A/37/PV.87 General Assembly

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the 10 member States of the European Community. 2. The Ten continue to be deeply conscious of the importance of the problem of Palestine for the future peace and security of the Middle East. They remain firmly of the view that a just solution of the problem is an essential element for any comprehensive peace settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Events during the past year, and in particular the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its tragic aftermath, have once again demonstrated that the need for a negotiated, compre- hensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict is more pressing than ever. They furthermore confirm that there can be no real peace or stability in the region unless the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are recognized also. The dangers of the failure to achieve such a settlement serve to underline the urgency of the need to work towards a just solution of the Palestinian problem. 3. The essence of any solution must be the recon- ciliation of the State of Israel and the Palestinian people so that these two realities can live together in peace and security. The Ten, basing themselves on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and338 (1973), have set out in the Venice Declaration, published on B June 1980,1 and in their subsequent statements on the issue the essential principles which they believe must govern the search for such a reconcma- tion. Most recently, in their statement in Brussels on 20 September 1982, they said that such a settle- ment should be based on the principles of security for all States in the region, including Israel's right to -' exist, justice for an peoples, including the right of self-determination for the Palestinians with all' that implies, and mutual recognition by all the parties involved.2 If the parties can be brought -to accept these principles, the Ten believe that this will represent an important step towards the just, lasting and com- prehensive peace settlement which is so sorely needed. 4. The Ten's commitment to the right of Israel to live in security and peace is fundamental and unwavering. 1423 A/37/PV.87 NEW YORK So also is ourcommitment to the rightofthe Palestinian people to self-determination, with all that this implies. The Ten remain convinced that Israel will not obtain the security to which it has a right by using force or creating faits accomplis, but that it can find this security by applying the principles of a negotiated settlement and, inparticu)ar, by satisfying the legiti- mate aspirations of the Palestinian people. We believe that it is neither wise nor just for Israel to seek to deny another people the right it claims for itself. 5. The Ten wish to see the Palestinian people in a position to pursue their demands by political means and by negotiation. For negotiations to succeed, the Ten believe that the Palestinian people must be able to commit themselves to them and thus to be represented at them. Consequently, the position ofthe Ten remains that the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] must be associated with the negotiations. 6. The Ten will continue to be active in pursuing their efforts to promote a peace settlement along these lines. We clearly recognize that it must be for the parties directly conoerned to negotiate a lasting settle- ment themselves. The Ten will maintain and expand their contacts with all parties to help improve the con- ditions for such negotiations. 7. The Ten welcome the new United States initiative contained in President Reagan's speech of 1 Septem- ber 1982. It offers an important opportunity for peace- ful progress on the Palestinian question, and a step tDwards the reconciliation ofthe conflicting aspirations of the parties. 8. All parties should seize the present opportunity to initiate a process of mutual rapprochement leading towards a comprehensive peace settlement. 9. In this connection, we emphasize the importance of the Final Declaration adopted on 9 September 1982 by the Twelfth Arab Summit Conference, held at Fez in November 1981 and September 1982 [A/37/696]. \Ve view that Declaration as an expression of the unanimous will of the participants, including the PLO, to work for the achievement of a just peace in the Middle East encompassing all States in the area, in- duding Israel. iO. We renew our call now for a similar expression of ~l will for peace on the part of Israel. 11. The Ten believe that discussions in the Security Council on the Franco-Egyptian draft resolution3 could play a useful part in establishing a common basis for a,solution of the problems of the area. 12. The Ten have repeatedly indicated the principles on which they base their position concerning the Arab territories occupied by Israel in 1967. They reaffirm that an end must be put, within t.he frameworkofa comprehensive, just and lasting settlement, to the 19. The military pO'Ner possessed by Israel and sup- pHed by its pdnci:Jal protector, the United States, went to the head of that spoHed child and turned it inte a savagf~ beast that no longer cared \V~'lt was said about it once h had decided un~quivol;ftny F.md shame- iessly to c0nfront the world w~th its real expafisknist intentions and object~ves hJ the Middle East region. 20. 'Nhen asked vl!h.~ther he intendeG to anm;x the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, i\'ienachem Begin, the Israeli Prime M.inister,answered: "You can atme~ foreign land; you ~mmot ~nnex ym]/ cwr~ country." And he add~d: ":iudea and Samarh~ are part of the land of {smel where the natioH was bom." Hh Defence Minister~ Ade! Sharon, concluded by ~aying: •'The seUlements are all int~gral part of our security, and Israel must see to it tha~. the Je\~~sh l;ommunH~es~n the occupied tierrHories are increased \lnd consolidated; By returning Y<"twit ip.. Sinai, Israel has reached the red line of its crmcessions.·· 21. TUfaing from words to deeds, we find that israeli acts run pnraHel with the declared o~i~ctives of the Israeli leaders, whether those acts are manifested in Israeli illegal practices n~ains1 the : '--:;r';'~ants of the occupied territories ar in open aggf\:.;~SiOil against the Palestinian and Lebanese people during the treacher- ous IsraeH invasion, which violated Lebanese inde- pendence and sovereignty. In both cases, the objective is one and the same: to establish in the Arab mind and implant therein'forever Israeli military dominance and political hegemony in the Arab region in order to paralyse the Arab ability to resist the long-term Israeli plans to seize the rest of the land of Palestine, even if that objective is to be achieved by running over the bodies of innocent defenceless civilians or through massacres of human beings. The perpetn..!ors of those massacres should receive appropriate punish- ment as war criminals who are guilty of committing ugly crimes against humanity. But the massacre at Sabra and &hatila was not the first heinous crime committed against the Palestinian people during its ~ong and bitter struggle; rather, it was preceded by similar massacres committed by those who rule Israel at present, particularly the massacres at Deir Yassin, Qibya, K:afr Kassem and others. .a~cordanr;e wi, i international law and ensures j\.istice for the Palest~nilan people, who are truly the principal victims in the M[iddle East conflict. Such a solution would also guarantee~ security ..