Suggestions to alleviate refugee conditions (orange groves; blocked accounts) – UNCCP – Letter from General Refugee Congress

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UNITED NATIONS CONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR PALESTINE

LETTER DATED 10 MAY 1949 FROM

MR. NASSIB BULOS, DELEGATION SECRETARY,

GENERAL REFUGEE CONGRESS, TO THE

CHAIRMAN OF THE CONCILIATION COMMISSION

Sir,

On Thursday the 5th May, 1949, the Delegation of the General Refugee Congress met with Mr. Mark Ethridge, then the Chairman of the Palestine Conciliation Commission, and other members of the American Delegation with whom an exchange of views over the refugee question and the status of the Delegation of the General Refugee Congress, was made.

During that meeting, my Delegation suggested that certain practical measures could be taken immediately without prejudice to the military and political situation in Palestine, such as would alleviate the conditions of the refugees and prevent irreperable damage to a major industry of Palestine, one upon which the whole economy of the country has largely depended, namely the orange industry. My Delegation proposed that:

(a) that owners of orange groves in Jewish held areas should be allowed to return immediately to their orange groves with sufficient numbers of workers to resume work forthwith on the orange groves.

(b) that frozen assets in foreign banks operating in Jewish occupied areas should be released for the benefit of their Arab depositors, and in particular that orange growers should be allowed to draw on their frozen assets to enable them to meet the costs of maintaining and working their groves.

We need hardly add that the proposals fall within the letter and spirit of the General Assembly’s resolution of December 11th, 1948, and that if agreement is reached on this question, some practical effect would thereby have been given to the most urgent of the General Assembly’s directives.

It is therefore requested that the Commission take this matter up with the Jewish Delegation with a view to securing their agreement in principle to the proposals. In the meantime my Delegation holds itself at the disposal of the Commission for a consideration of such practical details as may have to be agreed upon to give effect to the above proposals.

The attention of the Commission is most earnestly directed to the urgency of this matter, since any delay would have the effect of destroying the orange groves, which have not been tended now for over a year.

May I take this opportunity to thank the Commission for its letter, addressed to Mr. Aziz Shihadeh, dated 7th May, 1949, and to request that all future correspondence with the General Refugee Congress may be addressed to Mr. Nassib Bulos, the Secretary of the Delegation.

I have the honour to be,

Yours faithfully,

s/ Nassib Bulos

Nassib Bulos

Secretary

Delegation

General Refugee Congress

Copy to:

Egyptian Delegation.

Lebanese Delegation

Syrian Delegation

Transjordan Delegation.

Jaffa and District Delegation