501.BB Palestine/1–1149
Memorandum by Mr. Robert M. McClintock
UNA Contribution to Policy Problem Statement: Palestine
United States interest in the Palestine problem as it has developed in the United Nations is a corollary not only of this Nation’s role of leadership in the United Nations but also of the United States profound strategic interest in the Near East.
In the United Nations the United States has sought by three principal means to contribute to a solution of the Palestine problem and to the restoration of peace in the Middle East. Thus, in the General Assembly it has taken a leading part in endeavoring to reach a lasting political settlement. In the Security Council the United States has been active in supporting measures designed to maintain a truce in Palestine, to be superseded by an eventual armistice. Also, in the General Assembly the United States has sought to bring prompt relief to the more than half a million Arab refugees who constitute a grave social and political problem in the Near East.
The objectives of the United States regarding Palestine in the United Nations are to secure a prompt and lasting cessation of hostilities; the negotiation by means of the Palestine Conciliation Commission, of which this Government is a Member, of a permanent political settlement; and the relief and eventual rehabilitation of the Arab refugees, for which purpose the President will ask the Congress for an appropriation of $16 million.
[Here follows final paragraph setting forth the criteria which would guide the United States member of the Palestine Conciliation Commission; for the actual instruction, see page 681.]