of a truce in the City of Jerusalem;" vertu de de rité deux tion." figurait pense l'accepte. duit l'accepte. dement "This te?,t is an adaptation of that of the original United States draft and 1 think that the United States delegation will accept it. Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): The United States delegation accepts it. A vote was taken by show of hands and the amendment was adopted by 9 votes with 2 abstentions. Votes for: Argentina Belgium Canada China Oolombia France Syria United Kingdom Unit,,:d States of America Abstentions: Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic . Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ,The PRESIDENT (translated Irom French): We will now turn to the last paragraph of the United Kingdom draft which is as follows: "Requests the Committee appointed by the General Assembly on 14 May to proceed as expeditiously as possible with the appointment of a United Nations Mediator for Palestine, and calls upon allparties concerned to avail themau Uni: semblée possible Nations parties ses voie (traduit ajouter posé que dire s~lves of his good offices in order to seek a solutIOn by mediation." . , Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom) : 1 only wanted ta add that the first part of this pr?posed addition is now unnecessary, but 1 think we might retain the end of it and simply add: Mr. LOPEZ, (Colombia): As 1 have aIready said, 1 do not attach very much hope to this provision,. but 1 respectfully caIl the attention of the Security Council to the factthat, according to the new paragraph that has just been proposed, the parties concemed are caIled upon to avail themselves of the good offices of the Mediator, in arder to seek a solution by mediation. Exacdy in connexion with what are they to seek a solution? 18 it in connexion with the truce, the political setdement, or what, since wc have had 50 many proposais asking the Truce Commission to rule on one thing and another? In the case of the Mediator, perhaps it would be a good thing to make th.e situation a little clearer.

,Before caIling, upon the United Kingdom representative to t:eply, with his permission, 1 should .like to make a comment. Everyone knows tlrat the General Assembly has already decided to appoint a Mediator and that he has been appointed. l' wonder whether under the proposed conditions the reference to the work of the Mediator is not calculated to weaken the Truce Commission's authority and to cast doubts on the results achieved by the Troce Commission and the Mediator. ' Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): 1 can see what the President means. Mi Govem- !Uent ~nly wanted something put in here in order, if pOSSIble, to help along the work of mediation, towards which we have taken the first step by appointing a Mediator. r do not think it is essential, and if the members' of the Security Council see any reason for not induding it 1 would not wish to oppose them.' General McNAUGHTON (Canada): It will be ~ecalled that the Mediator was appointed at the mstance of the General Assembly, and this is the fust time that the Mediator is mentioned in a document or resolution of the Security Council. If the resolutioll i8 adopted with the amendment of the United Kingdom, it will show that the Security Council favours the Mediator proceeding with all p~ssible. steps. 1 think it is very important ta include the words suggested by the representative of the United Kingdom. Mr. EL-KHOURI (Syria): ln this -last paragraph the phrase is lised "in order to seek a solution by' mediation." 1 believe that this refers to the. resolution of the General Assembly, which was adopted on 14 May [Resolution 186 (8-2)]. ln this resolution there are the words "promote a peaceful adjustment 'of the future situation of Palestine." 1 believe that this is the function of the Mediator, and 1 offer this in explanation and in answer to the question put by the representative of Colombia. Mr. SOBOLEV (Assistant Secretary-General in charge of Security Council Affairs): It reads: , "C?Us upon aIl parties concemed to avail themsclves of the good offices of the United Na- , tions Mediator for Palestine, in order to seek a solution by mediation." Mr. ARCE (Aigentina): 1t is clear now. Sir Al~xander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): After heariïïg the reprCb.::ntative of Canada~ 1 rather reverse what 1said before. One of the obje~ts we had in view was that the Security Council should align its powers in adopting any action with what has been done by the General Assembly in this matter. 1 think that that is rather important. Therefore 1 suggest that this might read: The words "to avail themselves of bis good offices" are also very weak. Could we not put it more forcefully, for instance: "Requests the parties concemed to facilitate by ail means in their power"-that would cover the" means of action and would not appear to cast any doubt upon the principle itself which is that the parties should approach the Mediator-CCthe ~izsk of t~e United Nations Mediator appointed ln executwn of the General ~\ssemblls resolution of 14 May" because the Assembly did not" appoint the Mediator directly. 1 say "by all meàns in their power" so as to leave no doubt that th'.:: parties must calI upon the Mediator. Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): 1 wish merely to call attention to the fact that !he expression "calls upon" has the meaning, m English, of demanding. 1 have noticed the change that occurs in rendering it in another l~nl?uage, and in reversing that process we have similar trouble. Nevertheless. one of the mean- "CaIIs upon all parties concerned to facilitate by all means in their power the task of the United Nations Mediator appointed in executinn of the resolution of the GeneraI Assembly of 14 ,May 1948". A vote was taken by show of hands and the paragraph was adopted by 9 votes with. 2 abstentions. Votes for: Argentina Belgium . C&Ilada China Colombia France Syria United KingdQm United States of America Abstentions: Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Union'of Soviet Socialist Republics The PRESIDENT (translated from French): 1 think 1 should now put the whole resolution, as adopted, to the vote. It does not seem nec~sary to read the text, which you all have in mind. Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): In view of the fundamental change that has been made in the prov~ions of the original United States draft resolution, l think it is important for me to make a statement. However, it will he véry brie!.

