I had been abroad about 3 months then. That area was the last part of my trip. I had a strong feeling. based on what I had heard and what I had discussed with our own diplomats and with the representatives of various countries and with representatives of the refugee committees of the principal refugee campsin fact. anybody who would talk to me about itthat a program just as I had suggested could probably be brought to the acceptance stage by the Arabs. and I was quite sure it would be accepted by Israel. The first part of. the plan was to provide for some kind of guaranty that the Arabs would not suffer from any aggression involving the loss of territory at the hands of Israel. and the same kind of guaranty that there would be no change of boundary lines as a result of aggression from the Arab States. The second part was the matter of reparation for loss of private property. much of which had fallen into the hands of Israeli nationals or the Government. and that the Israeli Government was willing to do something about it. The plan recognized that at least there was some justice to the claim. The constructive thing to do is to find homes and opportunities for the refugees. I visited with representatives of the Arabs. who were then living in Israel. There were about 180.000 who lived in the Nazareth area. I met with them on at least two occasions. and we had several hours of conference. I never will forget their plea. which was to use all the influence I had with the refugees on the outside to go somewhere else rather than to try to return to Israel. I was in full agreement that they should not return to Israel. They would not be happy there.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees