643
Foreign Affairs
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Cocks: I would not like to answer at random. It depends on many other factors which have to be considered. I do not think a backward country hold- ing down tremendous wealth can keep out a more civilised race. We thought that at the time of the Transvaal War, and the Americans certainly thought so when they did not attach much weight to the rights of the Red Indians. Generally speaking, I take that view, although there may be many exceptions to it and I do not like, on the spur of the moment, to answer more than that. In this case I think it is time the Govern- ment followed the example of President Truman, the Union of South Africa and, I believe, 19 other nations, and recog- nised the State of Israel. I was glad that the right hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington suggested that this even- ing. After all, Britain was the first coun- try to recognise the Zionist cause. If we treat this new State with sympathy and understanding, I believe she will be a staunch friend and ally of us and of the Western world.
Moreover, Israel is, to all intents and purposes, a Socialist State. I do not think that will appeal to hon. Members opposite, but it does to us, or should do. It seems fitting that the Labour Govern- ment of England should extend the hand of fellowship and encouragement to this new State, and if they have any influence whatever with the Arab leaders, as they are supposed to have, I hope it will be exercised to bring about, as the right hon. Member for Warwick and Leam-
ington pleaded, a reasonable agreement between the Arabs and the Jews in order that the Arab fellaheen and the Jewish workers may live side by side in peace. After the many disappointments he has had, I want to see the Foreign Secretary on the winning side for once. In reply to the hon. and gallant Mem- ber for Lewes (Major Beamish), I think the Zionist movement is one of the great achievements of our time. I believe it is for the good of the world that it should come about, and I do not think that people living in the 10th Century should be allowed to stop it.
Major Beamish: Would the hon. Mem- ber apply his views in the case of the Italians and the Abyssinians, as one example?
Mr. Cocks: I do not think Abyssinia comes into it. As far as I know, the
109 N 10
Foreign Affairs
Abyssinians did not prevent the naturai wealth of their country from being exploited by the nationals of other coun- tries. If Abyssinia had been an abso- lutely barbaric country and had not had an organised government, it might have been a different thing. As it was they had a settled Government with British and American advisers, I believe, and their country was open to the merchants and people of other nations.
On the question of Greece, I do not speak tonight as a violent partisan. I have a great affection for that country and for the Greek people, and after eight years fighting both in the war and since the war, I feel that the chief need of Greece is not the triumph of any one party or creed, but reconciliation and the cessation of strife. The Prime Minister, on Monday, said that the interference by Greece's Northern neighbours was the root of all the trouble there. Speaking with great respect to the Prime Minister, I venture to suggest that he is mistaken. I think the cause of the trouble in Greece goes far deeper than that. It existed before any such intervention took place. It goes back even before the last war to the time of the dictatorship of General Metaxas, and perhaps goes back further than that.
In their treatment of Greece, in my view, the Foreign Office have made many grave mistakes, but I will not dwell on those now. The country at the moment is on the verge of ruin. Some 500,000 refugees from the villages have crowded
into the towns. Martial law has now extended over the whole of the country. The administration is inefficient, and I am told, is breaking down altogether in certain districts. In the North, according to reports in "The Observer," there is a general feeling of hopelessness. Parlia- ment has now adjourned until February, and the government, which saved its life the other day by only one vote, has no social policy which is calculated to win the support of the peasants or the people.
That is the position in Greece today. Some of us thought a few days ago that it would be a good thing if U.N.O. sent an international mission to Greece to try to bring about a truce between the two sides, to explore the differences and to get together some government of reconcilia- tion. The Government have rejected that
Foreign Affairs
646
9 DECEMBER 1948 Foreign Affairs
war-time ally of ours. I trust that steps have been taken by the Foreign Office to show him how deeply we resent the scurrilous attacks which have been made upon his person and country by the Cominform. I notice also that Comin- form countries are refusing needed goods and supplies. I hope we shall supply some of those goods ourselves. If so, a profitable trade might spring up between ourselves and Yugoslavia. I hope every effort will be made by the Foreign Office to promote a friendly agreement between Yugoslavia, Italy and Austria. Without disclosing the details of what I have in mind, I think certain territorial adjust- ments should be made which will be beneficial to those three countries. There is no reason why we should always leave the initiative to Moscow.
proposal on the ground that U.N.O. is precluded by its Charter from interfering in the internal affairs of any other country. That may be so, but Great Britain and America have a great in- fluence in Athens because the Govern- ment there could not exist without our support and American support. I would like to see them exercising that influence now with Mr. Sophoulis in persuading the government in Greece to appeal to U.N.O. to send an international mission to Greece for the purpose I have men- tioned. I believe such a mission would be welcomed by moderate and respon- I believe it sible opinion in Greece. would be welcomed by perhaps 80 per cent. of the ordinary people who are sick of the whole thing and who say, A plague on both your houses." Of course, I am not hopeful that my suggestion will be adopted.
**
The next thing we shall probably see in Greece will be the proclamation of a dictatorship by General Papagos or some other military leader. The present de- plorable situation in Greece follows from the policy which was adopted by the Leader of the Opposition with the sup- port of the right hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington in 1944, and which has been followed so faithfully, too faithfully, by the present Government. In the meantime there has been held recently in Greece a trial by court martial of trade unionists, when 10 members of the Fed- eration of the Greek Maritime Union were sentenced to death. Some of us asked the Foreign Secretary to use his influence for clemency, but that was re- fused. However, a sound democrat, Dr. Evatt from Australia, President of the United Nations Organisation, appealed for clemency for those men. The result was that their sentences have been post- poned but not remitted, and they still have sentence of death hanging over them.
With regard to Berlin and our relations with Russia, I have always been a sup- porter of Anglo-Russian friendship. I have supported it for 30 years, ever since the 1917 revolution, and at the last General Election, in many speeches, I said I welcomed the fact that the British and the Russian zones were side by side because I hoped there would be exten- sive fraternisation between the British troops and the Russian troops, and I hoped that would go on in spite of any- thing the British War Office said. There- fore it was a considerable shock to me when I found out that the objections to fraternisation came from the Kremlin and not from Whitehall. As General Eisenhower says in his recent book, soon after the close of the war the pleasant relations between himself and Marshal Zhukov ended, and instructions were given from Moscow that Soviet soldiers must not be personal friends of soldiers of the West.
In spite of that, I have continued to work for better understanding between ourselves and Russia, and to remove those suspicions, some of them well founded, with which the Kremlin regards the West and all its works. But although the posi- tion has worsened considerably and rapidly during the last 12 months, and the possibility of establishing real friend- ship between ourselves and the Russian Government seems very remote, I still say that we have no right to interfere actively against that great social experi- ment which is being carried on in Russia Before leaving the Mediterranean I and in her satellite countries. We do not turn to Yugoslavia. Marshal Tito was a want that system here. It may suit the
If, after being postponed, this should be carried out, it would be a great shock to public opinion. I know it is no use appealing to the Foreign Office about that I shall not get any help from them but I would appeal straight from this House to Mr. Sophoulis him- self to say that the death sentences should be remitted.
109 N 11