A/41/PV.45 General Assembly

The draft resolution recommended by the Credentials committee in connection with this item appears in paragraph 31 of the report (A/4l/727) and reads as follows: "The Genera.l Assembly, "Approves the first report of the Credentials Committee." In this connection, the Assembly also has an amendment (A/4l/L.8) to that draft resolution submitted by 20 States. I call on the representative of ,lman, in his capacity as Chairman of the Group of Arab States, to introduce the amendment. Mr. AL-ANSI (Oman) (interpretation from Arabic): With reference to the first report of the Credentials (~mmittee (A/41/727), d~ted 17 October 1986, I should like on behalf of the following States - Algeria, Bahrain, Democratic Yemen, Djibouti, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen - to submit the follO\'1ing amendment: "At the end of the draft resolution, after the words 'the Credentials Committee'1 add the following phrase: 'except with regard to the credentials of Israel'." (Hr. AI-Ansi, Qnan) The Arab Group addressed a letter, signed by all the Arab States, to the Secretary-General of the United Nations objecting to the credentials of Israel. That letter was issued as a formal Assembly document (A/41/G89) dated 8 October 1986. We asked that the letter be submitted to the Credentials Committee at its first meeting, and that was done. In the first page of its report, however, the Credentials Committee only mentions the number of the docum~nt, without, regrettably, stating the subject of the document, the names of the States that signed it, or even its date. I should like to remind representatives here of the statement made by Itzhak Shamir, the Prime Minister of Israel who has just taken over from his opposite number, Shimon Peres. Mr. Shamir set forth the policy of his Government and the ideological bases thereof. He unashamedly confirmed that, despite Security COuncil and General Assembly resolutions and the views of countries that have supported Israel, Israel will not accept the international resolutions and the view of world public opinion and will build more settlements in the occupied Arab lands - 1n the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Syrian Golan Heights and in southern Lebanon - and that it does not recognize the well-known legal statuis of Al-QUds. That is an important statement which should make clear why the Arab States object to the credentials of Israel. Israel is in opposition to the United Nation, its Charter and its resolutions. Our objection stems, in addition, from the following objective considerations which are well known to us all: First, Israel has not complied with the Security council resolutions on the question of palestine, the situation in the Middle East and other related issues, thus violating Article 25 of the United Nations Charter. (Mr. M-And, Oman) Second, Israel has not implemented the General Assembly resolutions on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East which call for the attainment by the Palestinian people of their l~gitimate and inalienable rights, including the right of return, the right of self-determination and the right to establish their own independent state in palestine, and which, in accordance with the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, demand that Israel terminate its occupation of the Arab terr~tories and withdraw from all the territories occupied since 1967, including Al-Quds and the Syrian Galan Heights. Third, Israel has not implemented the General Assembly resolutions on other items related to the question of palestine and the situation in the Middle East. All those resolutions are well known to members of the Assembly. FOurth, Israel violates human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories and the other occupied Arab territories, in particular, it is in violation of the provisions of the FOurth Geneva COnvention, of 13 August 1949. Fifth, Israel has continued its creeping annexation of the Palestinian and other Arab territories, including Al-Quds and the Syrian Galan Heights, in violation of the provisions of the united Nations Charter and the rules of international law. Sixth, Israel has persisted in its aggression against the Arab States, and the expansion of the area of that aggression to Lebanon, Iraq. Tunisia, and possibly other countries. Seventh, Israel continues to co-operate with the racist regime in SOuth Africa, particularly in the nuclear, economic and military fields. Eighth, the credentials of the Israeli delegation to the forty-first session of the General Assembly and the fourteenth special session, having been issued from occupied Al-Quds, are in violation of Security Council resolutions, particularly resolution 478 (1980) and the relevant General Assembly resolutions, especially resolution 35/169 E of 15 December 1980. Another practical reservation on the credentials of the Israeli delegation to the forty-first session of the General Assembly and the fourteenth special session is to be found in paragraph 31 of document A/41/728, d~ted 20 October 1986, which is signed by more than 50 Islamic States members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and other friendly States. That document underlines the validity of the Arab request that the credentials of Israel be rejected. A precedent in this respect is the courageous stand taken by the international community in rejecting the credentials of the racist Pretoria regime a few years ago. By any criterion, the two regimes are identical. We hope that the Assembly will now take another courageous stand and support the Arab and Islamic request that the credentials of Israel be rejected.

I call on the representative of r.celand on a point of order. Mr. ANDERSEN (Iceland): I raise this point of order on behalf of the five NOrdic countries - Denmark, Finland, NOrway, Sweden and Iceland - in connection with the amendment in document A/4l/L.8, which proposes the rejection of the credentials of Israel. On behalf of the Nordic countries, I formally move that no action be taken on that amendment, and ask the President to be good enough to put this motion immediately to the vote. It is made within the terms of rule 74 of the General Assembly's rules of procedure. The five Nordic countries are convinced that the future of the United Nations is of overwhelming interest and concern to all Member States. Our motion is motivated by our dedication to upholding the capacity and authority of the United Nations to act in fulfilment of its primary purpose, the maintenance of international peace and security. ~e PRESIDENT. The representative of Iceland has moved, within the terms of rule 74 of the rules of procedure, that no action be taken on the amendment circulated in document A/4l/L.S. Rule 74 reads as follows. -During the discussion of any matter, a representative may move the adjournment of the debate on the item under discussion. In addition to the proposer of the motion, two representatives may speak in favour of, and two against, the motion, after which the motion shall be immediately put to the vote ••••• I now call on the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran on a point of order. Mr. RAJAIE-KHORASSANI (Islamic Republic of Iran) I I have asked to be allowed to speak on a point of order because I thought I should express my appreciation and gratitude to the Ambassador of oman for submitting this very important amendment. The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran requests that its nam~ be included in the list of sponsOf$ of the amendment.

