S/36/PV.82 Security Council

First of all, as we resume consid- eration of the question of Palestine at this session, I am happy to express, on behalf of my delegation, our grati- tude to the members of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for the efforts they have made in acquiting themselves of their important task. I also wish to pay a tribute to the two former Chairmen of the Committee, Mr. Medoune Fall and Mr. Falilou Kane, to its present Chairman, Mr. Mas- samba Sarre, representative of Senegal, to the Rapporteur, Mr. Victor Gauci, representative of Malta, and to all the other members. 2. For nearly 30 years the question of Palestine has been one of the most important questions directly or indirectly dealt with by the General Assembly, the Security Council and other United Nations bodies under different titles and in varying circumstances. The tragedy of the Palestinian people, because of its political and juridical aspects and because it concerns human rights, is unique of its kind. In fact, a whole people, the Palestinian people, has been dis- persed by the racist Zionists and colonialists. This is a crime not only against the Palestinian people, but against all free-thinking people throughout the world. 3. The question of Palestine is one of the most serious problems that the world must face today. The wars fought in the Arab countries have been among the most ferocious in the world. The question of Palestine constitutes the greatest injustice in history ever inflicted on a people and is the most serious threat to international peace and se- curity in the Middle East and throughout the world. The fighting Palestinian people has been the victim of racist, Zionist invasion aimed at dispersing that people outside its homeland and replacing it by immigrants coming from all parts of the world. The repugnant injustice imposed on that people and the perfidious aggression of which it has been the victim has no precedent in history. A whole peo- ple, hundreds of thousands of individuals, has been com- pelled to live for more than 30 years like a displaced peo- NEW YORK pIe, and those who have been able to remain on their own land have been deprived of all human rights. 4. The United Nations has already adopted many resolu- tions affirming the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and clearly recognizing that people's right to self- determination and to return to its land and be given back the property of which it was deprived. The General As- sembly has repeatedly reaffirmed its obligation to help the Palestinian people exercise its rights and has rec9gnized the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The United Nations has repeatedly condemned Zionist ag- gressive actions against the Palestinian people. Those res- olutions have been reaffirmed many times and reflect an important evolution and a fundamental change in the at- titude of the General Assembly towards the Palestinian question. This also shows that there has been a decisive change in world public opinion with respect to the trag- edy of the Palestinian people. In fact, that opinion is now based on a 'more just and more objective view of the sit- uation, and that is an important step towards ending the injustice imposed upon the Palestinian people by the Gen- eral Assembly at the end of the Second World War, in circumstances of which we are all aware. 5. The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in its report [A/36/35] as well as in the other reports it has submitted, has provided us with a source of information about the development of the consideration of the question of Palestine in the United Nations. We support the analyses and the recom- mendations made by the Committee in its report, es- pecially the following. 6. First, the question of Palestine is at the heart of the Middle East problem, and we cannot envisage a solution to the problem which does not take full account of the legitimate aspirations and rights of the Palestinian people. 7. Secondly, the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to return to its homes and property and to achieve self-determination, national independence and sovereignty must be recognized, because the full imple- mentation of those rights will contribute decisively to a comprehensive and final settlement of the Middle East crisis. 8. Thirdly, the fundamental principle of the inad- missibility of the acquisition of territory by force should be reaffirmed, together with the consequent obligation for co~ple.te and speedy withdrawal from all occupied Arab terrItones. 9. Fourthly, it is the duty and responsibility of all the parties concerned to enable the Palestinian people to exer- cise its inalienable rights. 10. Fifthly: the United Nations and its organs should play a stronger, more influential role in promoting a rapid solution of the question of Palestine and should take ap- 11. Sixthly, the PLO, representative of the Palestinian people, should participate on an equal footing with all other parties, on the basis of General Assembly resolu- tions 3236 (XXIX) and 3375 (XXX), in all efforts, delib- erations and conferences on the Middle East which are held under the auspices of the United Nations. 12. During the last 30 years the General Assembly, the Security Council and other United Nations organs and bodies have adopted hundreds of resolutions and recom- mendations without achieving a solution of the Palestine question. The fundamental reason for the failure of the United Nations lies in the obstinacy and arrogance of the Zionist movement, which is encouraged in its position by the unlimited assistance it receives in all areas from cer- rain international Powers and, first and foremost, from the United States of America. The full support of the Govern- ment of the United States for the Zionist entity does not require proof. Everyone knows that the United States pro- vides great assistance to the Zionist entity, which has en- couraged it to continue to flout the will of the interna- tional community. This has been a characteristic feature of its behaviour since its creation. 13. The United States, all of whose practices show that it has a hostile attitude to the Palestinian people, cannot be the judge when what is involved is a solution of the question of Palestine. The tribulations of that people and the obstinacy of the Zionist entity and its inhuman prac- tices are things for which the United States is primarily responsible. In our opinion, the United States bears a his- toric responsibility for the wars and other tragedies in the Arab region. The United States has not limited itself to opposing openly the legitimate rights of the Palestinian peo- ple; it has decided to use its veto against any resolution of the Security Council that recognizes 'Palestinian rights. 14. We 'know that responsible circles of the United States Administration insist, in their statements, on the thesis 'that the Camp David accords constitute the only formula for negotiating peace, whereas those accords have been rejected and denounced by the Palestinian people and by all the countries of the world concelned with peace and justice. They disregard the efforts of the United Nations and have taken the question of the Middle East, of which the Palestine question is the heart, out of the framework of the United Nations. Those accords neglect the cause of the Palestinian people and its legitimate rights. All references in the accords to the Palestinian cause may be called the "comedy of autonomy". The Camp David accords run counter to international law and are far from helping to establish peace. They have been exploited by the Zionist entity, which has interpreted them as authorization to intensify its aggression against the Arab nation, The proof of that is to be found in the repeated acts of aggression against the cities and villages of Lebanon, in the escalation of inhuman practices against the Palestinians in the occupied Arab territories apd in the J exploitation of those accords by the Zionist entity for the purpose of establishing a larger number of settlements in the occupied Arab territories. 