Bombing in Damascus Jewish quarter, UNCCP relations with Congress of Refugees – UNCCP 86th Meeting – Summary record (Lausanne talks)

UNITED NATIONS CONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR PALESTINE

NOTE ON A PRIVATE MEETING OF THE CONCILIATION COMMISSION

held in Lausanne on Tuesday,

9 August 1949

1. The CHAIRMAN informed the Commission of the representations made to him and to the Principal Secretary the day before, by Mr. Shiloah and Mr. Sasson, to protest the incident which had taken place several days before in the Jewish quarter of Damascus. At the Chairman’s request, the PRINCIPAL SECRETARY explained that, according to information furnished by Mr. Shiloah, a bomb had exploded in the quarter, injuring about thirty people and killing eleven or twelve. Mr. Shiloah had pointed out to the Chairman that the unfavorable influence inevitably exerted upon the Lausanne talks by incidents of this type was a matter of concern to his Government. Mr. Shiloah had requested that the Commission should act as intermediary to transmit his observations to the Syrian delegation and request that the necessary inquiries be made to determine the guilty parties and that the appropriate sanctions be applied. The Chairman had replied that he would not fail to make known these observations to the Commission at the meeting the following day.

Mr. YALCIN pointed out that the Commission had no direct and authenticated information on the incident in question, and that it was not possible, therefore, in his opinion, to make representations to the Syrian delegation which might imply responsibility on the part of its Government.

Mr. de BOISANGER endorsed the views of Mr. Yalcin, and suggested that the Commission should simply inform the Syrian delegation of Mr. Shiloah’s statement, making it clear that the Commission did not endorse the protest but merely informed the Syrian delegation that it had been seized of the matter. The Chairman agreed to this suggestion, and the Commission requested the Principal Secretary to contact the Syrian delegation to that effect.

2, The CHAIRMAN informed the Commission of his interview with the representatives of the Congress of Refugees. In the course of the conversation the representatives had mentioned the following three points: first, their desire to be admitted to meetings of the Commission; secondly, that if that request was not granted, they would like to receive copies of the records of the meetings; thirdly, they informed the Chairman that during a meeting held by the Congress in Lebanon on 27 July, it had been decided that the refugees should return to their homes and live under the authority of the State of Israel, and, further, that the Congress opposed any suggestion of partition of Palestine among the Arab States.

The Commission adopted the Chairman’s proposal that the Principal Secretary should be asked to inform the representatives of the Congress of the impossibility of granting their requests, while adding that the Commission would be most happy to receive any information or communications which the Congress might deem useful to send it.