The ~int has been noted and will be reflected in the verbatim record. I shall now plt to the vote the motion submitted by the representative of Iceland that no action be taken on the amendment circula ted in tbcument A/41/L.8. A recorded vote has been requested. A recorded vote was taken. In favour: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgilml, Bhutan, Braz il, Burma, Burundi, Canada, Central Afr ican Republic, Chad, Chile, Cololl'bia, Costa Rica, Cote d'IvQire, c.ypr us, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El salvatbr, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Federal Republic of, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Hooduras, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, IA1xenbourg, Mali, Mauritius, M!xico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, saint Christopher and Nevis, saint !ncia, Sa int Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, seychelles, Sierra Leooe, Singapore, Solomon Islands, spain, Sri lanka, Sweden, Thailand, To9o, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom of Great Bribin and Northern Ireland, U\ited states of l\mer iea, Ur ugu ay, Ven·ezuela:, Za ir e Af9hanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Brunei Darussalam, Bur kina Paso, Byelorussian Soviet SOcialist Republic, Cuba, Czechoslovak ia, Derocra tic Yemen, Dj iboo ti, Gabal, German Democratic Republic, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lao People's Derocratic Republic, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Mauritania, ~ngolia, Morocco, Nicaragua, oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, SUdan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Ukrainian Soviet SOcialist Republic, tl'lion of Scwiet SOcial ist Republics, Uli ted Arab &nir ates, Viet Nam, Yemen Against: Abstaining: Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, China, Ghana, Glinea-Bissau, G.1yana, India, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Turkey, Uganda, Yugoslavia, Zambia The motion was adopted by 77 votes to 40, with 16 abstentions.* * Subsequently the delegations of Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Cameroon, Gaboo, Haiti, Lesotho, Portugal, Swaziland and Yugoslavia advised the secretariat that they had intended to vote in favouq the delega tions of Angola, Ga.ibia and Zinbabwe had intended to vote against~ the d~legations of Burundi and Ethiopia had intended to abstain. The PRiiSmmT: I shall n~ call on those delegations that wish to speak in explanation of their vote on the recommendation of the Credentials COl'lll1ittee. I remind delegations that, in accordance with General Assembly decision 34/401, explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats. Mr. MAKSIMOV (Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic) (interpretation fran Russian): The delegations of the People's R::public of Bulgaria, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the German Democratic Republic, the Hungar ian People's Republic, the Polish People's 9'!pubUc, the Ukrainian SOITiet Socialist Republic, the union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Byelorussian SOviet Social ist Republic, on whose behalf I have been asked to speak, vigorously protest against recognition of t.."'e credentials of a group of private people claiming that they represent the so-called DeltDera tic Kanpuchea. It is an undeniable fact that neither in the real international world nor al maps does a State with such a title yet exist. Representa tives have presented themselves under the label of the "Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea", but they are nothing but representatives of PeOple who have been expelled from their country, including Pol-Potists, who have been condemned for carrying out bloody cr imes aga inst the Kanpuchean PeOple. The presence of thooe PeOple in the tbi ted Na tions is an insult to the memory of the millials of Kampucheans who were victims of the genocidal Pol Pot clique, and detrimental to the authority and prestige of the {hited Nations. There is no doubt that sooner or later those self-proclaimed representa tives will be driven out of the tbited Nations. It is well known that the Government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, which was established as a result of general elections, is exercising effective control over all the territory of the country. It is developing the national eCalany and, in the internatialal arena, is carrying out a policy of peace and (Mr. Maksimov, Byelorussian SSR) C')-operation and actively advocating the normalization of the situation in SoUth-East As ia. The delegations on whose behalf I speak feel that only the Government of the People's Republic of RCIIlpuchea and the representatives appointed by :I.thave ate legi timate right to represent the Kampuchean people in the United Nations and other internatimal organizations, and they insist on an immediate decision on and solution of this problem by the united Nations. Mr. VONQ;AY (Lao People's DellOcratic Republic) (interpretation from French) ~ The lao People's Democratic Republic, the SOcialist Republic of Viet Nam and the People's Republic of Kamp.tchea have once aga in clearly expressed their disappointment and bitterness at the erroneous and extremely regrettable decision taken by the Credentials Committee with regard to the representation of Kanp.tchea within the United Nations and submitted to the AsseJtbly in a draft resolution. The GoI1ernment of the People's Iepublic of KClRp.tchea, the sole authentic, legitirrate representative of the martyred Kampuchean people, which exercises the full authority of the State over all the national territory, should have regained its rightful place within our universal Organization. Unfortunately, that martyred people, which, as everyone knows, escaped and survived the genocide conmitted by the criminal Pol Pot clique, is again this year a victim of the most flagrant injustice. We feel that it is not in the interest of the universal Organization to continue to ignore the legal and political realities of which the People's Republic of KamPlchea and its valiant people are the embodiment, haVing over the years achieved admirable and praiseworthy successes in their Herculean task of na tional revival and consolida tion, to whicb they are colIIDitted body and soul. CMr. Vmgsay, Lao People's Democratic Republic) SUch is the reality which must be understood by the international community in full oonscience and in good faith. It is time to abandon the legal fictim, because we are convinced that the longer we endorse the illegal and immorel presence within our Organization of the clique of criminals and traitors to the nation that make up the so-called Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, the more will the pr.estige and the credibility of the united Nations be damaged. we are happy that the in terna tional community is becoming increas 1ngly aware of the necessity of departing from this legal fictim, th is illogical argument. It is illogical because, while endors ing the so-called Coalition Government of Demcratic Kampuc:hea, there are great protestations against the charge of wishing to protept Pol Pot, the executioner, or his henchmen, who in fact constitute the linchpin of this so-called coalition - this stateless puppet entity which represents no one but the foreigners who give it order and protect it. That is nothing but paradoX and hypocrisy. In this regard we warmly weloome a proposal we regard as very sound and appropriate calling for the establishment of an international tribunal to look into the monstrous crimes oolllilitted by Pol Pot and his clique against their own people dur il11g the reign of naked terror in Kampuchea from Apr 11 1975 to January 1979. We understand why this idea is being accepted by progressive people throughout the world who care about peace, freedom and justice. Indeed, the fiction at present being entertained with regard to this criminal associatim of traioors and corrupt people is absolutely contrary to the spirit and the letter of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It is regrettable, not to say horrifying, that the author of the crime is not punished. ltlat is worse, some people are even attempting to lend him a helping hand. (Hr. Voogsay, Lao People's Demcra tic Republic) Our feelings of frustration and QI.1uage ~,"-IU·t the question now before us are eloquently reflected in the message that Mr. Bm! sen, President of the Council of Ministers and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of Kanplc:hea, addressed m 18 Qc\..