FULBRIGHT SUGGEST A FORMULA FOR MIDEAST REFUGEE SOLUTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000200940125-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 21, 1999
• Sequence Number: 125
• Publication Date: June 16, 1963
• Content Type: NSPR

CIA-RDP75-0014914000200 -I TL
A proved Fo lease 1999/09/17
- M 10JhK 'tM N qQ..i. 1960
Fulbright Suggests a- Formula
For Mideast Refugee. Solution;
Proposes Israelis Repatriate
Some and the Araks Resettle
Others With Compensation
By DANA ADAMS SCHMIDT
Sr,eci$I to The New York Timem.
WASHINGTON, June 15-
'Senator J. W. Fulbright sug-
gested today a possible solution
to the problem of Arab refu-
gees as a first step toward end-
ing the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Reporting to the Senate on(
his six-and-a-half-day visit for
the Middle East last month, the
Arkansas. De?nocrat, who is
chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, offered
,this formula:
"Perhaps the Israelis could
agree to repatriation or com-
pensation as the United Nations
has recommended, with` the un-
derstanding that tb numbers
who might accept repatriation
would be of manageable size
over a. period' of years.
"Perhaps the Arabs could in-
dicate a willingness to help re-
settle .those whd might decide
against repatriation, if reason-
,able compensation Is agreed
upon."
There are now1mbout 1,000,000
Arab refugees ft hi Israeli ter-
to Iiving`largely on United
Nations relief in Jordan , the
Syrian and'Gaza aas of the
;United Arab Republic and Leb-
anon.
Tpta1 of Refugees Mounts
During the eleven years since
thq Arab-Israeli war the num-
ber of refugees"' has gradually
ncreased by excess of births
fiver deaths.
The Arabs" have resisted re-
'turn to his-home in Israel or to
receive compensation. The Is-
jraelis, while a e1ng to com-
ipensation, have rejected repa-
triation to Israel of any except
Individual hardship cases on the
ground that a large Arab influx
'would threaten IsraeYs security.
Senator 4`utbixgght called the
#Arab-Israeli conflict "the most
call-pervasive sittl9tion" Influ-
encing United States foreign
policy in the Middle East. The
jpresent state of the conflict, he
!said, is "crucial."
Noting that leaders on both
sides were "considerably more
rational." in private than in
public . pronouncements, the
Senator speculated whether a
formula to "move the problem
off dead center," might not, be
worked out in "quiet, off-the-
record conversations."
If ' - s tes "within' the area
could make no progress, he
proposed enlisting assistance
from "neutral, nonpolitical" so
cial scientists, economists, re-
tired diplomats and educators,
Senator Fuftighk.}nade what
appeared to =be a,? personal ap-
peal to President Gamal Abdel
Nasser of the United Arab
Republic and Premier David
Ben-Gurion of Israel, "both
able, dedicated ,menwhom, he
met during his tour. ,I4.e de-
clared he believed that - A'each
Approve
The New York Times (by George Tames)
Senator J. W. Fulbright
t e qualities which enable
tree statesmen, by reason, to
overcome irrational emotion."
Diplomatic analysts said that
the weakness in Senator Ful-
briglit's proposal was that it
assumed a desire for peaceful
e
t s' While
settlement on both si
the Israelis have expressed such
a desire, the Arabs still insist
that they intend to destroy Is-
rael.
Senator Fulbright said that
the Arabs should "reconsider
the view that refugees are a
political asset to be used against
Israel and an economic liability
in Arab lands."
"The Arabs must realize that
to seem to make refugees serve
a political purpose will in time
become counter-productive," he
declared.
He recommended "the start
now being made in training
some of the younger generation
in trades and handicrafts."
The Israelis should at the
U a
d that
li
r
ze, a s ,
same time rea
the existence of refugees from f
Palestine appealed to humanita-i
rian';i?istincts ""just as did the;
Jewish refugees from Hitler."
The, longer this problem is left
unsolved; he added, the more
likely it is that Israel will be
held responsible for the prob-
lem.
Looking beyond the refugee
problem, Senator Fulbright as-
serted that peaceful economic
and -political development in the
Middle East required accep-
tance by the Arab states that
the world "could not stand idly
aside" if they tried to drive
the Israelis into the sea and'
acceptance by Israel that ex-
pansion of her borders by force
"will not be tolerated."
The Senator reviewed what
he. termed the mistakes the
United Mates has made in the
Middle,; ast, including overem-
phasis on "the dangers- of So-
viet military intervention," and
tendencies to "confuse national-
ism with communism." He said
that "greater recognition of the
dignity= of newly independent
nations :and a small -dose of