Before calling upon the representative of the United States, 1 would like to read to the Couneil a teIegram just sent to me by the Chairman of the Truce Commission and communicated to me by teIephone. The telegram, dated 22 May, reads as follows: . "Hadassah Hospital has been under artiIIery fire from Arab Legion for last two days.· Hebrew .University was attacked last night. University Library and Museum known to contain priceless treasures. The hospital is moreover famous for its sciem.i:lic research work, in particular in the field of cancer, and the results of many years' research are in danger of destruction. Twentyseven patients and medical staff are still in the hospital. T'Jole United States will vote for this amended resolution sole1y as it contains a call made to the parties to issue a cease-fue order within thirtysix hours after the stated timè. We regard this as a provisional measure with which we cxpect the parties will promptly comply in order to prevent an aggravation of the situation., ..If they do not, however, the Security Council will have to consider further action, if we are going to meet _our responsibilities under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace. If this resolution passes as it now stands, we should know within a reasonable time after the thirty-six hours expire, whether the resnlution, as amended, has had the. desired effect. Of course, my Government would welcome an îmmediate compliance by the parties with this resolution. 0 Mr. LOPEZ \Colombia): l said before that 1 was going to vote for this draft resolution with a v~ry deep sense of futility. Now that we have heard the. telegram from' Jerusalem, 1 wish to make a correction of that statement because 1 .~e~ th~t the Security Councilhas declared that It IS g?mg ahead witho:ut any hope of success and 1 beheve that, unfortunate1y, the Council has abundant reason to say so-every reason in the , le ~orld to say so-just as we have every reason m the world to belicve that it is so. But now 1 have onehope, and that is that if t?e anticipations of the Security Council are nght, this discussion and these proposals may not have been in vain, and that whén we next meet to discuss the Palestine que':ltion we may be able, The PRESIDE1'!T (translated from French): It is clear that this resolution will onlY'represent one step in the Security Council's action, whatever it may be. 1 shall put the resolution as a whole to the vote. . A vote was taken by show of hands and the resolution was adoptedf by 8 votes with 3 abstentions. Votes for: Argentina Belgium Canada China Colombia France United' Kingdom United States of America Abstentions: Syria Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Union of Sovi~t Socialist Republics The PRESIDENT (translated from French): Allow me to detain you a moment longer, in order ta inform you. that during this meeting 1 have received Saudi Arabia's reply to the questionnaire" [document 8/772], from the representative of that country. This reply will be communicated to you in writing. As regards the Truce Commission, 1 wish to ask whether you would agree to my sending a telegram leaving the Commission fiee to decide whether it would bèst be accomplishing its work by remaining in Jerusalern, and requesting it to infonJi1 us if it decides oth\~rwise, and in that case what sites it considers best suited to the mission 'We have entrusted to it. Further; 1 should aho like to send, to the Governments and authorities concerned, a rather strong request to give the work of the Truce Commission more support than they have given so far and, in particular, to appointliaison officers to the Commission, which 1 think is really the minimum of assistance it should be given in the performance of its task. The next meeting of the Council will take place next Monday, 24 May, at 2.30 p.m.; on the agenda for that meeting we shall have the questions of Czechoslovakia and Palestine. The latter.question has been included sothat 1 may give the Council any information 1 may receive in the meantime and so that we may have an excliange of views, if necessary. The meeting rose at 7.30 p.m.