~ber to the secretary-General, Mr. Perez de Cuellar, from which message I have tbe hmour, with :'four permissioo, to read the following relel1ant passages'!. (spoke in Engl ish) "to try by any means to impose the return of a group of traitor sand cr iminals guilty of genocide who are in exile and sold to foreigners is a gross and intolerable interference. Thrown out by the Kampuchean people since 1979, these criminals deserve to be hanged and not to be given a seat at the U\i ted Nations ••• The Kampucnean people regained - and exercised for eight years i1C'w - its full right of self-determina tion when it threw out those genocidal er iminals. installed the present popular Government and re-established fra ternal rela tions wi th all progress lve peoples on the bas is of equali ty and respect for mutual interests ... The Kalllpuchean people has nCM grown back to more than seven million inhabitants and is busy with the task of national reconstruction after the Pol Pot holocaust. The pseudo coalitioo government of DeIlOcra tic Kanp.1chea in exile, which is a mask for a hand ful of er iminals, is just a legal fiction destined to prolO1lg its usurpation of the right of the Kanpuchean people to a seat at the thi ted Nations, and therefore it represents no one but its masters. The successive United Nations resolutions have not produced the expected solutioo thus far since they are erroneous, biased, misleading and unjust. Not ooly is it a futile exercise, but it is also harmful to the good repltation of the U\ited Nations. For all these reasons, mce aqa in we denounce and condemr~ those stratagems and reject any resolutim (Kr. Valgsay, Lao People's Democratic Republic) (caltinued in French) For the teaSalS I have just mentioned, my delegation wishes to ask you, on behalf of the delegation of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, as well as of the Government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, to reoord our strongest reservations \'lith regard to the report of the Credentials Committee calcerning the credentials of the representatives of Kampuchea. Mr. NY1MDOO (Mongolia) (interpretatioo from Russian)~ With regard to the report o~ the Credentials COl\IDittee (A/41/727), my delegatial would again like to cCl'lfizm the fundamental position of the Gal7ernment of the People's Republic of M:>ngolia ooncerning the credentials of the representatives of so-called Democratic Kampuc:hea. The People's Republic of Kampuc:hea was established exclus ively through the will of the Kampuc:hean People and Sii$ a result of its heroic victexy over the genocidal and bar bar ic Pal Pot regime. Calsequently it represents the fundamental interests of that lalg-suf fer ing people. Implementing the &tcisions of the Fi fth Calgress of the Revolutionary Party of Kampuc:hea, the People's ~public of Kampuc:hea is quickly repairing the danage caused by the Pol Pot and Ieng Sary to the eoonomy, and it is trying to dellelop fr iendsh ip and co-oper ation w1th all countries of the world, including the States of south-East Asia. Therefore the People's Republic of Mongolia feels that it is indeed the People's Republic of Kanpuc:hea that is the sole legitillBte representative of the Kampuchean people in international forums, including the united Nations. The Malgolian delegation deeply regrets that within the walls of the U1!ted Nations there are still ~esent representatives of the bloody Pol Pot clique. This clearly daaages the prestige of our organization, \!lbiCb should no~ be mea for: purposes of interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State. we are f1raly convirlced that the time will COJIIe 1IIhen the People's Republ, of X_p.1ll:hea, as the genuine repr:esentaUve of the ~mpuc::b9n people, will take its place 1n the United NatiCl1S. (Mr. N:i~.aoo, Mongolia) Mr. FAREED (Pakistanh with regard to the first report of the Credentials Comittee (A/4l/727), dated 17 OCtober 1986, my delegation wishes to record its formal reservations cmcerning the credentials of the delegations representing Afghanistan at the forty-first session and the fourteenth special se:lSion of the General Assellbly of the thited Nations. This position is consistent with Pak is tan 's pr incipled stand on the situation in Afghanistan, where foreign military intervential l,ersists, which constitutes a flagrant contravention of the Un i ted Na tions Charter • Kt. \lELAZ Q) SAN JOSE (Cuba) (interpretanon fr om Span ish ) ~ We wish to express our reservations concerning the report of the Credentials Committee now before the General Assembly. The report reoomnends that the credentials of something called DellDcra tic Kcmpuchea, which suppooedly represents the PeOple of Kampuchea, be accepted. It is inoonceivable that those th&t massacred those people and plunged Kampuchea into a lalg night of horror and martyrdan should now represent themselves as victims. It was over the corpses of i1Iillims of men, women and children that the Pol Pot regime established its supremacy and it is precisely the remnants of those bands of assassins whose credentials the Conmittee wants us now to accept. For my country, the only legitimate representative of the Kampuchean people is the Government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, which has brought back the dignity and honour of whim they were depc ived. To accept the credentials of so-called DellDcra tic Kamp.lC:hea is to accept Pol Pot and Pol Potism, al though an effort may be made nGl to p:esent it in a different guise. Similarly, we wish to express our reservations coocern ing the credentials of the delegation of Grenada, since that Q)vernment represents only the interests of the forces which invaded that COlm try. Hr. AL-ATASSI (Syr ian Arab Republic) (interpretation from Arabic)" The delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic would like to record its reservations concerning the credentials of Democratic Kampuc:hea for the reasoos given 1n our statements at previous sessions of the Assembly on this subject. Mr. IIJANG Jiahua (China) (interpretation from Chinese) ~ The Chinese delegation apprOl1es the report of the Credentials Committee submitted to the Genual Assembly. As for the credentials of Democratic Kampuchea, ! should like to reiterate briefly the position of the Chinese delegatioo. Democratic :tampuchea is an independent, peaceful and neutral sovereign country and a Memer of the thited Nations. The Coalition Go'lernment of DetrDcratic Kampuchea is the sole legal Government of Kampuchea. This is a fact known to all~ Although Demcratic Kampuchea is SUffering Vietnamese aggression and occupatioo, foreign ag9ressioo can never change the legitimacy of a sovereign State and its Government. The credentials of Demcra tic Kanpuchea are entirely valid from the political and legal points of view. The so-ealled People's aepublic of Kampuchea is a regime totally imJ.X>sed on the Kcrnpuchean people by the force of foreign 8ggress«s. It has no right to repcesent the Kampuchean people. The adoption of the resolution on Kampuchea by an OI1er~elming majority this mcrning shows aloe again that the internatiooal co!llllunity condemns aggression and interference in the internal affairs of other countries and rejects the fait accanpli created by foreign aggressioo. It is the view of the Chinese delegation that the current sessioo should uphold the correct decisions of previous sessions and accept the credentials of Democr atic Rampuchea • The Chinese delegation wishes to reiterate that the fact that the Afghan representative has been allowed to participate in the fourteenth special session and the current sessioo of the General Assembly of the United Nations should in no _y be interpreted as aCXIuiescence in the situatic:n created by foreign aggression against and occupation of Afghanistan. The PRESIDmT: The Assezly will now take a decision on the recaJlDlendation of the Credentials Committee in paragraph 31 of its first report (A/41/727) • The COJmlittee adopted this draft resr-1.ution without a vote. May I take it that the Assellbly, bear ing in mind the views expressed by various delegations, wishes to do the same? The draft resolution was adopted (resolutial 41/7).

I shall now call an representatives who wish to explain their ~sition on the resolution just adopted. Prince Norodan SIBAtiDUK (DellDcratic Kampud1ea) (interpretatial from Frendlh The General Assembly has apprO\!'ed without a vote the report of the Credentials Committee calcerning delegations of Men'ber States of tho Olited Nations participating in this sessioo. In so doing, the Assen'bly clearly confirms again the status of DellDcratic Kamp1chea as a Menber of our Organization and the Coalition Govermuent of Democratic Rampuchea as the sole legal and legitimate representative of the Khmer people and nat:'on. I therefore wish, on behalf of our people and our Coalition Government and on my own behalf, once aga in t.o pay a s t irr ing tr ibute to the Assenbly for this act 0 f justice, which does it the highest halour and brings joy beyond expression to our patriotic, indomitable people. (Prince Norodom Sihanouk, DeIO:ara tic K!IIlp.lchel!) That noble, just act shows the world that our orgC!ll'lization remains the vigilant guardian of international legality, the last bulwark against all the policies of force and hegemcny aimed at establishing a new internatiatal order based at force. OUr organization wishes to demonstrate thereby its unshakeable will to defend at all costs the fundamental principles of the Charter, in which lie the hopes of all countries co1lltlitted