<\nd stability in the Mid- dle East and hence security and stability in the world, by providing internatllonai guarantees f;ja the security of all the States in thle region, nn accr,rdance with the dedsions of tile Fez CO~i1ference. 24. Those d,e~p.sions a~'e bas.ed cn three fundamental e~~mel]ts: first t uiish~\keabie faith ht the right of the r~opi~ of Palestine to, t'1df-dererminataon and to estab- Hsh their own State on the §~H of their land; secondly, UnS11,iakeable faith in the fact that peace in the Middle EaSt is an in~egral part of the cause of world peace; and t thirdly, urAshakeable faith that the States which ccntributed to th~: creation of this problem by helping to establish Israel on Palestinian territory bear a spe- cial responsibiHty for trying to ensUre a fair and lasting solution and the success of this just cause. ....-.. -- 25. But, a§ usual, Israel did not bother even to consider the§e decisions, but rejected them forthwith. The reason is quite obvious. The Israeli leaders, who' are planning the creation of Greater Israel and whose every act~ every anrrouncement, is aimed in that direc- tion, do not want any soiution which will deal with the heart of the Middle East crisis, namely, the Palestine que'slion, but rather wish to leave themselves free- dom of action in the region &fter establishing their military domination. 26. To our great dismay, we find that, while the international community is trying to solve the problem in a way that will safeguard the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, certain countries that actively contributed to the creation of Israel and are still contributing by supplying it with the means of power that will only augment its ferocity, arrogance and '. appetite for aggression make no real effort· to check Israel and to pave the way for a fresh effort to reach a just and comprehensive tolution of the problem of the Palestinian people. 27. The Palestinian people have carried on a bi"tter ~ struggle to attain their legitimate rights and have suf- 291. In the light of what has been said, my delega- tion deplores the stand taken by the United States in regard to the PLO. Although that organization ha~ won the recognition of the majolrity of the nations of the wodd ?is t~e sole legitimate representative of the Palestiniar, people, and although it has proved worthy of internntiona! responsibility, the Uoited St~tes Governme:nt still 5tipuiates that the PLO recognize Israel's right to exist, not as a pre-condition of any m~g\lJ)tiationswith that organization but rather as a pr~­ con:Ution of dialtOgUl~ with it, and that in itself is an extremely exaggerated request. 30. We deplore the abnormal stand taken by the United States because it includes the following two paradoxes: first, it seems somewhat strange that the United Stat,es should now insist on pre-conditions concerning any dialogue with the PLO, despite the fact that the United States is not a party to the Pal- estinian question here, whereas it did not set any such pre-conditions concerning its negotiations with the Viet Nam Liberation Front although the United States was a party in the Viet Nam war; secondly, the Israeli leaders continue to declare that they were offered the land as a gift from the Prophet Abraham, may he rest in peace, and therefore they do not need recognition by the PLO, and that even if that organ- ization: recognized them they would never negotiate witbit. Thus, the United States Government is showing prejudice. 3J• The scores of resolutions adopted by the United Nations every }'~ar since the cris's started some 35 years ago reflect the real feelings of the inter- national community and the real conception of the international consensus, but we all know that a rep"',lu- tion is one thing and its implementation is somethin& else, that these resolutions are not solutions per se but the means by which to reach a solution, and that the solution will only be reached by implementing the resolution, and its implementation requires, as we have mentioned before, the means to impl~ment it, which unfortunately the international Organization lacks. 32. The United Nations, and especially those coun- tries which have contributed to the creation of the Palestine question through their contribution to the creation of Israel, without any consideration for the righ~s of the people who lived on the land on which Israel was 'established, have a graye responsibility 39. The circumstances in which the Palestinian Arab population is forced to live in the occupied territo- ries ar~ steadily deteriorating. Expropd&tions and confiscations of Pal,stinian property, the establish- ment of more and more Israeli settlements, an in- crease ;,n the number of Jewish settlers, arrests, ill treatm~nt and torture of PaJestinian civilians~ expul- siom~ and denials of applications tD return are the characteristic features of the prevailing situation. These measures are aimed at perpetuating the con- sequences of successive Israeli aggressions, c"hanging the legal status and demographic composition of those territories, annexing those lands and destroying the national identity of the Palestinian people. 40. In addition to all these facts reflecting the on- going deterioration of the situation in the occupied territories, we have witnessed in recent months the invasion of Lebanon, the siege of Beirut and the mas- sacres in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. The aim of this latest Israeli aggression was to disperse further the Palestinian people, to in- timidate them, to break their will and determination to fight for their rights and physically to annihilate the vanguard of their struggle, the PLO. It has been de- monstrated once again that the ruling circles of Israel are ready to do everything, are ready to commit any crime, however brutal it might be, in order "to settle" the Palestinian problem in accordance with their ambi- tions deriving from hatred and expansionist aspira- tions. . 41. But universal indignation, abhorrence and resom lute condemnation on the part ofworld public opinion, as well as the suhsequent moral and political defeat of Israel, have shown at the same time that a genuine solution cannot be attained by force. 42. The key to a just and I~sting solution lies in satisfying the legitimate aspirations of the long-suf- fering Palestinian people. An indispensable pre-condi- tion for any solution of the Palestinian issue~ and consequently for any comprehensive settlement of the Middle East crisis, is the free exerCise by the Pal- estinian people ofit~ inalienable righ~s, which comprise the right to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty, including the right to establish in Palestinian lands an independent and sovereign State of its own. It is noteworthy, in this regard, that as early as 1947 the General Assembly, by a resolution, already envisaged the establishment of an indepen- dent Palestinian Arab State and, since that resolution has never been re~cinded or otherwise nullified, there can be no grounds whatsoever for arguing against that right. 