Memorandum, Proposal Made by Lessing J. Rosenwald to President Harry S. Truman

PROPOSAL MADE BY LESSING J. ROSENWALD, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR JUDAISM, TO PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN AT THEIR MEETING IN THE WHITE HOUSE, TUESDAY, DECEMBER FOURTH The future of the displaced Jews in Europe continues in uncertainty. Their plight - with the rigors of winter ahead - remains desperately tragic. Meanwhile, conditions in Palestine have reached a stage alarming to the peace of the world. We have had sabre rattling, boycott, recriminations, rioting, bloodshed, and threats of still more bloodshed. This situation is not eased by the issuance of belligerent notes by sovereign states of the Near East, or by demonstrations and nationalist propaganda on the part of Zionists in and out of Palestine. It is high time to call a halt to this dangerous course. So-called promises made or implied decades ago, ambiguous and mutually contradictory, and variously interpreted by various parties, must no longer be determinant in the face of a new and grave situation. There is no reason why realistic conditions today should not lead to a complete reconsideration of the Palestine problem as there has been of other world problems. The necessity of reaching a workable and peaceful solution outweighs all other considerations. The peace of the world demands it. A solution of the Palestine problem can become a token of our earnest resolve to deal with broad world problems before they reach the crisis stage. We urge the following as a basis for a fair and peaceful settlement: 1) There shall be a United Nations declaration that Palestine shall not be a Moslem, Christian or a Jewish state but shall be a country in which people of all faiths can play their full and equal part, sharing fully the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.