A/32/PV.88 General Assembly

As has been in- dicated by many of the representatives who have spoken here, the Palestinian problem ·is one of the keys to a settlement in the Middle East. The conscience of mankind cannot reconcile itself to a situation in which the Arab people of Palestine has for many years been hounded and persecuted, a situation where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been deprived of a roof over their heads, of land and of their homeland. 12. In fact all the countries of the world now recognize that, failing a solution of the Palestinian problem, there can be no settlement in the Middle East; there can be no just and lasting peace in the region; and there can be only one solution: there must be unconditional satisfaction of the lawful rights of the Arab people of Palestine, including their right to self-determination and to the creation of their own State. Such recognition has found its expression in the well-known resolutions adopted at the twenty-ninth, thirtieth and thirty-first sessions of the United Nations General Assembly. It was also expressed in the joint Soviet-American statement on the Middle East of i October this year, which contained a reaffIrmation of the lawful rights of the Palestinian people and also of its right to participate on an equal footing with other parties in efforts aimed at reaching peace in the Middle East. 13. That the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] is the lawful representative of the Palestinian Arabs is recognized by the United Nations, and thus by the 15. The continuing build-up of Israel's armaments, carried out with the" active assistance and support of certain well-known circles, represents a potential threat to peace and international security. 16. The position of the Byelorussian SSR on the question of Palestine and on the question of the Middle East as a whole is well known. It has been repeatedly set forth at sessions of the General Assembly and in other United Nations bodies. The Byelorussian SSR, like other countries of the socialist commonwealth, wants to see the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from all Arab territOlies occupied in 1967. It wants to see the inalienable rights of the Arab p~ople of Palestine secured, including their right to self-determination and to the creation of their own State. It wants to see all States of the Middle East region assured the right to an independent existence and security. Specific matters involved in a Middle East settlement will have to be considered at the Geneva Peace Conference, which we hope, in accordance with the joint United States-Soviet statement by the two countries that are Co-Chairmen of the Conference, will be resuming its work as soon as possible with the participation of all interested parties on an equal footing. 17. No decision concerning the destiny of the Palestinian Arab people can be taken without the Palestinians and their lawful representatives, the PLO, or taken against their will. 18. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR notes with satisfaction that in the past year the United Nations has continued its efforts to resolve the problem of Palestine, as evidenced, in particular, by the latest report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People [A/32/35J. Nevertheless, it is a matter for regret that, despite the Committee's efforts and the personal efforts of its Chairman, the representative of Senegal to the United Nations, Mr. Fall, it has not been possible: because of the position of certain Powers, to secure a positive consideration of the Committee's recom- mendations by the Security Council, as was envisaged in General Assembly resolution 31/20. 19. We should also like to address ourselves to the follOWing point. No matter what zigzags, what twists and 20. In this connexion, we should like to quote the following statement by Comrade Farouk Kaddoumi, member of the Executive Committee of the PLO, contained in his address made at the ceremonies in the Soviet Union marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution: "If the Palestinian people in the course of its armed revolution, thanks to its determination, its self-sacrifice and the outstanding steadfastness of its masses has won and continues to win victories, we shall also remember with gratitude the position of principle taken by the friendly Soviet Union that ha.s helped make these victories possible." 21. The elimination of the consequences ofIsrael's aggres- sion against the Arab countries, the ensuring of the lawful rights of the Arab people of Palestine, a just and lasting political settlement in the Middle East-these are important tasks, and p~rt of the work of eliminating dangerous hotbeds of tension in the world, and turning detente into a stable and irreversible process and extending it to all regions of the wofld. Helping to solve these problems is the duty of all States Members of the United Nations.

The Middle East stands today at one of the most crucial turning-points in its modem history. After four wars and incalculable suffering, we stand, for the first time, on the eve of serious negotiations aimed at resolving the issues that divide us and replacing the decades of bloodshed and destruction with a new era of peace. The bold and imaginative moves of the last two weeks have rendered obsolete the rhetoric and warmonger- ing of the past and have borne witness to the profound desire of common people in the region for an end to war. 23. But while the momentum for peace is being main- tained in the Middle East itself, this Assembly continues in a world of its own. While preparations proceed apace for a constructive dialogue in Cairo in the near future, this body continues to rehash old formulae that do not mention negotiations, but advocate instead an imposed solution in total disregard of the legitimate interests of one of the parties to the conflict. And while serious efforts are being made in Cairo, Jerusalem and elsewhere to remove the obstacles to a Geneva Peace Conference, this Assembly will vote, for the second time in two weeks, on a draft resolution which deliberately avoids reference to Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), on the basis of which the Geneva Conference was convened. 24. Indeed, while hard decisions are being taken in the capitals of the Middle East, this body is once again 25. That fateful day, 30 June 1936, when the League of Nations condemned itself to obsolescence, should remind us of the words of the philosopher Santayana: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it". Those grim days should give us the wisdom to pause and reflect on the verdict of historians years hence who will look back on the response of the United Nations to the momentous events we are now witnessing. 26. History will record that this Assembly, ostensibly dedicated to international peace and co-operation, turned a deaf ear to the ftrst major break-through in 30 years of conflict in the Middle East. History will record that, when the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt visited Jerusalem and opened the first direct dialogue \" .. J. Israel after a generation of bloodshed, this Assembly chose not to \~li1dorse that initiative but to continue in its perennial obsession of amassing anti-Israel resolutions. 27. History will record that, when two of the principal parties to the conflict pledged in this forum to leave behind the wars of the past and embark on a ftfth struggle, the struggle for peace, this Assembly in its resolutions allied itself with the forces of war and rejection. 28. History will record that, when practical moves were being taken to bring the parties to the negotiating tables of Cairo and Geneva, the Assembly this we~k chose to avert its eyes and to consider resolutions which ignored the very concept of negotiations. 29. If this body does not rise to the challenge and seize this precious opportunity to break out of one of the most vicious circles of international conflict in the world today, history will recall that the General Assembly of the United Nations condemned itself to irrelevance. 30. When I follow the activities of the so-called Com- mittee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, whose report we are here asked to consider, I am reminded of the ancient Arabic proverb which proclaims that: "He who has nothing to do acts as a judge". Here is a Committee, 19 of whose 23 members have no diplomatic relations with Israel and none of which is a party to the conflict in the Middle Eas+-, sitting on the sidelines prescribing one-sided resolutions whi1", two of the principal parties to the conflict are sero'lS1Y engaged in opening a constructive dialogue on all issues separating them. The absurdity of that Committee's composition and mandate notwithstanding, we have been presente~ with a draft resolution [A/32/L.39] authorizing that body te exert all efforts to promote the implementation of its recommendations. I will not here embark on an analysis of 31. Indeed, ..( appears that even the sponsors of the customary anti-Israel draft resolutions here have become aware of the irrelevance of their own h0llow condem- nations, for they have now resorted to setting up perma~ nent institutions in place of their paper resolutions. 