43. The inevitable failure of all unilateral attempts to date has clearly indicated that it is only by peaceful. means, through negotiations and the collective efforts of all parties concerned, that an end can be put to the ordeal of the Palestinian people. It is only within the frame'work ofa comprehensive Middle East settlement that the question of Palestine can be resolved. 49. Hungary, a member of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, has deep sympathy and active solidarity with 'the Palestinian people in its just struggle and will continue to support its fight for self-determination and for the establishment of an independent State of its . own. While we support all the efforts aimed at an immediate solution to the Palestinian issue, we look forward with great expectations to the International Conference on the Question of Palestine to be held in Paris in 1983, because we hope that it will contribute to enhancing the cause of this long-suffering people. 50. It is the view of my delegation that the United Nations should take an active, constructive part in the quest for a genuine solution to the Palestinian issue. A great deal of attention has already been paid by the world Organization to the question of Pal- estine and to other aspects ofthe Middle East problem. 52. I should like briefly to point out certain aspects of the Palestinian cause, for the benefit of some Mem- bers of the United Nations of the new generation who have not personally witnessed this tragedy. Many acts of that tragedy took place at the United Nations and its dramatis personae were those who were believed by the world to be faithful preachers of ideals and human principles and to care about inter- nationa~ peace and security. 53. The roots of the tragedy of Palestine date back to the middle of the last century, when the first wave of Jewish persons emigrated to Palestine, motivated by religious feelings and the desire to live in the Holy Land. They did not have' any nationalist motives, because the Zionist plague had not yet CDme into being. This first wave consisted of only 900 per- sons, encouraged by the British Jew Moses Montague, but the number gradually increased undi it reached the figure of 50,000 emigrants at the end of the nine- teenth century. Zionism had come intv b~ingby then as a chauvinistic, expansionist movement, led by the .Fascist Austrian journalist Theodor Herzl, who, despite his Zionist zeal, had no knowledge of the gecgraphy of Palestine nor of its history. He did not even know that it was peopled by Arabs at that time. Herzl dreamt only of establishing a Jewish State, or what he called Judenslaat, regardless of where it was established. In this connection, Desmond Stewartmen- tions in his memoirs that Herzl did not refrain from playing the part of an agent in the service of large British imperial interests. He therefore accepted at once the proposal of Joseph Chamberlain, the then British Colonial Secretary, that Kenya be the coun- try where the Jews would settle and establish a home- land. He also accepted the proposal of Baron Hirsch that a Federal State with a Jewish component be established in Argentina. But due to pressure from Zionist leaders, foremost among whom was the Russian Jew Chaim Weizmann, the Jews rejected these· proposals and insisted that their State s~2uuld be' establi~hedin Palestine. Herzl acquiesced in their view and during the first Zionist conference at Basle, in 1897, they adopted a resolution in which they called 59. Certain members ofthose societies had no shame in arranging demonstrations on Broadway and in Times Square in 1949 and 1950, and in urging bystanders to contribute to Israel with the slogan "Pay a dollar to kill an Arab". 60. To achieve its ai-mg, the Zionist movement evolved into another stage, when, its leaders made much of the Nazi barbarism that had been practised against them and other peoples of Eastern Europe. Thus, the proponents of zionism won increasing world-wide sympathy. Their interests coincided with those of the leaders of the Western countries, espe- cially the United States, which undoubtedly became a super-Power after the Second World War. The Zionists exploited the American people's change of heart towards them resulting from the Nazi persecu- tion, and also exploited the ambition of many political adventurers seeking positions and victory in elections. 61. Jewish financial influence had increased in the United States because of war conditions and their aftermath, when the United States adopted an open- door policy towards Europe, which had been destroyed by the war. The Jewish societies succeeded in lessening discrimination against Jews in some parts of the coun- try and hastened to impose their absolute domination on finance, the mass media and various sectors of public opinion. They gained positions in the United States Congress, the White House and the Depart- ment of State. Those who needed the support of the political personalities involved hovered around them, and the influential Jewish lobby appeared on the scene. 62. On the other hand, the British, who held the Mandate, were at an impasse. Their forces in Palestine were exposed to harassment by the Zionists. For example, the Irgun Tzeva'i Leumi, led by the terrorist Menachem Begin, blew up the King David Hotel, killing 75 British and Arabs. Other examples-again with Menachem Begin in the lead-include the kid- napping of two British soldiers, who were hanged from trees, and the assassination of Lord Moyne. There were attacks on British camps and police stations in order to steal ammunition and arms and humiliate the Bri~ish authorities. 63. The British Government was unable to find a sound solution, deapite its flagrant. bias towards the Zionists. Seeing no way out of its predicament, it put thequestion ofPalestine before the United Nations, .which was then only two years old. Great Britain sought a solution bec'J,1use the Zionists had mobilized American public opinion and all its energies in their favour and had thus been able to tilt the balance to their side. The Zionists found in President Harry Truman, who, together with his wife and daughter, was very enthusiastic about the movement, a sup- porter who pursued an unfair and inhuman policy against the Palestinian people, with the support of many members ofthe Congress and people in the White House, the Department of State and the mass media. 65. The records of the United Nations for that period refer to'the illegal methods used by the United States, including blackmail and threats to stop assistance under the Marshall Plan to States opposed to partition. It is even said that the United States bought the votes of some delegations. 