to world peace and justice. In this Internaticnal Year of Peace those countries cannot but find great cause for satisfaction and comfor t in that. The Cambodian people recognize in the General Assembly's noble decision fresh confirnation of the legitinacy anti legality of their patriotic struggle to free Rampuchea from the yoke of Vietnamese colcnialism and expansionism and to preserve our ancient culture and 2,OOO-year-old civilizaticn, freeing it from the Vietnamese per il, manifest today in the Vietnamization of our race and our country. Finally, our people regard the Organizaticn's decision as great encouragement to persevere in their valiant struggle to the end, in spite of the difficulties involved in that struggle, ,,'bieb, tharlks to the powerful support of the internat100al comm\.llity, oonstantly makes great progress in all fields. Our adversary, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, which seeks to usurp for the benefit of i.ts p.tppets in Phnom Penh our country's seat in the United Naticns to legalize its war of aggression, must realize the futility of its amition and the irremediable consequences of its policy of colonial conquest and expansion in South-East Asia for its prestige and dic;Jlity as well as its national interests. In persisting as it has for almost eight years along its tragic, endless path Viet Ham is simply increasing its isolation and tension in south-East Asia, where all the States of the region refuse to accept the Vietnamese fait accompli in CaJIt)odia. we si~cerely hope that Viet Nam will come to its senses and abandon its anachrQ'listic allt>itj~"'l in order finally to live in understanding and friendship with all the countries of our region. Our eight-point peace proposal, which I had the honour to explain to the Assembly in deta 11, has that objective. III conclusioo, I wish to reaffirm l'Iemcra tic Kampuchea's deep commitment to our Organization and the ideals and principles it embodies, in this International Year of Psce. I also take this opportunit}" to reiterate our deepest and most heartfelt gratitude for the AsseDtlly's noble decision this morning in app~oving by a massive vote the draft resolution on the situation in Kampuchea, in which it again called for the canplete and unconditiooCll withdrawal of foreign forces - that is, Vietnamese forces - from Kampuchea, so that our people may exercise in sovereignty their sacred right to self-determination, through free elections under U1i ted Na tioos super vis ioo. By its powerful support for the draft resolution the Assenbly reaffirmed its unfailL:19 commitment to a peaceful solution to the problem of Kampuchea, thus making its historic and irreplaceable contribution to the restoration of an independent, united, peaceful, neutral and non-aligned Kamp.1chea - Callbodia - in South-East Asia and of peace and stability to that sensitive region of the world. Mr. NETANYAHU (Israel): This afternoon's exercise was not just another challenge to Israelis credentials. It was a challenge that took place precisely at a time when the lbited Nations is struggling to survive the worst crisis in its history. It is not ooly a financial crisis, it is a moral and political one a~ well. (Hr. Netanyahu, Israel) The diminished enthusiasm for the O1ited Nations in important segments of tbe international (x)l!!!1unity has not come about strictly, or even mainly, because of its present financial and administrative woes. As everyone here knows all too well, such ills exist in every large bureaucracy. The main reaam behind the erosion of prest..lqe of the O1ited Nations is the decades of political irrespoi1Bibility shown by some of its Member s. Nothing better illustrates the corrupting influence of those states than their repeated attempts to expel a Merrber State. Fm: at the heart of the Q\ited Nations is the idea of universality - that all Sta tes have an equal and unassailable right to take p.3rt in its proceedings. They may disagree, argue and deba te ~ they nay even sulk and occasiooally smile at ale another. Bu t they do so as equal Member s of the only universal organization in our world. \flat gave life to this body, trihat keeps it alive, is the principle of universality. Trampling on that principle could destroy th is body. I am happy to say that many Members realize this. And, as in the case of fiscal irresponsibility, they have begun to take a stand against political irresponsibility. They recognize that even excess must have its limits, that without placing such limits there is nothing to prevent the ttaited Nations from sliding into historical oblivion. And they do not want it to disappear. (Hr. Netanyahu, Israel) The vote we witnessed just now is as clear a statement of that determination as any you will find in the General Assembly. Israel appreciates the fact that many Governments today stood by the principles of the thited Nations Charter and fulfilled their elementary duty as Member States. As for those who stood behind this afternooo IS attempt, I have a simple questioo. You seek to isolate and to expel Israel. But who is being isolated? The margin against this vote stands at 2 to 1. It is an overwhelming defeat. Rather than reflecting Israelis isola.tioo, this vote is a barometer of Israel's international acceptance. Now you can persist in this exercise year after year and you will find that you will remain isolated in a small circle of fanaticism which you have drawn round yourselves. For those countries which do not share these violent impulses but which have still not left this camp, I have a question as well. Do you really wish to align yourselves wi th mediaeval tyrants like QaChafi and Khomeini? Is this the mcxal compass with whieb you guide your actions in this year of reflactioo and rededica tioo? And how can some of you ser iously speak of an interna tiooal peace ex>nference, under United Nations sponsorship no less, when in effect you vote for the expulsion of Iarael from this Organization? Every menber of this body must decide~ either you are for the United Natioos or you are against it. If you are for it, then you must be for the pr inciple of universalitn and if you are for that principle, and wish to retain a semblance of credibility, then you must vote accordingly. Hr. DEVER (Belgium) (interpretation from Frenchh The fact that my delega tion did not object to the credentials of Afghan is tan cannot in any way be interpreted as being a reex>gnition of the present regime in that country, a regime which was imposed upon the Afcjlan people from outside. Hr. TILLE'l'T (Belize) ~ The General Asscnbly is a place where all nations should be allowe~ to express their opinion. USing the rules to prevent nations from exrxessing their opinion la a dangerous path for this organization to take and should be taken with the utmost cautia'l. Belize abstained in the ootion not to take action on the amendment, because we feel that such a motion depr: Ives Member states of their rights. At the same time, however, the Belize delegation suppoci:.s the report as submitted by the Credentials COlllDittee because we feel it is a just report. We can best negotiate with MenDer States while they are Menbers of our Organization. To wh~drav the credentials of any Member State would then be to undermine the peaceful purposes of this Organizatia'l. Belize wishes to leave no doubt that it supports the credentials of Israel as it does those of all the other MenDer States mentia'led in the repext. Accordingly, the Belize delegation would now like to record a change in its vote on the motioo to take no actiat fran an abstentioo to a vote in favour. Mr. IAUTENSCHLAGm (Federal Republic of Germany) ~ I should like to put on record our position on the credentials of the delegation of Afghanistan. our vote in favour of the report of the Credentials Conmittee does nQt imply that we recogn ize the legi timacy of the regime in Kabul. Mr. BADltWI (E:]ypt) (interpretation from Arabic)~ OUr delegation would like to put on record the following points. First, our support for the procecl1ral propoad presented by Iceland, it is in accordance with the position taken by my Government on the means of reaching a peaoeful solution to the crisis in the Middle East and Fqypt's efforts to solve the Palestinian problem through the encouragement of negotiations in an internatiooal conference dedicated to the achievement of such a settlement. seCaldly, a settlement in the Middle East should include the follow ing points~ the Israeli withdrawal from all Arab lands occupied since 1967, the Syr ian Golan Heights, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including Arab Al-Quds~ the realization of the legitimate rights of the l~alesdnian people, particularly their right to self-deterl1lination~ and respect for tl1.1~ right of all nations and peoples in the Middle East to live in pea~ and security. Thirdly, Egypt, while tirelessly seeking such a settlement, caldemns once again the settlement policy of Israel in the occupied lands, and considers it to be obstructive to peace efforts. My country also coodemns the oppressive