IMMEDIATE

Your D.227. Palestine
The proposal for the establishment by the Secretary-General of an
ad hoc Committee on Palestine, while it might appear to be a time
saving device, raises several difficulties. We consider it would
be bad tactics and be a great blow to British prestige.

2. The Charter confers no power on the Secretary-General to summon
such a committee as proposed by the United Kingdom. The scope of
the Secretary-General's powers is clearly set out in Chapter XV of
the Charter. Accordingly, if a committee were formed in the manner
suggested its status could be challenged at the General Assembly.

In addition, the United Kingdom scheme provides no machinery for
determining the proposed Committee's terms of reference, powers,
composition and procedure, particularly to whom and how it makes
its report and recommendations.

3. We believe that if the matter is to go to the Assembly, the
Assembly itself should appoint a fact-finding committee to take
evidence from all interested parties, organisations and
individuals and to report back while the Assembly is in session.

On the basis of the report the General Assembly could then make a
decision.

4. The only alternative to this would be to place matter before
Security Council under Article 35 which could report to Assembly
when a course of action had been decided upon.