66. Hence, we see the immoral acts which made of the United Nations at that time another New York stock market, where American diplomats were in direct contact with the President and receiving instructions, from him. Some sources report that Chaim Weizmann paid a visit to President Truman before the decision on partition, with David Niles serving as intermediary. The President said t~at the success of t~e partition plan was not in dou~t, and Weizmann asked him to mediate in order to obtain the inclusion of the Negev desert in the Jewish part of Palestine. The President agreed, although he knew that that desert belonged to the Arabs under'the ill-fated,partition plan. 67. The unfair partition plan resolution [resolution /8/ (11)] was adopted by a two-thirds majority- 33 votes in favour, 13 against, and 10 abstentions, with one delegation absent-at a time when there were 57 Members of the United Nations. 68. There was and is nothing in the Charter of the . United Nations which vested the General Assembly with that right. Nor did the General Assembly ask the views of the inhabitants of the co.untry. It was not aware of their desires and did not give them the right to self-determination. We suggest that those interested in the circumstances of the partition of Palestine read the article entitled "The Partition of Palestine 35 Years Ago", written by Mr. Peter Grose and pUblished in The New York Times Magazine on Sunday, 21 Novem- ber 1982;, it is an excerpt from a book he plans to publish next autumn, in which he gives the horrendous details of this bloody conspiracy. ple~e the liberation of the homeland. 71. When Golda Meir was asked how· the occupied lands would be returned, she answered: "There are no people to whom we can return them. There is nothing called, 'Palestinians'; there was no Palestiniap. people in Palestine that con- sidered itself Palestinian. We came and expelled it after seizing its homeland. That people does not exist." 72. Immediately after the adoption of the partition resolution, Menachem Begin declared that Israel was not liberated but was partitioned and that therefore Israel would revert once and for all to the Jewish people. 73. In a secret meeting between Menachem Begin and Ralph Bunche in Palestine, after the partition decision, Begin begged for help to establish a non- partitioned Jewish State in Palestine. Bunche answered: "I understand you quite well, Sir, because I myself belong to a persecuted minority". 74. Immediately after the June 1967 war, Haolam Hazeh published a statement by Moshe Dayan, Israel's Minister of War, in which he said: "Our fathers reached the borders that were recog- nized ~y the partition plan; our generation reached the 1949. bnrders; and now the generation of the six-day war was able to reach Suez, Jordan and the Golan Heights. The borders of the present. truce are actually not the end, becau§e there will be fl:lrther victories that will enable us to reach beyond Jordan, possibly Lebanon and the middle of Syria too." Several hours would be needed for me to quote from all such statements by Zionist leaders, but the ones I have already quoted suffice to confirm that Israel's greed is unlimited. 75. Immediately after the adoption by the General Assembly of the illegitimate and ill-fated partition resolution, the Israelis seized 35 per cent of the Arab sector. Then, through successi~e acts of aggression, they occupied the West Bank, including Jerusalem, 91. ~sfor Israel's efforts to liquidate the Palestinian people and eliminate the PLO, the sole legitimate representative cifthe Palestinian people, undoubtedly 96. To the sound of gunfire in Beirut, Tel Aviv intensified its annexationist. acts in the occupied territories. It has been announced that eight new settlements will be created by the end of this year, and another 20 in 1983, while the 105 existing settle- ments will be considerably expanded. According to a spokesman for the World Zionist Organization quoted by the Christian Science Monitor of 9 November 1982, a long-term plan has been worked out providing for the settlement in the stolen territories of 1.4 mil- lion Israelis. in the course of th~ next 30 years and the forcible expulsion of the indigenous popula- tion-that is to say, almost the same number of Pal- estinian Arabs-from their ancestral homes. 97. It was in that context that at the beginning of September 19&2 it was officially announced by the United States that, as a result of the events that had 108. Despite the severe and repeated condemnations by the international community and in defiance of ~he, relevant United Nations resolutions on the question of Palestine and the Middle East, the Zionist regime continues to occupy the Arab terdtories which it seized by force and to establish newIsraeli settlements on these territories in order to annex them perma- nently. Furthermore, the Israeli Zionists invaded Leb- anon and there indulged in acts of repression and bloody massacre in order to destroy ~he Pales~ini~n people physically and to carry out t~elr expanslo~lst designs against neig~bourifi~ countr.es, thus posl!1g a serious threat to mternatlonal peace and secunty in the Middle East and throughout the wvrld. 109. It is public knowledge that, without the assist- 'ance and continued support unconditionally provided by the United States, the Israeli Zionists would not be able to take such a defiant and arrogant attitude. That attitude has led them to continue unceasingly to pursue and expand their criminal and belligerent adve~tures, known to the whole world, but difficult to foresee and prevent. 110. We ~ll know about the considerable economic and military aid, amounting to billions ofUnited St~tes dollars so lavishly provided for Israel by the Umted States.'Furthermore, Israel invariably enjoys the fullest political support of the United ~tates Administr~tio~, whether Democratic or Repubhcan, support which IS typified by a repeate~ and syst~matic misu~e ~f the right of veto by the Umted St~tes m th~ Sec~nty c0!ln- cil an action which several times durmg thiS year .nas pr~vented the United Nations from taking effective steps to put an end to the manreuvres and criminal acts of the Israeli Zionists. Ill. These facts, among many others, are specific manifestations of the strategic co-operation between Washington and Tel Aviv, ~hich has ~or~e f!U!t in the aggression and the expansIOn ofthe ZlOmst regime, a policy directly serving American i~perialist interes~s since it is designed to ensure Umted States domi- nation over the entire Middle East region. 112. The Israeli"invasion of Lebanon was the inevi- table outcome ofthe Camp David agreements, because that invasion was designed to create favourable con- ditions for the United States to impose its preferred solution to the Middle East conflict. That was a premeditated act desig!1ed specifi~al"y to .bypass the United Nations to achieve the cnmmal alms of that strategic co-operation. The purpose is to use every means available to divide the Arab world, to weaken its solidarity with and its assistance to the Palestinian cause and to end the struggle of Palestinians under the leadership of the PLO to ensure the exercise of their inalienable rights. Thus, in the eyes of the international community and of history, the United States must bear full responsibility for the acts of aggression and the other Israeli-Zionist crimes, for the dangerous deterioration of the situation in the Middle East and for the inability of the United Nations to take effective action ill the role which it is called upon to take in accordance with the Charter. 