Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

DEPARTMENT OF STATE # OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON DECLASSIFIED Dept. E.0. Guideline, June 12, 1979 12065, Sec. 3-402 State He NARS, Date 11-13 July 28, 1949 By NLT- SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS PALESTINE The President of the Papal Mission to Palestine has indicated to our Consul in Jerusalem that he sees little future for Christian institutions in Israel or in Jerusalem unless the city is internationalized. The Papal Mission head also said that: 1) the demand is growing in Church circles for the internationalization of Jerusalem; 2) many church officials feel that a "smoke screen" has been thrown about US policy under which the rights of Christians are being whittled away ; 3) actions in Jerusalem will vitally affect the operations of Christian institutions throughout the Middle East; 4) he strongly feels no part of Jerusalem should be physically or legally incorporated into Israel. Our representative at Lausanne reports that his first impressions leave him no grounds for optimism over the possibilities of a settlement resulting from the Arab-Israel negotiations now being carried on there. Porter recommends that, in view of the probable continuance of the present impasse and the consequent necessity for initiation of proposals by the UN Palestine Commission, we formulate specific positions on outstanding issues. CHINA Although we feel that we are being subjected to duress, we have, in order to meet a situation which may involve the safety of US personnel, authorized our Embassy at Nanking to sign as guarantor for Ambassador Stuart's party prior to Stuart's departure from China. In complying with this procedure our Embassy is to empha- size that this treatment of representatives of the US is contrary to international usage and does not constitute a waiver of any rights under such usage. We have informed Consul General Clubb in Peiping that we are considering having Ambassador Stuart on the eve of his departure present to a Chinese Communist official an aide=memoire setting forth the recent anti-US actions of the Communists and asking whether these actions were taken to make the position of Americans in China untenable. Stuart would state that if the actions were so motivated we would close our Embassy and progressively our Consulates in China. We ask Clubb's views.