practices against the Palestinian people, whieb are in violation of the Geneva ~otocols. We call on Israel to implement the resolutions adopted by the security Council and the General AsseIIbly on the Palestinian cause. Hr. smca (tl'lited Kingdom) ~ The fact that my delegation has raised no formal dlallenge to the credentials of the delegation of Afghanistan should of course in no way be taken to imply that the Government of the United Kingdom will deal wi th the present regime in Kabul on a Government-to-Gova:nment basis. Hr. FARES (Democratic Yemen) (interpretation from Arabic) ~ OUr delegatioo would like to put on the record the following reservation. Democratic Yemen recognizes the People's Republc of Kampuchea and its government as legi Una tely representa tive of the Kampuchean people in their struggle to achieve their right to peace, stability, pt ogress and rebuild their cotmtry after ridding themselves of those who massacred millions of Kampucheans. On the basis of this, our delegation wishes to put 00 record its reservation concerning the credentials of the so-called DeltDcra tic Kanpuchea. We call for an end to the legitimate occupation of the seat of Kampuchea in the United Nations by those who do not represent the people in any way so that the people in Kanpuchea and their legi timate Government may contr ibute positively and effectively to this inter na tional Organiza tion. Mr. ZARIF (Afghanistan)\ We have heard some stereotyped statements which are merely a repetition of previous statemel"its delivered by the same dQlegations year after year. Three members of the North Atlantic Treaty organization plus China and Pakistan referred to the credentials of my delegation aJ'\d expressed their reservations. We have explained our position on these statements in the past. we wish once again to reject their validity and relelTance and to stat:e that they are totally impertinent and have no bearing on the legitimacy of th~~ Go\'ernment of the DeDDcratic Republic of Afghanistan, whidl derives its legitimacy only and entirely from its own people. Some statements made during the discussioo in the Credentiall'; COlDittee have been recorded in the report (A/4l/727) of that Committee to the General Assenbly. 1 refer specifically to paragraphs 11 and 15 of that report. we wish to put on record our rejection of those sta tements as re flected in those two paragraphs. The PRliSmEN,£: 1 shall now call on representatives who wish to speak in exercise of the right of reply. 1 remind memers that, in accordance wi th General Assemly decisiQ'l 34/401, statements in exercise of the right of reply are limited to 10 minutes for the first intervention and five minutes for the secmd and should be made by represenbtives frem their seats. Mr. AL-ANSI (Oman) (interpretation from Arabic): ! had not intended to speak, but after hear ing the representa tive of Israel I fOU<1d it a moral duty to clarify the situation, in exercise of the right of reply, as President of the Arab Group and as it was 1 who presented the amendment on behalf of the Arab States. The Israeli representative spoke of the financ;ial crisis of the thited Naticos. We are aurpr ised that he should do 80 while his country !.s always indebted to the budget of the thited Nations and does not pay its ccntribution, even in the present cr Is is of the Organizaticn. The underlying cause of the real crisis of the thited Nations is the membership of countries such as Israel in the United Nations. Most of the problems we discuss in the General AsseDDly and in a\l the committees, commissions and conferences stem from the presence of Israel and SOuth Africa. If we were to CQIlpute the millions of dollars spent on the search for solutions to the problems caused by those two regimes, we shall find that they amounted to much lDOre than the defici ts in the an'i'lual budget of the Organizaticn. Hence, this e~ploitation by Israel of a financial situation which has been with us in the United Nations since the 1960s is the sort of obfuscatial that bewilders no ale. The Israeli representative spoke of the countries which submitted the proposed amendment tu the draft resolutial and said that they were pretending. I should like to assure him that the Arab countries have been patient and have found themselves in a positial, for the past 40 years, in which they have had to take this stand in the General Assembly year after year. we would have hoped that Israel might listen to reason and that those that are pushing Israel towards perditicn miC#lt i"ave changed its patterns of behaviour, knowing that Israel could stand up to the Arab States without the support of the powerful parties which stand behind it and encourage it to continue its aggressive actions against neighbouring At ab States. All the Arab States and the Palestine Liberation Organization have accepted U1ited Nations resolutions on Palestine and the situation in the Middle F.ast, while Israel and those that stand behind it have consistently rejected even those r esolutions whic:h they suppor ted in t.he thi ted Na tions. How could the representative ef Israel say that the situation here is against the international conference on peace? Who rejects that international peace conference? we all call for the corrJening of the peace Conference. All those who have spJken in the General Asseltbly , includlng heads of delega tions, have called for the convening of the peace conference. It is Israel that cynically rejects it. we all know who are with Israel. OUr delegation and the delegations of Arab States have tried OI1er the past few ye::.a:s to convince ourselves that there are hawks and dOl/es in Israel. However, the recent statement by Yitzhak Shamir has convinced us there are no doves and no hawks and that all are violent expansiooists who want to take Arab land by force. This is a situatioo that should not be passed OI1er in silence. I wish to stress from now on that the Arab States, together with other Menber States, will continue to submit this amendment every year with an increased nuni>er of sjVonsors, until we find Israel facing what SOUth Africa is now facing in the General Assembly, unless Israel changes its behaviour, stops its aggression and declares openly that it accepts all the resolutions of the tb1ted Nations and adheres to the pr inciples of the Charter. Mr. '!REIKI (Libyan Arab Jamahir iya) (interpreta tion from Arabic): We have listened, as we have for many years now, to the 111egi tima te representative of the Zionist efitity speak once again and, by speaking as he did, show once again the contempt of that entity for the international Organization, its Charter and its resolutions and its persistent violation of the most basic human rights. Por four decades, since that 111eg1timate entity came into being, it has adamantly r ejected the r econmendat10ns and resolutions of the Un i ted Na tions. For four decades that entity has refused to accept the Ulited Nations Conciliation COJIIUissicn for Palestine, which has been established, under resolutioo 194 (III), for nearly 40 years. For four decades that entity has refused to implement the resolutions of the Ulited Nations, which uphold the inalienable r iCJht of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland. For more than three decades that artificial entity has refused to accept the authority of the CODDittee on the Exercise of the Inalienable F! ghts of the Palestinian People and declined to co-operate with the Committee, or even permit it to visit occupied Palestine. The Zialist entity, since it usurped the whole of Palestine and ousted its Jr.'ople, has adopted a policy of expansion and aggressioo. It has occupied the whole of Palestine and the It-nds of neighbouring Arab countries, Egyptian and Syrian. In spite of all the security Council and General AsseJlt)ly resolutioos, the Ziooist entity annexed the Golan Heights which is part of the territory of another Member State of the Un i ted Hations. It nas annexed Al-Qude, disregarding all the resolutions of the thited Nations. Its counterfeit credentials have been issued in Al-Quds. This artifieial, r~cist regime refuses to recognize the very existence of the .Palestinian people. What dop,s the representative of that entity want us to do? He wants us to accept the universality of the tllited Nations. Does not that universality entail the right of the lI.:l1.1.estinian people to have a country? Are not the Palestinians a people? The normal thing would be for the representative of tI')e Palestine Liberation organization to occupy the seat which is nCM occupied by the representative of the racist zialist entity. Would he like us to accept the annexation of Al-Quds and the Golan Heights? Can the representative of that entity tell us that the Golan Hei~i·s are not Israeli land today? WOuld he be prepared to accept the resolutions c~.' ~~e united Nations and say that Al-Quds is Arab? The time has come to take a stand. we can no longer swallow these lies that we have been hearing for years. That entity is based on terrorism and racism. Everyone here knows Shamir and his role in the