883.48/9: Telegram

The Minister in Egypt ( Fish ) to the Secretary of State

243. Department’s telegram No. 113, October 8, 1 p.m. Upon discreet discussion of the war relief problem in Egypt with several Egyptian officials and the Comptroller General of the Red Crescent the distinct impression was given that the existing relief question here is not regarded with serious concern and that there is no conscious need for further measures to meet the situation at this time.

As regards the four points on which information was requested the following observations were made by the officials consulted: (a) casualties resulting from bombings in Egypt have been small; (b) civilian property loss has been also small and a recent proposal made to the Prime Minister for Government compensation for such losses was shelved on the ground that the matter was not sufficiently consequential; (c) evacuees from Alexandria are estimated to have reached about 200,000 and from Cairo about 120,000 by August 1 but large [Page 876] numbers have since returned to both cities. It is to be noted that this evacuation movement was almost exclusively in anticipation of danger rather than in consequence of actual bombing. Casualties in Alexandria have usually been cared for by Government hospitals and dispensaries. The only assistance rendered by the Red Crescent has been donation of 500 Egyptian pounds to the Ministry of the Interior for relief of evacuees with an offer to provide additional funds if necessary but no such a request has been made.

In the light of the foregoing it is my considered opinion that there is no present need for outside assistance to meet the present relief situation in Egypt. However, the trend of present developments is such that an intensification of hostilities, with greatly increased loss of civilian life and property, is not improbable. In that event a very vital need for outside assistance might well result and it is respectfully suggested that the offer of aid by the American Red Cross be held in abeyance pending such an eventuality. At that time it is believed that the Red Crescent, which is a semi-official agency and whose head is Dr. Aly Ibrahim Pasha, Minister of Public Health, would be the appropriate agency through which to work.

The above recommendation is based entirely on the facts of the local situation and does not take into consideration the unhappy comparison which would very probably be drawn if relief were offered in Palestine and not here, in which respect I am in entire accord with the Department’s views. At the risk of possibly seeming to express views not in my competence might I suggest that in Palestine as in Egypt the actual damage done thus far may be but a relatively mild foretaste of much more serious events to come, and that under these considerations it might seem advisable to leave relief in both areas to local agencies and reserve possible American assistance for the future.

Fish