A/36/PV.42 General Assembly

Statements will be limited to explanations of vote. The position of delegations regarding .the various recommendations of the Third Committee have been made clear in the Committee and are reflected in the relevant official documents and records. 12. May I remind members that, under decision 34/401. the General Assembly agreed that "When the draft resolution is considered in a Main Committee and in plenary meeting, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, Le.• either in the Committee or in plenary meeting unless that delegation's vote in plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee." May I also remind members that. in accordance with that decision,· explanations of vote are limited to IQ minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats. 13. We shall consider first the report of the Third Committee on agenda item 74. The Assembly will now vote on the draft resolution entitled ..Implementation of the Programme for the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and"'Racial Discrimination". A separate vote has been requested on operative paragraph 12. If there is no objection: I shall now put that paragraph to the vote. A recorded vote has been requested. In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola. Ar- gentina. Bahamas. Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados. Ben- in. Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria. Burma, Burundi. Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Cape Verde. Cen- tral African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica. Cuba, Cyprus. Czechoslovakia, Democratic Kampuchea, Democratic Yemen, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador. Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, German Democratic Re- public, Ghana. Grenada. Guatemala, Guinea. Guinea- Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India. Indo- nesia, Iran. Iraq, Israel. Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic. Lesotho. Liberia. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar. Malaysia, Maldives. Mali, Mauritania. Mauritius. Mex- ico. Mongolia, Morocco. Mozambique. Nepal, Nic- aragua, Niger, Nigeria. Oman, Pakistan. Papua New Guinea, Peru. Philippines, Poland, Qatar. Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia. Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Ara- bia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore. Somalia. Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname. Syrian Arab Republic, Thai- la~d, Togo. Trinidad and Tobago. Tunisia, Uganda. Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Union of Soviet So- cialist Republics. United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Tanzania, Upper Volta, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia. Zimbabwe. Against: .None. Abiotal'n;,'o' A·",tl'<>I·la Au"trl"a B",lnillrn ranada Den- • I.;." • -6· ...... a'-la.., "', .....0..... ,,~ ., mark, Finland. France. Germany. Federal Republic of, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan. Luxembourg, Ma- lawi, Netherlands. New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Samoa. Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Turkey. United King- (;.001 of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola. Ar- gentina, Bahamas. Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Be- lize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Burundi, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Cape Verde, Central African Republic. Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus. Czechoslovakia, Democratic Kampuchea, Demo- cratic Yemen, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ger- man Democratic Republic, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau. Guyana, Haiti. Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast. Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya. Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho. Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco. Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan. Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia. Turkey, Uganda, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Re- public, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Tanzania, Upper Volta, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia. Zimbabwe. Against: Australia, Austria, Belgium. Canada, Den- mark, Finland, France. Germany, Federal Republic of, Greece, Iceland, Ireland. Israel. Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand. Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and ·.Northern Ireland. Abstaining: Dominican Republic,! Guatemala, Japan, Malawi. Portugal, Spain. The draft resolutioll~ as a whole was adopted by 121 votes to 19. with 6 abstemiolls (resolution 36/8).!

I call upon the representative of the Dominican Republic. who wishes to explain her vote after the vote.

The Dominican Republic voted in favour of the draft resolution as a whole in accordance with its position in favour of the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination throughout the world. However, we wish to state for the record that we have reservations on operative paragraphs 3 and IQ since, ·for reasons of principle. we cannot agree with the drafting of those paragraphs. 17" In signing the Charter of the United Nations the Dominican Republic accepted a permanent commitment to the principle of the maintenance of peace in all its as~ pects.

The Assembly will turn now to the report of the Third Committee on agenda item 81. The Assembly will now vote on draft resolution I, en- 19. I call on the representative of Ethiopia, who wishes to explain her vote before the vote.

The Ethiopian delegation wishes to state for the record that it has reservations on the documents referred to in paragraph 3(d) of document A/36/622 and paragraph 3(e) of document A/36/623.

I now put draft resolution I to the vote.

I call on the representative of the Dominican Republic, who wishes to explain her delegation's vote, after the vote.

The Dominican Republic has always staunchly supported the right of peoples to independence and self-determination and the safeguarding of human right~ by the means advocated in its Constitution-that is, without the use of violence or similar action. My country nevertheless had to abstain in the vote on draft resolution I because it does not share some of the views expressed therein.

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution 11, entitled "Universal realization of the right of peoples to self-determination". 25. The Third Committee adopted that draft resolution without a vote. May I consider that the General Assembly also adopts that draft resolution without a vote?

We shall now take a decision on the three draft resolutions on item 82. 27. Draft resolution I is entitled "Status of the International Convention on the Elimimition of All Forms of Racial Discrimination". 28. The Third Committee adopted draft resolution I without a vote. May I consider that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?

Draft resolution 11 is entitled "Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination". A recorded vote has been requested.

Finally, we come to draft resolution Ill, entitled "Status of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid". A recorded vote has been requested. The meeting was suspended at 3.50 p.m. and resumed at 4 p.m.