murder af Count Bernamtte, the representative of the United Nations. Shamir personally took a hand in his murdeq yet he speaks of respect for the United Nations. ltlat respect for the U1ited Nations? To murder its representa tives? To violate or ignore its resolutions? To annex other peoples I lands? To indulge in collective massacres of the Palestinian people? To pursue the Palestinian people even in their diaspora and murder their children? What do they expect fran us? Do they want us to accept occupation and extermina tion and welcome them with open arms? Patience has its limits and the logic ot force cannot continue for long. 1 Srni "'"'... and Sh i "11 f 11 him Rhodesia has g e and Zinbabwe is an UI Has gone am r w1 0 OW • . here. Palestine too will return to the fold. The logic of force cannot continue. It is time to return to the logic of right, and I say to the representative of (Mr. Trek!, Libyan Arab J amah idya) the Zimist entity that the whole of the tbited Nations has condemed the Zimist entity more than once, in more than one resolution. we all know that. I tell him that his lies will not be swallowed by anyme. The day will come llilen the representative of the Palestinian people will sit in his ric1ltful place here among us. Mr. RAJAIE-KI:DRASSANI (Islamic Republic of Iran) ~ I am grateful fOr the opportunity to reply to the improper comments mde by the representative of the Zionist t:·ase occupying Palestine. It is a very sad moment for all of us. Similar sad moments have come repeatedly and nay cmtinue to come for some years. It is a moment at which we see our General Assent>ly challenged, and even manipulated, by the forces of the Zimist base occupying Palestine and those that are behind it. I believe that the General Assembly lost a great deal of its credibility 40 years ago ~en it simply gave reoognitim to the occupation of Palestine and the terrorists that occupied Palestine and deprived the Palestinian people of their legitinate right to their own homeland, to statehood and to independence and of all the simple basic rights that every individual State represented in the Assembly enjoys. The terroeist base which has illegally and illegitimately gained the title of Sta te thanks to the imper ialist forces behind it and thanks particularly to tlli ted Sta tes support for the zionists both in Palestine and in SOuth Afr iea, knows very well that the Muslims in the region will not foe ever tolerate the occupation of their sanctuaries and the land of Palestine by those usurpers. They are going to liberate their land. The manipulation of the General Assenbly cannot continue either; that will come to an end soon, and we pray that its end is drawing ever nearer. There is prcbably no need to remind repre.~entatives that they have been dealing with the basic issue, the issue of the representation here of a terrorist base which not mly has occupied the land of Palestine but. is expanding its occupation, has invaded Lebanm, has forced many thousands of women and children into the camps in Sabra and Shatila and cmtinues to keep Lebanon under its illegal occupation. My delegation, like many others which are either absent or have already expressed their positions openly, believes that this so-called State, this artificial State. cannot subsist, because it is not based on legality; it is a baseless, lawless entity and that lawlessness cannot continue in ~at we call the General Assembly of the United Nations. If the same thing as happened to the Palestinians happened to any other of the nations represented here, if any me of those that voted in favour of the draft motion whidl crippled the amendment moved by the representative of Qnan had its land occupied, lIIhat would it cb? Would it just remain silent or ao:(uiese? I believe that it would fight, both in the General Assembly and in the region concerned. It is also true that if the enemy - the illegal enemy - is powerful and has access to modern warfare tedlnology and the backing of the United states it is very likely that such occupation will continue for some time, but that does not mean that the victims should just keep quiet. No victim will keep quiet. No matter if we cannot achieve the victory this year or next year, or for 10 years, this is a struggle which started 40 years ago and will continue if necessary for 400 more years. I can assure this Assembly that this State will be expelled both from our beloved regioo, the lovely land of Palestine, ~uslim land, and from the General Assembly. Mr. HBTANYAW (Israel)T. First, let me say that I appreciate the fact that several delegations have already indicated a change of vote on the notion by Iceland~ we under stand that others will be doing so" As I have said, the exercise this afternoon is a very good indication - I called it a barometer - of the improving condition of Israel's international situation. Year by year, the nullber of votes supporting us grows. It has grown from 74 in 1982 to well over eo nC1il. In fact, it appears to have exceeded last year's vote. I all happy to say, too, that there is a decline in the support for those who have sponsored this effort. Thus, many people ob"iously reco~ize what the true issues are that are at stake herec In their COBDents this afternoon, some representatives ·have tried to weave into the discussion not ally extraneous issues but c:aapletely distorted ales. R:>t all those representatives seem to agree on how str ident to be. Iibr t<;ga[~ie, the representative of Oman directed his remarke to the question of financial probity and responsibility towards this body and its missions. I think it would be a useful exercise - in fact, I shall circulate a Q:)cument on this - to look at the relative contr ibutions of the Arab oil-producer s. They are awash in oil revenues ewer a 15-year period,; they are awash in riches that the rest of the world has never dreamed of,; they are awash in the kind of wealth that could resolve some of the problems we discuss here - and I do not mean oo1y the problems of the MidCIle East~ I mean the problems of Afr ica and the problems of Latin America, where hundreds of millions of persona are starving. They are awash in these riches that are sitting in coffers in SWitzerland and in various boutiques in Europe. These riches are not used for any purpose even reuotely commensurate with the ncble ideals that are professed here by some well-meaning representatives, and by some who are not so well mean in<J • (Hr. Netanxahu, Israel) Y\l!lt I have said applies, of COUl'ae, to the issue of refugees. I have listened to the repr:esenGtive of Libya~ I have listened to the re~esentatiYeof Ir an - and please note that I call theit countries by their names. Those representatives have a peculiar r-' nchant for: putting the cart before the har se. They forget how this thing began and how it has cantinued. They say that we created this terrible thing~ we robbed these people of their land~ we expr:opriated their land an we kicked the people out. That is false - cCIDpletely false. They say that this thing started 40 years ago. False again. It did not start 40 years ago. It started at the begiming of this century. It started men we came to this barren land, this place where there was nothing. When we returned to our homeland in 1880, the population was 150,000. Mark Twain - no Zimist agent he - was there, and he described it~ as did Arthur Stanley, the greatest cartographer of the nineteenth century - British, no Zimist and no Jew - and 300 other travellers and experts\ there was nothing there. We came back because this was our homeland, the one and only homeland we had. we buUt it and we made it flourish. we accepted the Arab immigrants who came to that country~ we welcx)JDed them. Some of them accepted us, as did most of the Arab leader s - such prominent leaders as Faisal and saud, who reco9"!zed the tremendous value to the entire regim of a renascent Jewish State. Now, that did not sit well wi th a minod ty, a violent band of lien who took their inspiration from the ll1fti, who in turn took his inspiration from Adolf Hitler, wi th whom he made a pact dur ing the 5ecmd Wcxld War - and even before the Second World war - to exterminate not: only a Jewish presence of any (Kr. Netanyahu, Israel) kind, but any hope for peace, canpromise and coexistence. This is the same Mlfti whom Yassir Arafat has called his mentor and his guide, the person whose ideals he follow. That violent band of men started by killing not Jews but Arabs - many, many more Arabs. And, by the way, that tradition still holds true, because 65 per cent of the victims \1,)f the PLO and its offshoots have been Arabs. Why Arabs? Because sane people cb not believe in the path of violence, in the path of extremisn, in the path of terrorism. They believe in coexistence~ they believe that there actually ought to be a Jewish State, that they should live side by side with it. This attempt to destroy what we were building failed. It failed because we shed blood, we fought wi th our finger nails, to survive against five Arab al'mies with O\1erwh~lming power against us. We