PALESTINE TALKS BREAK DOWN

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5328, 14 February 1947, Page 5

PALESTINE TALKS BREAK DOWN

(Press Assn.-

KEJECTION BY ARABS"' INDEPENDENT STATE IS ONCE AGAIN URGED

—Rec. 9.30 p.m.)

LONDON, Feb. 13. The Palestine conference has definitely broken down, says Reuter's diplomatie correspond-. ent. The Arabs uncompromisingly rejected all the British proposals and Mr. Bevin told them Britain would probably have to put the whole matter before the United Nations. Mr. Bevin met- the Arahs to hear their objections to the "modified Morrison plan." He told them Britain had no other proposals to lay .before them. At the end of the session Mr. Bevin said he would regretfully ■* have to report to the Cabinet that they had failed to reach any agreement. The Arabs, however, acceded to Mr. Bevin's wish to have cne more meeting on Friday to hear the results of Mr. Bevin's consultations with the Cabinet. No Spirit of Compromise The correspondent adds that although there were no hard words, the atmosphere of the conference to-day was tense. The Arahs put Cieir case more clearly and uncompromisingly than evgr before. Mr. Bevin t.old them that in his view it would have added eonsiderably to the prestige of both parties if they had exercised , sufficient statesmanship to secure a solution between themselves, but there was no spirit of compromise from either side and they seemed as lar fro-m a solution as ever.

Several Arab delegates declared rpecifically that further Jewish immigration v/ould lead to bloodsbed in the Middle East. Jam Ali, F oreign Minister of ' Iraq, prophesied "explosions througbout the Arab world." The Arabs told Mr. Bevin they reP'arded the cconomic arguments in favour of Zionism as being on a par with ITitler's arguments for overmnning the Balkans and Mussolini's for conouering Abyssinia. One dele.'"atc, discussing Mr. Bevin's plea that ihe Arahs should meet the Jews, half iokingly suggested it would be necessar.v to detail oue policeman for every delegate to such a conference. The Oolonjal Minister, Mr. C-reech--Jrnos. asked the Arahs whether they wished Britain to wash her hands of Palestine. Oould the Arahs keep order by themselves? The Arab reply was a very definite ves. The Arabs urged that Palestine should lio declared an independent State^ and ihe United Nations notified i'orthwith. Death Sentence Stayed On Conclemned Terrorist LONDON, Feb. 13. It is officially announced that tbe ' General Officer Commanding in Palestine, Lieutenant-General Sir Evelyn Barker, has granted tbe condemned terrorist, Dov Gruner, an "indefinite" respite. It will remain in force until tbe Privy Council h as heard tbe application by Gruner's lawyer for special leave to appeal against tbe Palestine Higb Court's decision. Tt is officially stated that Royal -Air Force aircraft are still searching for the Jewish immigrant shiji Ulua. It was carlier reported that British naval forces had intercepted an illegal immigrant ship in Palestine territorial waters. Tbe British Miiitary Governmq^t m northern Germany announced that 300 .Tewish displaced persons, all skilled tradesmen', xvere to be aliowed immediate entry into Palestine under a scheme to he financcd iointly by Unrra and the Jewish relief societies. Jews fought Jews for the secpnd night in succession when -ten armed i men, believed to he ■ members of ' Hashomer ILaszair, kidnapped an extremist Yemenite Jew from an orange grove at Rehovoth, near Tel Aviv, says Reuter's Jerusalem correspondent. The kidnapping is believed to be in retaliaticn for the terrorist attack against the left ^ving; club room last night, when Irgun Zvai Leumi terrorists attacked and attempted to set on fire the Tel Aviv club room of the Labour faction, Hashomer Haszair. Seyen occupants of the club room aud five of the attackers were injured. Bhortly after the kidnapping at Rehovoth the terrorists retaliated and kidnapped two Hashomer Haszair members from Tel Aviv. Hashomer Haszair is the organisation of left . wing Jews favouring the creation in Palestine Oj| a bi-national State. Explosions Damage Ships In Haifa Harbour HAIFA, Feb. 13. The new commander of the British troops in Palestine, Major-General McMillan, to-day arrived in Jerusalem from Cairo. Explosions in the harbour "at Haifa this morning damaged two Government ships, a launch, and a landing craft. No one was hurt. It is announced in Jerusalem that a Jew who had been reported kidnapped by Arabs, in a village fig'ht, was later released, badly beaten.