115. Since the thirty-first session of the General Assembly, the United Nations has adopted so~e very judicious resolutions, on the one hand reaffirmmg the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and rec~g­ nizing the legitimacy oftheir struggle and the authorIty of the PLO as their sole authentic representative, and on the other hand recognizing that the question of Palestine lies at the core of the Middle East ques- tion and that consequently any just and lasting solu- tion of that question mu~t be based on guaranteeing the exercise ofthe inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the participation of the PLO on an equal footing with other parties in any initiatives, discus- sions or 'conferences on the Middle East under United Nations auspices. 116. However, these pertinent resolutions, despite the firm support given to tbem by the vast majority of the international community and above all by the socialist and non-aligned countries, have remained ineffective. Israel insolently turns of-deafear, while the United States invariably gives that country its blessing, support and encouragement. In the light of that situa- tion, my delegation believes that the General Assem- bly will have to take more forceful steps, on the basis of the explicit recommendations of the Commit- tee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, to overcome the existing obstacles and create favourable conditions for the implementa- tion of the fup1amental national rights of the Pal- estinian people. 117. We believe that such steps should comprise, first, a demand that the United States give up its policy of intervention in the Middle East and end its support and assistance to the policy of ~ggression and expansion practised, by the Israeli Zionists,in- cluding the misuse of the right of veto. Secondly, the General Assembly should reaffirm the determi- nation of the international community to insist that Israel implement all the pertinent General Assembly and Security Council resolutions and immediately and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Lebanon, the Golafl Heights in Syria, and all the other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem. Should Israel refuse to abide by those resolutions, the United Nations must consider applying the sanc- tions laid down in Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. 118. Thirdiy, in order to guarantee the exercise 'of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people-that 120. The Government and the people of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam have always evinced- great sympathy for and given firm and consistent support to the just struggle of the Palestinian people. 121. The represeiltatives of the fraternal Palestinian people at the Permanent Mission of the PLO in Hanoi have noted the serious attention given by our leaders to the struggle of the Palestinian people and to the way the situation in the Middle East is developing, as well as the warm feelings of militant solidarity which our people is constantly showing towards this heroic struggle, through a broad mass movement in various towns and regions of the country and in various forms. 122. The official visit to Viet Nam last year of the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO and Commander-in-Chief of the Palestin!an armed forces, Yasser Arafat, marked an important stage in the friendly and co-operative relations between the Vietnamese people &od the 'Palest:-:ian people, at whose side we stand firmly in the common struggle against imperialism, colonialism and expansionism, to bring about independence and freedom. 123. Last September, voicing the indignation of the Vietnamese people at the crimes of genocide per- petrated by the Israeli Zionists in Sabra and Shatila, the President of the Council of State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Truong Chinh, reaffirmed in. his telegram addressed to Chairman Yasser Arafat the firm support of our people for the just struggle of the Palestinian people until final victory. 124. And quite recently, in a message sent on the occasion of the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the Chairman of the CouncH of ,Ministers of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Pham Van Dong, stressed the need and urgency for peace-loving and justice-IovinB forces throughout the world to strengthen more than ever their solidarity with, their support of and their assisbmce to the people of Palestine and to other Arab peoples struggling for their fundamental national rights and for peace and security in the Middle East and throughout the world. The message also stressed that: 127. The serious state of tension created by the Israeli acts of aggression against Lebanon and against the Palestinian population of that country, acts which affected the security and independence of the peoples ofthe region and imperilecl peace and security through- out the world, and, indeed, the whole development of events over the last IS years in the Middlf~ East, have strikingly revealed that it is the Palestin'e prob- . lern that is the essential element in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Unless it is solved, there can be no tran- quillity in that region, nor can any comprehensive, just and lasting peace be established there. At the same time, it has become quite clear that any delay in solving the Palestine problem creates, because of the consequences ofsuch a delay, an imminent danger ofa new armed confrontation, with unforeseeable and in- creasingly serious effects on international peace and security. The successive wars in the Middle 'East, in the present conditions ofthe technology of warfare, have been incre~singly destructive. There is no doubt that tranquillity and stability in the area can be ensured only if the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are realized-a people Which, like any other, has the right to forge its own destiny and to live in its own independent State. 128. The struggle of the Palestinian people for exis- tence and for the exercise of its inalienable rights is the central element in the Middle East conflict and is therefore of much broader significance, directly affecting the fate of peace in that sorely tried part of the world which, in the course of a single generation, has had four devastating wars. This brings out the need for firm action by the international community to achieve a comprehensive negotiated solution to the Palestine problem and to all the other problems posed by the state of affairs in the region. 129. In our view, the situation in the Middle East, in particular in the current conditions of a general deteriorati()n of the international atmosphere, by its Pendent Palestinian State where that people can freely sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian peo- ple, as well as the Soviet Union and the United organize its life jn accordance with its wishes and States, and other States that can make a positive national aspirations, and the guaranteeing of the inde- contribution to settlement of the conflict in the Middle pendence and sovereignty of all States of the area. East. Romania supports the overriding need for a just politi- cal settlement of the question of Palestine as an aim 140. To take steps towards a political settlement vital to peace in the Middle East and in the world at of all situations of tension and conflict is entirely in 149. Recent events show that there has been a new intensification of Israel's aggression and the creation of new dangers for the Palestinian people and all the other Arab peoples. Now more than ever, the Zionists are trying to paralyse and crush by sword and fire all resistance by the Palestinians and the Arabs. They are even trying to break the will of those peoples to rally their forces in the future and to fight for their rights. . 