did not lose - that is our great sin. OUr great sin is that we took in the refugees from that same war - a greater nun'ber of refugees from Arab lands than the number of Arab refugees who heeded the call of the invading Arab armies to vacate the arena of battle so that the war of extermination - as the secretary-General of the Arab League called it - could proceed more rapidly. Well, it did not proceed more rapidly because we refused to die~ we had done enough dying over the millenia. We immediately called for peace. we immediately took in our refugees. Now, we did not have vast stretches of land. We did not have the billions of dollars of oil wealth that are still sitting in those coffers. We had nothing but a sliver of land and our brawn and our dedicatioo. We rehabilitated all these people. They do not sit in refugee camps. What did the other side do? Most of it - initially.. all of it - inculcated hatred. The same hatred that for four decades before the 1948 war had guided their actions continued to guide their actions. They inculcated this hatred~ they foisted these incredible myths upoo the people. I do not think that since the (Mr. Netanyahu, Israel) Second wcxld War, since the time of Goebbels, has the wcxld seen so great a use of myths, of the big-lie technique, as it has seen in regard to the Palestinian Arab question. It is remarkable - but it is not going to change the minds of fair-minded people. The attempt to continue the war of extermination is not seen only in the acts of Arab terrorists, in the pogroms that they are carring out, with the support of several of the countries represented in this Hall, in Istanbul and so many other places, against innocent PeOple - and not only Israelis, not only Jews, but many other nationalities. That campaign was, I am afraid, manifested here this afternoon as well. It was manifested by the extreme virulence, the refusal to talk of peace, of acceptance, of compromise. Indeed, the representative of Libya and the representative of Iran c!llled for the outright liquidation of my country. The representative of Iran does not use the word -Israel-, because he cannot bring himself to use it~ neither can the representative of Libya - although perhaps with a little egging on, they mi~t. They do not recognize that we have any right to exist. Indeed, the representative of Iran called for the happy day when we would be expelled from the region. Now, it is one thing to hear distortions of history; it is another to hear these distortions and these calls for the observance of pr inciples coming from the representatives of regimes like Libya, a country that boJ'lbs -

I am sorry to interrupt the representative of Israel, but the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran wishes to speak on a point of order, and 1 now call on him. Mr. RAJAIB-ItmRASSANI (Islallic Republic of Iranh My understanding is that when the representative of the zicnist base occupying Palestine speaks fcx the seoond time, he Jlay speak for only five minutes. I am surpr ised to see that he has been speaking lcnger than that. I merely wanted to mention that tilling is as important a factor for the General A8sellbly as it is for the Middle East and Moslems. The PRBSIDlmT: I wish to clarify this point for the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The first tille the representative of Israel spoke, he was speaking in explanation of vote after the voting. This time, he is speaking in exercise of the ri~t of reply. He is therefore entitled to 10 minutes - of which he has used 9. Mr. NETANYAW (Israelh I thank you, Mr. President, for that clarification and I Shall briefly conclude. The representative of Iran's concern with time could be put to better use if we eliminated from the agenda all these debates and expressions of the obsessive campaign against Israel, which has not only cost this Assellbly and this body millions of dollars, but also cost it, I am afraid, a terrible decline in its prestige, a decline that it does not deserve. We should do better. Mr. AL-ARH (Oman) (interpretation from Arabic): I had no wish to waste time. HCMever, the time wasted by the previous speaker in the reiteration of confolmded fabrications canpels me to speak. I shall use the five minutes allowed me to confirm what I said when I eXl'1ained tr¥ vote, on behalf of my country and the other Arab delegations wic:h did not explain their votes as we opeak for them. The representative of Israel has once again resorted to fabrication. He told us that there were only 40 votes in favour and that that ammts to a vote of 2 to 1. Be consider s that he has won by 80 or 81 votes. That is not true. we, the Arab countries, are proud of the States \Ilhic:h, with courage and on the basis of their pr inciples and their aCherence to the Charter voted in the light of their commitments. But the Israeli delegation, directly or by proxy, exerted the customary pressure on certain delegations, even after the vote. Consequently, some delegations ehanged their positions. we wish to thank those States that supported us. We kIKM that some States did not wish to change their p)sitions and did not wish to support Israel. We know that some of those States signed the reservation aMressed to the organization of the Islamic Conference, but did not vote in favour when the time came. we shall review the wole process in the coming years. We wish to tell the representative of Israel that he does not represent the Arab Jews of Israel, because those Arab Jews were not originally from Palestine but from the Arabian peninsula. Those for whom he speaks and remembers of his (Mr .. M-Ansi, Qnan) delegation are not from the region.. They are not from the Middle East ex Palestine.. They came from different parts of the. wor Id, and should think of returning to the places they came fran.. That includes Yitzhak Shamir, who was not born in Palestine but on one of the islands near the African coast where his father worked. We also have the problem of the refusal of Israel to abide by united Nations r esolu tions. The day I srael accepts those r esolu tions will be the day the Ar ab Sta tes will respond.. They have been the fir st to accept those resolutions. Everyone should understand th is and should not coofuse the b ila teral or collective relations of the Arab States with any other State, with the relations between the Ara':> States and Israel, for Israel is our direct enemy and those that want to take its side should keep that in mind. Mr. RAJAIE-iUDRASSANI (Islamic Republic of Iranh several points which were mentiooed by the representa tive of the Zim ist base occupying Palestine and which I fa iled to resp:>nd to in rrrJ fir st statement are very important, and I should like to comment on them. One was'with regard to the ecooomic pressure that the United States is imposing on this organization. Those who speak of it and those who do not speak of it, all of them, know why the U'li ted Sta tes is doing it. Everybody knows that once the Organization took a very courageous stance with regard to the apartheid regime in South Africa and with regard to the occupation of Palestine the united States felt SomehCM isolated and decided to pr:essurize the Or9an ization. Everybody knows that .. This financial crisis, therefore, is part of our problem~ it is just a part of the whole package, at the centre of which is the fact that the distinguished - or undistinguished - representative of the Zionist base occupying Palestine is cranned (M~. Ra.i!ie-Khorassni, Islamic Republic of Iran) into the General Assenbly. TherefClCe one pa~~ of that package cannot be explained by the other part. The second point was with regard to the 109ic of occupation. The logic of occupation can be explained very softly, as it was by the reptesentive of the Zionist base occupying Palestine. But it is absolutely impossible to compare softness of logic to the dangerous and painful act of occupation. If representatives want to k1'lON what happened, they have to remember that for 40 years millions of people have been homeless, expelled from one camp to another, going from one country to another, still wandering in different parts of the world like peripatetics, while the occupying forces have had the pleasure of gaining legi timacy and representation in this Assembly. It is a very sad matter. Of course, the language of occupatioo can be put very beautifully and softly. That language says, ·Yes, we went to Palestine gradually and then we invited the Ar abs, and so on and so for th·. I think there was no invita tioo from the PaleStinian Arabs or from any other Arabs, or from the ltlltllims, to the Zionists a Her the second World war. They went there wi thout any legal bas is and they occupied it without any legal basis. If representatives of Member States in this Assembly were in the same position, if their countries were o,coupied, does anyme think they would accept a soft logic of occupation simply because it is put in proper English? I believe that those people would fight exactly as the Palestinians and the Muslims cmtinue to fi~t. The third and final point I should like to mentioo here is that the representative of the occupatioo forces should be ashamed of saying "my countryw. He does not have a country~ it is a terrorist base. It has been terrorizing all of us in the region, not ooly the Palestinians. The Leban~s~ are still being (Mr. Rajaie-.KhOC:Gssni, Islamic Republic of Itan) terrorized. Yesterday they were bombarded. Last week they were bOllOarded several times. The Zionists are killing everybody they can in the region, and still they adopt. very diploEtiC language here in order to deceive international intelligence. It does not work. I assure representatives that the right lIKWe is that which is gaining momentum in the region. The small but courageous and great people of Iebanon - particularly the !t.Islim faction - have given a very good lesson to the Ziooist forces, which wi thdrew A oltmtar Uy w. I assure the Assembly tha t they will withdraw ·voluntarily· from the whole of Palestine very soon. Mr. 