348. Editorial Note
On May 15, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations David W. Wainhouse and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs Richard M. Rountree sent Secretary Dulles a summary of Secretary-General Hammarskjöld’s report to the Security Council on the Palestine question. Dulles requested the summary on May 9 and a marginal note on the memorandum indicated that he saw it. The conclusion and comment of the three-page summary for Dulles read as follows:
“C. Conclusions: The report does not conceal the very preliminary nature of most of the discussions relating to specific proposals for reducing tensions along the armistice lines. The Secretary-General achieved a reaffirmation of the cease-fire and expressions of willingness to discuss further with General Burns the application and implementation of specific measures. He states in conclusion ‘If we have previously experienced chain reactions leading to a continuous deterioration of the situation we may now have the possibility of starting a chain of reactions in the opposite direction.’
“Comment: In the light of past experience, and unless there is continued pressure of world opinion on the parties, it is all too possible that early and effective implementation of the rather general undertakings by the parties might not eventuate. The report points out with force that the General Armistice Agreements bind the relations between the parties only to the extent that each party is convinced that the other will abide by the provisions of the agreement and that unhappily, in certain instances, uncertainty as to the scope of the obligations of each of the parties makes enforcement difficult.”
The full summary is in Department of State, UNP Files: Lot 58 D 224, Originals from Secty—Kashmir & Palestine. For text of the “Report of the Secretary General to the Security Council Pursuant to the Council’s Resolution of 4 April 1956 on the Palestine Question,” May 9, 1956, see U.N. doc. S/3596.