A/32/PV.51 General Assembly

The arbitrary measures taken since last August by the Israeli Government in the Arab territories under military occupation are a further escalation of illegality and a serious obstruction to the efforts being made by the international community to settle the crisis in the Middle East. They cannot fail, therefore, to be a source of concern to the United Nations, which has been trying f"r more than 30 years to establish a just and lasting peace in the area. 2. This is why the General Assembly at its thirty-second regular session has givenhigh priority to this item. 3. The recent illegal Israeli measures in the occupied Arab territories are designed to achieve nothing less than a change in the legal "status, geographical nature and demographic composition of the territories. It is the implementation of the policy of annexation dear to the hearts ofthe believers in "Greater Israel", in a "legal vacuum" and in a "land without a people for a people without a land". 4. The Sharon plan which has just been revealed to us is the backbone of tfiis expansionist enterprise. The mediumtenn objective of this plan is the immigration and the establishment on the West Bank, in the Gaza Strip, in the Sinai peninsula and on the Golan Heights of more than 2 million Jews of the Diaspora to oV~lWheIrn by sheer NEW YORK weight -of numbers the people of thore regions and upset their demographic structures. S. At the same time, Israeli laws are arbitrarily and unilaterally extended to these territories, while new educational programmes, which repudiate the Arab and Palestinian religious and national heritage, are imposed in the schools for the purpose of creating a new generation of people who would be alienated culturally and historically. 6. The social and economic policy ofthe Israeli authorities in the occupied Arab territories is also aimed at the same goal, namely, annexation. It is designed to destroy professional structures. In this connexion we s.b.ould refer to the 1971 report of the United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Arab Territories. We read there: "The policy ofthe authorities, ["he Israeli ati~horities in the occupied Arab territories] has various negative effects, for example, the destruction of the professicnal structure and the small-scale fanning in the territories, the entry into the labour market of women and school lea.vers, the loss of human resources for the economy of the territories where a labour shortage has appeued. This drain on manpower goes hand-in-hand with a number of measures such as the displacement of populations, the establishment of Israeli agricultural settlements in the occupied territories and the appropriation of land, and further aggravates the position of the local population." 7. Expropriation for military and civil purposes, the large-scale displacement of population, the dynamiting of housing and buildings belonging to religious sects and the harassment of the people by a diabolical machinery of repression are all among the current measures taken by the Israeli forces of occupation in the context of the vigorous psychological campaign which they have undertaken to persuade as many Palestinians as possible to opt for exodus or exile. " 8. All these illegal measures coincide to promote the destruction of the national identity of the· Palestinian people and further its assimilation and the annexat!on by Israel of the occupied Arab territories. They constitute serious violations of the Charter ofthe United Nations, the fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949,1 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948 and the relevant and numerous resolutions adopted by United Nations bodies on the Middle East crisis. 1 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949. For the text, see United Nations, Treaty Series, voL 75 (No. 973), p. 287. A!32/PV.Sl 10. Even the holy city ofJerusalem, the city sacred to the three monotheistic religions whose international status has been confirmed more than once by the United Nations, has not been spared by the Israeli leaders. ,Not only has this holy city been annexed, but it ha! been subjected to oorious desecration. . 11. Unless there is fmn dissuasive action by our Assembly the savage establishment of Jewish settlements will be continued and will even be speeded up in the Arab territories occupied by Israel. IndustriaI settlements have already appeared. As was stated so aptly Colonel Charles Samba Cissokho, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Mali, in his statement in the general debate on 13 October: "Today the prospects [for a jnst and lasting peace in the Middle East] 'are much worse, with the advent of the Lt1md Government in Tel Aviv. One could not expert any less from Mr. Begin and his friends, whose party has this motto: 'Jordan. has two banks; one belongs to us, and so does the oth~r.' No slogan could better illustrate ~le spirit of expansionism and annexatiofi of the new leaders of Israel."I j3rd meeting, para. 88.} 12. Was it not with this same expansionist slogan, "Jordan has two banks; one belongs to us, and so does the other" that the supporters of the Likud welcomed, at Herut party headquarters, the proclamation of the victory ofMr. Begm in the elections of 17 May last? 13. Since the announcement of the recent savage implantatio~ of the "fait" bloc", the international community has refound its unity and strength with a view to re-establishing peace in th~ Middle East. 14. In fact, it is with general Jisappro'ial that the world has cilndemned these unlawful measures ofannexation. No discordant note has been heard in the reactions that they ha1h' aroused. 15. Accordingly, at the end of this debate our Assembly will have to decide in unity on vigorous and fmn measures to stop, while there is still time, the process of annexation ofthe Arab territories occupied by Israel. 16. Draft resolution A/32/L.3/Rev.l and Add.l and 2, submitted by more than 60 Powers, including my country, Mali,. proposes in this connexion suitable measures of disSuasion. That is why my delegation recommends this draft to our Assembly attention.

