{"id":197054,"date":"1947-09-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=197054"},"modified":"2019-03-12T17:20:07","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:20:07","slug":"auto-insert-197054","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-197054\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestine question – Ad Hoc Cttee General debate: Arab Higher Committee – Press release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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U N I T E D  N A T I O N S<\/p><\/div>\n

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Press Division<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lake Success, Nassau County, New York<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ad Hoc Committee on Palestinian Question<\/p>\n

3rd Meeting<\/p>\n

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SUMMARY<\/p>\n

Press Release GA\/PAL\/3<\/p>\n

29 September 1947<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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The Arab Case Stated by Mr. Jamal Husseini<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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At today’s third meeting the Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. H.V. Evatt (Australia) heard a statement from Mr. Jamal Husseini, Vice-President of the Arab Higher Committee for Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini declared that the Arabs have always been in Palestine and that to Zionists are conducting an invasion of that country. The Zionist case, he said, is based on the association of the Jews with Palestine two thousand years ago. <\/p><\/div>\n

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World Jewry, he said, would not claim to be one race composed of the descendants of Israel. As for religious rights, they could give no secular claim to any partition in any country.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Balfour Declaration<\/a> contradicts the Covenant of the League of Nations, said Mr. Husseini, who recalled the British promises during the first World War to assist the Arabs in regaining their independence,<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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The Palestine Mandate, Mr. Husseini went on, does not implement the objects of the Mandatory system as defined by the Covenant of the League of Nations.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini called the Jewish Agency a “state within a state” and described what he termed the discriminatory treatment of Arabs in Palestine in matters of illegal immigration and acts of violence.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Even if there existed any room in Palestine for an increase in the population, said Mr. Husseini, that must be left for the natural increase of the present population.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini complained of the neglect of Arab public education under the Mandatory Power and of economic discrimination against the Arabs, both on the part of the Mandatory and the Jews.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Concluding, Mr. Husseini advocated freedom and independence for an Arab State the whole of Palestine which would respect human rights, fundamental freedoms, equality of all persons before the law, and would protect the legitimate rights and interests of all minorities whilst guaranteeing freedom of worship and access to the Holy Places.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Rejecting the <\/span>report<\/a> of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, Mr. Husseini declared that the Arabs of Palestine were determined to oppose with all the means at their disposal, any scheme that provided for segregation or partition; or that would give to a minority special and preferential status. <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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The Committee will reconvene next Wednesday at 3.00 P.M.<\/p><\/div>\n

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(A chronological account of the meeting is given in Takes #1 through 6 which is follow this summary)<\/p><\/div>\n

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S<\/p><\/div>\n

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Press Division<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lake Success, Nassau County, New York<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine<\/p>\n

Third Meeting<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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(PM) TAKE #1<\/p>\n

Press Release GA\/PAL\/3<\/p>\n

29 September 1947<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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(P.M) TAKE #1<\/p><\/div>\n

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Palestine<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question, Dr. H.V. Evatt called the meeting to order at 3.15 p.m. and gave the floor to Mr. Jamal Husseini, of the Arab Higher Committee, who read a prepared statement.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini said that the “Palestine Arab case is simple and self-evident. The Arabs of Palestine are there where Providence and history have placed them. As all other nations, they are entitled to live in freedom and peace and to develop their country in accordance with their traditions and in harmony with universal exceptions of justice and equity.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Arabs, he declared, are and have always been in actual possession of Palestine and thus have one binding, lawful and sacred duty: to defend it against all aggression.<\/p><\/div>\n

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No matter, said Mr. Husseini, with what apparel it is clothed, religious, humanitarian or political, the Zionist movement for the possession of Palestine is nothing but an invasion that aims, by force, at securing and dominating a country that is not theirs by birth-right.<\/p><\/div>\n

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On one side, therefore, there is self-defence, on the other side an aggression, he said. The raison d’etre of the United Nations is to assist self-defence against aggression.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Investigation and fact-finding, said Mr. Husseini, should have, by all means, been set afoot a long time ago. When enquiries are conducted for the removal of justices, they are understandable and commendable. But when they take the course finding ways and means to cover and justify aggressive acts and to recommend [?]st and absurd projects, they become hazardous and futile.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Referring to the previous 18 investigations in the past 25 years, when “such recommendations as were made in favor of the Arabs were ignored by the Mandate and those in favor of the Zionists were carefu1ly enforced”, Mr. Husseini declared.<\/p><\/div>\n

