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N0KFQ > TODAY 24.03.16 15:56l 74 Lines 3545 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 24
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1949 Truman signs off on aid to Palestine
On this day in 1949, President Harry S. Truman signs a U.S.
resolution authorizing $16 million in aid for Palestinian
refugees displaced and facing starvation as a result of Israel's
War of Independence in 1948.
Truman's resolution contributed U.S. funds to a $32 million
United Nations (U.N) aid package. At the signing, the president
stated his hope that before the relief money ran out, [the] means
will be devised for the permanent solution of the refugee
problem. Truman argued that U.S. aid would contribute to the
long-term stability of the Middle East through [integrating]
Palestinian refugees into the economic life of the
[underdeveloped] area.
The 1949 aid plan capped several years of heated conflict between
pro- and anti-Zionist (Jewish state) factions in U.S. politics
and within Truman's administration. In 1945, as Roosevelt's vice
president, and then early in his own presidency, Truman
vigorously supported the immigration of Jews displaced by the
Holocaust to the historically contested area of Palestine, but
initially resisted the idea of establishing a purely Jewish state
there. In a letter written at the time, Truman acknowledged that
it is a very explosive situation we are facing what I am trying to
do is make the whole world safe for the Jews. Truman also wanted
to maintain good relations with Arab states, particularly Saudi
Arabia, upon whom the U.S. was becoming increasingly dependent
for oil.
At home, Truman faced an election year. At the time, the
opposition Republican Party favored dividing or partitioning
Palestine to create a separate Jewish state and had the support
of a majority of the populace, who preferred to create a Jewish
state rather than absorb post-war Jewish refugees into the U.S.
On the other hand, key members of Truman's administration feared
U.S. support for a Jewish state would threaten relations with
oil-rich Arab nations who viewed Palestine as holy Arab land.
Lobbyists on both sides courted Truman, sometimes infuriating
him. When an impassioned visiting rabbi pounded on Truman's desk
with his fist, Truman yelled No one, but no one, comes into the
office of the president of the United States and shouts at him,
or pounds on his desk! If anyone is going to do any shouting or
pounding in here, it will be me!" When the State Department and
the U.N. ambassador made unauthorized and incorrect announcements
implying that the president opposed partition, Truman called them
"striped pants conspirators" who had "completely balled up the
Palestine situation." Truman eventually decided to do what I
think is right and let them all go to hell, supporting a U.N.
trusteeship of a Jewish area in Palestine with gradual transition
to partition as the ultimate goal.
When the U.N. agreed to partition in November 1947, the Arabs and
Israelis almost immediately went to war over the contested area.
In October 1948, Truman announced his support for victorious
Israel and turned his attention to containing communism in
Eastern Europe and Korea. Since then, Palestinian refugees, Arab
oil and the state of Israel have become continuous sources of
conflict in the Middle East.
In January 1950, Truman followed up the 1949 aid resolution by
asking Congress to grant another $27 million to the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
UNRWA continues its work on behalf of Palestinian refugees today.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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