The speakers who have preceded me to this rostrum have already given ample evidence of the extent and the nature ofthe illegal Zionist measures ill the occu.pied Arab territories. The present debate, however, should in nlJ way convey the impression that the international commun:ty is now concerned mainly with the 19. We pointed out further that on 16 March 1972 the Zionist parliament then adopted a resolution which said: "The Knesset ha.c; ~.resolved that the historic right of the Jewish people to tile 1?~ld of Israel is beyond challenge." 20. We. believe the world is quite familiar with what is meant by this so-called "Eretz· Israel": it includes all of Palestine, TransJordan, parts of Syria, parts of Lebanon and parts of Egypt. In addition to being a direct threat to international peace and security, these Zionist policies also constitute a dangerous precedent for all others who may harbour dreams of expansion and empire. The paralysis of the United Nations unfortunately is an open invitation to such aggr2~~rs to emulate this example of the Zionists. 21. Let us take a bnef glimpse now at the situation in the occupied territories as reported by someone who visited the area at the beginning of this year. This is none other than Lord Caradon, who was one of the principal architects of that iniquitous Security Council resolution 242 (1967). Lord Caradon said: "The policies of divide and delay which have dominated the past nine years are still more powerful, I fear, than the urge for positive action. And while the drift continues the situation on the ground grows rapidly much worse. The seizure of land and the concrete encirclement of Jerusalem proceed apace. Scarcely a month passes without an announcement about compulsory land acquisition and new Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. They stand right across the path of peace. "My intention was to look for new hopes for the future and not to pursue complaints about the past, but it was impossible to avoid the harsh facts and the bitter reactions of the occupation. When I was in Nablus it was under military curfew. When I was in Hebron th~ town was in protest strike. Demonstrations by schoolchildren are followed by arrests and heavy fmes (as much as 10,000 Israeli pounds in some cases) on the parents. "In the streets as well as in the meeting places I was met with complaints about imprisonment, exiling, house arrest~ and refusal to allow freedom of political organization. "The occupation of Arab lands by force has gone on much too long." That was published in the London Times of 7 January 23. We have also learned from the projects going on in the occupied territories and the statements made here that such colonization implies the construction ofvast projects. How is it possible for the Zionist entity, which is teetering on the verge of total bankruptcy and whose leaders have become the eternally wandering mendicants, to carry out such tremendous projects? American support and aid, whether governmental or private, are well known. The New York Times of today carries an article which states that the United States is to continue aid to Israel at the $1.8 billion level. The article states: "Of the $1.8 billion, $1 billion would be military credits to allow Isra~l to oontinue making purchaoos in this country of American military equipment. Under a special arrangement with Israel that is not provided other mmtary aid recipients, Israel does not have to repay half of the loans. The remaining $800 million would be in various grants and loans for Israel's economy." The article goes on to say: HAnthony H. Cordesman, who was a civilian assistant to Deputy Secretary of D~fense Robert Ellsworth in the Ford Administration, writes in the current issue of the Armed Forces Journal that the United States, by continuing to maintain aid at a high level, is helping Israel 'to take pennanent control offormer Arab territory in direct opposition to United States policy, and be locked into an indefinite cold war with the Arabs'." The article continues: "Administration officials insisted today, however, that the aid to Isravl was necessary to keep Israel assured that its security would not be weakened by negotiations." That argument, I think, is most untenable. It is very clear to the whole world that Israel has become an arsenal far beyond the needs of mere self-defence. 24. I should like now to go a little further into the question of economic aid. Military aid is obvious and its results are very clear to all concerned. I have here a copy of the hearings before the Subcommittee on International Operations of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate. The hearings deal with aid to Israel for the settlement of Jewish immigrants. Of course the Zionist entity could not carry out its.., policies in the occupied territories without this fmancial aid of which we have been speaking or without the new settlers that it must gather from around tbe world to colonize the occupied territories. The report of the hearings of the Subcommittee, ninety-fIfth session of Congress, indicates that the United States undertakes the expenditure of $40,000 to $50,000 2 Subsequently circulated as document A/32/284. "As I say, Sir, because it involves