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“It is for this and other reasons that were duly communicated to the United Nations that we refused to appear before the Special Fact Finding Committee on Palestine. Otherwise, I desire to assure you in the name of the committee that represents the Arabs of Palestine of our great veneration for your august body, and to impress upon you the fact that we look to the United Nations for justice and equity, and we pin our faith and find our salvation in its Charter.”<\/p><\/div>\n

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In their life or death struggle against Zionism, said Mr. Husseini, the Arabs have nothing in common with anti-Semitism. In Palestine, the Arabs had no record of a single clash with the small Jewish community, before the British occupation, because there existed no political designs over that county.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini then went on to say that the Zionist claims Palestine, to which, he said, the Jewish position in the diaspora and their political influence in the capitals of the world, gave undue support, have no legal or literal basis.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Zionist case, he said, is based on the association of the Jews with Palestine 2000 years ago. If that claim had any legal or moral value, the Arabs could have better and stronger claims over Spain, parts of France, Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan and even parts of India, Russia and China, he said.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Zionists, Mr. Husseini added, say that they have a special religious connection with Palestine, but so do the Moslems and Christians. Religious rights can give no secular any nation in any country.<\/p><\/div>\n

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(END OF TAKE #1)<\/p><\/div>\n

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S<\/p><\/div>\n

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Department Of Public Information <\/p><\/div>\n

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Press Division<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lake Success, Nassau County, New York<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine <\/p><\/div>\n

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Third Meeting<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n

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(PM) TAKE #2<\/p><\/div>\n

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Press Release GA\/Pa1\/3 <\/p><\/div>\n

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29 September 1947<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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(PM) TAKE #2<\/p><\/div>\n

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PALESTINE<\/p><\/div>\n

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Finally, said Mr. Husseini, the Zionists claim the establishment of a Jewish National Home by virtue of the <\/span>Balfour Declaration<\/a>. Great Britain, he said, had never owned Palestine to dispose of it. The Balfour Declaration, declared Mr. Husseini, contradicted the Covenant of the League of Nations, and was “an immoral, unjust and illegal promise,”<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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Referring to the British contention that the said promise contained two obligations, one to establish a Jewish National home, and the other to safeguard the rights of the indigenous population, Mr. Husseini declared that no one could seriously suppose that the establishment of a national home for a people on top of the national home of another people could be achieved without undermining the rights and interests of the latter.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Great Britain, Mr. Husseini continued, as one of the greatest powers, and the Zionist organization, the most influential association in the capitals of the world, joined hands 30 years ago, to execute a policy in Palestine that aims at the destruction of the national existence of its Arab owners.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The two powerful allies, he said, had one point of difference in the execution of their destructive policy, and that was one of method and duration. This difference, he said, continued to grow after 1920, until it has waxed in the present campaign of Jewish terrorism.<\/p><\/div>\n

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But there was no difference in substance, Mr. Husseini said. The Zionists would destroy the Arab structure in Palestine precipitately by successive quick blows; charged Mr. Husseini, and the British would only dissolve and liquidate the Arab national existence in Palestine by leisurely and smoother means.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini then recalled the Arab national awakening since the middle of the last century, and the premises given by Great Britain to assist the Arabs regaining their independence, a promise, Mr. Husseini stressed, from which Palestine was not excluded.<\/p><\/div>\n

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(END OF (PM) TAKE #2)<\/p><\/div>\n

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S – N A T I O N S U N I E S<\/p><\/div>\n

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PRESS DIVISION <\/p><\/div>\n

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Lake Success, Nasau County, New York <\/p><\/div>\n

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Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine <\/p>\n

Third Meeting<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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(PM) Take #3<\/p>\n

Press Release GA\/PAL\/3 <\/p>\n

29 September l947<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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TAKE #3<\/p><\/div>\n

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PALESTINE<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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When the <\/span>Balfour Declaration<\/a> was proclaimed, said Mr. Husseini, vehement protests surged out from the Arabs of Palestine, and representative Arabs of other territories. The Sherif Hussein who was responsible, on the Arab side, for the British pledges, sent an unequivocal and sharp objection. A special envoy was sent out from the British Government to reassure him that the <\/span>Balfour Declaration<\/a> meant only a spiritual Jewish Home, and no a political one, and that it would have no effect on Arab rights or freedom.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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These reassuring statements, said Mr. Husseini, were made by the same Cabinet that issued the <\/span>Balfour Declaration<\/a>, and they should be taken as its real and true interpretation.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini then declared that Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, which defined the objects of the Mandatory system, states that the rights and interests of the indigenous population under the Mandate become a sacred trust of civilization in the hands of the mandatory.<\/p><\/div>\n