32. Not content with the existence of two ~mti-Israel committees, wPich already cost.the world Organization more than half a million dollars annually, they now propose to set up within the Secr:etariat a special anit whose sole purpose will be to churn out hatred and vilification of Israel. Ironically, the ftnancing ofthis hostile unit, at a time when the world Organization is already experiencing financial difficulties, will be borne primarily by the taxpayers of those nations that have officially wei...omed the current moves towards pP,ace, and which contribute well over 60 per cent of the budget of the United Nations. 33. What is more serious is the fact that the establishment of wch a unit will seriously prejudice the impartiality of the Secretariat itself. That body, which has a role to play both in relation to the peace-keeping forces of the Middle East and in reconvening the Geneva Conference, will lose its standing as an honest broker, and forfeit any positive role it might have played in bringing the parties together. 34. In addition, we are experiencing a further serious erosion in the respect which this body has for itself. Wi~en it begins blithely to pass resolutions without considering either the ethical or fmancial implications contained in them, then it is well on the road both to moral and fiscal bankruptcy. As the Talmud says: "When one transgresses a commandment and repeats the offence, he feels no further restraint". Many representatives here had become so accus- tomed to the extremist resolutions passed here, that they were totally unaware of what those particular resolutions contained. They should not be surprised if the precedent being created here today were soon to be followed by special units in the Secretariat for each of the problems currently before the General Assembly. If a special unit on Palestine is set up, why not a unit on Cyprus, on Timor, or on the Comorian island of Mayotte, to mention but a few? 35. The proposed special unit will reflect. as does the Palestine Committee, the policy of the PLO, a terrorist 36. Despite the obstacles which this Assembly continues to place in the path of peace and despite the bitter condemnations heard in this hall, Israel remains ready to enter into immediate negotiations with all its neighbours with a view to achieving a just and lasting peace. We have always maintained that a direct and open dialogue is the only way to attain that goal, and we urge that the constructive dialogue begun between Egypt and Israel be extended to all parties involved in the conflict. I am convinced that, given the chance, the population of every other country in the Middle East would give expression to the same spontaneous feelings of joy and hope that were manifested in the streets of Cairo and Jernsalem in recent days. For all peoples in the region have suffered the ravages of war for far too long. Let us respect the voice of the people, for uSalus populi suprema lex esto "--"Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law". 37. I repeat here what I said last week and what our Prime Minister has reaffirmed in the Knesset: in the negotiations that will take place, everything must be negotiable; there are no pre-conditions. 38. In that context, Israel is committed and has always been committed to a just solution of the Palestine Arab issue. Such a solution must be sought within the framework of a comprehensive solution. of the conflict as a whole. Our position is that the Palestinian Arabs should be represented in negotiations and in that spirit the Government of Israel agreed, by unanimous decision of the Cabinet on 11 October 1977, to endorse the working paper prepared with the United States of America, a paper designed to overcome procedural difficulties in regard to the question of Pales- tinian Arab representation. Clause (3) of that paper stated: "The West Bank and the Gaza Strip issues will be discussed in a working group to consist oflsrael, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Arabs". . 39. It is more urgent than ever that serious and substantive discussions on all issues begin as soon as possible. Israel has therefore welcomed President El-Sadat's call for talks in Cairo to pave the way to Geneva, and has accepted an invitation to participate in those talks. The historic changes set in motion by President EI-Sadat's visit to Jerusalem demand a new and courageous approach in regard to all 40. Let us rather embrace together the spirit ofJerusalem, and face a new future of peace and co-operation, so that the words of the prophet ISaiah may be realized: "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptian will worship with the Assyrians. In that day, Israel shall be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has bles:.ed, saying 'Blessed be Egypt my people and Assyria the work of my hands, ~nd Israel my heritage.' ". [Isaiah 19:23-25.}

Iraq's political position on. the Palestinian cause has always been firm and clear. It is based on our adherence to the principle of the United Nations Charter regarding respect for the right of peoples to self-determination and indepen- dence. For 30 years now, United Nations resolutions have been repeatedly affirming the right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland, from which they were uprooted by force, their right to self-determination and their right to national sovereignty. In the past 10 years there has been a political crystallization of attitudes on the part of the overwhelming majority of the nations of the world in favour of the Palestinian cause. Today only the Zionist entity and its ally, the United States, do not recognize the fact of the existence of the Palestinian people and their inalienable national right to return to their homeland and to exercise self-determination on their national soil, without any form of'foreign interference. 42. Iraq, which is a part ofthe Arab nation, is determined to act in accordance with the legitimate interests and objectives of that nation and it is now prepared, as it was in the past and will be in the future, to bear the responsi- bilities of that commitment by fully strengthening and supporting the cause of the Palestinian people, who are waging an honourable and just struggle to regain their inalienable national rights. 43. In line with its sense of responsibility and its policy of support for the cause of the national rights of the Palestinian people, Iraq has refused and continues to refuse to become a party to political attempts to circumvent the Palestinian cause and to liquidate that cause in order to serve the interests of the Zionist settler colonialists. We reject these so-called "peaceful solutions" which are tanta- mount to a complete surrender by the Palestinian people, depart from the United Nations principle regarding the right of peoples to independence and self-determination, and consecrate the logic of force and submission to the status quo based on aggression against the Palestinian people and the occupation by force of the territories of Arab countries Members of the United Nations. 44. We have rejected Security Council resolution 242 (1967) because it recognizes the occupation of terri- tory by the Zionist entity prior to 1967, as well as the 45. Just as Iraq denounces and condemns these plans and policie:; which surrender the rights of the Arab people of Palestine and liquidate their just cause and which serve the interests of the Zionist occupier, it denounces the vi.sit of the President of the Egyptian regime, Anwar EI-Sadat, to occupied Palestine and the fact that he shook the hands of the murderers of the Palestinian people and the usurpers of their land. We denounce and condemn all the results of that visit. We regard the visit as a blow to all the efforts that have been exerted in this Organization and all over the world to support the Palestinian people in their just struggle against Zionist occupation. We consider the visit also as an individual act that totally contravenes the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. 46. My delegation attaches great importance to the work of thr Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. We have followed closely the patient and sincere efforts of the Chairman of the Com- mittee, Mr. Fall of Senegal, and of the other members of the Committee. 47. In connexion with the present item, the question of Palestine, I should like to refer to some paragraphs of the report the Committee has submitted to the Assembly for its consideration. 48. The report states: "The Committee viewed with extreme concern the actions taken by the Government of Israel in the occupied territories, especially the administrative meas- ures it had announced and which seemed to imply a continuation of the policy aimed at permanent annexa- tion of those territories. Strong condemnation was expressed against these actions of the Government of Israel which could only encourage the establishment of "Israel should be requested by the Security Council to desist from the establishment of new settlements and to withdraw during this period from settlements established since 1967 in the occupied territories ...". [Ibid., para. 72 (c).J 49. How do the facts in the occupied territories compare with the recommendations in the report? .We know that recently the pace of colonization in all the occupied Arab territories has increased. New plans have been worked out-and some have been implemented-for making perma- nent the occupation of Sytian, Egyptian and Palestinian territorie~ and for imposing the status quo on the negotia- tions with Arab Governments concerned regarding the fate . of these territories. It is perhaps the West Bank that has been most exposed to this new thrust of Zionist settlement. 