501.BB Summaries/10–747: Telegram
The United States Representative at the United Nations (Austin) to the Secretary of State
947.
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The outline of an Arab States plan for the settlement of the Palestine question was given to USGADel by Malik (Lebanon) on Oct. 6, with the explanation that the Arabs were in the process of elaborating upon it.1 Basic Arab concepts were listed as (1) Palestine should be a unitary and undivided state with Jerusalem as the capital; (2) the form of government should be republican, democratic and representative; (3) full cultural freedom should be guaranteed to all ethnic groups; (4) there should be safeguards for the religious freedom of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Interim arrangements in the outline were: 1) establishment of a provisional government in Palestine upon the termination of the mandate and declaration of its independence; 2) the provisional government would supervise elections for a constituent assembly; 3) upon completion of the constitution, the provisional government would supervise elections for the national assembly; 4) upon the convening [Page 1177] of the national assembly, the constituent assembly would replace the provisional government.
In reply to a question, Malik said that unsatisfactory experiences in attempts to come to an agreement with the Zionists made him think it would be useless to discuss this plan with the Zionists. However, he saw no objection to a neutral person referring the Arab views to the Zionists in an endeavor to narrow the points of difference and arrive at a tentative solution.
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- Telegram 913, October 1, from New York, reported that “The Arab States would be willing to meet on common ground to discuss and work out a solution with the Jews if unlimited immigration, partition and the idea of a Jewish state were eliminated, Malik told USGADel on Sept. 30.” (501.BB Summaries/10–147)↩