The above-mentioned facts from the report of the Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry on Palestine, are of considerable interest in describing the situation prevailing in Palestine, and must lead us to consider seriously how the existing situation can be rectified, and how a solution of the Palestine problem can be found in conformity with the interests of its peoples and also with the general interests of the United Nations. The task of the special committee should be to help the United Nations to achieve such a solution of the problem by studying the actual situation in Palestine on the spot.

  It is surprising, in view of the situation prevailing in Palestine, that both the Jews and the Arabs demand the termination of the mandate? They are fully

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agreed on this; there is no disgreement between them on this point. The United Nations must take this fact into account when it considers the question of Palestine’s future.

  In discussing the question of the task of the committee for the preparation of proposals on Palestine, we must take into account another important aspect of this question. As we know, the aspirations of a considerable part of the Jewish people are linked with the problem of Palestine and its future administration. This fact scarcely requires proof. It is not surprising, therefore, that great attention was given to this aspect of the question, both in the General Assembly and at the meetings of the First Committee. Interest in this aspect is understandable and fully justified.

  During the last war, the Jewish people underwent exceptional sorrow and suffering. Without any exaggeration, this sorrow and suffering are indescribable. It is difficult to express them in dry statistics on the Jewish victims of the fascist aggressors. The Jews in territories where the Hitlerites held sway were subjected to almost complete physical annihilation. The total number of members of the Jewish population who perished at the hands of the Nazi executioners is estimated at approximately six million. Only about a million and a half Jews in Western Europe survived the war.

  But these figures, although they give an idea of the number of victims of the fascist aggressors among the Jewish people, give no idea of the difficulties in which larg numbers of Jewish people found themselves after the war.

  Large numbers of the surviving Jews of Europe were depriveed of their countries, their homes and their means of existence. Hundreds of thousands of Jews are wandering about in various countries of Europe in search of means of existence and in search of shelter. A large number of them are in camps for displaced persons and are still continuing to undergo great privations. To these privations our attention was drawn in particular by the representative of the Jewish Agency, whom we heard in the First Committee.

  It may well be asked if the United Nations, in view of the difficult situation of hundreds of thoudands of the surviving Jewish population, can fail to show an interest in the situation of these people, torn away from their countries and their homes. The United Nations cannot and must not regard this situation with indifference, since this would be incompatible with the high principles proclaimed in its charter, which provide for the defence of human rights, irrespective of race, religion or sex. The time has come to help these people, not by word, but by deeds. It is essential to show concern for the urgent needs of a people which have undergone such great suffering as a result of the war brough about by Hitlerite Germany. This is a duty of the United Nations.

  In view of the necessity of manifesting concern for the needs of the Jewish people who find themselves without homes and without means of existence, the delegation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics thinks it essential, in this connection, to draw the attention of the General Assembly to the following important circumstance. Past experience, particularly during World War II, shows that no Western European state was able to provide adequate assistance

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for the Jewish people in defending its rights and its very existence from the violence of the Hitlerites and their allies. This is an unpleasant fact, but unfortunately, like all other facts, it must be admitted.

  The fact that no weatern European state has been able to ensure the defence of the elementary rights of the Jewish people, and to saleguard it against the violence of the fascist executioners, explains the aspirations of the Jews to established their own state. It would be unjust nit to take this into consideration and to deny this right to the Jewish people to realize this aspiration. It would be unjustifiable to deny the right to the Jewish people.particularly in view of all it has undergone during the Second World War. Consequently, the study of this aspect of the problem and the preparation of relevant proposals must constitute an important task of the special committee.

  I shall now deal with the fundamental question in connection with the discussion of the tasks and powers of the committee we are about to set up, that is, the question of Palestine’s future. It is well know that there are many different plans regarding the future of Palestine and the regarding the decisions of the Jewish people in connection with the Palestine question. In particular, several proposal were drawn up in connection with this question by the Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry on Palestine, to which I have referred. Among the better-known plans on the question of the future administration of Palestine, I should like to mention the following:

  1. The establishment of a single Arab-Jewish state, with equal rights for Arabs and Jews;

  2. The partition of Palestine into two independent state, one Arab and one Jewish;

  3. The establishment of an Arab state in Palestine, without due regard for the rights of the Jewish population;

  4. The establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, without due regard for the rights of the Arab population.