50. The Zionist newspaper Hatzofeh, dated 7 January 1977, reported the following statement by the former Zionist Premier, Yitzhak Rabin, during the celebration of the transformation of the settlement of Mitzpe Shalem into " permanent settlement: "Since the Six Day War, 113 new settlements have been established, including 36 within the green Hne and 76 outside the green line". Rabin went on to say: 'These settlements e-?,pand our borders, consolidate the security of Israel and reinforce our special claims to peace and to defensible borders". He continued: "Since Yom Kippur 51 new settlements have been established and the attempts at settlement are going on; the consolidation of the confrontation line on the Golan Heights, the Jordali River, Ophira, Jerusalem, the Hill of Hebron and El Khalil, and the closing up of the areas south of Gaza constitute an attempt to create eight new prior~ties for the settlement movements, and all this aims at consolidating Israeli defensive borders and reinforcing its expansionist drive". 51. According to the annual reports of the "Land Author- ity" of Israel, the following has come to light regarding the settlements in the occupied Arab territories. According to the 1970-1971 report, in the West Bank alone, 46,650 dunams2 have been expropriated. According to the 1971-1972 report, in the West Bank 8,850 dunams have been expropriated and in the Gaza Strip and northern Sinai 24,000 dunarns. According to the report of 1972-1973, in the Gaza Strip and North Sinai, 3,000 dunams have been expropriated. According to the 1973-1974 report, 10,722 dunams in the West Bank and 13,400 dunams in the Gaza Strip and Sinai. And according to the report for 1975-!976, 1653 dunarns in the West Bank, and 10,020 dunarns m the Gaza Strip and in Sinai. Therefore, the attempts to colonize are going on. These are the facts about what is taking place. 52. In the Golan Heights, the Zionist entity expropriated, up to 1974, an area of 50,000 dunarns for settlement and they are now preparing to "expropriate another 140,000 dunarns. 2 A dunam is a unit ofland area equal to 1,000 square metres. 54. In addition, a series oflaws was enacted between 1948 and 1960 regarding land tenure, including laws concerning the expropriation of land-that is, of course, the expropria- tion of Arab land-which granted property rights to the Zionists. Furthermore, according to the Absentees' Prop- erty Law an Arab is considered absent from his home however short the period of absence may be, even if it were to last only a few hours; if the Zionist forces were to occupy that area) the owner of that property would be considered an impediment to the establishment of the Zionist entity. There are many examples of this. The property of 30,000 Arabs was expropriated in 1962 according to that law. There is also the law on the recovery of land, on acquisitive prescription, and on the concen- tration of agricultural land, all of which aim at expropria- ting the land from the Arabs. I will give the follOWing examples: of a total of 370 Jewish colonies which were set up between 1948 and 1953, 350 were set up on Arab land amid Arab property and homes. The Arabs who remained in occupied Palestine did not .escape from the wide-scale systematic plunder. Up to 1976, that is, up to last year, the total Arab land that was expropriated by the Zionist authorities in occupied Palestine reached approximately 40 per cent of all the land there. 61. First, the General Assembly should Clgain reaffrrm that just and lasting peace cannot be envisaged without adher- ence to the follOWing two principles. The first principle is Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab territories occupied since 5 June 1967, including the city of Jerusalem; the General Assembly should once more reaffirm that tha occupation of land seized by force is illegitimate and that continuation of the occupation constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The General Assembly shquld clearly state that the occupation does not give the occupying authorities the right to undertake any changes that would affect sovereign and other national rights and that, furthermore, according to the United Nations Charter and the fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protec- tion of Civilians in Time of War, it does not give them the right to annex territories. The second principle is the restoration of the full inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to repatriation and to self-deter- mination, and to the setting up of their independent State in Palestine. "What we hope for as a result of setting up more colonies is the Judaiza~ftonof Golan through the establish- ment of a new demographic settlement status that is Jewish in character along the lines of what we already did in the Negev in the mid-1950s, so as to foil any attempts at bargaining". 55. The number of new Jewish settlements in the West Bank alone reached 43 and work is continuing on the creation of more settlements. And here we hear from certain parties who talk about what they call peace. 56. As for the Golan Heights, that area is the subject of very special attention from the mling Zionist circles. In addition to the fact that in the enemy's plans top priority is accorded to the creation of settlements in the occupied Syrian Heights, there is an aggressive military motivation behind the persistence of the Zionist entity in remaining in Golan. The newspaper Ma'ariv. on 24 April 1977, men- tioned a statement made by Mr. Uri Lenz, a reserve general in command of the committee for the settlement of t.."le Golan, in which he said: There are hundreds and even thousands of other ~xamples. 58. As for the other facet of the settlement policy in the occupie J, Arab territories, that is the continuation of Zionist l111rnigration into Palestine and the occupied Arab territories. WOild zionism is working to encourage immigra- tion, which-as everyone knows-constitutes a serious menace that will lead to consecration of the occupation and the setting up of new settlements, to escalation of the conflict and perpetuation of the displacement of the Palestinian people. 59. The Assembly is fully aware of the dangers inherent in the deteriorating situation in the Arab region in spite of the psycholOgIcal and propaganda campaign launched by American imperialist circles and their satellites, who try to depict the situation in the Middle East as being on the verge of detente and solution. The situation is indeed deteriorat- ing. The Zionist occupation continues, and the dispersal of the Palestinian people and the denial of their rights continue. The escalation of Zionist violations and practices continues, as do military attacks by Israel against southern Lebanon. 60. My country "submits that the minimum the General Assembly can. do to deal with the situation in the Middle East, and especially with the Palestinian cause, which constitutes the crux and essence of the problem, is the follOWing. 62. Secondly, the General Assembly should condemn the unlawful Israeli measures and declare that such measures constitute a serious and gross violation ofthe purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, the provisions of international law and of the fourth Geneva Convention, and the relevant United Nations resolutions. thi~ accords with the principles of international law and the principles and resolutions of the United Nations. The Assembly should call for ;he abrogation of all such measures in the future. 64. Fourthly, the General Assembly should clearly declare the applicability of the fourth Geneva Convention to all the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories without exception and condemn Israel's non-compliance with the provisions of that Convention. 65. Fifthly, the General Asse~bly should call upon all States, especially States signatories to the Geneva Conven- tion, to assume their responsibilities under article 1 of that Convention, which concerns the need to ensure respect for that Convention at all times. 66. Sixthly, the General Assembly should call upon the Security Council to follow developments on this question and take the necessary steps to r.ut a final halt to the policy of Judaization: settlement and annexation practised by Israel in the occupied territories. 67. Seventhly, the General Assembly should reiterate its call to all States to desist forthwith from extending any military or economic assistance, or any other form of aid that could c;:mtribute to the perpetuation of the Israeli occupation and help the Israel authorities exploit the natural resources of the occupied Palestinian and other Arab ~ands. 68. Eighthly, the General Assembly should call upon all Member States to strive to put an end to the emigration of their citizens to Palestine and the other occupied Arab territories, since such emigration entails serious conse- quen:es leading to the consecration of occupation, the establishment of settlements and the displacement of the original inhabitants of those lands. It should also propose extending the mandate of the Committee on Palestinian rights to embrace this aspect of the problem also. 69. The eight proposals I have just made provide a logical framework that at.:cords with numerous United Nations resolutions and are a reasonable translation of the contents of the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Pa!estinian People. They are the minimum we call for.