150. The Israeli Zionists are acting in close col- laboration and in perfect co-ordination with American imperialism. They are using the anti-Arab acts of certain other reactionary fOf(~es, and they believe - falsely, in our view-that the time has come for them to reap the fruits of their aggression and to liquidate the Palestinian- cause. It is obvious from what they do and say that they are trying to force the· Arab countries and the whole international community to abandon all demands that the oc.:upied Arab ter- ritories be evacuated and that the Palestinian ques- tion be settled by restoring all the national rights of the Palestinian people, and to abandon any hope ofthis happening. 151. There can be no doubt that the Zionists' in- creased aggressiveness and growing appetite for the 156. When Palestinian' blood flowed i:hrough the streets of the towns and villages of Lebanon and the Zionists were killing, burning and destroying as they saw fit, the world saw with bitterness that those ~an imperialists and the Arab reactionaries are quite mistaken if they believe that they can wear down the resistance of the Palestinian people. 160. We remain firmly convinced that the Palestinian people, in persevering in its just and invincible strug- gle under the leadership of the PLO, its sole authentic representative, will undoubtedly triumph over its ene~ mies. Law and justice are on their side. Their struggle and their just cause enjoy the support of &11 peoples. The leader of the Albanian people, Comrade Enver Hoxha, in a statement made before the electors on 10 November this year said: "Our people has always been at the side of the brother Arab peoples in their just cause, at the .side of the heroic Palestinian people. In the future, too, the ju.st struggle of the Arabs and the Palestin- ians will have the full and unreserved support of the Albanian people." 161. Mr. MRANI ZENTAR (Morocco) (interpreta- tion from French): The year 1982 has been marked by a series of· major events, some of which have been decisive, as far as the Palestinian problem is con- cerned, both in the area itself, and in terms of inter- national diplomacy. 162. The development of the struggle of the Pal- estinian people has indeed taken many forms and it has become so powerful that the international community, including a number of countries normally receptive to Zionist propaganda, have realized that something must be done urgently to stem the tide of the disastrous consequences of Israeli blindness. The international awakening has led to a constructive and realistic attitude, in that a just and equitable solution based upon internationally recognized principles and guaran- teeing the fundamental rights of all the peoples of the area is now sought. 163. As for the Israeli leaders, once again they have chosen the course of desperation towards new acts of aggression, fresh invasions, further annexations, and more destruction and massacres. 164. In the occupied Arab territories, repression is becoming ever more ruthless and is directed against young people, universities, elected representatives and the private and public property ofthe Palestinians. 165. In spite of the wave of Israeli repression, the Palestinian people, doomed to the unjust condition of permanent refugees, driven from their homes or mas- sacred in refugee camps, are nevertheless succeeding, through their fierce resistance and selfless heroism, in asserting their existence as a people possessing inalien- able rights, theirown identity and the right to a national territory. 166. Those are the facts of the current situation on the basis of which the United Nations has the respon- sibility of promoting and guaranteeing just and lasting solutions for the benefit of all the p~oples of the area, in particular the martyred Palestinian people. 167. The Israeli leaders cSlntinue to believe that violence used systematically against the Palestinian people and constant defiance of the international community will enable them to avoid the inevitable, 170. The pursuit of the policy of implanting Israeli settlements in occupied Arab territories stems from a spirit of conquest that has already been repudiated by the international community, which has totally con- demned colonialism as a system claiming to govern relations between peoples. The creation of these islets of armed colonies is criminal provocation, the con- sequences of which will certainly be clear when the occupier) as it undoubtedly will have to do, has to restOte the territory to its legitimate owners. 171. The quasi-annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, an internationaliy recognized integral part of the national territory ofSyria, is a further manifesta- tion of the Israeli propensity to confront its neigh- bours with faits accomplis without any consideration . of the fundamental rights of States and peoples guaranteed by the Charter of the United Nations. 172. The invasion of Lebanon has made it possible to reveal at one and the same time the extent and depth of the error of judgement of the Israeli leaders in their appreciation of the true facts of the Palestinian problem and ways of finding a lasting solution to it. 173. It is not by piling up destruction upon destruc- tion, by increasing acts of aggression against the fun- damental rights of individuals and States and by engaging in hideous massacres against civilians of both sexes and of ail ages, as was the case in Sabra and Shatila, that Israel will succeed in eliminating the Palestinian reality, Palestinian rights and Palestinian identity, which remain strong and vital for the millions of Palestinian citizens in spite of all acts of discrimina- tion and exile. 