HE course of the dis-

cussion both in the

plenary meetings of
the General Assembly and in
the first committee have
shown that the question of Paies-
tine has become an acute political
problem. It weuld seem that all
the representatives who have
taken part in the debate share
in this view. The view is also
confirmed by the fact that this
question has become the subject
of consideration by the United
Nations.

The fact that the question pf
Palestine has. become the sub-
ject of study in the General
Assembly, however, not only
demonstrates the acuity of this
problem; it also places upon the
United Nations the responsibil-
ity of:‘finding a solution. This
obliges us to study the problem
attentively, and from all angles,
being guided by the principles
and purposes of our organiza-
tion and by the purpose of
maintaining peace and interna-
tional security.

The course of the discussion
has shown quite evidently that’ it
has been difficult to take any
definite, and still less fmal,
decision on the substance of the
problem. The discussion in the
present session, therefore, can
be considered only as a first
stage. A decision upon the sub-
stance of this question will have
to be taken in the next regu-
lar session *of the Assembly, at
the end of 1947.

E cannot fail to observe
that the mandate system set

up in 1922 for the Government
of Palestine has not justified
itself. It has not stood up to
examination. The rightness of
this view can hardly be con-
_ tested by anyone. There can be
no doubt as to the fact that the
aims proposed in the establish-
ment of the mandate have not
been achieved. The solemn dec-
larations which accompanied the
creation of the mandate system

over Palestine have remained
only declarations. They have not
been transformed into living
facts.

The conclusion that the man-
date system for the government
of Palestine has not been justi-
fied is confirmed by the whole
history of the government of
Palestine on the basis of this
system, quite apart from the
confirmation which it receives
from the present situation in
that country. Even in 1937 the
British commission headed by
Lord Peel, after studying the
situation in Palestine, declared
that the execution of the man-
date was impossible.

A similar conclusion was
"reached by the Permanent Man-
dates Commission of the League
of Nations, which also referred
to what it called the impossi-
_ bility of implementing the Pal
estine mandate. The committee
which we have come together
to create should function in ac-
cordance wtih the historical
facts relating to this question.

Tt would be possible to adduce
_-a number of other facts relat-
ing to the history of the man-
_datory government which con-
firm. the ‘bankruptcy of this
‘system of goverment. However,
it will be sufficient, for in-
stance, to point to the Arab up-
and lasted in- reality for a num-

ber of years. It is well known

that bloody ‘events have occurred
_in Palestine. These events are be-
_ coming more and more os saa

_ FRIDAY, JULY 2%, 1947

Pie

the Palestinian problem,

by ANDREI

GROMYKO

Arab-Jewish state with equal |

ANDREI GROMYKO
Pes os ok Be PY duty of the
United Nations.”

It is known that the represen-
tatives of the government of
the United Kingdom have repeat-
edly, even Wefore referring this
question to the General Assem-
bly, pointed out that the man-
date system for Palestine had not
justified itself and that the so-
lution of the problem should
be found by-the organization of
the United Nations.

The committee must not fail
to take account of the conclu-
sions to which the government
of the United Kingdom has
come regarding the results of
the mandate over Palestine.

It is well known that the

same conclusion was _ reached, |
not only by the government of .

the United Kingdom, but in sub-
stance, for instance, by the
Anglo-American commission on
after
it had studied the question in
1946. The report of this com-
mission contained the following
words: “Palestine is an armed

camp ... from day to day it
became increasingly clear that
the atmosphere
was extremely strained . . .”

The transformation of Pales-
tine into an armed camp is a
fact which speaks for itself. In
such conditions, lit is impossible
to speak seriously of the de-
fense of the interests of the
population of Palestine, of the
improvement of their material
conditions of existence, of the
raising of Dacsies cultural level.

The same commission points
out the following very interest-
ing facts. The total. number of
persons. employed. by the police,
onthe: basis. ofa full working
day, employed by the police and
in the prison” administration in

1945, was 15,000. These figures

explain where the considerable
resources»-went to, which con-
stituted such ‘a burden upon the
taxpaying ' population. In differ-
ent circumstances, these  re-
sources oe cate Peer pPyoy

under

in the counrty

ed to the economic and cultur-
al interests of the country and
to its development.

* In 1944 no less than 18,400,000

' American dollars were spent for

the maintenance of
order.
year only $2,200,000 was spent
on public education. The Anglo-
American Commission comes to
the conclusion that “even from
the point of view of the budg-
et, Palestine has become a kind
of semi-military police state.”

law and

The data in the report of the
commission compel us to think
very seriously on the problem
of the correction, the rectifica-
tion of this situation, the prob-
lem of finding a solution which
would be in accordance with
the interests of the people of
Palestine and with the general
interests of the United Nations.

The task of the committee
should be to help the United
Nations in reaching just such
a solution through on-the-spot
study of the factual situation
in Palestine. Is it surprising,
“t h*e se conditions
tions which have arisen in Pal-
estine, that the liquidation of
the mandate is called for by
both Jews and Arabs? On this

matter, Jews and Arabs are

In the same financial _

'tinuing to suffer’ great

Only about one and a half mil-
lion Jews survived the war in
western Europe. But. these fig-
ures give no idea of the situa-
tion in which the great mass of
the Jewish people find them-
selves after the war. :

A great many of the Jews who
survived the war in Europe have
found themselves deprived of
their countries, of their shelter
and of means of earning their
livelihood. Hundreds of thous-
ands of Jews: are wandering
about the various countries of
Europe. A great many of these

»are in the camps for displaced

are con-
priva-

persons, where they

tions.

