Task of mediation – UNCCP 117th meeting – Summary record/Addendum

UNITED NATIONS CONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR PALESTINE

ADDENDUM TO

 SUMMARY RECORD OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEENTH MEETING

held at Lake Success on Tuesday,
29 November 1949, at 2:30 p.m.

Statement of the Chairman (Mr. Yalcin) (See p. 2)

The Arab delegations, having noted that efforts at conciliation had been fruitless, requested the Commission to undertake the work of mediation laid upon it by the decision of the Assembly, Moreover, the Commission itself, as a result of its own observations, had become convinced of the necessity for such action. The delegation of Israel also agreed that conciliation efforts had been, and probably could not but continue to be, fruitless. But it was the desire of the Israeli delegation to bypass the Conciliation Commission in order to enter upon direct talks with the different Arab delegations separately. The Israelis will not consent to our assuming the role of mediator, and they have not hidden from us the reasons for their desire, in the course of the private talks they have had with us. For it is natural that the smallest proposal we might make, in carrying out our role of mediation, would demand from them certain sacrifices as regards the existing fait accompli situation, As they explicitly stated in their letter to us, the Israelis are in no way prepared to give up any part of the territory which they obtained by force and which they consider belongs to them by right of conquest.

Since our oft-repeated insistence upon undertaking the task of mediation has met with repeated refusals from Israel, I cannot see how, in the circumstances, it would be possible for the Commission to fulfill its task.

In the face of such a situation, I am convinced that it is our duty to lay before the Assembly at once, through the Secretary-General, a full statement of the exact situation. However, since my colleagues are in agreement that to submit such a report at the present stage would only render the Assembly’s task more difficult, I consider myself obliged to keep silent, in order to preserve the solidarity of the Commission.