15. My country rejects those accords and will always oppose them. That position is clear and is known throughout the world. The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya rejects those accords and any other plans and accords which do not take into account the legitimate rights of the Palesti- 16. Any accords supervised and supported by the United States and its allies aimed at solving the question of Palestine cannot be just. They cannot be regarded as other than a plot in keeping with the position of the United States, which supports the Zionist entity and op- poses the Palestinian people and its rights. 17. Certain elements, including Zionist circles, endeav- our to distort our position and to make others believe that we are against peace. The establishment of peace in our Arab region and in all other areas of the world is our sole objective and the sole objective of our Arab nation, but we want a peace founded on justice, not on injustice, sur- render or the expansionist, racist Zionist theories. Peace will oot come to our Arab region as long as the Zionists adhere to their thesis founded on the creation of a Zionist State and the expulsion of the Arabs in order to replace them by a larger number of immigrants. 18. We wish to stress the fact that peace will remain remote as long as attempts are made to impose solutions which deny the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. A just peace will be achieved only if the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are recognized and if it is per- mitted to liberate its land, to exercise its right to self- determination and to create its independent State on Pal- estinian land. 19. . Our attitude with regard to this question is known to all the world, for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya considers the .question of Palestine and the restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people to be its most important cause of all. We reaffirm our fua and unlimited solidarity with the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the PLO, and we join our efforts with those of our Arab brothers in their struggle against Zionism. The Libyan Arab Jam- ahiriya will remain faithful to this objective and will m*e every possible effort to ensure its achievement so that 'the Palestinian people may finally triumph and return to its land and establish its State on Palestinian soil. Ours is a just cause, and it imbues us with the strength we need to continue to fight in every area. Neither threats nor propaganda employed to intimidate us or change our basic position can deter us from our objective.

I should like to begin my state- ment by thanking Mr. Massamba Sarre, Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, for the concise and objective re- port he submitted and for the statement which he made to the General Assembly [80th meeting]. I also want to thank the Rapporteur of that Committee, Mr. Victor Gauci, for the statement that he made on the work of the Committee (ibid.]. 21. My delegation wishes to express its full support for the recommendations made by [he Committee, both these in its present report and those contained in earlier reports. We believe that they are founded on principles on the basis of w'" '1 a just and lasting settlement of the ques- tion of Palt;~dne should be sought. 23. My delegation does not wish to enter into all the details of this and to dwell on the manoeuvres carried out by certain Powers, because we are all familiar with them. However, we appeal to those Powers to heed the voice of reason and respect the principles and the ideals on which they themselves were founded, including the principle of self-determination. We call on those countries to follow the path of law, justice and. equity. 24. The United Nations has the primary responsibility for ensuring that the Palestinian people are enabled to ex- ercise .their inalienable rights, including their right to re- turn to their homeland, their right to self-determination and their right to establish an independent sovereign State in the land of Palestine, free from foreign interference. The responsibility of the United Nations, which represents the conscience of the world, derives from the principles of the Charter. 25. It is clear to all, including the United Nations, that C" Israel rejects any just and lasting settlement of the ques- tion of Palestine, any solution based on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. What is more, Israel is taking certain measures in respect of the land of Palestine and Palestinian citizens in an attempt to take ref- uge in -a fait accompli and prevent any solution. It has confiscated vast areas of Palestinian territory in order to establish new settlements or to expand existing settle- ments. The land confiscated amounts to over 45 per cent of Palestinian land in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These settlements in Palestinian territory represent ail at- tempt to alter the natural features of the land, change and distort the demographic structure of the area and prevent the Palestinian people from exercising their right to self- determination and to establish their State on their land. They are also part of an attempt to annex the territory and translate into reality the dream of the old Zionist leaders, that is, to establish the Greater Israel described in the Bi- ble. Menachem Begin has admitted that this is the objec- tive and has abandoned the pretext of security used to justify those settlements, invoking instead the historic right of the Jews to establish settlements throughout the land of Palestine. 26. Despite the will of the international ~ommunity, re- flected in resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council, Israel continues with impunity its set- tlements policy, which is contrary to international law. It is applying all kinds of repression and persecution against the Palestinian people both within and beyond the oc- cupied territories. In the occupied territories Israel has imposed comprehensive collective penalties against cer- tain towns and Palestinian villages. It has imposed a curfew for long periods and has prevented Palestinian leaders from moving from one town to another. It has also 27. Israel has made several barbaric raids against Pal- estinian camps and their groups in Beirut. Hundreds of people have been killed and wounded. The purpose of these raids was to shake people's confidence in the PLO, to kill its leaders and to create a division between the PLO and the Lebanese people. 28. I have mentioned only a few of the actions taken by the Israeli authorities in the occupied Palestinian territo- ries. I do not wish to go into further detail about other actions taken by Israel in connection with the Iudaization of Jerusalem, the elimination of all its Islamic and Chris- tian ?'-:-pects, attacks against the holy places, excavations under way which threaten the integrity of all those places, the confiscation of sources of water in the occupied ter- ritories, autonomy negotiations doomed to fail and the at- tempts to create puppet authorities to participate in those negotiations. . 29. Faced with such Israeli arrogance and refusal to comply with the will of the international community, the General Assembly must take the necessary measures to end Israeli actions which are part of an attempt to Judaize the rest of Palestine. It must call on the international com- munity to commit itself to fulfilling its responsibility to the Palestinian people. 30. In conclusion, I should like on behalf of my coun- try's delega*:ion to express once more our full confidence in the President of the General Assembly and to congratu- late him for the objectivity with which he has presided over the work of this session, which reflects his ability and honesty. Everyone has praised him for this, with the exception of the representative of Israel. Here I wish to refer to the reprehensible manner in which the Israeli rep- resentative behaved when the Assembly began its consid- eration of this item yesterday morning. As the President said, such conduct was most reprehensible and was for. the benefit of foreign press agencies. That conduct again reflected Israel's arrogance and contempt for law and eth- ics. We believe that the rejection of the conduct con- firmed the confidence and respect with which we all- with the exception of Israel-regard the President.