174. If the disastrous Israeli operation in Lebanon served any purpose, it was to expose to the whole world the aggressive and bloody nature ofthe current leaders of Israel and the fact that they are deaf to any peace dialogue within a framework of respect for the fun- damental rights of peoples in accordance with the pur- poses and principles of the Charter and international law. 175. The Lebanese operation also demonstrated the high capacity for resistance of the Palestinian people and the maturity, responsible conduct and represen- tativeness of the PLO, which is an essential and 184. The Israeli aggression manifests itself in many different ways. Invoking security considerations, Israel annexed the Syrian Golan Heights and changed the demographic ch~racter of the occupied territory, witb a view to obliterating its Arab identity. It dis- missed the democratically elected Mayors of AI-Bireh, Nablus and Ramallah and replaced them with Israeli civilians and military officials, a move clearly designed to bring those territories eventually under Israeli sovereignty. It desecrated the sanctity of the AI- Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, one of th~ holiest of the Islamic shrines. But what was per,haps most blatant and brutal was its collaboration in the recent massacre which took the lives of thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women and children confined within the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. In the face of these outright acts of aggression, peace in the Middle East will be in- creasingly difficult to achieve and violence will con- tinue to characterize developments in the area. 185. All these things clearly demonstrate that Israel does not want peace with its Arab neighbours. Such an intransigent policy is indeed dangerous, as it will have the effect of pushing the whole area further towards the brink ofconflagration, thereby threatening peace. and security not only in the Middle East but throughout the world. 186. The international community has rejected the Israeli action to annex the Holy City of Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel and to alter the character and status of the Holy City. Simi- larly, the annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights has also been condemned, as it was contrary to the United Nations principle regarding the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war. 187. Apart from their illegality, the actions of the Israeli authorities 'in the occupied territories are extremely provocative and vicious in nature. The Israeli occupation forces have created new Jewish settlements-a manifestation ofthe Israeli expansionist 196. The dense network of Israeli settlements, whose number is approaching 140, is spreading over Pal- estinian lands. By means ofarbitrary confiscations and expropriations, approximately 60 per cent of the West Bank and Gaza has already fallen into the hands of the Israeli authorities. According to the te!Jtimony of a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, "the Arab cities and villages are becoming a ghetto" pinned between Israeli settlements. There was a recent announcement in Tel Aviv about plans for an abrupt increase in the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza, from 25,000 to 100,000 people by 1986, ~nd to 1.5 mil- lion by the year 2000. 197. Hand in hand with the change in the demo- graphic structure and economic "integration" of the occupied territories, the Israeli authorities are escalating their acts of violence and terror against 201. The Israeli military machine has utilized the most lethal and destructive types of weapons against Palestinian and Lebanese civilian populations, in- cluding weapons directly prohibited under interna- tional conventions: fragmentation grenades, cluster bombs, phosphorous shells. Tens of thousands murdered or mutilated, hundreds of thousands dispos- sessed and made homeless, vmages and towns turned into ruins and Palestinian refugee camps devastated -these are the results of the bloody acts of aggression perpetrated by Israel.against Lebanon. 202. The culmin?tion of the crimes of the Israeli - military machine Qn Lebanese soil was the monstrous massacre in Palestinian camps in Beirut after its seizure by the Israeli army. That blood bath was no different as a crime from the evil deeds of the Hitlerite Nazis in Babi Yar, Lidice and Oradour-sur-Glane. What Israel did in Lebanon was commit genocide against Palestinians; that was what the Hitlerites com- mitted against Jews and others during the Second World War. 203. But responsibility for those crimes must be borne not only by those in the leading circles of Israel but also by those who placed weapons in the hands 208. The selfless dedication and courage of the Pal- estinian fighters who have so worthily repulsed Israeli aggression in Lebanon have won admiration and sympathy throughout the world. Once again the old truth has been reaffirmed: the will of a people con- vinced of the justness of its cause cannot be broken. 209. The international prestige and authority of the PLO has increased still further, as has that ofits leader- ship. The Soviet people pays a tribute to the courage and determination of the Palestinian people and sup- ports it in its just cause. As stated in the telegram from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to th~ Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO, Yasser Arafat, sent on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, ••... the 8ov'et Union will continue with great persistence the struggle to ensure that a just and lasting peace is established in the Middle East, and that the Paiestinicm people, under the leadership of its fighting vanguard and sole legitimate represen- tative, the PLO, will be enabled to exercise its inalienable right to seif-determination and to estab- lish its own State." 210. The trage1dy in Lebanon, the new suffering and deprivation imposed on the Palestinian people, once again raises the serious question of the urgent need for an immediate solution of the Palestinian prob- lem, not by behind-the-scenes deals and machinatiocs, but within the framework of a comprehensive settle- ment of the Nliddle East conflict. There is an urgent call for an immediate and responsible start on this que~tion. If we are to talk seriously about moving towards a settlement such as inat then we must compel the aggressor to withdraw from Lebanon immediately and to withdraw it§ forces from all Arab territories occupied since 1967, as provided for in the relevant decisions ofthe Security Council, and we must attempt to achieve for tbe Arab people of Palestine their inalienable national rights, including their right to self- detemLlation and to set up their own State. 211. Has th~ decision of the General Assembly dated 29 November 1947 on the creation of two inde- pen.dent States in Palestine, a Jewish State and an Arab State, been cancelled? On the contrary, beginning in 1974, the General Assembly has adopted a number of important resolutions supporting the legitimate rights of the Palestinians and expressing its support for equal participation by the PLO, as the represen- tative of the Palestinian people, in all international efforts to settle the problem of Palestine. If these decisions have not been implemented yet, and if the just demands of the Palestinians have not been met, the reason·for that lies in the aggressive expansioni~t policy of Israel and the open encouragement given to it by Washington. 213. The well-known Soviet proposals on the Middle East, dated 15 September 1982, are directed specifi- cally towards reaching such a settlement. We are pleased to say that those proposals do not depart from the basic principles for the solution of the Palestinian problem and for a general Middle East settlemen1 approved at the Arab Summit Conference, held at Fez, or from the positions of many other States. 214. The Soviet Union reaffirms its willingness to work in a practical way for the implementation of these provisions. We are willing to co-operate with everyone who wishes to make a contribution to the establishment of lasting peace in the Middle East. Only by honest collective efforts on the part of all parties concerned, including of course the PLO, can we hope to achieve a genuine solution ofthe Palestinian problem and ensure a lasting and just peace for all the States and peoples in the M2ddle East. 215. 1n conclusion, the Soviet delegation would like to point to the remarkable and valuable work carried out by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalien- . able Rights of the Palestinian People. 'Ve are prepared to continue to assist the Committee in its support for the struggle of the Palestinian people for their rights.