The Assembly has before it the report of the Special Political Committee on agenda item 59 [A/36/629] and part I of its report on agenda item 64 [A/36/632]. . Pursuant to rule 66 of the rules of procedure, it was decided not to discuss the reports of the Special Political Committee.

Statements will be limited to explanations of vote, if any. The positions of delegations regarding the various recommendations of the Special Political Committee have been made clear in the Committee and are reflected in the relevant official records. 33. I would remind members again that, under decision 34/401, the General Assembly agreed that "When the same draft resolution is considered in a Main Committee and in plenary meeting, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, Le., either in the Committee or in plenary meeting unless that delegation's vote in plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee". I would also remind members that, in accordance with that decision, explanations of vote should not exceed 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats. 34. We shall consider first the report of the Special Political Committee on agenda item 59. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution entitled "Ef-' fects of atomic radiation", which has been recommended' by the Special Political Committee in paragraph 7 of its report. 35. Since the Committee adopted that draft resolution without a vote, may I take it that the Assembly also wishes to adopt it without a vote?

The draft resolution contained in the Special Political Committee's report before us is yet another product of the ongoing anti-Israel warfare in this Hall staged by the adversaries of Israel, who are engaged 10 a relentless campaign of vilification of my country. In pursuing this goal they do not recoil from fanning the flames of religious incitement, from whipping up the passions of religious fanaticism and from creating an air of artificial hysteria by initiating and sponsoring mendacious draft resolutions like the one that is before us today. 39. The enemies of Israel have again made accusations which they know are groundless in connection with recent works that, according to their distorted version, malY affect the holy places on the Temple Mount in Jeru~alem. Let me therefore repeat the true facts, which have already been" brought to the attention of Member States, first in my letter to the Secretary-General of 24 September 1981 [A/36/555] and subsequently by the representative of Israel in the Special Political Committee, during its 13th • meeting. 40. The access leading from the Western Wall to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is an ancient passage which during the Ottoman period was blocked and used as a water cistern. This passage is described in the report of a British archaeologist, Sir Charles Warren, who surveyed the area 114 years ago. 41. Seepage of water from the cistern through the masonry of the Western Wall led the Israel authorities for religious affairs responsible for the site to open the Ottoman blockage, to pump out the water and to begin cleaning the passage. The access has since been reblocked and restored to the status quo ante, and there are ::l0 further plans to reopen it. Moreover, a '~econd thick wall in the passage itself underneath the Temple Mount was subsequently constructed by the Moslem Waqf authorities. 42. These, then, are the true facts. Needless to say, they are not reflected in the draft resolution before us, for its sponsors do not want to be bothered by facts and by the truth. 43. Let there be no misunderstanding: if a lie is endorsed by a large number of States, it does not cease to be a lie, it simply becomes a big lie. And if lies are being trumpeted here day in, day out, they do not thereby become the truth: they simply become even bigger lies. 44. When lies of the kind before us are being submitted for the General Assembly's approval, there is only one proper and decent response to them: a vote against untruth, which is also a vote for truth. 45. It is of course ridiculous to c1aiP"' that any structures on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem are in danger of collapse as a result of excavations. The sponsors of the draft resolution know full well that the assertion made to this effect in their text is untrue, as is the entire concoction of falsehoods that make up this· draft resolution, including the reference to the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, which, as is well known, contains no "provi- 46. No structure on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is in danger of collapse. But what is in fact collapsing before our very eyes is the last vestige of the credibility that might still have been claimed by the sponsors of this draft resolution and by all those who will dutifully support them in this nefarious venture. 47. They have not only brushed aside the facts in trying to commit this travesty; they have also brushed aside the procedural requirements that are supposed to be observed in this Organization. In so doing they have again seriously compromised what little prestige this Organization still has left. 48. It is quite likely that some of those who are responsible for this constant lowering of the United Nations standing and for the perver~ion of the Charter and its principles will now take the floor and sanctimoniously pretend to defend the Organization and its prestige. 49. My answer to them is simple indeed: it is not those who speak the truth and for the truth who disgrace the United Nations but rather those who deliberately spread lies in this building and then have them approved through the use of their built-in majority. It is they who must assume responsibility for the constant decline in the standing of this Organization and for the lowering of its prestige. 50. Israel will vote for truth and thus against the dishonest draft resolution before us. We reject it in its entirety and we shall treat it with the contempt it deserves.

The Assembly will now take a decision _on the draft resolution entitled "Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories" and recommended by the Special Political Committee in paragraph 9 of its report [A/36/632]. A rollcall vote has been requested.

I call on the representative of Sweden, who wishes to explain his vote.

My delegation abstained in the vote just taken. We find that the fonnulation char~lc­ terizing the excavations in Jerusalem as a threat to international peace and security prejudges consideration of the matter by the Security Council, which is also called for in the resolution. furthermore, we are not convinced, on the evidence available to us, that the facts of the situation fully warrant all the formulations in the resolution. 54. Let me add that there can be no doubt that the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, is fully applicable to all Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and that Israel must scrupulously abide by that Convention. However, while in a general sense my Government can understand the concerns motivating the sponsors in putting forward their proposal, we have not found it possible, for the reasons I have indicated, to support the present text.