In recent days the General Assembly has been con- sidering three items that are at the very centre of interna- tional concern: the question of Namibia, the policies of apartheid of the Government of South Africa and the question of Palestine. There is a fundamental interconnec- tion between all three questions, as the tragedy afflicting the peoples concerned has it~ origins in the practice by both the Pretoria racists and the Israeli Zionists of policies based on exclusive and discriminatory concepts of a clearly fascist nature. At the same time, the Namibian, South African and Palestinian peoples pursue a heroic 32. As has been said repeatedly in the Assembly, the fate of the Palestinian people is the very core of the Mid- dle East problem, and there is no possible solution that is not based on the exercise by that people of its inalienable national rights, including the right to return to its homes and property and to create its own State in Palestine. 33. The peaceful settlement of the Middle East ques- tion, pursuant to resolutions and decisions of the United Nations, must be based on the agreement of all the parties concerned and, of course, the approval of the sole legiti- mate representative of the Palestinian people, the PLO, without whose participation in any negotiating process no settlement would be possible. 34. Any endeavour to promote piecemeal agreements or resolve the question without the participation of the Pill-as in the case of the so-called Camp David ac- cords-is invalid and should be regarded as null. This is the position of the United Nations and other internation~l organizations, such as the League of Arab States, the non-aligned movement, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Organization of African Unity rOAUl. 35. The Zionist State of Israel, which since its creation has pursued a policy of exterminating the Palestinian peo- ple, has become the main policeman of imperialism in the Middle East, endeavouring by every possible means to divide the Arab nation and obtain allies that will assist in the establishment of a pax'Americana at the service of its imperialist partners in the region. 36. In this connection, the Arab countries of the rejec- tion front and the Palestinian people,. with the support of the overwhelming majority of States 'Members of the United Nations, have categorically stated their opposition to any arrangement which disregards the true interests of the Palestinians or seeks to bypass its legitimate represen- tative, the PLO. 37. The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, of which I have the hon- our to be a member, has most appropriately stated that "the United Nations has an historical duty anti responsi- bility to render all assistance necessary to promote the economic development and prosperity of the Palestinian entity" [A/36/35, annex I, para. 71] and to contribute to the establishment of an independent Palestinian entity. 38. To this end, the Committee has recommended, among other things, that a time-table should be estab- lished by the Security Council for the complete with- drawal by Israeli forces from those areas occupied since 1967; that the Security Council should request Israel to desist from the establishment of new settlements and withdraw those that it has established illegally in the oc-' cupied territories; that Israel should be requested to abide· scrupulously by the provisions of.the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949;' that the evacuated territories, with all prcperty and services intact, should be taken over by the United Nations, which, with the co-operation of the League of Arab States, would subsequently hand over these zones to the Pill in its capacity as the represen- tative of the Palestinian people. . 40. The obduracy of Israel and its allies results, in fact, in weakening the United Nations by tying its hands and preventing it from fulfilling its noble mission as defined in the Charter, in the consolidation of the expansionist colonial policy of the Zionist State in the occupied Arab territories and in the daily violation of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian Arab people within the very boundaries of Israel. 41. Israeli leaders, without exception, have put into practice measures to compel the Palestinian people to em- igrate from their ancestral lands, to make their settlements in the occupied territories permanent and to "de-Arabize" Palestine. . 42. Manu militari they have destroyed the international §tatus of ta'le Holy City of Jerusalem, c.he crossroads and the seat of the main monotheistic religions, and, showing profound scorn for the will and the feelings of the major- ity of mankind, have proclaimed it the capital of the Zionist State. This shows unequivocally the intolerant and exclusivist nature of zionism. 43. They accuse the Palestine resistance of "terrorism", when it is they who have used terrorism again and again, turning it into a State policy, not only against the Palesti- nian Arab people in the occupied territories but also against independent sovereign Lebanon and other coun- tries of the region. The cunning attack against the peace- ful' nuclear facilities in Iraq, the continual violations of Saudi Arabia's airspace and the profanation of mosques and other Moslem holy places are eloquent testimony to their criminal madness. 44. Unfortunately, zionism still has powerful allies in Western Europe, North America and Latin America. 45. The natural solidarity with the Jewish people which came about in the face of the homicidal passions of Adolf Hitler 1s today very skiffully exploited by the acolytes in the pay of the Zionist regime, who provide a screen of smoke and dollars to hide the heinous crime they are committing against the Palestinian people. 46. It is therefore important to unmask the fundamental racist essence of the Israeli Zionists and their role as the favoured lackeys of the main imperialist Power in the Middle East. While they are joined to the apartheid regime by an ideological umbilical cord, the same reac- tionary attitude identifies them with the fascistic and mili- taristic Latin American regimes, to which they give mili- tary assistance. 47. The Zionist regime does not represent, nor can it represent, the Jewish people because "Jew" and "Zionist" are not, nor can they be, synonyms. But there is a strong, monstrom; similarity between zionism and facism, and this is something the peoples of the interna- tional community are beginning to understand. 48. In this context we are very happy that one of the seminars held this year by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People took 49. The Assembly is taking up the question of Palestine in conditions which are far from clear. In the Middle East, in southern African and in the Central American and Caribbean regions conflicts are becoming more acute, tensions are being exacerbated and the true nature of problems is being distorted, while the threat or use of force is resorted to. 50. The so-called spirit of detente has been eclipsed and replaced by the language-which we had believed to be anachronistic-of the "cold war". There are very few, if any, bright lights on the horizon, which appears to be fraught with bleak omens for international peace and se- curity. 51. The Assembly would be giving proof of maturity and a real sense of its responsibility if, as a result of the current consideration of the question, it were to contribute to the solution of the Palestinian tragedy through negotia- tions and by peaceful means on the bases already laid down by the United Nations. 52. It is true that the "strategic alliance" formalized re- cently between the Governments of Israel and the United , States in no way helps to create a climate of confidence which might make such a solution possible, but it is nev- ertheless the unavoidable duty of the United Nations to ensure the restoration of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people and to seek a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. 53. The General Assembly and, of course, the Security Council must take the appropriate decisions, includmg the applications of the measures provided for in Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, to compel Israel to abide by their decisions. 54. If the present immobility continues, reasoned criti- cism which-we must say openly-seems to be unable to i~pose itself will inevitably be replaced by armed criti- cism. 55. Sooner or later-let no one doubt it-the Palesti- nian people will be free and independent and will take its rightful place in the concert of nations.