'mEnu (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (interpretation fran Arabic): I could have confined myself to suppor ting what has been said by the JWbassador of oman, current Chairman of the Arab Group, in reply to the representative of the Zionist entity, but I should like to comment on certain points v and would ask my friend the Anbassador of oman to bear with me if I do so. The representative of the Zionist entity spoke of the people of Palestine as if there were no people in that COurltry and when the emigrants came fran Europe and other regions they found an empty land waiting to be taken by the newcomers. This is an unbearable and extremely serious insult, to the intelligence and integrity of everyone in this Ball. I should leave it to the representative of the Palestinian people to speak on this point, but I should like to refer to what the representa tive of the z!rnist entity called the Palestinian Wterrorists w• According to him, the Palestinians have to accept occupation, agree to live as refugees and concede to the entity this representative speaks for the right to carry out mass e~termination against them or else bring down upen their heads the stigma of terrcxism and qualify for massacre and organized genocide. we should have liked a straightforward answer from the representative of that entity to the strai9ltforward question we put to him. WOuld he please tell us whether the Golan Heights is now inside toilat is called the State of Israel? Can he tell us whether Al-Quds is nQl the capital of that entity? What is at stake here is United Natioos resolutions for the non-implementation of which we Arabs are being _de to bear the resp.)nsibility. The picture Is this\ we Arabs are delaying the solution of the problem~ we insist upon discussing the problem of Palestine, hence it is we Arabs who are squandering united Nations money and not those who occupy the land, violate the Charter, massacre the Palestinian people, murder the representa tive of the united Natioos and do not recognize the resolutioos of the United Nations. They are the Peace-makers, the good guys. This is a maumoth perversioo of truth which cannot be swallQled. However, this is exactly what has been said by the leaders of Israel fran Ben-Surion to Shamir and Peres, who are all terrorists, and are guilty of the murder of the Palestinian people. I should like to ask the representative of the Ziooist entity how many Palestinians he has killed with his own hands. Doubtless he has taken part in the killing of Palestinians and people of other neighbouring Arab lands. I am really sor ry to have to take up the time of the Assembly for such discussioos. Before Britain handed over Palestine to the zlooists it had thought of Uganda and even the eastern part of Libya, Cyrenaica, Argentina and even Guinea as a land for the settlers, but it was the wretched lot of the Palestinians to have Palestine chosen. However, right will prevail. Injustice will not continue. The Palestinian people will liberate themselves, as have many other peoples • • • J Mro NETANYAIIJ (Israel): It is particularly instructive that the representative of Libya and, I think, the representative of Iran as well find bothersome the notion that that land was barren in the late nineteenth century. If it was not as populated and as verdant a homeland teeming with Palestinian Arabs as Yasser Arafat and some here would have us believe, then there is obviously a different history. SO they challenge this because it is central to the case that they have buUt in the last few decades. I am not going to take up the time of the Assembly now to discuss th is, but I promise that in the debate dealing with the Middle East I will discuss this at length. However, since I mentioned Mark Twain and Arthur Pen~hyn Stanley, let me tell the AssenOly \oi'lat they said, because they visited the place~ they were there in 1869 and 1882 - they and many others o Mark Twain travelled along the length of Israel. He went to MJunt Tabor, which is in the Galilee - a long journey. Be said, "we never saw a human being on the whole route." Then he deset ibed the general state of the land. He said, "It sits in sackcloth, in aebes•••• Since the loss of Jewish sovereignty, it has gone down and down and down into dust." Then Penrhyn Stanley - and I will gi~e the exact quotations in our discussion on the Middle East - described Judea. This is his term, by the way, not mine, and the term everybody used. Indeed the united Na tions used that term Wltil 1948, and I believe that some of the documentEl in 1949 still showed it. "'"hat else was Judea but the cradle of the Jews, who lived there continuously, even though in meagre nUnOers, once we had lost independence, and were the only ones that continued to strive to rebuild it. He described .ludea as "empty" and "vacant". In fact he used almost exactly the same words as Twain: "not a settlement anywhere". That was the state of that country when our people joined the few who were there guarding that land and rebuUt it, in a kind of miraculous burst of creative (Mr. Netanyahu, Israel) and constructive energy such as the wocld had not seen. Amid all the terrible energies of destruction that we have seen in this century and still see in this hall, that is perhaps our biggest accanplishment. The point I wanted to complete before time ran out in W:/ previous statement is simply this. Who is challenging us? Iran calls our countty a terrorist base. I have no CODlDent on that. Then Libya talks about OOCUpatiCXl of land - Libya. I think that the size of the territory occupied by Libya in Chad is SO times that of the GolaJ'il Heights. Libya, that has sent its bOllbers into Sudan, that has sent its killers into B3ypt, that has sent assassins into more than half a dozen African countries, tha t has sent out killer squads with ter ror ist hit lists, as B3ypt has uncovered, that include the leaders of the world, fran Francois Mitterrand to the leaders of India, . not to mentiCXl the United States. Libya is lecturing us, and Iran is lecturing us, about human rights, about victims, about women and chUdren - that same Iran that is now engaged in and refuses to stop the most murderous war since the second WOr ld Welr, with over a million and a half casualties, in which chUdren are used as cannon fodder, as human minefields. When I look at the cOllpny that is kept by those ag8 inat us, wen I look at Libya and Iran, I am ",'ery proud to be sit ting in this seat. The PRESIDiNT: The Observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization has requested to be allowed to make a statement in reply. I call on him in accordance with General Assembly resolution 3237 (XXIX), of 22 November 1974. Mr. AL-KlIJiA (Palestine Liberation OrganizatiCXl (POO» (interpretation from Arabich We have heard a number of statements by the zionist representatiw~ and we consider that tolilat he has said shows total disregard of the facts, which ;3te well known to the representa Uves here present. We have become accustomed to hearing many lies with regard to the history of Palestine and the alleged historic (Mr. Al-Kidwa, PLO) rights of the Zimist13 in our country, but that sort of insolence has reached new hei~tB. we new hear nev, aalMOth lies about the modern history of Palestine, the present-day realities of Palestine, the physical, living reality represented by more than 5 millim Palestinians in the land occupied in 1948 and the territories occupied in 1967, and now in the aany diaspora camps which surromd our COtmtry. In any event, we do not wish to engage in polemics on this subject as the truth is well known and we believe that there are enough O\ited Nations resolutions da ting from 1947 to the present day to refute categorically the fabrications of the representative Qif the Zimist entity. For our part, we shall clarify our political point of view with regard to the different areas of the Palestinian cause and the Middle East question in the various Comittees of the United Nations. The PRFSIDmT: We have t:.~:\cluded our consideration of the first report of the Credentials Ccmnaittee. The meeting rose at 5.15 p.m.