"Be Seeing You?"

From the slopes of Mount Lebanon last week came a sound like the rattling of scimitars. The Council of the seven-nation Arab League, meeting in a resort hotel overlooking Beirut and the Mediterranean, had reached a tactical decision. With eyes on the debate in U.N., they manifestoed: Arab states would "take military precautions on the borders of Palestine." League spokesmen said troops would move up immediately. "Arabs will never accept partition," said Lebanese Premier Riad al-Sulh.

Stuff & Nonsense? Jerusalem's ex-Mufti, Haj Amin el-Husseini, dropped in on the conference unexpectedly, and officially uninvited. He had simply flown up from Cairo in a chartered plane, bringing his armed guards along. One morning while Premier al-Sulh was still shaving, the Mufti turned up at his house. Told that the Mufti was in his garden, the Premier snorted unbelievingly: "Stuff and nonsense." But there he was. Lebanon tightened up security measures accordingly, turned back Jewish travelers at the frontier. The Mufti was back in the limelight of gestures and intrigue. He sent a cryptic message to Jerusalem Arabs: "I hope to be seeing you soon."

Caves & Camels? At Lake Success, meanwhile, U.N.'s Palestine Committee threshed through preliminary speeches. Then, as the week ended, U.S. Delegate Herschel Vespasian Johnson read to fellow delegates the statement all parties had been waiting for. It brought instant reassurance to Zionists, anger to Arabs. Said Johnson: "The U.S. delegation supports . . . the majority plan [of the U.N. Palestine Commission] which provides for partition and immigration." Johnson cocked a mild eyebrow at Arab threats of force. He blandly added: "We assume there will be Charter observance."

This week, in a U.N. novelty, the Russians swung in behind the U.S. They favored partition, too, said Soviet Delegate Semen Tsarapkin. The chagrin of the Arabs, who have coyly abstained from voting on most East-West issues, was deep.

Along the borders of Palestine the Arab threat did not materialize immediately. Associated Pressman Joseph Goodwin flew out on a 300-mile scouting trip, reported: "Unless they were hiding in caves or camouflaged as camels, there were not 1,000 troops within 20 miles on either side of the border, from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea."

Nevertheless, reports of troop movements increased. This week Palestine watchers said they saw Syrian Arabs, some with armored cars, pitching camp across the border. An "alert" had been sent to Haganah. Somebody (police thought the Arab underground organization, Jihad) tossed a bomb into the compound of the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.