housing, training and retraining and a lot of services which the average refugees to other destinations do not receive, it is a very substantial amount. I think it is in excess of $40,000 per refugee family unit. The per capita cost of assisting those going to destinations other than. Israel, which merely involves th~ir temporary care and maintenance in the asylum area, resettlement documentation, language training and eventually their transportation, is considerably less-approximately 51,000 to 51,200 per capita." Mr. Carlin further states: "I would add the point, Sir, that the money that the United States Government makes available for this programme is supplemented with funds from the Jewish Agency for Israel. It is a combined effort. Those two sources provide the funds for the various type.; of absorption services in Israel." 25. This brings us to the activities of the Jewish Agency, the United Jewish Appeal and all the Zionist organizations that function in the United States and perhaps in other Western countries too. 26. The twenty-third Congress of the World Zionist Organization adopted the following resolution in August 1951: . "The follOWing spheres of activity of the World Zionist Organization shall be fIXed, among others, for the coming period: "fa) The organization of immigration, the transfer of immigrants and their property to Eretz Israel. "(b) Participation in the absorption of immigrants. "(c) Youth Aliya"-which means the immigration of youth. "(d) Development of agricultural settlements. "(e) Acquisition and amelioration of land by the Jewish National Flmd. "([) Participation in development projects. "The co-ordinating body of the Israel Government and the executives of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency shall co-ordinate the above-mentioned spheres ofactivity." 21. There is a very interesting study of Professor W. T. Mallison, professor of law at George Washington University, entitled "The legal problems concerning the juridical status and political activities of the Zionist organization, the Jewish Agency: a study in intematit'nal and United States law", published in the Wi//iam and Mary Law Review, sprin~ 1968. Professor Mallison points out that: "The characterization of the Jewish National Fund and the United Israel Appeal as institutions of the Zionist Professor Mallison.further states: "The Jewish Agency; a Zionist organization, receives the major portion of its financial support from alleged philanthropic American fund-raising institutions combined into the United Jewish Appeal. The United Jewish Appeal transf~rs most of these charitable receipts to the Jewish Agency for Israel Inc., a New York corporation, for further transfer to the organization's agency in Israel." 28. It would be interesting to see how the United States can, on the one hand, declare the Zionist measures in the occupied territories as illegal and yet, at the same time, continue to supply such aid and assistance, as ifit were tax deductible, to that e!ltity thus enabling it to continue with its illeSal measures in its occupation and annexation ofthe Arab territories. 290 Unfortunately, it is not only the United States, of course. All other Governments in which such Zionistostendbt}' philanthropic-pperations are allowed, also wittingly and unwittingly, .are aiding the Zionists in their occupation and attempt at annexation. 30. It is not only Governments. We have also seen some international organizations which have also contributed to enabling Israel t': continue its policies. In 1972, for instance, UNDP had allocated $5 million to the Zionist entity. My delegation-Iraq was then a member of the Governing Board of the UNDP-pointed out the fact that the Zionists were not entitled to such aid from UNDP. Their indicative planning figures which were used for the allocation of this sum of money were, of course, totally fictitious. UNDP takes into account the gross national product of the country to which it presents such aid. Of course, it does not include occupied territory, as it should not. However, the fact was that the natural resources and manpower ofthe occupied territories were being fully made use of by the occupying Power. This became very evident to the Governing Board. The representative of the Zionist entity afterwards circulated a letter to the members of this Organization saying that they would not request further aid from UNDP, that they would allow such funds as are available to UNDP to be used in countries that needed the money more. All this is absolute nonsense. The fact is that the Zionists knew they were not entitled to such aid, and that if they again asked UNDP to grant them such aid, they would not be able to receive it. 31. I also remember-if I am not mistaken-that in 1973 the World Bank made a loan of 540 million to the Zionist 32. The time has come for the General Assembly and the Sec.urity Council to adopt measures which would not allow the Zionist aggressors to continue with their measures of annexation. At its twenty-ninth session, the)General Assembly adopted the Charter of Econcrmic Rights and Duties of States [resolution 3281 (XXIX)}, article 16 ofwhich reads as follows: "1. it is the right and duty of all States, individually and collectively, to