Draft Seventh Progress Report – UNCCP General Cttee 63rd mtg. (Geneva) – Summary record

UNITED NATIONS CONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR PALESTINE

GENERAL COMMITTEE

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE SIXTY-THIRD MEETING

Held at the Palais des Nations,

Geneva,

on Monday, 3 July 1950, at 11 a.m.

Study of the draft Progress Report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations

The Committee undertook the study of the draft Seventh Progress Report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations as prepared by the Secretariat.

The CHAIRMAN indicated that this Seventh Progress Report gave a detailed account of the Commission’s activities since the transmission to the parties of its Memorandum of 29 March, and that it further explained the reactions of the Arab States to steps taken by the Commission towards the achievement of its task of conciliation. The Chairman suggested to the members of the Committee that they should examine the .Secretariat’s draft paragraph by paragraph.

In turn, the CHAIRMAN, then Mr. BARCO (U.S.A.) and finally Mr. ERALP (Turkey) suggested certain drafting changes to the various paragraphs of the draft report.

An exchange of views took place concerning paragraph 2; it was considered that the drafting of that paragraph required careful studying, owing to the delicate nature of the problem with which it dealt.

The Committee decided, first of all, to delete the first sub-paragraph of paragraph 2, since it deemed it superfluous to return to the question of the acceptance of Israel and the conditional acceptance of the Arab States.

The first sentence of the second sub-paragraph of paragraph 2 was discussed at some length by the CHAIRMAN, Mr. BARCO (U.S.A.), Mr. ERALP (Turkey), the PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, Mr. SERUP (legal adviser) and Mr. LADAS (Secretariat). The question at issue was that the Commission should avoid creating the impression that it had withheld communications dealing with conditions set by one of the parties, the transmission of which to the other party would have implied tacit approval.

After a long discussion it was decided to substitute a sentence along the following lines: “The Commission has considered the appropriateness of asking the Government of Israel the conditions which Arab States placed upon the acceptance of its proposals.

The CHAIRMAN then read a sentence which the French delegation wished to add to the next sentence of the sub-paragraph under discussion in order to define more clearly 1-3 attitude of the Commission. The members of the Committee recognized that the insertion of that sentence would improve the text by defining the reasons which prompted the Commission’s attitude.

In the Chairman’s opinion, the third sub-paragraph of paragraph 3 of the Progress Report raised a question of principle. He wondered whether, in such a report the Commission should present an interpretation of the attitude of the parties or whether it should limit itself to a simple account of facts, accompanied by all relevant explanations.

Following the Principal Secretary’s remark that the sentence in question raised a point which had not been taken up before, Mr. ERALP (Turkey) indicated that, in his opinion, the proper time for the Commission to present such comments would be when it drafted its final report, constituting a general survey of the situation.

The members of the Committee agreed with Mr. Eralp and decided to delete the sub-paragraph.

A few drafting changes were made in paragraphs 4 and 5.

Concerning paragraph 6, Mr. BARCO (U.S.A.) considered that the last two sentences of the paragraph could be changed in such way as to avoid giving the Egyptian delegate’s role too much preeminence over that of the representatives of Syria and Lebanon.

After an exchange of views, the Committee considered that the Chairman, in co-operation with the Principal Secretary, could modify the last part of paragraph 6, taking into consideration the opinions which had been expressed.

One point in paragraph 7 was rectified, while a few drafting changes were made in paragraph 8. With regard to the latter, the CHAIRMAN thought that it might be preferable to delete the second part of the paragraph, starting with the words: “The Arab States further…” He also thought it advisable to modify slightly the drafting of the first sentence, to read as follows: “In these circumstances, the Commission decided that it would serve no useful purpose to continue the exchange of notes on the establishment of mixed committees…”

These suggestions were approved by the Committee.

The CHAIRMAN then asked the Secretariat to alter the draft Seventh Progress Report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the light of the foregoing discussion.

The meeting rose at 12.35 p.m.