culture Organization and other appropriate agencies and private groups and organizations, in consultation with the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, to furnish assistance within the framework of the programme;

19. Requests the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

(a) To appoint a representative to attend the meeting of the Technical Assistance Board as observer so that the technical assistance activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East may be coordinated with the technical assistance programmes of the United Nations and specialized agencies referred to in Economic and Social Council resolution 222 (IX) A of 15 August 1949;

(b) To place at the disposal of the Technical Assistance Board full information concerning any technical assistance work which may be done by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, in order that it may be included in the reports submitted by the Technical Assistance Board to the Technical Assistance Committee of the Economic and Social Council;

20. Directs the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to consult with the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine in the best interests of their respective tasks, with particular reference to paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948;

21. Requests the Director to submit to the General Assembly of the United Nations an annual report on the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, including an audit of funds, and invites him to submit to the Secretary-General such other reports as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East may wish to bring to the attention of Members of the United Nations, or its appropriate organs;

22. Instructs the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine to transmit the final report of the Economic Survey Mission, with such comments as it may wish to make, to the Secretary-General for transmission to the Members of the United Nations and to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

3. STATE DEPARTMENT BRIEF ON PALESTINE REFUGEE RELIEF

FORWARD

Three-quarters of a million refugees fled from their homes in Palestine to neighboring Arab countries as a result of hostilities in 1948 between Israel and the Arab countries. The dislocation in the lives of these people created a formidable obstacle to peace between Israel and the Arab States. To meet this problem the General Assembly in November 1948 established the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees. In December it created the Palestine Conciliation Commission to assist negotiations looking toward a peace settlement.

In August 1949 the Palestine Conciliation Commission, desiring to make a new approach to the Palestine question, established an Economic Survey Mission, under the leadership of Mr. Gordon Clapp, Chairman of the Board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, to examine economic conditions in the Near East and recommend measures for the reintegration of the refugees into the economic life of the area. This Mission, in its recently issued Interim and Final Reports, has recognized the plight of the refugees both as a symptom and as a cause of grave economic instability and has recommended a public works program for the employment of able-bodied refugees as an important measure toward their rehabilitation and the solution of the Palestine problem. It further recommended that direct relief should be gradually reduced with a view to termination at the end of 1950.

On the basis of these recommendations, the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 8, 1949, established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and called upon governments to contribute to an eighteen-month relief and works program, estimated to cost $54,900,000.

These pages explain how the interests of the United States will be served by participation in the program, and summarize its methods and objectives.

The security and prosperity of the Western World, and its relations to other parts of the world, are closely linked with the fate of the Near Eastern countries. At present there is reason for grave concern regarding conditions in those coun

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tries involved in the Palestine dispute and hostilities, including Arab Palestine, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. (Chart 3) Together these countries comprise an area of great strategic importance in world affairs. They are a center and a crossroad of worldwide sea and air communications, essential to us and to Europe as a major source of petroleum supply, and close to the heart of Islam, whose followers number nearly 300,000,000 people.

For centuries the Near East has served as the unique route of land and sea communications between Europe and the Far East. Since the construction of the Suez Canal, control of Suez has meant control of sea transport on vital trade routes. Trade between the United States and Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan has increased sixfold, comparing 1939 and 1948 figures. In 1947, 2,813 American vessels passed through the Canal. The area represents an invaluable stepping stone on air routes from the United States and from Europe to the East (Chart 2). Our interests therefore demand stable conditions.

Furthermore, an unfriendly power in possession of bases in the Near East would threaten South Asia and Africa, and flank countries such as Turkey and Greece, whose integrity is of first rate importance of us, and whom we are now supporting with both economic and military aid. Near Eastern countries friendly to the West, on the other hand, serve to increase our security in spite of their relative lack of military strength.

It is estimated that the Near East, including the whole Arabian peninsula and Iran, contains about 50% of the potential oil supply of the world. These resources are now being actively developed by various interests predominantly American and British. The capital investment of the United States in this development is a heavy one, and a substantial revenue accrues to the U.S. Treasury from taxes on the profits of oil now being shipped. Palestine and her close neighbors are on the routes by which the oil finds its markets, whether it is moved by tanker or pipeline. (Chart 2)

The Near East is the center of the Moslem religion which is of great influence in the area stretching from Africa on the Atlantic and Mediterranean to Indonesia and the Philippines in the Pacific. If the Near East were dominated by powers hostile to the United States, those powers would be in a position to extend cultural and political penetration to the remainder of the vast Moslem area, now generally friendly to us. United States interests would thereby suffer a serious blow.

CHART 3

American cultural and philanthropic activity in the Near East has been extensively expanded during the past century. Church missions, medical services, schools, community projects, colleges and universities, archaelogical explorations have had a profound social influence on the Near East. From these contacts, from which both Americans and Arabs have gained, there have arisen firm bonds of sympathy and cooperation. This reservoir of good will is a valuable asset to this country and is well worth preserving.