It is necessary that we con-
cern ourselves with the urgent
needs of a people who have
suffered such great. hardships
as a result of the war, in con-
nection wtih Hitlerite Germany;
it is a duty of the United Na-
tions. The Soviet delegation
considers it necessary. to draw
the attention of the General
Assembly to the following cir-
cumstance. The experience of
the past, particularly during the
time of the Second World War,

“has shown that not one state

of Western Europe has been in
a position to. give proper help
to the Jewish people and to
defend its interests, or even its
existence, against the violence

Last week British naval units re GEN and attacked
the Jewish immigrant ship ‘Exodus 1947’ 17 miles from the port
of Haifa. The - ‘boarding party’ used tear-gas, guns and smoke-
bombs against the 4,500 victims of Nazi torture aboard the ship,
wounding nearly 150 men, women and small children, and

killing at least three. This is only one...

the latest of many

such incidents, where the mercy ships of Jewish refugees have
been been forcibly boarded, and the unfortunate victims ruth-
lessly herded onto British prison ships Seca! transported to

Cyprus concentration camps.

The captain of the attacked Jewish van, in an emergency
appeal as the ship was forcibly boarded, called upon the UN
Palestine investigating committee to meet the ship at Haifa
“to see for yourselves what they have done to us.”

Against this background of unbridled bestiality and_politi-
cal bankruptcy of British foreign policy in the handling of
the Palestine issue, Andrei Gromyko, Soviet delegate to the
UN made a stirring appeal for UN intervention to find a humane
workable solution to the Palestine problem. This speech, deliv-
ered on May 14, 1947, appears on this page in am abridged form.

completely in agreement. Upon
this question there is no diverg-
ence. between them, and the
United Nations must not fail to
take full account of this fact
in considering the question of
the future of Palestine.

S is well known, the aspira-
tions of an important part

of the Jewish people are
bound up with the question of

‘Palestine, and with the future
structure of that country. This

interest is: comprehensible and
completely justified..The Jewish

people suffered extreme misery
and _deprivation during the last
wars 65. Tr the territories
where the Hitlerites were in
control, the Jews ‘suffered al-
most complete extinction. The
total number of Jews who fell
at the hands of the Fascist
hangman is something in the
neighborhood of six million,

q)

that’ was directed against it
from the Hitlerites and their
Allies.

The fact that not a single
Western European state has
been in a position to guarantee

' the defense of the elementary |

rights of the Jewish people, or

compensate them for the vio-

lence they have suffered. at the
hands of the Fascist hangmen,
explains the aspiration of the
Jews for the creation of a state
of their own. It would be un-
just not to take this inte ac-
count and to deny the right of
the Jewish people to the realiz-
ation of such an aspiration.

Quite a number or different
plans exist for the future struc-

ture of Palestine and for the so-.

lution of the Jewish problem in

connection with the problem of
Palestine. Among the best

known of the published plans,

the following must be noted:
The creation of a_ single

rights for Arabs and Jews; (2)
the division of Palestine into
two individual states, one Arab
and one Jewish; (3) the crea
tion in Palestine of an Aftab |
state without due regard to the
rights of the Jewish popula-—
tion; and (4) the creation im

Palestine of a Jewish state with- —

out due regard to the rights of
the Arab population.

E Soviet Union will state

its position on the various
plans in greater detail when the
concrete proposals are prepared
and considered, and_ especially
when decisions are to be taken
on the future of Palestine.

We must bear in mind the —
incontestable fact that the pop- —
ulation of Palestine consists of
two peoples, Arabs and Jews.
Each of these has its historical
roots in Palestine. That country —
has become the native land of
both these peoples, and both of
them occupy an important place
in the country, economically and —
culturally. Neither history nor
the conditions which have arise? —
in Palestine now can justify @

unilateral solution of the Pales-

tine problem, either in favor of
the creation of an independent
Arab state, ignoring the Jawfu) —
rights of the Jewish people, oF
in favor of the creation of a” —
independent Jewish state, igno!-
ing the lawful rights of the
Arab population.

Neither of these extreme sok
tions would bring about a just
settlement, first and foremost
since they both fai to guarantee
the regulation of the relations —
between Arabs and Jews, which
is the most important task of
all. A just settlement can be
found only if account is take?
in sufficient degree of the law”

ful interests of both peoples
These considerations are thé
basis upon which the Soviet
Union delegation concludes that
the lawful interests of the Jew
ish and of the Arab peoples of
Palestine can be defended in ®
proper manner only by the cr
ation of one dual democrati¢
Arab-Jewish state. hy

Such a state should be found
ed upon equal rights for thé
Jewish and Arab population®
which might constitute a
ation for cooperation betwee
these two peoples im thelr col
mon interest to the advantage
of them both.

not only that racial discrimin®
tion unfortunately still existe
certain countries, but also

tionalities within the
work of a single state; cooper®”
tion in the Process . of. Ww

“each nationality has the unlist-

ited possibility of contribu?
its labor “and using its” taleF
within the framework of a sin
state in the general common }
terest .of the whole people.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE