Editorial Note
The Palestine Conciliation Commission, on September 2, sent a letter to the Heads of the Arab and Israeli Delegations, which transmitted the text of a draft declaration on the “Holy Places, Religious Buildings and Sites in Palestine Outside the Jerusalem Area.”
The purpose of the letter was to secure acceptance of the Declaration by the Arab and Israeli Governments, thereby giving their formal guarantees to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the declaration.
Neither the Israeli reply of November 8 nor the joint reply by the Arab Delegations on November 15 directly accepted the draft declaration. The former expressed Israeli “readiness solemnly to give formal guarantees for the free exercise in Israel of all forms of worship; for [Page 1357] the preservation of Holy Places, religious buildings and sites in Israel, and for the associated amenities; for the granting of rights of visit, access and non-disturbance; and for appropriate measures in regard to taxation.” The reply stated, however, that it would be preferable to take up the actual formulation of a declaration in the light of the forthcoming discussions at the General Assembly.
The Arab reply was in the form of a separate declaration, which repeated the language of the first five articles of the declaration of the Palestine Conciliation Commission, with minor language change, but which made no reference to the last three articles.
The texts of the letter and declaration of the Palestine Conciliation Commission and the Israeli and Arab replies are printed in GA, 4th sess., Ad Hoc Political Committee, Annex, volume I, pages 29–32.