eliminate colonialism, apartheid, racial discrimination, neo-colonialism and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation and domination, and the economic and social consequences thereof, as a prerequisite for development. States which practise such coercive policies are economically responsible to the countries, territoriys and peoples affected for the restitution and full ccmpensation for the exploitation and depletion of, and damages to, the natural at,d all other resources of those countries, territories and peoples. It is the duty ofall States to extend assistance to them. "2. No State has th6 right to promote or encourage investments that may constitute an obstacle to the h"beration ofa territory occupied by force." There is no clearer call to the international community to ensure that the Zionist entity does not receive the aid and assistance which would enable it to contirme in its occupation and annexation of the Arab territories it occupies. . 33. The United Nations should also point out that the mere acquisition of arms by this aggressor now constitutes a threat to international peace and security. As I said previously, it is not only fmancial aid and economic assistance that enables the Zionist entitY to carry out this programme of occupation and annexation; it also has to fmd colonizers to bring in to settle in the occupied territory. Count Bemadotte had foreseen such possibility as long ago as 1948. In his report to the Security Council of 12 July 1948, Count Bernadotte said the follOWing: "It could not be ignored that unrestricted immigration into the Jewish area of Palestine might, over a period of years, give rise to a population pressure and to economic and political disturbances which would justify present Arab fears of ultimate Jewish expansion in the Near East. It .can scarcely be ignored that Je~.immigration into 35. I shall not deign to address myself to the baseless allegations made by General Herzog concerning Iraq in the statement he made before this Assembly at the 47th meeting. That was but the customary Zionist tactics of trying to divert the attention of the General Assembly from the item which is before it on its agenda. 36. I shall, however, point out some of the blatant lies to which General Hp-rzog resorted in his statement. To give but one example, I shall cite the most blatant of these lies which has been repeated ad nauseam by Zionist representatives in all organs of this Organization. General Herzog devo~ed most af his statem:7i;·· to trying to j"Jstify the continued presence of the Zionists in the occupied territories, alleging that the militarist, expansionist, Zionist entity had acted in self-defence in 1967 and that that is why they now fmd themselves in the occupied territories. That is what General Herzog said; that is what General Dayan also said in his statement in the general debate [27th meeting]. 37. But, another General, Yitzhak Rabin, who was Chief ofStaff at the time of the 1967 war, said in 1968: "I do not believe that Nasser wanted war. The two divisions which he sent to the Sinai on 14 May 'vould not have been enough to unleash an offensive against Israel. He knew it and we knew it." General Rabin's statement was published in Le Monde of 23 February 1968 and in the Jemsolem Post of 29 February the same year. 38. Yet another General, Hairn Bar-Lev, the Chief of Staff in 1972, in an interview given to the newspaper Ma 'Czriv on 18 April 1972 stated the following: "No, there was no danger ef annihilation on the eve of the six-day war, and we did not speak and did not think in these tenns." 39. General Elad Peled, who was then in the Anny General Staff and later became professor of history at the Shilowah Institute, was reported in Ha'aretz of 19 March 1972 as having said: 41. Strangely enough, General Herzog, now that he is playing the part of a diplomat, comes here and contradicts his own words and would have us believe that the situation was otherwise and that Israel was threatened with annihilation. 42. I think the example I have given is sufficient to give the General Assembly an.idea of the degree of veracity of the statements made by General Herzog before this Assembly. 43. It is ob\'ious that neither the United States nor the United Nations, which were instrumental in creating the Zionist entity, have been able to control t.JUs Frankenstein's monster. 44. If the Unit,~d Nations should fail to take action to put an end to Israeli occupation and annexation, I am afraid that the world will then be placed in a most dangerous situation and that it will be too late to have anything done by the United Nations or by the UC'ited States. 45. Mr. F.1DHLI (Democratic Yemen) (interpretation from Arabit:): The establishment by Israel of settlements in the occupied Arab territories is clear proof· that Israel persists in its policy which was adopted 30 years ago and is based on usurping Palestine and the neighbOUring Arab territories. As our brother the Chairman of the Presidential Council ofthe People's Democratic Repnblic ofYemen said on 3 October in his statement before the General Assembly: "How can we then reasonably expect a peaceful solution to be achieved when Israel is Ptoving to the world that it is peither prepared nor willing to withdraw from the occupied Arab territories ...". [16th meeting, para. 129.) 46. In condemning the Zionist, aggressive and expansionist policy of Israel in its entirety and in its details, Democratic Yemen asserts that it is necessary to recognize the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the creation of its own national State under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation prganization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