Sixteen months ago, at its seventh emergency special ses- sion, the General Assembly, in pursuance of the great re- sponsibility the United Nations has assumed to settle the question of Palestine, reaffinned the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and took important decisions on their immediate implementation. 57. Only a short time thereafter, the Gener~l Assemb!y at its thirty-fifth session adopted resolution 35/169 A., ID which it endorsed the recommendations of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palesti- nian People as a basis for the settlement of the Palestinian 59. In striking contrast to the demands of the oyer- whelming majority of the State Members of the UOlted Nations fully to implement the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and encouraged by the course of ag- gravating confrontation and super-armament pursued by the most reactionary circles of imperialism, Israel esca- lates its policy of terror and colonization against the Pal- • • n estlman peop"c. 60. It becomes ever more evident that changes in the geographic and demographic structures in the illegally ?C- cupied Palestinian territories are a~med at perpet~~t~ng their annexation. They are accompaOled by the acquIsition of territory and property by force, the forced resettlem~nt of Palestinians outside their homeland and the destructiOn of the cultural heritage of the Palestinian people. 61. My delegation agrees with the views of many other representatives of States that the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians from their land; the continued Israeii policy of settlement in the occupied territories, which is contrary to international law; the illegal annexation of Jerusale~; the armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear 10- stallations and the aggressive acts against Lebanon cannot be separated from one another. Those acts are an ex- pression of one and the same policy, which hampers a lasting settlement of the Middle East conflict. 62. There is no doubt that Israel can follow that dan- gerous course only thanks to the comprehensive political and military assistance rendered by imperialist circles in the United States and other States. Large supplies of highly sophisticated arms to the aggressor, the establish- ment .,,;' iie;f military bases in the Middle East, large- scale military manoeuvres and the endeavours of t~e United States and other States of the North AtlantiC Treaty Organization [NATO] to increase their military presence in that region are the deplorable results of that policy, which disregards the legitimate rights of the Arab peoples and <.:auses further deterioration in the ab:~ady worsening situation. With good reason many delegatIons at the thirty-sixth session have pointed to that dangerous situation, expressed their concern about the close linlc: be.. tween the concentration of United States troops in the Per- . sian Gulf region or the establishment of military bases in the Middle'East and the activities of Israel \'is-a-vis the Arab peoples, and have condemnr1 the strategic alliance between the United States and Isrdel. Therefore it is only natural that the goal of the Arab peoples' struggle is to stop that policy and to create conditions which allow them to live in peace and security and which finally enable the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights. That is the only sensible way to settle the question of Pal- estine. 63. It is obvious that the absence of a comprehensive political settlement of the Middle East conflict encourages those aggressive circles which strive to prevent by force the peaceful coexistence of the peoples and States of that region. Separate treaties and partial agreements can in no way settle any of the basic problems in the Middle East. That fact has become clear to everybody by now. 65. Such a policy is directed against the legitimate inter- ests of the Arab peoples and only serves to speed up the colonization of the Palestinian territories illegally oc- cupied by Israel. 66. The German Democratic Republic, like many other States, holds the view that in the face of Israel's constant violation of international law and its defiance of United Nations decisions, effective enforcement measures in ac- cordance with the Charter of the United Nations should be applied. 67. Despite terror and brutal force, the Palestinian peo- ple, under the leadership of the PLO, resolutely fight against the Israeli policy of oppression and aggression. The PLO enjoys world-wide recognition as the sole and authentic representative of the Palestinian people. Its inter- national authority is constantly increasi'lg. There is also a growing awareness that the settlement of the Palestinian question is the essential point in the attainment of a last- ing and just pea('e in the Middle East. The seminars held by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America, which were attended by public fig- ures, politicians, scientists, diplomats and representatives of numerous mass organizations, are a clear expression of that fact. 68. Anyone who takes the just cause of the Palestinian people seriously cannot confine himself to making state- ments of sympathy. What is necessary now is to fit deeds to the words. 69. It is also time for those States which so far have made only declarations of intent on the settlement of the quest;on of Palestine to recognize the PLO as the sole and authe·.tic representative of the Arab people of Palestine, as weH as that people's right to establish its own State as called for by the General Assembly in resolution ES-7/2. 70. The German Democratic Republic, which has al- ways been a close ally of the Palestinian people in their struggle and sacrifices for the implementation of their in- alienable rights, holds that the 'settlement of the question of Palestine is the basis for a just and lasting settlement of the Middle East conflict. 78. The right of the Palestinian people to exercise its inalienable rights existed before the creation of the State of Israel, and neither the international community nor any part of it is entitled even to think of linking the exercise of this right to acceptance or agreement by Israel. Israel has no right to decide the fate of the Palestinian people. Its occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and con- trary to the provisions of the Charter of the United Na- tions and the Organization's resolutions and to the most 72. The German Democratic Republic holds that the' elementary rules of humanity and political and social jus- proposal of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to tice. In any case, the General Assembly has recognized, convene an international conference on the Middle East in many resolutions it has adopted since 1949 and in its with t.he participation of all the parties concerned, includ- resolution 3236 (XXIX), the right of the Palestinian peo- ing the PLO, is very timely. That proposal is a realistic pIe to self-determination and tc, national independence and approach to the question of how justice, which has been sovereigmy. The same resolution recognized the right of denied to the Pdlestinian people for decades, can be re- the Palestinian people to regain its rights by all means stored to them by means of honest and collective endeav~ and in accordance with the purposes and principles of the 71. My country considers the complete and immediate withdrawal of Israel from all territories occupied since 1967 and the implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right of return, their right to self-determination and their right to establish their own independent State, as the indispensable prereq- uisites for peace anu security in the Middle East. 74. As a member of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the Ger- man Democratic Republic will continue to work for the just struggle of the oppressed people of Palestine and to extend further solidarity and support to the Palestinian people and its authentic representative, the PLO.

