An Expert's

Analyses:

The UN Record: A Reckoning

By A. L. GOODHART,

Eilat became of major importance the Straits of Tiran. Here, again, largest part on his ability to con- 1917 Jerusalem was under Turkish
K.B.E., Q.C.
to Israel. In 1957 it handled 41,000 he should have given them ade- vince all the parties concerned suzerainty. The population in 1905
formerly Master of University Col- tons of cargo. By 1965 this had in- quate warning.
that he is completely impartial and consisted of about 7,000 Moslems,
lege, Editor of the Taw Quarterly creased to 500,000 tons, including
U Thant's second justification anxious to help in clarifying the 13,000 Christians and 40,000 Jews.
Review'
90 per - cent of Israel's oil imports. was that UNEF would not have points in dispute. The least help- It may, therefore, be said that it
In his address to the General As- U. Thant's Duty
been able to stop the Egyptians ful thing that he can do, there- was predominantly a Jewish city.
sembly of the United Nations on
The situation in the Middle East when they chose to advance. This fore, is to state categorically what
The second question concerning
Sept. 26 Mr. George Brown, gradually deteriorated, with con- is true, of course, as far as physi- the combatants must do.
the refugees is answered by the
the • foreign secretary, after stat- tinuing border raids. The Pales- cal force is concerned, but it com-
This, however, is the result of principle that all refugees "have
ing that "Israel must withdraw," tine Lib e r a t i o n Organization pletely di'sregards the moral force the six "fundamental principles" a natural right to be in their home-
said: "My own view is that a set- poured out threats from the Cairo which the UN claims to exercise. for the settlement of the Arab-Is- land and to have a future." This
tlement in the Middle East can Radio saying: "An end must be
By standing his ground until raeli war which he listed in his absolute principle is a novel one
come only through the United Na- put to the . challenge of Israel and the UN had had an opportunity report to the assembly. These are as far as the UN is concerned. It
tions Organization."
its very existence." On May 13 to take some action, even if it related to the four main points at has never protested when Jews
This idea has appealed strongly this year the Russians reported was only a protest, U Thant would issue: (1) What is to happen to have been expelled by the Arab
to President Nasser. He has in- that Israel was concentrating large have made it clear that the Egyp- the territory occupied by Israel? countries and their property seized.
sisted that the two sides could forces on the Syrian border in pre- tians were the aggressors. The (2) What is to happen to the Arab It disregards the danger that some
only meet, if they were to meet paration for an attack. No troop Israelis had given repeated warn- refugees? (3) What is to happen of these refugees might cause to
at all, "under the auspices of the movements were, however, detected ings ever since 1957 that they in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Suet the safety of a country surrounded
would regard the closing of the Canal? (4) Is the existence of by enemies, especially if they were
United Nations chairman." On the by the UN observers.
other hand. Prime Minister Eshkol
At this time the total UNEF sta- Straits of Tiran as a casus belli. Israel to be recognized by the encouraged to embark on sabotage.
After this predictable war be- Arab States?
has been equally firm in his re- tioned in Egypt consisted of 3,378
Israel is entitled to guard against
jection of the United Nations in men. On May 16 the Egyptians, gan, the part played by the Secu-
The secretary-general seems to this by carefully vetting the ref-
rity
Council
was
hardly
a
dignified
such a role.
be answering the first question by ugees.
without any warning, demanded
The third question concerns the
This has led to an obvious im- that the UNEF should be immedi- one. It has been said that the his basic principle that "the oc-
passe. It is necessary, therefore, ately withdrawn. In less than two UN is of value because it provides cupation by military force of the recognition of one state by an
to understand why Israel, which days Secretary-General U Thant a debating chamber in which ideas territory of one state by another other. This seems to ignore the
in the oast had been a strong UN instructed General Rikhye to with- can be exchanged. A flood of in- cannot be condoned." This ap- Arab refusal to negotiate directly
sults and false statements can do parently leads to the conclusion with Israel on the ground that they
supporter, now regards the or- draw UNEF as requested.
that all the territories occupied by do not recognize her existence.
ganization with such suspicion.
Before this, informal consulta- nothing but harm, however.
Under the leadership of the So- Israel must be returned to Syria,
The fourth question seems to be
In 1948, when Great Britain tions had been held with the rep-
relinquished its mandate over resentatives of Canada. Denmark, viet delegate, Israel was continual- Jordan and Egypt, even though answered by the general principle
Palestine, the General Assembly of India and Yugoslavia, whose ly attacked as the "aggressor" this would endanger the existence that "there shall be free and un-