The United Nations has always attached great impC'rtance to everything tha~ occurs in the Middle East since Et is a 48. First, the establishment gf peace would lead to the cessation of aD. acts ofaggression and ofwars. But the State of Israel was bunt on aggression and it derives its raison d'etre from the warswhichit.unleashes. 49. Secondly, secUrity would mean the end of all expansion at the expense of other countries, whlle Israel wishes to extend its borders from the Euphrates to the Nie. SO. Thirdly, justice means that the Palestinian people would enjoy its national rights: they would return to their homeland and establish there an independent State. But Israel is against all this because it wants the Palestinians to remain dispersed refugees. 51. The international community has on numerous occasions and in many forums condemned Israel for its repeated acts of aggression against neighbouring Arab States, for its continued expansion at the expense of Arab countries., for its intransigence and its persistence in occupying Arab territories, for its refusal to recognize the national rights of th6 Palestinian people and for flouting the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council. 52. The item before us, prrucularly the illegal Israeli measures in the occupied Arab territories, is new proof of Israel's ~transigence and: arrog3lW~ and of the fact that the Israelis do not take United Nations resolutions into account and persist in ignoring them as well as the whole world, which is denouncing them. In the opinion of Israel's few friends, those resolutions obstruct attempts to settle the Middle East problem by peaceful means in the interest of peace and security in the region. These measures, intended to change the cultural, economic, legal and demographic framework of the occupied Arab territories, cannot be isolated from the aggressive nature of a country that was founded essentially on aggression. 53. Itis important to refer to the statement that was made before the Assembly by the Israeli Foreign Minister on 10 October [27th meeting) and that made by the Permanent Representative of Israel [47th meeting]. Both mentior:.~d that the West Bank of the Jordan, Gaza and Golan are part of the Jewish homeland that as yet does not know its permanent boundaries. By annexing these Arab territories by force, the Israelis are trying to realize a frenetic dream that they have cherished for so long and that still haunts them. In their eyes, these territories have been liberated from Arab sovereignty and must remain under Jewish sovereignty. On that premise, Israel rejects all General Assembly or Security CouncR resolutions and continues to deny that cmyone has the right to decide upon the future of these territories except themselves. ss. The Likud terrorist group campaigned in the elections in May this year on the platform of the establishment of a greater number of settlements in Golan, in Gaza and on the West Bank. The gr~)Up carried the day over the opposition of the Labour Party, and we are ccnvinced that the Tel Aviv Governmant will not comply with what is provided in the draft i'ewlution before ua; it will certainly not respect the tenns of that resolution if it is adopted by the Assembly, because it has always acted so. The Israeli Permanent Representative has told us in very clear and unequivocal terms that ila himself rejects this draft resolution. That is why we should adopt all necessary measures to force Israel to respect the resolutions of the United Nations and urge aD. countries to cut off all economic and military assistance, because it only encourages Israel to persist in its aggrestion and its occupation. 56. I did not intend to reply to the statement made here yesterday by the representative of Israel because it was full of allegations, inacCuracies and lies. And for obvious reasons I cannot follow his example and use words and expressions that are discourteous. 57. But I am obliged to rebut certain allegations and false claims made by him. He said that my country was launching a crusade against the Christians in southern Sudan. The whole world knows very well what is taking place in Sudan and all the changes that have occurred. The representative of Israel tries in vain to turn attention away from what his Government is doing, not only in the occupied Arab territories, but also inside the Jewish communities themselves, and from the oppression ofwhich the Christians, Moslems and eastern Jews are victims as second-class citizens. 