The Palestinian people has been entitled to exercise its inalienable rights since 1948, when after the end of the Second World War Great Britain relinquished the Mandate for Palestine granted to it by the League of Nations. The Palestinian people had even been entitled to exercise these rights since the end of the First World War in return for the participation of the Arab people on the side of the Allies in that war. After that, Great Britain exercised its Mandate over Palestine to prepare the inhabi- tants for autonomy. It was supposed that the termination of the Mandate, in 1948 t would be accompanied by the independence of Palestine and the creation of a Palestinian State, but world zionism, which had infiltrated Western society, played a dangerous role in achieving the right to self-determination for the Jews of Palestine, who at that time represented less than one third of the inhabitants of Palestine. The fate of the Palestinians, who then con- stituted more than two thirds of the inhabitants of Pal- estine, was to be uprooted and dispersed, doomed to wander and to live a~ refugees, far from their lands, their homes, their cities and their villages. 76. Now, after 33 years of this situation, the Palestinian {X-ople is still without identity, without a homeland, de- prived of the exercise of its natural right to self-determi- nation and to create an indepengent State. 77. The sole reason for this is that Israel has not yet completed its expansionist plan and is continuing, with the approval of some friendly States and the silence of others, to implement that plan, the aim of which is to continue and to consecrate the Israeli occupation and the creation of settlements on the remaining Palestinian Arab land. Israel hopes eventually to annex the rest of the oc- cupied Palestinian territory and make unattainable the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. Pal~stinian territory. It is logical and vitally necessary for the international community to ensure the implementation of the successive resolutions adopted by the General As- sembly, particularly the re;solutions recognizing the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and na- tional independence. We all know that the exercise of the right to self-determination and independence is not possi- ble as long as Palestinian territory remains under Israeli occupation and its inhabitants are subjected to repressive and arbitrary measures. 80. There is a great deal of information in the reports submitted to the General Assembly by various United Na- tions bodies and by reliable international organizations on the measures applied by Israel against the Arab inhabi- tants of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and again~'~ the land where !hey live. These measures include: the expro- priation and confiscation of land; the creation of settle- ments; aggression against and expulsion of the Arab in- habitants; exile of the people and their leaders; political arrests and detention; the torture of detainees; aggression against Moslem worship and holy places; a campaign of repression and closure of universities and teaching in- stitutes; subjection of teaching syllabuses, university text- books, teaching programmes, the admission of students and the appointment of teaching staff to the :mthority and control of the Israeli occupation authorities; the illegal ex- ploitation of the natural resources of the occupied land; suppression of freedom of expression and publication; at- tempts on the life of the mayors of Nablus and Ramallah, whi£h left them crippl~d; the exiling of the mayors of ,Halhoul and Hebron and the Mufti of Hebron and the prevention of their return; transformation of a part of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron to a Jewish synagogue, where prayer is conducted with the congregation fully armed; the attempts to bum and then to break into the Mosque of Al Aqsa in Jerusalem, which were made sev- eral times; the "political" excavations near the Aqsa Mos- que and the Dome of the Rock in an attempt to find his- torical and political justification for destroying them and building a Jewish synagogue on the site; beginning to dig a canal from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea across the occupied Arab territory, which could involve irrevers- ible geographical, demographic, ecological, environmen- tal and economic changes; air raids on the houses of Pal- estinian refugees and Lebanese civilians and on Lebanese cities and villages with the aim of annihilating them; and the application of collective punishment and the demoli- tion of houses in the occupied territory on the pretext that some students belonging to the families' owning the houses participated in a demonstration against the occupa- tion authorities. These criminal and inhuman acts and oth- ers were condemned by the Commission on Human Rights in a resolution adopted at its thirty-seventh ses- sion, in' which it declared that such acts were war crimes and an affront to humanity. 2 Those acts were so cruel that a former Foreign Minister of Israel, Mr. Abba Eban, said in a speech in Jerusalem recently, according to The New York Times of 23 November 1981, that "the demolitions of houses desecrated Jewish law and were a flagrant vio- lation of the principles of civilization". For the first time we can agree absolutely with an Israeli leader about the behaviour of his people. However, we must add that the Israeli entity as a whole was created on a basis contrary to the principles of civilization. The policy of this racist entity, its repressive actions and its mass slaughter aff~ merely links in the whole chain of the premeditated 82. Every member of the international community is en-" titled to demand of the Security Council that it bear its responsibility in accordance with the principles of the Charter and in an objective and positive manner, free from short-term political motives. The international com- munity must also bear in mind that the paralysis and weakness of the Security Council result in a grave' danger to international peace and security and undermine the foundations on which the international Organization rests. We have no alternative but to appeal to the' Security Council 10 comply with the many resolutions of the Gen- eral Assembly and the recommendations of the Commit- tee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Pal- estinian People. The Council should take effective measures to implement the Assembly's resolutions and thus end Israel's illegal presence in all the Arab territories it has occupied since 1967, including the Holy City of Jerusalem, and to enable the Palestinian people to exer- cise its right to self-determination and to create a Palesti- nian State, in accordance with its desires and aspirations.

