Arab League

The Political Committee of the Arab League met in Alexandria on August 14, 1950 to prepare a common program for the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. It was also reported in the press, however, that one of the main subjects for discussion was the wide divergence of opinion among the Arab states, concerning United Nations intervention in Korea, the Palestine problem, the nomination of an Arab state to the United Nations Security Council, to which Lebanon and Turkey had announced themselves candidates, and the proposals of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for the solution of the Palestine problem. Press reports further indicated that Egypt had agreed that the question of Jordan's status in the League, after the annexation of east Palestine, would not come up again until the October meeting of the Council of the League. The League was reported as anxious to obtain United Nations recognition as a regional organization with official standing, similar to that of the Organization of American States. As a preliminary to such recognition it was believed necessary to obtain the signatures of all the League members to the collective security pact which had been adopted by the Council at its last meeting. On August 17, 1950 the Political Committee decided to direct its members to inform the United Nations that the demands concerning Arab refugees in Palestine would be pressed in the General Assembly, and would insist on concrete implementation of the United Nations resolutions calling for the return of Arab refugees to their original homes and the internationalization of Jerusalem.