58. The General Assembly is aware that the so-called Addis Ababa peace agreement,4 adopted in 1972, unified the brothers of north and south Sudan in an exemplary fashion, which warrants emulation in'the search for a solution of the domestic problems of developing countries. Both the Islamic and Christian worlds have expressed their approval of that method. That is why the Israeli objectives are clear to all. When the Israeli representative speaks of a country where unity reigns between its Christian and Moslem inhabitants, he simply proves his hatred for the idea of such a situation, since, from its inception, the Israeli entity has based itself on racial discrimination and raciml. 4 Sudan Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Peace tmd Unity in the Sudan: an African Achievement (Khartoum. Khartoum UniYersity Press, 1973). pp. 46-49. 60. General Herzog spoke of terror. I was astonished, like so many others, to hear him condemn terror and terrorism for many reasons, but in particular because he is a citizen of a country that is itself founded on terror and terrorism, and continues to practise both, and because he represents a Government headed by an international terrorist, Menachem Begin, who acknowledges and afftnns with arrogance that he conducted the Deir Yasin massacre, and the assassination of Count Bernadotte in Jerusalem. The neo-Fascist Government of Tel-Aviv should be the last to speak of terror and terrorism and to call for their condemnation.

The item before us is closely related to the whole of the Middle East problem and, as a matter of fact, it is an offshoot of it. 62. We are now concerned with certain developments that have recently taken place in the Middle Eastern area, with particular reference, to the measures recently taken by Israel in the Arab territories occupied since the 1967 war. These measures clearly indicate the aim of the occupying Power to bring about a basic change in the status of these territories. It is therefore a matter for ~rious concern for the United Nations. The indications emerge mainly from the detennined measures now being taken by b'~ael aimed at altering the geographic nature and demographic structure of these territories. The measures referred to in so far as we understand them from the explanatory memorandum [see A/32/241] are the following. 63. There is recent announcement by the authorities of the occupying Power of their approval of additional Israeli settlements in the West Bank of the Jordan and of generally increasing settlements in the occupied Arab territories. 64. Another indication, given in the explanatory memorandum, is the decision of the authorities to extend the application of Israeli laws and regulations to the Arab territories under foreign occupation. 6S. There is also another indication. I understand that the words "liberated territories" are used in authoritative circles in place of "occupied territories". The transfer of Israeli population into the occupied territories is in practice asserting what came out of the announcement and the change in the laws. It denotes a policy of altering the demographic composition of the area, presumably with the aim of annexation. 66. Such policies and attitudes impinge ul>0n the rights of all the indigenous population of the occupied territoriesnamely, those residing there-as well as those who have been forcibly displaced and are prevented from returning to their homes and properties in the territories in question. 67. The rights of the Arab people of the West Bank ofthe Jordan and elsewhere to return to their homes and land are by their very nature fundanrental and inalienable. No 68. The matter is of vital importance because it goes to the very roots of respect for fundamental hum~ rights-in this case the right of peoples not to be expelled and excluded from their homes and land. 69. The attitude, therefore, of the ruling Power in the territories in question is a direct challenge to the United Nations and its Charter. The policy followed by that Power violates international law and the basic principles of the Charter; it contravenes the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which prohibits tampering in any way with territories under military occupation; and, furthermore, it ignores the relevant resolutions of the United Nations. It thus runs counter to all efforts to achieve a just and lasting solution of the problem involved, and it tends to keep alive focuses of tension, friction and warin the ensuing developments. In all cases, such actions are universally condemned and can never create v2lid or acceptable situati.lns. Hence, they are whony unadjusted to the present-day world of close interdependence between nations and peoples in the nuclear and space age. 70. In the particular problem before us, the transfer of populations in the occupied territories and the attempted change in the demographic structure of the area evidently point to an annexationist policy on the part of the occupying Power. 71. In this respect I should like to refer to the over-all Middle East problem with regard tc the territories concerned. There is Security Council resolution 242 (1967), which was adopted unanimously and which spells out Israel's obligation to withdraw from the Arab territories in question. This resolution, after specifically emphasizing in its preamble the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the commitment of all Member States to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter, proceeds in the immediately following paragraph to can for the "withdrawal of Israel anned forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict". In view of the fact that this paragraph follows immediately after the prior emphasis on the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, the logical inference is that the occupying country has the obligation to withdraw its forces from the occupied territory. 