Editorial Note
The Twelfth Ordinary Session of the Arab League Council ended on April 13. Embassy Cairo, in despatch 969, May 2, transmitted the unofficial texts of decisions made and resolutions adopted at the Session, several of which dealt with the Palestine question. The first of these decisions, on April 1, concerned the question of Arab negotiations with Israel, the text of which is printed in telegram 332, April 4, from Cairo, page 839. This text is presented in slightly different Wording in despatch 969. The decision of April 1 was amplified in a unanimous decision on April 13, as follows: “1. If an Arab League state learns of a violation of the Council’s decision of April 1, 1950, it shall report the matter immediately to the Secretariat General, which shall, in such an event and whenever it learns of such a violation, hasten to convoke the Political Committee to make a decision in the light of the information that it has received.
“2. The Political Committee shall request the state alleged to have violated the above decision of the League Council to answer the allegations. If this state fails to present itself or to make a satisfactory reply within the time fixed, the Political Committee has the right to investigate the case and to issue an appropriate decision on the strength of the information received.” (Despatch 969, 786.00/5–250)
The text of the decision of April 13 was transmitted originally in telegram 383, April 14, from Cairo, which stated that the approved resolution also included provisions to break diplomatic and consular [Page 857] relations with the offending state; to close common frontiers and end all financial, economic, and commercial relations; and to terminate all indirect financial and commercial relations with its citizens (786.00/4–1450). Telegram 383 also reported that the League Council on April 13, “Reaffirmed, with Jordan abstaining, the Political Commission’s resolution of April 12, 1948, to the effect that the entry of Arab Armies into Palestine was a temporary measure without the object of occupation or partition of Palestine and that territories occupied must be relinquished after liberation to the inhabitants for such rule as they desire.” Embassy Cairo had advised on April 13, that a strong tendency had developed at the League meeting “to recognize de facto administration but to refuse de jure annexation of Arab Palestine” (telegram 379, 786.00/4–1350).
Adopted also on April 13 were a Treaty of Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation among League members, the Military Annex to the Treaty, and the Protocol to the Treaty. The texts of the three measures were transmitted to the Department in Embassy Cairo’s despatches 761, April 14; 776, April 17; and 879, April 25, respectively; none is printed. Finally, on the same day, the League Council approved an amended decision of the Political Committee, as follows: “The Political Committee has examined the question of the attendance of its meetings by representatives of the All Palestine Government and has decided to invite the head of the Palestine Government, or whomsoever he may delegate, to attend these meetings whenever the Committee discusses questions of Palestine.”
The remaining decisions on the Palestine question by the Arab League Council were made on April 8. A resolution was adopted continuing previous Arab practice of refusing to issue Arab visas to persons with passports bearing Israeli visas. A second resolution banned supplies to ships known to be carrying immigrants or contraband of war to Israel. Finally, the Council passed several resolutions dealing with the Arab interest in Jerusalem. The most significant of these, as transmitted in despatch 969, read as follows: “The demographic situation. The International Statute (for Jerusalem) should include a provision whereby the population of every zone shall remain as it was on November 29, 1947. Those (persons) who had Palestinian nationality on that date should be considered citizens of Jerusalem entitled to enjoy all the rights of nationals. Those not fulfilling this condition should be merely considered as residents. Those who resided in that zone after November 29, 1947, should be considered residents, in order that an equilibrium may be maintained between the two elements of the population, as on November 29, 1947. Another resolution stated that “In order to assure the prosperity of all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the proportion of agricultural lands and real estate property [Page 858] possessed by the two elements of the population, should be the same as on November 29, 1947.” November 29, 1947 was the date the United Nations General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish States and to internationalize the Jerusalem area.
Unofficial texts of some of the resolutions were transmitted to the Department by Embassy Cairo in despatch 911, April 27 (786.00/4–2750).
Concerning the visa and shipping resolutions adopted on April 8, Ambassador Caffery, on April 13, advised of information from Hakki Bey, Egyptian Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that Egypt had been obliged to support these resolutions, which he agreed, reversed former Egyptian policy (telegram 376, from Cairo, 786.00/4–1350).
Ambassador Caffery evaluated the Twelfth Session of the Arab League Council in his despatch 969, as follows: “it appears that little strength was added to the League structure by any of the decisions including that of the Collective Security Pact. On the contrary, it appears that [the] League attitude in regard to Jordan is likely to pave the way for further deterioration of relations between Jordan and the Arab League. It also further demonstrated that the League operates under Egyptian influence.”