Before calling on representatives who wish to speak in exercise of the right of reply, I wish to remind them that, like explanations of vote, such statements should be limited to 10 minutes and should be delivered from their seats.

What we have before us is not new to the General Assembly or the Security Council. In fact, the actions that Israel has been undertaking in Jerusalem and areas where holy sites exist have been before this Organization for a long time. As one example, I should like to quote the following from Security Council resolution 271 (1969): "Grieved at the extensive damage caused by arson to the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on 21 August 1969 under the military occupation of Israel, " "Reaffirming the established principle that acquisition of territory by military conquest is inadmissible, " 1. Reaffirms its resolutions 252 (1968) and 267 (1969); I underline that the Security Council has already pointed out that any such act "may seriously endanger interna- tional peace and security". "3. Determines that the execrable act of desecra- tion and profanation of the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque em- phasizes the immediate necessity of Israel's desisting from acting in violation of the aforesaid resolutions and rescinding fm1hwith all measures and actions taken by it designed to alter the status of Jerusalem; "4. Calls upon Israel scrupulously to observe the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and international law governing military occupation and to refrain from causing any hindrance to the discharge of the estab- lished functions of the Supreme Moslem Council of Je- rusalem, including any co-operation that Council may desire from countries with predominantly Moslem pop- ulation and from Moslem communities in relation to its plans for the maintenance and repair of the Islamic Holy Places in Jerusalem; "5. Condemns the failure of Israel to comply with the aforementioned resolutions and calls upon it to im- plement forthwith the provisions of these resolutions; "6. Reiterates the determination in paragraph 7 of resolution 267 (1969) that, in the event of a negative response or no response, the Security Council shall convene without delay to consider what further action should be taken in this matter". 57. The representative of Israel had the impudence to accuse the sponsors of this resolution and those who have voted for it of deliberately spreading lies in this Organiza- tion. He accused them of fanning religious incitement. I should like to read one quotation to show who is lying and who is spreading such religious incitement. The fol- lowing is taken from the April 1969 issue of the official quarterly of the Israeli Army Rabbinate, Mahanaim, from an article entitled "The Israeli Peace": "The Arabs-the foreign element to this country and its destiny, which inhabits it today-their law shall be exactly the same as the laws which apply to the foreign ancient elements. Our wars with them were unavoid- able, just as our wars were unavoidable during our pre- vious colonizations, with the nations which conquered our country for their own benefit. "Living together with Arabs in our land is impossi- ble for any prolonged period of time, because any Arab turns in his consciousness, prayers, desires and visions towards Mecca, and the Jew towards Jerusalem. Only the one who turns to Jerusalem represents the true son of the land; the one who turns to Mecca is the true sdn of the foreign Arabia. . "The situatipn is clear and its result will be neces- sarily clear, too. Either the Arab element will cease to worship the vision of Mecca and will begin to worship the ideals of Zion and Jerusalem, or it shall return to the lands of Mecca and leave the sons of Zion to fulfil their and their country's destinies without disturbance. If it will disturb-it will be driven out." . 58. The Israelis, having done all they could to clear the area around the Wailing Wall and the other foundations of the AI-Haram Al-Sharif, are now burrowing under it. The United Nations and the General Assembly therefore must act before it is too late. That is why the sponsors thought it was very necessary and very critical to have this resolu- tion brought before the General Assembly at this time.

I am sure we are all moved by this display of concern by the representative of Saddam Hussein for religious freedom in general and in our part of the world in particular. The record of that regime is such that I am sure everybody will agree that Saddam Hussein's representative is eminently qualified to pronounce himself on this subject.

I call on the representative of Iraq who wishes to speak on a point of order.

We are not discussing any country's record for religious tolerance in this debate now. Before us is a definite item. I should be grateful, Sir, if you could ask the representative of Israel to stick to the item before us. If he wants to debate religious tolerance there is another forum and another opportunity for it. We are fully willing to open a debate on the full record of Israeli violations of human rights and Israel's respect for them, not only Arab human rights, but also Jewish, within Israel itself, if he wants us to go into that.

I request the representative of Israel to conclude his statement in exercise of his right of reply.

It is, of course, heartening to see that the representative of Iraq has for once departed from the well-worn cliches and cracked records to which he has been subjecting the Assembly for the past few weeks. Now let me just remind him very briefly of what I said in my explanation of vote, that the repetition of lies does not convert them.. into facts. 64. He may well wish to remember this admonition in making his unsolicited statements, whether before or after the vote. Let me just tell him that I do not accuse anybody of spreading lies in this building; it is an established fact all too well known, not only in this building, but also outside the building.

The observer for the Palestine Liberation Organization has asked to speak. I call on him in accordance with the previous decisions of the Assembly.

The representative of Iraq enlightened us with a quotation from a formal publication of the Zionist occupation forces. In his reply the representative of those forces did not deny it. Are we to understand that he confirmed what was reported? The meeting rose at 4.35 p.m.