I call on the representative of Viet Nam, who will introduce draft resolutions A/32/L.39 and A/32/L.40.

The Assembly's consideration of agenda item 30, "Question of Palestine", has taken on special significance this year in the present circumstances. Those circumstances have been marked, on the one hand, by greater international support than ever before for the struggle of the valiant people of Palestine for their 72. Ever since the question of Palestine was placed on the agenda of the General Assembly and the PLO became an observer at the United Nations four years ago, international support for the just cause of the Palestinian people has constantly developed and has become a world-wide move- ment encompassing the United Nations, the League of Arab States, the Organization of African Unity, the non-aligned courrtries, the socialist countries, all countries cherishing peace and justice, and many international conferences and organizations. 73. As far as the General Assembly is concerned, it has' reaffIrmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the rights to self-determination, to independence and to r:ational sovereignty. It has requested (hat the PLO be invited to participate in all efforts, deliberations and conferences on the Midtile East taking place under the auspices of the United Nations on a footing of equality with the other parties. It has established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian P~ople, reflecting the position of-the ovelWt..eLrning major- ity of delegations, which consider that the question of Palestine is the crux of the problem of the Middle East and that consequently a just and lasting peace in th,} region cannr t be achieved unless the legitimate national lights of the Palestinian people are respected. 74. Strong in their unconquerable tradition and encour- aged by support from progressive mankind, the heroic people of Palestine, although they have undergone trials unprecedented in the pages ofhistory, are growing stronger with every paSSh'1g day as the final victory comes into sight. 75. In the meantime Israel, standing in well-nigh total isolation, harshly condemned by all international bodies, nevertheless still refuses to bow to the resolutions of the General Assembly. It is intensifying its policies of aggres- sion and repression against the Palestinian people and other Arab peoples in the illegally occupied Arab territories, in particular its policy of indiscriminate bombing of the refugee camps and its policy of colonization and systematic settlement in the occupied Arab territories. 76. The United States, on its side, has abused its right of veto in the Security Council by blocking the constructive recommendations of the Committee which have already been approved by the General Assembly and which are designed to bring about a just solution, acceptable to the parties concerned and capable of establishing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Israel's stubborn acts and those of its ally, which have obstructed any reasonable, negotiated global settlement of the question of Palestine within the United N(1tions, have been accompanied by such honeyed words as "a fervent desire for a just and lasting peace" and "flexibility", and by intensive diplomatic activity with the sole purpose of dividing the Arab countries and excluding the PLO from any settlement of the Palestinian problem. 78. My delegttion joins with the majority of represen- tatives who have spoken before me in stating that the question of Palestine is the central element in the Middle East conflict and that consequently any settlement of the problem of the Middle East must give the question of Palestine its rightful place. 79. In \ :ew of the present situation in the Middle East, my delegation wishes to reaffIrm the complete support of the people and Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam for th~ just pf'sition of the PLO and of the other Arab countries regarding a just and lasting negotiated settlement of the Palestinian question and the problem of the Middle East. Ther... must be, first, Israel's withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied illegally since 6 June 1967, including the city of Jerusahm; secondly, the restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to return to their homes and their right to self-deter- mination and to the creation of an independent State in Palestine; and, thirdly, an affIrmation of the righ~s of the PLO, as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, te participate on an equal focting in all efforts, deliberations and international conferences concerning the Palestinian problem and the Arab-Israeli conflict. 80. I should now like to perform the duty, which is also an honour, assigned to me by the sponsors of the two draft resolutions A!32/L.39 and A/32/L.40, of introducing those two drafts to the General Assembly on behalf of the sponsors. 8: First, let me turn to draft resolution A/32/L.39. This dran does not differ essentially from ~~solutiun 31/20 adopted by the General Assembly last year on the question of Palestine. After recalling the General Assembly's resolu- tions of 1974, 1975 and 1976, the preamble of the draft resolution states, inter alia, that the General Assembly, "Having considered the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestine People, "Having heard the statement of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the represeiltative of the Palestinian people:' reaffirms "... that a iust and lasting peace in the Middle East cannot be established without the achievement, inter alia, 82. Still in the preamble, the Assembly would take note of the resolution on the question of Palestine adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity at its twenty-ninth ordinary session, held at Libreville from 23 june to 3 July 1977, of the Declaration on the situation in the Middle East and the question of Palestine adopted by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non-Aligned Countries at their extraordinary meeting in New York on 30 September 1977, and also of the final communique of the extraordinary meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Conference, held in New York on 3 October 1977. 83. In the operative portion, under the draft resolution, the Assembly "1. Expresses its appreciation to the Committee on the Exerc:se of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for its efforts in performing the tasks assigned to it by the General Assembly; "2. Takes note of the report of the Committee and ~ndorses the recommendations contained in paragraphs 43 and 44 of that report; "3. Notes with satisfaction that, dur:ing the considera- tion of the rep'ort of the Committee by the Security Council at its 2041st meeting, on 27 October 1977, all members of the Counch ~ho participated in the disr- .s- sion reaffirmed that ajust an"': lasting peace in the Middle East could not be established without the achievement, in particular, of a just solution of the problem of Palestine on the basis of the attaLment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people; "4. Urges the Security Council to take as soon as possible a decision on the recommendatiOltS endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 31/20 as a basis for the solution of the question of Palestine". Then in operative paragraph 7, the General Assembly would authorize the Committee to continue to exert all efforts to promote the implementation of its recommendations, to send delegations or representatives to' int€;national confer- ences where such representation would be considered by it to be appropriate, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its thirty-third session. 84. I now turn to draft resolution A/32/L.40. The purpose of that draft resolution is to create the conditions necessary to enable the Committee to discharge the important tasks assigned to it by the General Assembly. 85. In the preamble, the General Assembly having "con- sidered the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palec:tinian People", would recog- nize "the need for the greatest possible dissemination of information on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian 87. Briefly, both draft resolutions, which it has been our honour to introduce to the General Assembly on behalf of the sponsors, continue to reflect the spirit of earlier General Assembly resolutions on the subject and to capture the general sense of the debate which has taken place over the past few days in the General Assembly on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. 88. That is why the sponsors of both draft resolutions wish to express their fervent hope that the two draft resolutions will command wide support in the General Assembly. We should like to thank the representatives present here in advance for their support. 