All these interests have been threatened by developments in Palestine over the last few years. The fate of the Arab refugees from Palestine, numbering some three quarters of a million people, destitute, disillusioned, underfed, illhoused, and idle, is a matter of deep concern to those countries bordering on Israel who now give them sanctuary, as well as to other nations throughout the world who are seeking peace and lasting security. Humanitarian considerations deeply affect our attitude toward these people; the American people also have reason for concern on grounds of self-interest.

Communism has thus far made little headway with these refugees, despite the efforts of planted agents to capitalize upon the distress of these people, and despite the local unrest occasioned by their presence. The presence of the refugees, however, does cause a serious strain on the economy of the Arab States, and thus create very real dangers to peace and security. The best interests of the United States therefore require steps to alleviate the refugee problem, and to improve the lot of these people.

These problems of disaffection and unrest are grave. Furthermore, failure to solve the refugee problem will adversely affect chances to achieve lasting political settlement of the Palestine conflict, and by prolonging a major source of friction between Israel and her neighbors, continue to endanger the maintenance of peace in the Near East.

The United Nations have been deeply concerned with the Palestine problem. It is not intended here to review the history of this case, or to attempt to assess the responsibility for the present state of affairs. It is largely due to the efforts of the United Nations, in which the United States has played a prominent part, that fighting in Palestine has ceased. Despite all efforts, however, a general peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors has not yet been achieved, and a major issue impeding its achievement is the fate of the refugees.

II. BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

A. GENERAL ASSEMBLY ACTION IN 1948

When the General Assembly of the United Nations convened in the fall of 1948, hostilities prevailed between Israel and the Arab States. The country which once had been the home of Jew and Arab alike was divided-with Arabs fleeing or being expelled to Arab held Palestine or neighboring Arab countries,— leaving the new state of Israel with a preponderentiy Jewish population, considerably augmented by Jewish immigration from Europe.

The task of the United Nations at that time was to continue its efforts to restore peace, and to find ways and means of handling an almost overwhelming refugee problem. The first of these was entrusted by the General Assembly in its resolution of December 11, 1948, to the Palestine Conciliation Commission, consisting of representatives of the United States, France, and Turkey which, among other things, was requested to:

1. Assist the Governments and authorities concerned to achieve a final settlement of all questions outstanding between them;

2. Facilitate the repatriation, resettlement, and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation for their property losses; 3. Seek arrangements to facilitate the economic development of the area. This same resolution declared that "the refugees wishing to return to their homes should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date".

A still more urgent task was to provide relief for the refugees. Acting on the report of the United Nations Mediator for Palestine, the General Assembly, in its resolution of November 19, 1948, established the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees, and called upon governments for voluntary contributions to meet the estimated requirement of $32,000,000 in cash or supplies. This program was deemed as "one of the minimum conditions for the success of the efforts of the United Nations to bring peace to that land".

B. PALESTINE CONCILIATION COMMISSION

While negotiations looking toward a general settlement in Palestine, conducted through the Palestine Conciliation Commission, continued throughout 1949, and positive progress was made by the conclusion of armistice agreements and the termination of intermittent hostilities, no definitive peace settlements have been effected. The Palestine Conciliation Commission found that the question of the repatriation and resettlement of the refugees was a major stumbling block in the negotiations. The Arab States united upon the principle of the right of the refugees to return to their homes. Israel, on the other hand, would admit no responsibility for the refugees. Israel took the position that it could not accept large scale repatriation on grounds of security, and because the radically changed character of Israel, which had become Jewish in culture and economy, made such a return impractical from the standpoint of the refugees. At the same time Israel maintained its policy of unrestricted immigration of those of the Jewish faith desirous of settling in Israel. Israel did, however, agree to repatriate 100,000 Arab refugees provided that such repatriation were part of a comprehensive plan for the settlement of the entire refugee problem and that it be put into effect as an integral part of a general and final peace settlement. The Palestine Conciliation Commission is continuing its efforts to solve these problems.

C. UNITED NATIONS RELIEF PROGRAM

Meanwhile, nearly 750,000 refugees and nearly 200,000 other destitute people in the areas affected have been kept alive through the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees (UNRPR). In response to the appeal for voluntary contributions, thirty-three governments had dnoated, as of December 1, 1949, the equivalent of $31,297,216 in cash, supplies or services. Of this total, the United States has contributed, under the terms of Public Law 25 of March 24, 1949 and Public Law 119, of June 23, 1949, $15,377,930. Originally intended to care for only 500,000 refugees, the program has cared for nearly double that number.

D. ECONOMIC SURVEY MISSION

While this relief program served its limited purposes-the prevention of a great human catastrophe and the probable breakdown of any semblance of order