impeded navigation for all through
the UN resolved that the country troops made up the F. The when defending her position in the of Israel.
international waterways according
should be partitioned and that first two advised delay on the Gulf of Aqaba. It has , however. Jerusalem Claim
It has been argued that the re- to international conventions." It
Jerusalem should be a separate in- ground that a withdrawal might always been the Russian doctrine
ternational entity. Israel was ready lead to war, while the last two that an attempt to close the Dar- turn of these territories would is not clear, however, what this
lead to Arab good will and even- principle is supposed to accom-
to accept, but the Arabs refused. insisted that Egypt was acting danelles would be an act of war.
Great Britain and the United tual peace. But peace will never plish when applied to the present
A few weeks later Egypt, Syria within her rights.
and Jordan attacked Israel. The
U Thant has justified his States were also accused of taking come as long as the Arabs believe dispute, because the Egyptians
UN negotiated a cease fire after hurried action on the ground that part in the air attack on Egypt, they can destroy Israel. Peace will argue that the Suez Canal is not
Israel had 'won the war. In .spite UNEF derived its right to be on and this charge was not withdrawn only come when the Israeli bor- an international waterway. They
of the armistice Egypt excluded Egyptian soil from the Egyptian even when it became obvious that ders are sufficiently strong to per- can, therefore, accept the prin-
all Israeli ships from the Suez government. Once the consent of it was a false one. It is ironic that suade the Arabs that such an at- ciple and still sink the Israeli
ships.
Canal on the ground that they that government was withdrawn it so much time was spent in these tack must fail.
This principle would also lead
were still at war. As a result, the had no legal basis for, remaining. groundless attacks while the call
Finally, the secretary-general
port of Eilat was established by This fails to recognize the self- for the cease fire, which proved to to the return of the Old City of is arguing in favor of the status
Israel on the Gulf of Aqaba.
evident principle that a revocable be so essential for the Arab Jerusalem to Jordan, which King quo ante on the ground that war
In 1951 the UN tried to have license cannot be immediately re- armies, was being delayed by the Abdullah seized in 1948. Since must never be seen to pay, even
then all Jews have been excluded, if the victorious nation was fight-
the canal opened for Israeli ships, voked. A reasonable time. must be Security Council.
The final criticism that can be without any effective protest from ing for its life against overwhelm-
but this was ignored by Egypt. In afforded to the licensee for his
brought against the United Na- the UN.
the second war, in 1956, Israel withdrawal.
ing odds. Is it surprising that in
It is difficult to understand on these circumstances Israel is not
again d e f e a t e d the Egyptian
When the UN sent the UNEF to tions is the conduct of the peace
negotiations
by
the
secretary-gen-
what ground Jordan's claim to the prepared to accept the United Na-
armies. In November the UN Sharm el Sheikh Secretary-Gen-
called for a cease fire. A UN Emer- eral Hammarskjold, who had con- eral. His influence must depend in Old City can be supported. Until tions as an arbiter?
gency Force was then established ducted the negotiations, knew
"to enter Egyptian territory with that it was in reliance on this that
the consent of the Egyptian gov- Israel had agreed to withdraw her -
ernment, in order to help maintain troops. It was therefore the duty
quiet during and after the with- of his successor, U Thant, to notify
drawal of non-Egyptian troops."
Israel that he intended to with-
Thereafter, I s r a el withdrew draw.
from Sinai on receiving assurances Predictable War
diplomatic and economic pressure expressed intention of the Arab
from the United States, Great Bri-
Israel was entitled to have the To the Editor:
on the Israeli government."
tain and France that free passage opportunity to consider what ac-
states for more than 20 years,
In your April 23 news dispatch
Before such pressure is exerted and even now, in his moment of
of the Straits of Tiran was guar- tions to take to protect her essen- from Amman Arab diplomats are
anteed. UNEF troops were then sta- tial interests. The Secretary-Gen- quoted as saying that Israel will it may be useful to consider what total defeat, Nasser has called for
would be the effect on Israel if a fourth war in which the Arabs
tioned at Sharm el Sheikh, in the eral also knew that the United not withdraw from territories
oc- the status quo, as it existed in can
Sinai peninsula, which commanded States and Great Britain were cupied during the war last June
be avenged.
the straits. Thereafter the port of bound by their pledge to protect "until the United States exerts 1967 before the June war began,
The destruction of any of the
were restored. The 800 Russian Arab states has never been an
tanks which were destroyed have Israeli policy, even if such a thing
Introducing Prof. A. L. Goodhart
been replaced; they could be con- were possible. Its purpose has been
centrated again on the Negev self-defense. It is this purpose