89. Mr. BALETA (Albania) {interpretation from French}: A few days ago the General Assembly was considering the tense and dangerous situation which persists in the Middle East. Now the Assembly is seized of the very important problem of Palestine, which has been and continues to be the heart of the whole Middle East problem. 90. The Palestinian people was the first victim of the imperialist Zionist aggression in the Middle East. Inter- national zionism, enjoying- the immense support of the imperialist Powers and, in the fIrst place, of the United States of America, used all means of violence, terror and aggression to expel the Palestinian people from its homes and from its own homeland. Thus, three decades ago began the tragedy of the Palestinian people, its life of sufferings and misfortunes in the tents of refugee camps, under the constant threat ofhunger and disease, under the bombs ?ud bullets of its enemies. 91. Today the Palestinian people is still the principal victim of the continuing imperialist-Zionist aggression and of the whole aggressive activity that the two super-Powers are undertaking in order to dominate and divide up the Middle East into spheres of influence, as well as of the plots and intrigues hatched by all the anti-Arab and anti- Palestinian forces. 93. The history of the Palestinian problem is a history of struggle and of the efforts made by the Palestinian people to free its own lands, a history of enormous sufferings and sacrifices endured by that people to preserve its national identity and its existence as a nation. It is at the same time a history of crimes and barbarous massacres perpetrated by the Israeli Zionists against the Palestinian people, a history of plots and intrigues hatched against that people by the imperialist Powers, fIrst and foremost by the two super- Powers-the United States and the Soviet Union-as well as by all anti-Arab and anti-Paiestinian forces. 94. The course of current events in the Middle East demonstrates that all th~ activities undertaken by the fIerce enemies and false friends of the Arab peoples in the Middle East are directed in particular against the struggle of the Palestinian people. Those events demonstrate that the Israeli Zionists, the two imperialist super-Powers and the other enemies of the Arab peoples have not given up one iota of their well-known objective: to eliminate the Palestinian question. Indeed they are in the process of intensifying their actions in order to carry through their diabolical plans. 95. The struggle of the Palestinian people has been and remains the principal factor impeding the achievement of the aggressive and expansionist ambitions of the Israeli Zionists in the Middle East. That is the reason why the Israeli Zionists are impatient to see the Palestinian question eliminated, to stifle the liberation struggle of the Palestinian people, to deny that people its inalienable and indefeasible right to recover its lands of which it was robbed by the force of arms, to deny it its national identity and to bring about its disappearance as a nation in the Middle East. The two imperialist super-Powers also consider the struggle of the Palestinian people as the greatest obstacle to be overcome in their attempts to achieve their greedy purposes in the Middle East. That is why they have stopped at nothing in order to eliminate the question of Palestine or to make use of it as a bargaining counter in the rivalry and the deals in which they are engaged in the Middle East. 96. It suffIces to glance rapidly at the events that have taken place in the Middle East in the past to see that the Israeli Zionists, the imperialist super-Powers and all the anti-Arab reactionary forces have done everything to bring to its knees and to vanquish the valiant and fighting Palestinian people. They have used assassination and mass murder to weaken the resistance of the Palestinian people; 98. The United States imperialists and the reactionaries that follow in their footsteps have always decried the assistance given by the Arab peoples to their brothers the . Palestinian pe<?ple. They have brought pressure and black- mail to bear in order to force those peoples to give up their duty and not to join in the common combat with the Palestinian people against the common enemy. It il) those same imperialists and reactionaries who also claim,without scruple, that they have every right to come to the assistance of the Israeli Zionist aggressors and to back them in their aggressive acts in order to satisfy their expansionist ambi- tions. They continue to claim that the Israeli Zionists have the right to use tanks and aircraft to kill the Palestinian people, whereas that people and its Arab brothers have no right t(' retaliate. According to the impenalist logic, the Arab peoples are supposed to remain with their arms folded in the face of Israeli crimes and to wait until their murderers and executioners are satisfied ahd prepared to resolve the problems of the Middle East at the negotiating table. 99. Today the world can see more clearly than ever before how dangerous are the efforts to carry through the anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian plans that have been long in the making. In the light of events one can see how the Israeli Zionists and the two imperialist super-Powers have manoeuvred to hatch the plots by which they aim to carry out their sinister designs in the Middle East, to the detriment of the rights of the Arab peoples, and of the Palestinian people in particular. 100. The fierce rivalry of the two imperialist super-Powers for domination and hegemony in the Middle East is expressing itself more and more clearly in the escalation of their demagogic competition to gull the Arab peoples. It is at the very moment when the very worst plots are being hatched against the Arab peoples that the two super-Powers swear that they have no other concern than the welfare of those peoples. The United States imperialists are seeking to pass themselves off as the friends of the Arab peoples, ev~n pretending that they are knocking themselves out to fmd ways of providing the Palestinian people with a homeland. The Soviet socio-imperialists, for their part, claim to be the most ardent champions of the Palestinian people's cause and assure them that, thanks to their concern, the question of Palestine will move towards a solution as soon as the Geneva Conference is reconvened. Cynicism and hypocrisy could hardly be carried further than in their daring to ask where a homeland for the Palestinian people might be 101. The conscience of the peoples is rightly outraged by the plots being hatched on every hand against the Pales- tinian people with the aim of delaying a solution to the question of Palestine indefinitely. The conscience of the peoples is revolted by the fraud and the treachery to which the two super-Powers and the Israeli Zhmists have recourse in order to prepare, step by step, the elimination of the Palestinian problem, in order to make people believe that the only obstacle to be overcome on the way to a solution of the problem is the decision as to by whom and how the Palestinians can and should be represented at the miracle Geneva Conference or in other conferences of that kind. A thousand and one intrigues have been hatched against the Palestinian people on the pretext of preparations for that Conference, which has been scheduled and postponed again and again. While trumpeting the need for convening that Conference, the eneroJes of the Arab peoples have con- tinued their attempts to tighten the noose around these peoples in order to force them to make concessions to imperialist-Zionist aggression and to bow to the inter- ference of the imperialist super-Powers in their domestic affairs. 102. But the chain of plots does not end there. Another link has just been added. This is the joint Soviet-American statement of -I October list, the biggest fraud of all, that was issued on the veri eve of the initiation of actions designed to realize the sinister plan of the enemies of the Arab peoples to bring about an accommodation between the Israeli Zionist aggressors and the victims of their aggression. 103. All the evidence is there to indicate clearly that the Israeli Zionists, the American imperialists, the Soviet sodo-imperialists and the other enemies of the Arab peoples are together mounting a ferocious attack on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. It is to the detriment of that people in particular that they have endeavoured to achieve the anti-Arab plans which have successively come to light up to now, namely, the "Rogers plan", the "Kissinger plan", the "Gromyko plan" and the "Vance plan", as well as many other plans put forward under various labels. 