72. Beyond the specific resolutions, what is more valid and more eternal, is the intrinsic justice of the C3se and the fundamental principles involved, which should unfailingly govern the conduct of nations in our scientifically advanced era, calling for comparable moral and political advance. 73. I would in this regard quote a dictum py the eminent French philosopher Paul Vale·ry's that "the criterion of civilization lies in the degree of respect for those invisible realities called the principles oflaw. Without such principles the world would break up." 74. This is a time when those principles are of greater value and increasing importance, having regard to the 76. I should like now to refer to this year's report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization [A/32/1] which poin4 to three of the items on this session's agenda as the most important and dangerous. The MMdle East problem is one of them, the other two being the problem ofSouth Africa and the problem ofCyprus. 77. In all these problems-and this is really the gist of what I want to emphasize-there is a plethora of valid resolutions by both the General Assembly and the Security Council; but the result is that the resolutions, all of them, remain unimplemented. This becomes the problem of the United Nations. Very valid resolutions that have been well thought out, discussed and decided upon-particularly in the ~curity Council-yet remain unimplemented and inoperative. 78. This is an aspect that goes to the very root of the functioning ofthe Organization. The drafters ofthe Charter provided for implementation of Security Council resolutions and the means of compelling such implementation. This provision is mandatory in the Charter. The Charter does effectively provide, for carrying into effect Security Council resolutions. Until now, however, these resolutions remain unimplemented. 79. This is a state of affaiis that can and has to be corrected. It is not likely that we can ever have legal order and security in the world without a degree ofenforcement action. I particularly emphasize the need ofimplementation in respect of the three items, concerning which important resolutions stand wholly unimplemented-that is, the questions ofSouth Africa, the Middle East and Cyprus.

In deciding to discuss in plenary meetings thlJ illegal measures recently taken by Israel in the occupied Arab territories, the General Assembly wanted to m6ii its major concern over this new act of arrogant defiance on the part of the Zionist State towards the United Nations and the international community as a whole, which have been anxiou~, throughout the 30 years during which the question ofthe Middle East has persisted, to see the advent of a just and lasting peace in that part of the world. 82. In fact, after having delayed indefInitely the resumption of the Peace Conference on the Middle East in Geneva by raising and multiplying procedural difficulties regarding the participation of the Palestinians through the interiftediary of th~ Palestine Liberation Organization, their authentic spokesman, recognized as such by the international community as a whole, the Israeli'Government, by setting up settlements in the occupied Arab territories, hurled a striking rebuff at the fIrst non-negotiable demand fonnulated by the Security Council in its resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, namely, the "withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories . d " OCCUple •••• 83. This fundamental and immutable requirement is rooted in the very essence of the Charter of our Organization, which establishes as a. tenet the principle of the inadmissibility-Gf-the. acquisition of territories by force and has been accepted and supported by all States without exception. . 84. However, we are left in no doubt that, by adopting the measures that we are discussing, Israel, relying over and above all on its own strength, is in the process of carrying out an extensive and rampant annexation and intends unilaterally charting the ultimate and fmal shape of the greater State ofwhich the Zionists dream. 85. It is obvious that the United Republic of Cameroon must most fonnally and categorically condemn such an undertaking, which violates the fundamental rights of the people of the territories thus annexed, contravew:.es the provisions ofintemationallaw and seriously jeopardizes the chances fgr peace in the Middle East, while at the same time threatening international peace and security. 86. It is for these reasons that my delegation unreservedly supports any and all action that the General Assembly may consider to force Israel to nut a stop I to all the illegal measures taken in the occupied Arab territories and to comply with the international obligations to which it freely subscribed. The mi:etingrose at 12.15 p.m.