Trusteeship Council

Protection of the City of Jerusalem: The third part of the second session of the Trusteeship Council met from April 21 to May 4, 1948, to consider measures for the protection of the City of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. The USSR sent a representative (Tsarapkin) to the Council for the first time. On March 10, 1948, the Council had passed a resolution stating that the Statute for the City of Jerusalem was in satisfactory form and that the question of its formal approval should be considered by the Council not later than one week before April 29, 1948. In view of the action taken by the General Assembly and the Security Council, the Trusteeship Council, on April 21, carried the proposal of the representative of the United States (Gerig) that the Statute be transmitted to the General Assembly, together with the resolution of March 10, for such further instructions as the Assembly might see fit to give. On April 26, the General Assembly requested the Council to study and report on suitable measures for the protection of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. In consultation with the Mandatory Power and representatives of the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the Arab Higher Committee, the Council considered several proposals. The French delegate' (Garreau) proposed sending a United Nations official to Jerusalem with powers to recruit and organize an international force of 1,000 police, the United States proposed placing Jerusalem under temporary trusteeship, and Australia and the Jewish Agency favored the adoption of the draft Statute of Jerusalem.