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British Balk U.N. Palestine Partition Plan, NY Herald Tribune, Nov. 21, 1947.

Partition planBy John G. Rogers

LAKE SUCCESS, L. I., Nov. 20-Great Britain slowed today the United Nations’ drive for swift settlement of the Palestine problem by announcing five points of disagreement with the partition plan completed yesterday by a subcommittee that included Russia and the United States.

As a result of the British statement, the partition report was immediately thrown back to the subcommittee from which it had emerged yesterday after twenty-eight days of preparation, and Russia and Poland asserted that they would have to seek fresh instructions from their governments-a procedure that might use up two days in this eleventh hour of the 1947 General Assembly.

However, pending Russian and Polish quests for new instructions, the partition subcommittee hurriedly re-formed and in the course of 150 minutes of intensive work its members redrafted their plan to conform with the British disagreements, Tonight it was the high hope of most delegates that the changes had not been-so drastic as to cause great delay in the progress of the Palestine debate.
Cadogan States Objections

The British disagreements, some of which had either been indicated or announced earlier but which had been disregarded by the partition pioneers in the hope of promoting a measure of British co-operation in enforcing partition, were set forth to the full fifty-seven-country Palestine committee by British delegate Sir Alexander Cadogan. All of them clashed with the partition plan agreed to yesterday. They were-

1. Britain refuses to turn over authority in Palestine to the proposed U. N. commission on partition enforcement, until the Palestine mandate is terminated. The partition plan gave the commission full Palestine authority the moment the Assembly approved partition, if it does.

2. Britain reserves the right to terminate the mandate at will at any time. The partition plan called for this date to be set by agreement between the British and the commission, and subject to the Security Council’s approval.

3. Britain, at a proper time, will turn over authority in Palestine only to the U. N. commission, and this at once and in entirety. The partition plan called for the British to turn over powers and functions progressively over a period to provisional councils of government set up in the proposed Jewish and Arab states.

4. Britain, after surrendering the mandate in her own time, will not permit the commission to organize government and militia in any areas until such areas have been evacuated by British troops. During the period between termination of the mandate and the withdrawal of troops, such areas would be ruled by “military law.”

The partition plan hopefully called for the commission to move into all Palestine areas as fast as possible to organize government and to recruit militias-one in the Jewish state and one in the Arab state.

5. Britain saw no reason to be required to have Security Council approval on the end date for withdrawal of her troops from Palestine. The partition plan called for such a date to be set by agreement between the British and the commission, with the approval of the Security Council.

It was on the basis of those five points that the nine-member partition subcommittee had to resume late today the work that it thought it had completed yesterday. And, by 7 p. m. all of the changes had been made, leaving the partition plan an amended version of its original which might be described as a calculated risk that partition can be enforced without force, other than the militias proposed for the two prospective states.

None of the changes was accepted finally tonight. Russian delegate Semen K. Tsarapkin, for example, seemed not to care for two deletions of mention of the Security Council, but it remained to be seen whether he would make a major point of it.

While the five British points caused considerable scattered redrafting of the partition plan, two points in Sir Alexander’s eleven minute speech were of some assurance to the partition planners.

1. He said that the British would give the U. N. proper advance notice on termination of the mandate, presumably to permit the U. N. partition commission to be on the scene and ready to take over whatever authority the British would give.

2. He said that the British would “endeavor” to keep the U. N. commission informed in advance of the British timetable on troop withdrawals from various sections of Palestine, presumably to permit the commission to be ready to try to move in when British troops moved out.

It still stands, of course, that the British plan no use of their troops in enforcing partition and that the best the U. N. can hope for is some British help that would be purely incidental. Sir Alexander repeated today that the British will have no part of an alleged Palestine solution that is not agreed to by both Arabs and Jews.

In the subcommittee session that followed the Cadogan speech, John Martin, of the British delegation, said that while they would not let the U. N. commission into areas under British military occupation, the British would give the U. N. commissioners office space on arrival in Palestine so that they could begin studying maps and planning their activities.

During the period of their military evacuation, the British want no trouble that will cost British lives. Hence, they will not let the U. N. commission begin drawing boundaries or arming militia in areas of military occupation on the ground that such actions will start trouble among the Palestinian

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