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But, he added, the Palestine Mandate does not implement this promise, for [?] object is to create a home for a people who were not in Palestine, and who have a direct relation with the indigenous population. Furthermore, he said, the inhabitants of Palestine, and the government which they were supposed to constitute and for whose assistance the British Government got the Mandate, have no place or existence in this British combination.<\/p><\/div>\n

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“Deprived of their rights, the Arabs were rendered helpless spectators to behold the funeral of their national existence passing slowly before their eyes;” Mr. Husseini continued, “This policy and that atmosphere in general continue to present day.”<\/p><\/div>\n

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(End of Take #3)<\/p><\/div>\n

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\nUNITED NATIONS <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n
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Department of Public Information <\/p><\/div>\n

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Press Division<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lake Success, Nassau County, N.Y.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine <\/p>\n

Third Meeting<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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(PM) TAKE #4<\/p>\n

Press Release GA\/PAL\/3 <\/p>\n

29 September 1947<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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(PM) TAKE #4<\/p><\/div>\n

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Palestine<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini then said that the. Jewish Agency had over-stepped its original limits and, through Jewish influence abroad, wielded such powers that made it a state within the state.<\/p><\/div>\n

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“The Agency was able, under the eyes of the Administration to form semi-secret military forces by means of which it bullied the Government,” declared Mr. Husseini. “Whenever the Government showed any signs of shaking the Agency’s power of intimidation, the whole Jewish world rose up, and through its influence in the press, put up a huge chorus of baseless complaints that aroused human sympathies and enlisted the support of the uninformed masses”.<\/p><\/div>\n

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In this manner, charged Mr. Husseini, the Jewish Agency pushed the British Government to limits beyond those contemplated for the execution of the policy and caused the U.S. Government to forsake its principles of democracy in Zionist support.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The U.S. Government, said the Arab spokesman, has permitted activities and fund-raising designed to flout the laws of Palestine and to subvert peace and order, “contrary to the attitude which the same government is adopting, with regard to the allegations of subversion of peace and order in another country”.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini declared that there are two scales of justice in Palestine, one – less favorable – for the Arabs, and one – more favorable – for the Jews. <\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini declared that Article 6 of the Mandate obviously imposed two clear and separate conditions for the regulation of Jewish immigration: 1) The preservation of the rights and the indigenous population, (2) the existence of suitable conditions. But, he added, both of these protective conditions were ignored by the Mandatory.<\/p><\/div>\n

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We submit, said Mr. Husseini, that even if there exists any room in Palestine for an increase in the population, which is not the case, that must [?] left for the natural increase that has attained the figure of 80,000 per year.<\/p><\/div>\n

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With this average, the population of Palestine without immigration will be doubled in less than 20 years, and will make of Palestine one of the most densely populated countries of the world.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini then passed on to the matter of public education in Palestine. Under the Turkish regime, he said, when the budget of the Palestine districts was loss than 5% of the present budget, 70% of the Arabs were illiterate in Palestine. This situation has hardly changed during the last 30 years. <\/p><\/div>\n

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In the economic field, Mr. Husseini continued, discrimination against the Arabs is still more apparent. The Arab economic structure in Palestine is mainly agricultural, that of the Jews is predominantly commercial and industrial. It has been the calculated policy of the Mandatory and the Jewish Agency, he said, to frustrate and raise obstacles in the face of Arab agricultural development and assist Jewish industry.<\/p><\/div>\n

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(END OF TAKE #4)<\/p><\/div>\n

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UNITED NATIONS<\/p><\/div>\n

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Press Division<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lake Success, New York<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine <\/p>\n

Third Meeting <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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(PM) Take #5<\/p>\n

Press Release GA\/PAL\/3<\/p>\n

29 September 1947<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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(PM) TAKE #5<\/p><\/div>\n