The question of Palestine IS one of those problems that has been in the spotlight of the international community and of the many organs of the United Nations since its very inception. A number of important resolutions have been adopted-such as Gen- eral Assembly resolution 3236 (XXIX), 3237 (XXIX) and ES-7/2, which was adopted at the seventh emergency fipe- cial session of the General Assembly-whose aim is)he speedy and full restoration of the inalienable national rights of the Arab people of P.::.!estine. 84. The attention that is being paid to the settlement of this problem indicates that the question of Pc1lestine is an overriding and urgent one, because it deals with the real- ization of the legitimate rights of a whole people. But its importance g~s beyond that. As is pointeq out. in the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, "the question of Pal- estine is at the heart of the problem of the Middle East and consequently no solution to the Middle East problem can be envisaged without taking into account the rights of the Palestinian people." [A/36/35, para. 50 (a).] 85. For more than 30 years the Palestinian people has been fvrced into exile and has been denied the most ele- mentary and basic rights, such as the right to self-deter- mination and ind.ependence. What is more, the Israeli au- thorities, bolstered by the United States and by 86. Today the question of Palestine is of even greater importance, owing to the new aggravation of the Middle East crisis following the continued acts of aggression by Israel and escalating imperialist interference in the Middle East region. Tensions in the region have reached a point where new political and military upheavals are possible, with unpredictable consequences for international peace. 87. My delegation has no doubt that had it not been for the all-round and active support of the United States, Is- rael would not have been in a position to hold the Arab lands occupied in 1967 and to defy so cynically the will of the international community, nor to carry out an ag- gressive policy in contravention of the norms of interna- tional la\\'. The separate Camp David accords have created especially favourable conditions for the conduct of that Israeli policy. The Camp David deal gave rise to plans for so-called Palestinian autonomy, whose authors make no secret of the fact that this would be autonomy on Israeli terms. 88. In this respect let me refer to the reIJort of the Com- mittee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which states: ."The Committee noted that . . . attempts were still being made to proceed with negotiations which dis- regard, infringe, violate or deny the inalienable rights of the Palestinians and hence go against the provisions safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian people." [Ibid., para. 27.] That this is a political manoeuvre is self-evident, since those same people who have never concealed their allergy to the very idea of implementing the legitimate righ~s of the Arab people of Palestine are now speaking about au- tonomous development for the Palestinians. Those ma- r..Juvres purporting to offer a peaceful solution of the problem in effect encourage and legitimize the policy of aggression, expansionism and annexation and also create a smokescreen for Israel's intentions to perpetuate its oc- cupation. 89. Under cover of the so-called multinational force that is to replace the Israeli occupation forces in the Sinai, the United States is now trying to perpetuate its military pres- ence in the region. In respect of these developments, we cannot fail to voice our concern over the proclamation ~f the so-called strategic alliance between Israel and the United States and the expanding military co-operation be- tween the two countries. 90. The period since the conclusion of the Camp David accords has furnished evidence that all agreements and 91. All those facts give rise, as a matter of urgency, to the question of a Middle East settlement without black- mail, manoeuvres or threats. We welcome the recommen- dations of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalien- able Rights of the Palestinian People, endorsed by the General Assembly for the first time at its thirty-first ses- sion and presented once again by the Committee for our consideration. We support also the proposal to convene an international conference on the que~tion of Palestine no later than 1984. I take this opporturlicy to express my del- egation's appreciation to the Committee and its Chairman, Mr. Sarre of Senegal, for the work that has been done. The People's Republic of Bulgaria has repeatedly stated its position that a just and lasting solution of the Palesti- nian problem must be reached within the framework of a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East problem on the basis of the withdrawal of Israel from all Arab territo- ries occupied in 1967, the implementation of the inalien- able rights of the Arab people of Palestine to self-determi- nation and independence, including the right to create its own State, and the restaration of all Palestinian property in accordance with United Nations resolutions. That is a completely equitable and realistic basis for the settlement of the conflict; it is fully consonant with the decisions ~f the United Nations and the interests of the peoples in the region and beyond. 92. The deterioration of the situation in recent years and the failure of the Camp David accords have clearly proved that the Palestinian problem is so complex that it can be solved only through 2incere and '; :ect~v'" ;fforts. In the present circumstances, those eft...,..ts can be channeled through the framework of a special international con- ference with the participation of all parties concerned, in- cluding the PLO. This is the road that leads to peace, justice for all peoples and respect for the rights of the Palestinian people. 93. True to its steadfast policy of principle of support for the struggle of peoples for independence and social progress, my country has always extended its overall sup- port to the Palestinian people in its struggle to exercise its rights to self-determination and to create its own State, and we shall continue to do so in the future.

