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CIED
Capn to admired Lealmy.
US/A/371
September 19, 1947
UNITED STATES MISSION
ani
TO THE UNITED NATIONS
wish
MORANDUM
September 18, 1947
TO:
Ambassador Herschel Johnson
FROM:
Mr. George Wadsworth VS minister to Irag-
SUBJECT:
Initial Arab Reaction to Statement Regarding Palestine
Made in the Secretary's September 17 Address to the
General Assembly
(1)
Following delivery of the address, I talked briefly with
members of all five of the Arab Delegations. Their comments were
unanimously to the effect that the Secretary's words could be in-
terpreted only as a declaration of all-out support for the UNSCOP
"majority report" or, otherwise put, a forthright commitment to
wield American effort and influence to bring about a pro-Zionist
settlement of the problem, i.e., Partition (or, better, "liutilation")
of Palestine, the setting up of a Jewish State, and "opening the
doors" to all Jews wanting to enter.
(2) Thereafter I lunched with members of the Syrian and
Lebanese Delegations. Discussion was along the same lines. I took
notes of its high-spots and, at the end of lunch, read them aloud.
Confirmation of their accuracy was readily given. Here they are:
Whatever the window dressing given in General Harshall's
first two paragraphs, we all understand from his third para-
graph that the United States will support establishment of a
Jewish State.
To give "great weight" to the majority report can only
mean that United States policy is, today and henceforth in UNO
discussions, to give it fullest United States Government
support.
Until today United States policy has seemed largely
neutral, except for occasional White House statements support-
ing large-scale Zionist immigration; today it has been
enunciated in clearly pro-Zionist form.
While General Marshall spoke of "detailed consideration
of the report" by UNO, we cannot believe he will two weeks
hence say anything contrary to the basic commitment of his
declaration today.
On the subject of the Secretary-General's proposal that the
Palestine problem should be handled by a special ad hoc committee
of the General Assembly, the Arab view was:
(a) That the suggestion, if not an outright Jewish
machination, would, if followed, play into Jewish hands;
(b) That such a departure from normal procedure at once
gives rise to natural suspicion as to motive; and
DECLASSIFIED
SURIOTED
3554
Authority E.O. 10501
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"ocrText": "CIED\nCapn to admired Lealmy.\nUS/A/371\nSeptember 19, 1947\nUNITED STATES MISSION\nani\nTO THE UNITED NATIONS\nwish\nMORANDUM\nSeptember 18, 1947\nTO:\nAmbassador Herschel Johnson\nFROM:\nMr. George Wadsworth VS minister to Irag-\nSUBJECT:\nInitial Arab Reaction to Statement Regarding Palestine\nMade in the Secretary's September 17 Address to the\nGeneral Assembly\n(1)\nFollowing delivery of the address, I talked briefly with\nmembers of all five of the Arab Delegations. Their comments were\nunanimously to the effect that the Secretary's words could be in-\nterpreted only as a declaration of all-out support for the UNSCOP\n\"majority report\" or, otherwise put, a forthright commitment to\nwield American effort and influence to bring about a pro-Zionist\nsettlement of the problem, i.e., Partition (or, better, \"liutilation\")\nof Palestine, the setting up of a Jewish State, and \"opening the\ndoors\" to all Jews wanting to enter.\n(2) Thereafter I lunched with members of the Syrian and\nLebanese Delegations. Discussion was along the same lines. I took\nnotes of its high-spots and, at the end of lunch, read them aloud.\nConfirmation of their accuracy was readily given. Here they are:\nWhatever the window dressing given in General Harshall's\nfirst two paragraphs, we all understand from his third para-\ngraph that the United States will support establishment of a\nJewish State.\nTo give \"great weight\" to the majority report can only\nmean that United States policy is, today and henceforth in UNO\ndiscussions, to give it fullest United States Government\nsupport.\nUntil today United States policy has seemed largely\nneutral, except for occasional White House statements support-\ning large-scale Zionist immigration; today it has been\nenunciated in clearly pro-Zionist form.\nWhile General Marshall spoke of \"detailed consideration\nof the report\" by UNO, we cannot believe he will two weeks\nhence say anything contrary to the basic commitment of his\ndeclaration today.\nOn the subject of the Secretary-General's proposal that the\nPalestine problem should be handled by a special ad hoc committee\nof the General Assembly, the Arab view was:\n(a) That the suggestion, if not an outright Jewish\nmachination, would, if followed, play into Jewish hands;\n(b) That such a departure from normal procedure at once\ngives rise to natural suspicion as to motive; and\nDECLASSIFIED\nSURIOTED\n3554\nAuthority E.O. 10501"
}