104. It is indeed true that the Palestinian people is going through very difficult times and that it is obliged to face attacks from all sides. Its enemies keep smiling at that people and making it promises in order the better to stab it in the back. They are keeping up a distracting commotion and exerting pressure in order to distract the Palestinian people from its armed struggle to liberate its lands and to give the impression that the Palestinian people has a better chance of achieving its rights by being seated at an international conference than by pursuing its armed strug- gle. The appetite of the Palestinian people's enemies is now whetted and they think that the day has come to gather the fruits of the aggression, massacres, plots and intrigues of which the Palestinian people has been the victim for so 105. But we are sure that all these calculations are doomed to failure. The Palestinian people, which has suffered so greatly, which has shed its blood and made enormous sacrifices, which has been tried in battles against such ferocious and cunning enemies, will not allow itself to be vanquished even in the most difficult moments. The enemies of the Palestinian people cherish in vain the illusion that this people has no choice but to capitulate. The sound of the Palestinian fighters' guns has always been the best response to imperialist-Zionist aggression, to the clamour of war and aggression of the Israeli Zionists and to treason and surprise attacks. It is this response which will surely crush all plots and all intrigues. 106. The heroic struggle which the Palestinian people has waged and continues to wage is indomitable. That struggle will go down in history as a great example ofthe struggle of small peoples that refused to be impressed or intimidated by the enemy, no matter how big or powerful that enemy, when fighting for their freedom and their rights. The Palestinian people has shown that it is ready and able to confront any situation whatever and to endure all sacrifices in its struggle for freedom and national dignity, and the restoration of all its rights in its homeland. The spirit of self-sacrifice which characterizes the Palestinian people and its fighting spirit are the best guarantee of its inevitable victory. The Palestinian people is sure that it will be victorious, thanks to its strength and its weapons, thanks to the struggle of its sons and daughters, whose hearts burn with hatred that will brook no resistance by the enemy and with boundless love for freedom and a national homeland. 107. The Palestinian people has through its own struggle won the respect and the solidarity of all peoples and all progressive forces in the world. The Palestinian people is fighting for a great and just cause on a common front with the other Arab peoples. The Palestinian people's struggle is in the vanguard of the struggle of peoples against common enemies. The Arab peoples' enemies may manoeuvre and hatch plots, but we are convinced that those peoples will not agree to abandon the cause of the Palestinian people; they will not allow the fate of their own cause to be decided by their enemies on the basis of plans and scenarios conceived and prepared according to the desire and the interests of the Israeli Zionists and the imperialist super-Powers. 108. All the talk about the alleged "peace" and alleged "stability" in the Middle East cannot force the Palestinian people and the Arab peoples to renounce their struggle in order to secure the triumph of their vital interests or compel them to surrender to the enemy. There can be no end to the grave situation in the Middle East, there can be no true peace and stability in that region without a just and lasting solution of the question of Palestine, a sine qua non of which is the restoration of all the national rights of the Palestinian people in its homeland. It is for the Palestinian people and for it alone under the leadership of the PLO to say the last word on the solution of these problems, and it "We shall forcefully and with determination suppor' the just cause of the Arab peoples, their struggle to rep! imperialist-Zionist aggression to free their occupied ten,- tories and to unmask the plots of American imperialism and Soviet socia-imperialism. Our people and our country support the just struggle being waged by the Palestinian people to conquer its national rights and to regain its homeland taken from it by Israel, the instrument of American imperialism. We maintain ties with the Palestine Liberation Organization and we support it. We hope that there will be a powerful fighting unity among the Arab peoples, since that will be the sure basis of their victory over the Zionist and imperialist enemies."

For the second consecutive year the Gener..l Assembly is considering the report of the Committee on th:. Exercise of the Inalienable Rights ofthe Palestinian People. On this occasion the Algeri~n delegation wishes to pay a well-deserved tribute to the members of that Committee and, in particular, to its Chairman, Mr. Fall of SenegaL fur the dedication and faith with which they have worked to shed light on the elements constituting the essential basis of any definitive solution of the Palestinian problem and, hence, of the Middle East conflict. Ill. Our Assembly has just finished its work on the consideration of"the situation in the Middle East, and it is now clear that the question of Palestine has been at the core of the tragedy of the Middle East for the past 30 years. 112. Indeed, what must be acknowledged is that all attempts since 1947 to glide over the fate of the Palestinian people have been doomed to failure and that no lasting solution is possible if one tries to ignore the fact that that question is at the origin ofthe Middle East conflict and also determines its development and. therefore, its eventual outcome. 113. The existence of the Palestinian people is a fact in the Middle East, a fact which some, perhaps, find it hard to accept; but it is obvious that it is because that fact has not been borne in mind that the Middle East conflict has thus far remained unresolved. That fact has finally been brought home to everyone thanks to the self-denial and heavy sacrifices of the Palestinian people. 114. The United Nations has for 30 years been seized of the question of Palestine, thus assuming responsibilitie-' towards the Palestinian people, who have suffered undul: from the denial of their fundamental national rights and have found themselves reduced to the status of refuge",,, able, if need be, to qualify for international charity. 116. But the time has passed when certain people, drunk with power and convinced of their support, or others, full of false humility and tarnished courage, believed that they could reduce an entire people to silence. 117. Like other valiant people of the third world, the Palestinian people, on the strength of the solidarity of the Arab nations and the support of all people that love freedom and progress throughout the world, will continue to wage its campaign for dignity and national liberation. Inured by 30 years of suffering and bitter experience, it cannot abdicate its prerogatives, and the PLO remains the incarnation of its political will and the instrument of its fight for freedom, although that fact may not be welcome to some. U8. Israel's stubborn attempt to "de-Palestinize" the Palestinian problem by its ever accelerative policy of settlements, and its negation of the very existence of the Palestinian people by the most authoritative spokesmen of world zionism, are evidence of Israel's uneasy conscience in regard to that people. A relationship exists here like that between the colonialists and the colonized peoples that have been characteristic of colonial situations throughout the third world. For Vorster, the black African does not exist as such; for Begin, the Palestinian Arab does not exist as such-that is to say, as a man who is free and independent in his own country. The collapse of the most powerful colonial empires elsewhere has demonstrated that such attempts are doomed to failure. 