  Each of these four basic plans has, in turn, different variants for regulating relations between the Arabs and the Jews and for settling certain other problems. I shall not analyze all these plans in detail at the present time. The Soviet Union will explain its position on the various plans in greater detail when definite proposals are prepared and considered and, more particularly, when decisions are taken on the future of Palestine. For the time being, I shall confine myself to a few remarks on the substance of the proposed plans, from the point of view of defining the committee’s tasks in that field.

  In analyzing the various plans for the future of Palestine, it is essential, first of all, to bear in mind the specific aspects of this question. It is essential to bear in mind the indisputable fact that the population of Palestine consists of two peoples, the Arabs and the Jews. Both have historical roots in Palestine. Palestinehas become the homeland of both these people, each of which plays an important part in the economy and the cultural life of the country.

  Neither the historic past nor the conditions prevailing in Palestine at present can justify any unilateral solution of the Palestine problem, either in favour of

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establishing an independent Arab state, without consideration for the legitimate rights of the Jewish people, or in favour of the establishment of an independent Jewish state, while ignoring the legitimate rights of the Arab population. Neither of these extreme decisions would achieve an equitable solution of this complicated problem, especially since neither would ensure the settlement of relations between the Arabs and the Jews, which constitutes the most important task.

  An equitable solution can be reached only if sufficient consideration is given to the legitimate interests of both these peoples. All this leads the Soviet delegation to the conclusion that the legitimate interests of both the Jewish and Arab populations of Palestine can be duly safeguarded only through the establishment of an independent, dual, democratic, homogeneous Arab-Jewish state. Such a state must be based on equality of rights for the Jewish and the Arab populations, which might lay foundations of cooperation between these two peoples to their mutual interest and advantage. It is well known that this plan for the solution of Palestine’s future has its supporters in that country itself.

  Contemporary history provides examples not only of the racial and religious discriminiztion which, unfortunately, still exists in certain countries. It also gives us examples of the peaceful collaboration of different nationalities within the framework of a single state, in the course of which collsboration each nationality has unlimited possibilities for contribution of its labour and showing its talents within the framework of a single state and in the consideration existing examples of such friendly co-existence and brotherly cooperation among various nationalities within a single state?

  Thus, the solution of the Palestine problem by the establishment of a single Arab-jewish state with equal rights for the Jews and the Arabs may be considered as one of the possibilities and one of the more noteworthy methods for the solution of this complicated problem. Such a solutionof the problem of Palestine’s future might be a sound foundation for the peaceful coexistence and cooperation of the Arab and Jewish populations of Palestine, in the interests of both these peoples and to the advantage of the entire Palestine population and of the peace and security of the Near East.

   If this plan proved impossible to implement, in view of the deterioration in the relations between the Jews and the Arabs – and it will be very important to know the special committee’s opinion on this question—then it would be necessary to consider the second plan which, like the first, has its supporters in Palestine, and which provides for the partition of Palestine into two independent single states, one Jewish and one Arab. I repeat that such a solution of the Palestine problem would be justifiable only if relations between the Jewish and Arab populations of Palestine indeed proved to be so bad that it would be impossible to reconcile them and to ensure the peaceful coexistence of the Arabs and the Jews.

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  Of course, both these possible plans for the solution of the problem of Palestine’s future must be studied by the committee. Its task must be a multilateral and careful discussion of the plans for the administration of Palestine, with a view to submitting, to the next regular session of the General Assembly, some well-considered and reasoned proposals, which would help the United Nations to reach a just solution of this problem in conformity with the interests of the people of Palestine, the interests of the United Nations and our common interest in the maintenance of peace and international security.

  Such are the considerations which the Soviet delegation thought necessary to express at this initial stage of the consideration of the Palestine problem.