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Palestine<\/p><\/div>\n

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To increase Arab economic difficulties, Mr. Husseini went on, the Jewish Agency and its satellite organizations adopted an economic policy of complete Jewish exclusiveness.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini then referred to what be called, the Government’s discriminatory policy in the financial field, charging the following points:<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\tThe Jewish minority one third of the public, gets nearly one-half of the benefits of the budget, and the Arab two-thirds of the population get the other half.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\tDuring the last 7 years, Jewish local authorities representing one-third of the population got 77% of the loans given by the Government.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJewish local authorities benefited by 89% by the special loan funds of $10 million grants for housing and other purposes.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\tOver the period of the last 10 years, Jewish local authorities have received 62% of the grants-in-aids from public funds.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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Mr. Husseini then recalled the efforts media in the past to solve the Jewish problem and said:<\/p><\/div>\n

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“Great Britain had, over forty years ago, generously offered them Uganda for a national home. The father of practical Zionism, Dr. Herzle, who strove to relieve distressed Jews in any territory, accepted the offer, but it was turned down by the Zionist organization. Now, Soviet Russia has CD open offer in Birobaijan, in which thousands of Jews are leading a happy and safe and independent life – but the Zionists will not hear of it. Both these territories are large and fertile enough to relieve millions of Jews from their distressful conditions, in a manner which Palestine could not do. Palestine is a tiny country of only 10,000 square miles, more than half of which is uncultivable, The Zionist organization does not want Palestine for the permanent solution of the Jewish problem or the relief of the Jews in distress. They are after power, they are after the central and strategic position of Palestine that neither Uganda nor Birobaijan possesses.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. Husseini said that the peoples of the southern and parts of the eastern board of the Mediterranean Sea from the north of Africa throughout Egypt to the Persian Gulf and from the Turkish borders to the Indian Ocean, speak one language and have the same history, traditions and aspirations. One of the greatest political achievements in the world that served as a bulwark of peace and stability was the fusion of several nations into one homogeneous entity. The USA, the UK and the USSR were all created homogeneities that proved of great service in the maintenance of regional and world peace.<\/p><\/div>\n

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It was illogical, therefore, he said, that the United Nations, the peace-making machinery of the world, should lend a helping hand to break up an existing natural old homogeneity as that of the Arab world by the introduction in its midst of an alien body as contemplated by sponsors of a Jewish State in Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n

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(End of Take #5)<\/p><\/div>\n

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UNITED NATIONS<\/p><\/div>\n

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Department of Public Information<\/p><\/div>\n

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Press Division<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lake Success, Nassau County, New York<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine<\/p>\n

Third Meeting <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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(PM) TAKE #6<\/p>\n

Press Release GA\/PAL\/3 <\/p>\n

29 September 1947<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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(PM) TAKE #6<\/p><\/div>\n

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Palestine<\/p><\/div>\n

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The solution of the problem that was created by the <\/span>Balfour Declaration<\/a> and the Mandate, said Mr. Husseini, was that the Arabs of Palestine, who constitute the great majority, set up a free and independent state.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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After welcoming last Friday’s declaration of the British Government Mr. Hussaini outlined the following principles for the future constitutional organization of Palestine:<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t1. That an Arab State in the whole of Palestine be established on democratic lines.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t2. That the said Arab State of Palestine will respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and equality of all persons before the law.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t3. That the said Arab State of Palestine will protect the legitimate rights and interests of all minorities.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t4. That freedom of worship and access to the Holy places will be guaranteed to all.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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As for the<\/span> Report <\/a>of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, Mr. Husseini declared that it could not be a basis for discussion.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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That <\/span>report<\/a>, he said, contains two schemes both of which are based on considerations that are, in the opinion of the Arabs of Palestine, inconsistwnt with and repugnant to their rights, the United Nations Charter, and the Covenant of the League of Nations.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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The Arabs of Palestine are, therefore, he said, solidly determined to oppose, with all the means at their disposal, any scheme that provides for the dissection, segregation or partition of their country or that gives to a Minority on the ground of creed, special and preferential rights or status.<\/p><\/div>\n

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(End of (PM) Take #6 and end of Press Release GA\/PAL\/3).<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U N I T E D  N A T I O N S Press Division Lake Success, Nassau County, New York Ad Hoc Committee on Palestinian Question 3rd Meeting SUMMARY Press Release GA\/PAL\/3 29 September 1947 The Arab Case Stated by Mr. Jamal Husseini At today’s third meeting the Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. H.V. […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[5597,3301,1897],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1749],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-197054","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-arab-higher-committee","document-source-general-assembly-ad-hoc-committee-on-the-palestinian-question","document-source-united-nations-department-of-public-information-dpi","document-subject-palestine-question","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/197054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/197054\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=197054"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=197054"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=197054"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=197054"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=197054"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=197054"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=197054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}