119. ·The Security Council already had occasion to con- sider the recommendations of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The discussion which took place in the Security Council on the report of the Committee revealed the willingness of Member States to promote the implementation of the programme proposed by the Committee, and thus to elrerge from the deadlock which has dogged other attempts 120. Once again that same Security Council, at the request of the Committee, considered on 27 October las13 the report and recommendations adopted by the General Assembly. Unfortunately, we can only say once again that we are disappointed that the Security Council has found itself at a deadlock; it had not yet stated its final position on the matter, notwithstanding the support given by the majority of its members to the decision of the General Assembly. That situation is particularly incomprehensible since the recent progress made in respect of the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people should act as a stimulant and foster positive action in the Security Council, for, in fact, the recommendations made to the Council by the Committee merely aim at the implementation of decisions already taken by the United Nations and, what is more, accepted by every party to the conflict. That is why we renew our appeal to the Security Council to consider seriously the recommendations of the Committee and those of the General Assembly. That would be a contribution to the solution of this conflict, with which our Organization has had to deal since its inception and which has repre- sented a constant threat to international peace and security. , 121. Having known the horrors of war, the bitterness of exile and the suffering'of occupation, the Palestinian people, more than any other people, wish for peace. The international community bears witness to that desire for peace, which has constantly been conveyed through its true representatives that are leading the resistance of that people. But if there is to be peace, the Palestinian people must recover its national rights, for that condition will determine any just and lasting solution of the conflict in the Middle East. That is why the participation of the PLO on an equal footing with all other parties in any attempt at a final settlement of the question is a prerequisite which has already been recognized by the General Assembly and no turn of events, however spectacular, should allow us to forget that fact. Any other course of action would lead not only to an' impasse, but what is more would lead to a much more complex situation and one which could well be tragic for all the peoples in that region.

Some 50 years ago there was no Palestine problem, only Palestine itself, an Arab homeland inhabited by Arabs continuously for over 2,000 years. The subsequent history ofPalestine stands out as one of the supreme examples of intrigue, conspiracy and betrayal in modern times, laced with bitter ironies, not the least of which has been the role and responsibility of the United Nations itself. As Mr. Fall, the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, aptly categorized it last year: 123. The United Nations has dealt with the problem for 30 years, during which this question has gone through three distinct phases corresponding with the changing pattern of the composition of this Assembly. The first phase, from 1947 to 1952, marked by the domination of the West, virtually imposed the division of the territory and its inevitable outcome-the birth of the Middle East problem. Action by the United Nations to contain the resulth,g strife and war was bound to be ineffectual since it deliberately ignored the core of the problem, the right of the indigenous people to self-determination. That basic injustice was to produce a chain reaction of even more serious inequities, as the dominant party sought to justify and consolidate an untenable situation. 124. The next phase, from 1952 to 1969, saw the perpetuation of the faits accomplis by treating the issue not on a political plane but merely as a humanitarian issue. The Palestinians were excluded from the search for a political solution. They were relegated to the limbo of stateless- ness-an immense mass of humanity, uprooted, displaced and doomed to seek sanctuary in temporary shelters scattered over several countries. At the same time further territories were occupied and annexed by Israel. 125. Meanwhile the composition of the United Nations was undergoing a radical metamorphosis consequent on the inevitable dismantling of the colonial system. It is a historical irony that, at the very time that the Balfour Declaration was assuming specific substance, President Woodrow Wilson was propounding what are now univer- sally accepted norms: the rejection of the acquisition of territory by force and the right of self-determination of peoples. These norms were later to be incorporated and sanctified as international law in Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations and Articles 1 and 2 of the United Nations Charter. It was not until 60 years had elapsed since the Balfour letters that the validity and application of those norms were to be directed for the first time towards the Palestinian people by the entry of nations which had emerged into sovereign independence and statehood in vindication of those very principles. It is only natural that those States which have so successfully striven for their freedom should view with abhorrence the reversal of the process in the case of Palestine. . 126. The third phase, since 1969, saw the collechve efforts made by the third world to focus attention on the correction of the colossal injustice perpetrated against the Palestinian people. After three decades of deliberatel} diffused and piecemeal consideration of the subject, the Assembly, in 1974, decided for the first time to deal with the question in its totality: not only in its humanitarian manifestation but as a historical, juridical and political whole. 127. The results this time were very different. The overwhelming majority endorsed the right of the Palestinian 128. The Assembly went further. It acknowledged the right of the PLO to be regarded as the true representatives of those people-a right which had already been unani- mously endorsed by the Islamic Conference at Rabat and indeed by the entire non-aligned group. General Assembly resolution 3237 (XXIX) was to give concrete expression to this right by granting the PLO the status of permanent observer, with the unprecedented right to participate in the sessions of the United Nations General Assembly and all conferences convened by it. 129. There is virtual unanimity that the key to a Middle East solution is the settlement of the Palestinian problem. There can be no doubt, however, that the United Nations has already pronounced on the fundamental essentials that constitute the framework for a solution. These are the assurance of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in Palestine, first and foremost the right to return to their homes and property from which they have. been displaced or uprooted and, even more important, their right to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty. 130. It follows inevitably that the people of Palestine are and must remain a principal party' to any Middle East settlement. It equally necessitates their being represented by their own duly recognized representatives, and, as indicated earlier, this has already been resolved. This cannot be subject to imposition by Israel or the world body; it is a decision by the Palestinians themselves. 13 L To question these essential premises would be to return the problem to the limbo of forgetfulness. These are the overt and standing pronouncements of the overwhelm- ing majority of the world community. They cannot be called into question as untenable. They are not subject to compromise. To challenge the standing resolutions of the United Nations could lead to a dangerous contradiction, as has been pointed out by the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. What remains now is for a peace conference to determine the formal establishment of the Palestinian State and the territory over which it would extend. 132. The developments that we have briefly traced above are a reflection of the basic realities of the situation and the crystallization of the views held by the great majority of States Members of the United Nations. They underscore the qualitative changes that have taken place in the Middle East and the ever more urgent compulsion to fmd a solution to a pr.:>blem which is balanced on the thin edge between durable peace and a conflagration. 133. Bangladesh has studied very carefully the report presented by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. As a member of the Co-ordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Countries, we have already had occasion to commend and endorse its recommendations and we fully concur in the guiding motivation of the members of the Committee, who believe that their recommendations: 134. We reiterate our belief that the two-phased pro- gramme governing the return of the refugees to their homeland, and the proposals for securing the exercise of the inalienable right to self-determination of the people of Palestine, do indeed constitute a viable approach containing concrete and pragmatic proposals~ proposals that would in our opinion pave the way to peace, redress past inequities, and satisfy the legitimate aspirations and allay the genuine fears and preoccupations of the true inhabitants of this region. 