At the outset, my delegation wishes to thank Mr. Sarre, of Senegal, and the members of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for the valuable work of their Committee and the report they have presented to the General Assembly this year [A/37/35 and Co,.,·.!]. The Committee should be congratulated og the work it has accomplished, particularly in informing and enlightening the inter- national community more widely regarding the justice of the Palestinian cause: 217. Delegation after delegation which has spoken in this debate year in and year out has reiterated that the problem before the international community, which constitutes the problem of the Mi~dle East, is the failure to restore to the Palestinian people their inalienable national rights-the right to self-determi- nation, independence and;sovereignty without foreign interference and the right of return of all refugees to Palestine-rights which are so often proclaimed and yet for the realization of which so little is done. The implementation of those rights requires, in the first instance, the restoration of a homeland and the estab- lishment of a State for the Pale3tinian people. If General Assembly resolutions were sufficient in them- selves, this vexed problem would long ago have been resolved. 221. The problem of the Middle East is the problem of 4 million Palestinians who have been reduced to the status of permanent refugees. Perhaps half that number were forced into exile during the successive hostilities commencing in 1948. For those who have chosen to stay, -the Israeli occupying authority has made life increasingly intolerable. The policies pursued by Israel in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention have been policies designed to alter radically the demographic structure of the occupied territories, to perpetuate the refugee status ofthe Palestinians abroad and to reduce those who have remained to the status ofsecond-class citizens. We are disclosing nothing new when we say that even in the shrunken territory of the West Bank and Gaza-which was unquestionably Arab land inhabited by Palestinians-Israel has for the past 15 years executed a policy of establishing and expanding settl~ments,. until today, when there are some 130 settlements. That number, however, only disguises the extent of the aettlement, which h~s more accurately been described as colonization, wit! J the difference that the Israeli colonizer has been mOf", ruthless than his classical counterpart. 222. Israel's attempts to institutionalize what has been widely acknowledged as creeping annexation 223. This year we were witnesses to another episode which demonstrated the same heroism of the Pal- estinians, I speak of the war of attrition, the invasion of Lebanon and the occupation of West Beirut, when Israel believed it -was about to arrive at the "final solution" ofIsrael's Palestinian problem. In the course of that invasion and military assault, with an over- whelming preponderance of arms, the Israeli Army demanded and obtained the evacuation of the Pal- estinian fighting men. They then compl~ted that opera- tion by standing aside, ifnot conniving, while a faction within Lebanon carried out the brutal massacre of unarmed men, women and children in the camps at Sabra and Shatila. As we have come to know, that was no "final solution", but has become perhaps the nemesis for the Israeli Government's policies. Those whom they branded as "terrorists" have departed, but the problem, though unresolved, appears to have taken a different turn for the Israeli Govern- ment itself. The outcome of this phase, we believe, is yet unfolding. In recalling this saga we would pay a tribute to those people of conscience and honour inside Israel itself who have been instrumen'al in up- holding the higher values of their Jewish heritage. 224. For the Palestinian people, these 3S years have been a long night. The Organization has sought to g5vethem some hope with the continuing concern it has shown through its deliberations. The International Conference on the Question of Palestine, to be held next August, is another laudable effort to demonstrate this concern and to focus international attentiou on the question. \Ve would wish to congratulate the Preparatory Committee for that Conference for the preparatory work undertaken. Yet~ as we well know, the innumerable resolutions carried by majoriti@s in t.he Assembly hav~ not brought the restoration of Palestinian rights appreciably nearer. Our delegation has been part of those majorities to reassure the Palestinian people of the rightness of their cause. But those resolutions are also addressed to those outside the majorities who have the capacity to do

The question of Pal- estine has been on the agenda ofthe General Assembly as a separate item for nine years, but the basic issues underlying that question have been before this As- sembly for a much longer period. Indeed, it can be said that the history of the question of Palestine has been intertwined with the life ofthe United Nations from the very beginning. 231. In 1947, the General Assembly decided to partition Palestine into a Palestinian State and a Jewish State, and it later affirmed the right of the Palestinians to return to their homeland. Since then, the Assembly has consistently renewed this call, affirming the right of the Palestinians to self-determination and national independence in their homeland. It is indeed a sad commentary on the effectiveness of the Organ- ization and on the political will of those Member States on which the Charter of the United Nations has placed special responsibiUty that the Palestinian people should continue to be denied their inalienable national and human rights. 232. Oppressed within Palestine by the occupying Israeli authorities and for.ced into exile, the Palestinians have been waging an unremitting struggle under the leadership of the PLO to secure their inalienable rights. With the passage of time, the ever-increasing support for their just cause has achieved universal dimensions. 233. It should be a matter of deep distress' and profound concern to th,e Assembly that the usurpation of the just and inalienable rights of the Paiestinian people by Israel continues with impunity, in defiance The meeting rose lit 7./5 p.m. NOTES 2 Ibid., Thirty-sel'emh Year, Supplement for July, August alld September 1982, document S/15421, annex. 3 Ibid., document 8/15317. 4 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Hague Con- "entiolls cmd Dec:lclrCltions of /899 clIld 1907 (New York, Oxford University Press, 1915), p. 100. 5 United Nations, Treclty Series, vot. 75, No. 973, p. 287. 6 See A/AC.183/PV.84.