frontier less than 35 miles from which will guide the Israeli deci-
Tel Aviv, but this time they would sions concerning the territories
be manned in part by some of the that they now occupy.
3,000 "technicians" who have been
The Jordan River is a lifeline
advertised as coming from the for Israel, so that Syria and Jor-
USSR.
dan must no longer be allowed to
By BERNARD G. RICHARDS
The Gaza Strip, under Egyptian threaten to cut off this essential
,
Prof. Arthur Lehman Goodhart cannot adequately be introduced in a note of this kind. He has writ- control, could again house the source of water as they have done
ten profoundly on the law, national and international, and his books range among authoritative volumes
Palestine Liberation Army pledged in the past. The economic destruc-
of this genre.
to kill every Israeli man and tion of Israel by the closure of the
The subject of his personality really calls for a book by a scholar of his type and which will un- woman across the border, and Rus- Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aqaba
doubtedly appear in due time.
sian guns would be back on the must no longer be permitted.
The danger to the internal peace
Scion of two celebrated families, the Lehmans and the Goodharts, the professor is one of the Golan Heights ready to devastate
of Israel by a violently hostile min-
great jurists of America. His distinguished career has been extended and enhanced by a long sojourn northern Galilee.
and notable services rendered in England.
Perhaps the most serious of ority in the Gaza Strip is the most
A long and outstanding period as practitioner and interpreter of the law was crowned by his elec- all is the Jordanian West Bank difficult problem. In the past these
tion as Master of the University College, Oxford, which he held for many years and from which he has Territory which projects deeply in- refugees have been used as a polit-
recently retired.
to Israel, dividing the country ical pawn. Nothing has been done
Honored with a number of high degrees and awards from universities like Yale, Cambridge, Colum- nearly in half. Its hostile Arab to resettle them.
Mr. Green argues that, in face
bia and the University of California, his standing ranks with men about whom he wrote in "Five Jewish Legion is now reinforced by 15,000
Lawyers of the Common Law" (Oxford University Press, 1949). These men are Judah Philip Benjamin, Iraqi soldiers and an unnumbered of all these dangers, Israel should
body of Syrian guerrillas. Is it sur- be content with "our repeated
Sir George Jessel, Louis D. Brandeis, Rufus Isaacs (first Marquis of Reading), and Benjamin Cardozo.
Jewish problems came close to him when he served as legal expert to the American Commission of prising that Israel is not prepared guarantee of the territorial integ-
the Peace Conference of Versailles in 1919, which dealt with the Jewish historic claims to Palestine and to return to a status quo which to- rity of all nations in the Middle
minority rights for our people in the whole of eastern Europe.
day would be an even greater dan- East." Israel will also have to pro-
Coincidental with the work of the Peace Conference at Versailles, President Wilson appointed an ger than the one which threat- vide "some form of compensation
and repatriation for those dis-
American commission which was headed by the honorable Henry Morganthau to investigate the attacks ened its destruction in 1967? .
upon Jews in Poland. Dr. Goodhart served as legal adviser to that commission and subsequently wrote
ARTHUR L. GOODHART placed, along the lines of the UN
"Poland and the Minority Races" (London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1920). The Who's Who In America
k, April 23, 1968 Resolution of December 148.* It
New York,
* or
is obvious that these suggestions
lists nine additional volumes of his on various aspects of the law and international affairs.
have been put forward for prop-
His attachment to Israel was shown on a number of occasions and especially after the Six Day Israel's Future Boundaries
aganda purposes, because no rea-
War of June, 1967 after which he wrote a letter to The New York Times, refuting the misapprehensions To the Editor:
sonable man can believe that they
about Israel's boundaries. His indictment of the United Nations on the ground of its inefficacy and
Stephen
Green's
letter
on
"Mid-
will be accepted by the Israeli
blunders in matters relating to Israel appeared in the Jewish Chronicle, London of Nov. 10, 1967. His
statement, "UN Record—A Reckoning," is a most thorough and comprehensive survey of how inadequately east Boundaries" (June 16) is government.
based on a fallacy. He says that
the UN treated the whole problem of Israel.
ARTHUR L. GOON-TART
the "nations poised on both sides
New York, June 16, 1968
Through the courtesy of the Jewish Chronicle, London we are enabled to publish the above of
the
Israeli
border"
have
been
article, really a most significant document. The UN's recent censures of Israel makes the statement a
"calling
for
each
other's
destruc-
matter of immediate interest.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
tion." This has been the clearly 10—Friday, July 12, 1968

Goodhart's Definitive Letters Which
Were Published in New York Times

Famous International Jurist Calls United Nations to Account;
Isriel, Formerly Staunch Supporter, Has Reason for Suspicion