I should like first of all, on behalf of my delegation, to express appreciation to the Chairman and members of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for their very commendable efforts in investigating and searching for means that would en- able the Palestinian people to exercise its inalienable rights. 95. In its re~"rt the Committee expressed its conviction that its recommendations concerning the rights of the Pal- estinian people should be implemented. It confirmed ~he 96. The inalienable right of the Pdlestinian people to re- turn to its homeland was recognized by the General As- sembly in resolution 194 (Ill). The General Assembly has reaffmned that right at every-session since the adoption of that re~ol~ti<!n: T~e Se~urity Council also ullanimously recognized that right in Its resolution 237 (1967). As for the natural right of the Palestinian people to self-determi- nation, independence and national sovereignty, that right is based on the Charter of the United Nations and the resolutions of the Organization, the principles of interna- tional law and the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 97. Israel has not co-operated with the Committee and has not recognized those rights. Nor has it felt itself .4bound by the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council or by those of other international organ- izations or of the numerous world conferences that have been held on the question, thus defying the United Na- tions and world public opinion. The obstinacy of Israel and its persistent refusal to recognize the resolutions of the United Nations, displaying its contempt for world public opinion, reveal its racist expansionist intentions. Is- rael is still dreaming of creating the State of Zion, stretch- ing from the Nile to the Euphrates. The arbitrary acts and practices carried out by Israel within and beyond the oc- cupied territories reveal its true intent to dominate and to expand, to the detriment of the Pdlestinian people and the neighbouring Arab States. Israel is stepping up the estab- lishment of settlements in the occupied territories in order to put Israeli immigrants in them. From time to time we hear of the expropriation of large areas of land and the expulsion of the Arab owners of that land. It can be noted that those settlements are built in strategic areas for mili- tary purposes or to surround Arab cities and villages to isolate them and eliminate all national, archaeological, spiritual and cultural traces of the Arab people of Pdl- estine, in complete disregard of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, as well as of Security Coupcil res- olutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979), 456 (1979), and 465 (1980). 98. The occupation authorities in the Arab territories ap- propriate the natural resources of the Arab population, contrary to General Assembly resolution 35/10. Those au- thorities prevent Arab farmers from drilling wells to irri- gate their crops which are their only resource. At the same time, those authorities bore many wells in the oc- cupied territories to irrigate the gardens and fields of the settlements they have established there. 100. The Zionist occupation authorities intend to dig a canal linking the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, from the Gaza Strip. The purpose of that project is to make radical geographic, demographic and economic changes which would affect the interests of the Arab people in Pdlestine and separate the eastern and the western Arab areas. That project is in flagrant contradiction tathe reso- lutions of the United Nations and to worl«j public opinion. Those authorities continually carry out excavations under tlle Moslem Holy Sanctuary of AI-Haram AI-Sharif, en- dangering Islamic buildings and causing serious reactions in the Arab and Moslem world. We expect the Security Council to take measures to implement General Assembly resolution 36/15, adopted on 28 October, on this subject. 101. The Arab people of Pdlestine is daily exposed to repression, terrorism, dispersal and imprisonment on false charges. The Pdlestinians are subjected to all kinds of per- secution, brutality and torture, which causes all kinds of physical and psychological disorders and prevents them from living a normal life. They are also exposed to de- struction of their houses, collective arrests and other col- lective sanctions, plunder of archaeological and cultural property and religious persecution. All these arbitrary acts form part of the Zionist plan to terrorize the Arab popula- tion in Pdlestine and the occupied territories and compel them to leave their country, in accordance with the policy of annexation and settlements practised by Israel in the . occupied territories in order to create a landless Arab mi- nority in those territories. 102. During t~ie past two years Israel has appropriated approximately 40 per cent of the land in the occupied territories and is making plans to confiscate approx- imately 70 to 80 per cent of that territory during the next five years. All these acts and measures of Israel are in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 Au- gust 1949' and run counter to international law and custom and the resolutions of the (jenera~ Assembly and the Security Council. 103. The Zionist military authorities also pursue the Pdl- estinian people beyond Palestinian territory. We recall the brutal air raids and the repeated land and air attacks by Israeli forces against· the Pdlestinian refugee camps in 104. ~ne proof of the expansionist aggressive intentions of the Zionist entity against the Arab world is the per- fidious raid carried out by Israeli aircraft last June against the Iraqi nuclear reactor, which had been installed for peaceful purposes and was subject to IAEA safeguards, while the Israeli nuclear installations are not subject to such control. The 0bject of that Zionist raid was to weWcen the Arab nation, terrorize it and prevent it acquir- ing the modern technology to develop its economy and raise the standard of living of its people. 105. All those aggressive acts, measures and practices by Israel show that it is absolutely necessary to seek a jlJst and urgent solution to the Pdlestinian question, which is at the very heart of the Middle East conflict. Any de~ay in the search for such a solution will further complicate the situation and endanger international peace and se- curity, not only in the Middle East but throughout the world. 106. Perhaps Israel and its collaborators think that the Palestinian people will accept a fait accompli and will yield to force, repressiml and terrorism. But time will prove the contrary. The Pdlestinian people, under its sole legitimate representative, the PLO, is animated by a force which grows continually in order to recover its rights. The new generation is no less enthusiastic than past gen- erations to struggle and regain its rights. We should thus work to find an equitable solution to the Pdlestinian ques- tion which would enable the Pdlestinian people to regain their legitimate rights, which have been affirmed and re- affirined by the United Nations and world public opinion. 107. Israel has flouted the numerous r.:'solutions adopted by the United Nations on the question of Palestine. It has never responded to the reiterated appeals that it accede to the will of the world Organization and world public opin- ion. One of the reasons for that obstinacy is the material, military and political support that Israel receives from cer- tain Powers, such as the United States of America. It is truly regrettable to note that that support .las recently been augmented by the conclusion of an agreement on strategic co-operation between the United States and Israel. Such an alliance creates new difficulties in the search for a speedy and acceptable solution to the question of Pdl- estine. 108. We address an appeal to the United States of. America to review its partial position vis-a-vis Israel and- to contribute to the search for a rapid and just solution to the Pdlestinian question within the framework of the United Nations and in accordance with the resolutions of the Organization. 109. We also support the recommelL jations of the Com- mittee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of.the Palestinian People, which calls on the Security Council to "The commemoration by the United Nations of this Day, at a time when the Organization has a special re- sponsibility regarding the Pdlestinian people, invites us to act responsibly in regard to the Palestinian problem. We can achieve this objective not by adopting further resolutions, but by taking a firm and decisive stand to prevent Israel arrogantly pursuing its aggressive expan- sionist policy to the detriment of the neighbouring Arab countries and of the Pdlestinian people and to prevent it persisting in its refusal to recognize their legitimate rights. "The international community, through the United Nations, must do everything possible to compel Israel to apply the United Nations resolutions calling for the rest~tution of the legitimate rights of the Pdlestinian people if it truly wishes to spare that region the misery of war and destruction and thus to promote the preser- vation of international peace and security."

