March 24, 1949President Harry S Truman signed 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, half of the United Nations 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 area.
March 24, 1980
The archbishop of San Salvador, Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was assassinated while consecrating the Eucharist during mass. Romero, a well-known critic of violence and injustice, was perceived in the right-wing civilian and military circles of El Salvador as an enemy. Romero had exhorted the police and soldiers to disobey orders to kill innocent people, refusing to be silenced.