135. We believe that these proposals reflect the collective will of the international community and are well within the framework of past decisions and resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council. Given conviction and a genuine desire for peace, the specific steps recommended by the Committee constitute a ladder to a permanent solution of the problem. 136. While hopes for peace are maturing, it is our opinion that strictures should not be directed at the United Nations, nor should it be asked to mute its voice in its search for justice and a lasting settlement. The onus falls on Israel to demonstrate its bona fides and fulfIl its obligations to the Charter and the body that sanctioned its creation. Mean- while, as the world expectantly awaits 'a positive response, it would be a grave dereliction of duty under the obligations of the Charter and concerning the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people if the United Nations did not take effective action to deter Israel from adopting further measures in violation of basic human rights and, more important, from consolidating its occupation of and hold over the territories it has occupied by force. The charge upon the Security Council in this respect is both imperative and urgent. 137. It is a truism that justice is no respecter of peoples or States. Peace built upon manifest inequity is ephemeral. Security cannot be bolstered at the expense of others. Neither military might nor power configuration can ulti- mately withstand the forces of right and justice. This is the lesson of history. Israel must face this situation, for though the cost may be bitter the result is inexorable and inevitable. 138. In conclusion, Bangladesh has the honour of being a sponsor of the two draft resolutions on the question of Palestine which are before the Assembly [A/32/L.39 and A/32/L.40]. We commend these for the approval of the General Assembly. 1.39. Mr. EL HASSEN (Mauritania) (interpretation from French): In response to a moral and political imperative, my delegation feels it is its duty to speak on the question of Palestine which has been under consideration in our General Assembly for the past few days. While our statement is prompted by our natural solidarity and our unfailing support for the people of Palestine and for its 5 Ibid.• Thirty-jlrst Session, Supplement No. 35, para. 58. 140. Speaking a few days ago on the situation in the Middle East [81st meeting]. I stated that to ignore the existence of the Palestinian people, as Israel persists in doing, is systematically to turn one's back on the funda- mental cause of the problem. Fortunately, the international community is today more than ever aware of the need to take into consideration the fact of Palestine in any honest quest for a just and lasting peace in the region. 141. Nevertheless, it took the Palestinian people 30 years to make themselves felt, and it took the international community equally long finally to realize that no peaceful solution can be effected in the Middle East without the Palestinian people. 142. Since 1948 not a single year hag passed without one or other aspect of the problem of Palestine being con- sidered by various bodies at the United Nations. Numerous resolutions specifically bearing on this painful problem have been adopted both by the General Assembly and by the Security Council. 143. But all those decisions had a fundamental flaw. In them the situation was regarded as no more than a question of refugees and only humanitarian assistance was deemed necessary for the temporary alleviation of the sufferings of the Palestinian people. For this reason, all those decisions were limited to aealing with the immediate consequences of the injustice visited upon the Palestinian people, rather than seeking to eliminate the cause of that injustice. What is, in fact, the cause of this situation which has obtained for over a quarter of a century in the Middle East? 144. Before the creation of the Zionist State of Israel, the people of Palestine offered the example of a people living in peace, a people tolerant vis-a.-vis all those who, for religious reasons, came to settle in Palestine. The Jewish immigrants in particular found refuge, friendship and fraternity in Palestine. The people of Palestine never concerned itself over the intentions of those Jewish immigrants. Rather, it felt it was its duty to draw them out of their solitude and to protect them from the injustice that had been visited upon them, particularly in Europe. 145. This was the attitude of the Palestinian people until the day when that Jewish immigration became a veritable colonization by force. But that colonization of Palestine by international zionism is, in many respects, different from the type of colonization we have frequently condemned here in the United Nations. Colonialism wherever it exists is, of course, the same sort of phenomenon. But no colonialism, even the most execrable kind such as apart- heid. has gone so far as to expel an entire people from its national territory. 146. Since the Palestinian people, that people whose life and existence have been identified for centuries with the geography and the land of Palestine itself were expelled from their home-since that time that people have been deprived of their homeland, despoiled of their property, 148. More ~han a quarter of a century has elapsed in this way-a quarter of a century punctuated by four successive wars each time claiming more lives and leading to further acts of occupation and the further forced displacement of Palestinians. Throughout this period the Zionist authorities of Tel Aviv have harboured the secret hope not only that would the international community accept the fait ac- compli, but also, and above all, that the Palestinian people would be absorbed by the neighbouring Arab States or destroyed outright. 149. Israel could perhaps cherish that illusion so long as the Palestinian people was weakened, so long as the international community appeared passive and indifferent. But the Palestinian people, taking up the challenge, rose up as all those rise up who wish to live in freedom or die in dignity. For some years the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the PLO, have given the world the proof of their existence, of their vitality, the proof of their determination to recover their national right to a homeland, their national right to internationally recognized indepen- dence. The United Nations, which in the past seemed ready to go along with the injustice that had been imposed on the Palestinian people, now understands the impossibility of ignoring the existence of the Palestinian people. It now sees that people as an essential component of the situation in the Middle East, a component without which all peace efforts in the region are doomed to failure. 150. This new attitude on the part of our Organization has been demonstrated in two decisions of major importance: the granting, in 1974, of observer status to the PLO, and the establishment, in 1975, of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. 151. The principal mandate of that Committee is to fill the gaps that have thus far marred the decisions of the Security Council and the General Assembly on the question of Palestine. If those decisions. have held out no prospects for peace in the region, that is precisely because they say 152. It is futile to cherish illusions and to expect that the Palestinian people is going to lie down and die. If the Palestinian people have survived the vicissitudes of the past, they will survive those of the future, since today they enjoy the unanimous recognition of the international community and are more than ever imbued with the determination to struggle for their inalienable national rights. 153. Peace in the Middle East will not depend upon a momentary lull in hostilities or upon temporary arrange- ments but upon a just solution to the Palestinian problem. No lull will be peace, and no peace will be lasting in the region until such time as the Palestinian people have had their legitimate rights restored and the injustice committed against that people has been made good. The Geneva Conference would be just another formality or ceremony if the PLO, the uncontested and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people were not invited to the Conference together with the other parties on a footing of strict equality and with the same rights. 154. In conclusion, I should like to pay a warm tribute to the members of the Committee and in particular to its Chairman, Mr. Medoune Fall, and to its Rapporteur, Mr. Victor Gauci, for the balanced and objective work they have submitted to our Assembly. Vze meeting rose at 1.25 p.m.