The General Assembly is once again seized of an issue that has been on its agenda in various forms for more than three decades. During this period a great number of resolutions have been adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council. But the majority of these resolutions have remained dead let- ters, and the question of Pdlestine is still a pressing prob- lem-which challenges the United Nations and the entire world community. Consequently, the efforts to reach a just and lasting solution of the Pdlestinian issue rightly continue to be one of the inain preoccupations of the Organization. 112. Nobody can be indifferent when the fate of a peo- ple is at stake. A great number of events indicate that ever-increasing attention is being paid by the international community to the question of Pdlestine. This increase can be easily understood for two reasons. On the one hand, it is an expression of the sympathy and solidarity that pro- gressive mankind feels in respect of the just cause of the Palestinian people, a people of long traditions that has been displaced and uprooted from its own motherland and deprived of all fundamental human rights. On the other hand, this increased attention is a reflection of the percep- tion that the question of Pdlestine is at the heart of the Middle East crisis, and that the elimination of this hotbed of tension, which has for many years been threatening world peace and international security, is impossible un- less and until the Pdlestinian issue is resolved. 113. In searching for the solution everybody must be well aware of the fact that the main cause of the M~ddle East crisis and of the present problems of Pdlestine lies in the policy of expansion and aggression of Israel. The il- legal occupation of Arab lands and the continuous oppres- sion of the Arab people of Pdlestine are the direct sources of many related problems. The immediate consequences of this policy are that hundreds of thousands have lost their lives, have been forced to leave their homeland and be deprived of home and country, or have been down- graded to oppressed, second-class citizens in their own native land. 115. The solution of the question of Palestine and the settlement of the Middle East crisis are very closely inter- related. The ordeal of the Arab people of Palestine can be ended only within the framework of a comprehensive set- tlement' of the Middle East crisis, while no solution of this crisis is possible without taking fully into account the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people. 116. The Arab- people of Palestine have during the past decades paid a high toll in untold suffering. The recogni- tion and the exercise of their inalienable national and human rights are long overdue. The elements of these rights are indivisible and include the right to return to their homes and property and the right to self-determina- tion, national independence and sovereignty, including the right to establish an independent and sovereign State of their own. 117. We are convinced that the participation of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, on an equal footing with the other parties concerned is indispensable for the success of all efforts to restore those inalienable national rights. We firmly believe that no gen- uine result can be achieved in this regard by deliberations, "conferences or autonomy talks held behind the backs of the Palestinian people, without its only authentic represen- tative. All manoeuvres of this kind only do harm to the cause of the exercise of tl'tP. inalienable national and human rights of the Palestinian people and are therefore unacceptable. !l8. The recognition of these facts should lead to early resolute action by the Security Council aimed at forcing Israel to stop its repeated violations of the provisions of the relevant United Nations resolutions. It is only in this way, through the concerted, positive efforts of all mem- bers of the Security Council, that Israel can be prevented from continuing its unlawful practices in the occupied ter- ritories, from implementing its policy for the rerpetuation of the consequences of its 1967 aggression, from repeat- ing its earlier actions, such as the annexation of Jerusalem and the attacks on Palestinian camps, and from continuing to disregard the relevant resolutions of the United Na- tions. 119. Hungary, as a member of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian Peo- ple, has always followed with great sympathy 'the just struggle of the Palestinian people. The Hungarian people and their Government fully support the legitimate aspira- tions of the Arab people of Palestine and pledge solidarity with their struggle. 120. We are of the view that the recommendations of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People endorsed by the General Assem- bly at its thirty-first session are still valid and provide a solid base for progressive development. 'Ne believe that consistent implementation of these recommendations and

We note that international recognition of th,e need to settle the question of Palestine continues to grow. Japan has long realized the importance of this question, which is at the heart of the Middle East problem, and has consistently maintained the positio.n of recognizing and respecting the legitimate rights of the Pal- estinian people. The basic position of the Government of Japan on the question has been presented on various occa- sions and may be summarized as follows. 122. First, peace in the Middle East should be just, last- ing and comprehensive. Secondly, such a peace should be achieved through the early and complete implementation of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and through the recognition of and respect for the legitimate rights of the PaleCltinian people, including the right of self-determination, under the Charter of the United Nations. Thirdly, each and every path towards the realization of such a peace must be explored, with careful consideration given to the aspirations of all the peoples in the region, including the Palestinian people, and to the legitimate security requirements of the countries in the re- gion. 123. In accordance with those fundamental principles, Japan is firmly convinced that it is essential, first and foremost, that Israel withdraw from all the territories oc- cupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem. Moreover, the result of the exercise by the Palestinian people of the right of self-determination must be decided by the Palesti- nians themselves. Japan holds the view that the right to establish an independent State is included in the concept of the right of self-determination. 124. The Government of Japan considers that the PLO represents the Palestinian people, a party concerned in the Middle East conflict and particularly in the question of Palestine. T.bJ!~, in order to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East, Japan believes it is essential that both the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and Is- . rael's right to exist be mutually recognized and that the PLO participate in the peace process. 125. In this context I should like to mention the recent visit to Japan by Chairman Arafat of the PLO at the invi- tation of the Parliamentarians' League for Japan-Palestine Friendship. On that occasion, Japan's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister had the opportunity candidly to ex- change views with him on the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestine. Their talks were very meaningful in terms of enhancing mutual under- standing of our respective positions and of pursuing Japan's efforts to contribute as far as possible to the set- tlement of the question of Palestine. 126. Japan supports the principles contained in, and the spirit of, General Assembly resolutions 3236 (XXIX) of 1974 and ES-7/2 of the seventh emergency special session held in July 1980, which recognized the right to self-de- 127. I will say in conclusion that the Government of Japan continues to express its concern over the present situation, and particulady over the recent deterioration of the situation in the tl~rritories occupied by Israel. Al- though we realize that there is no easy solution to the question of Palestine, Japan strongly hopes that it will be 128. In accordance with its basic position as I have just outlined it, the Government of Japan will spare no effort in order to achieve our common goal. The meeting rose at 12.55 p.m. NarES I United Nations. Treaty Series. vot. 75. No. 973. p. 287.