S/PV.1470 Security Council

We have had a slight delay in starting this morning’s meeting because very intensive consultations are going on, and they are still continuing at this very of the moment, I beg the understanding of members Council for the delay. Adoption of the agenda The agenda was adopted. The situation in the Middle East Reprcof the Letter dated 26 March 1969 from the Permanent sentative of Jordan addressed to the President Security Council (S/91 13) The situation in the Middle East Repreof the Letter dated 27 March 1969 from the Permanent sentative of Israel addressed to the President Security Council (S/91 14) 2. Th$ PRESIDENT: In accordance with the decisions previously taken by the Council, I propose now, with the consent of the Council, to invite the representatives Of Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia to take seats at the Council table in order to participate, without the right to vote, in the discussion. At the invitation of the President, Mr. M. El-Farra (Jordan) Mr. Y. Tekoah (Israel) and Mr, J. M. Baroody (Saudi Arabia) took places at the Council table.

I call on the representative of Jordan.

We have listened with great attention to the statements delivered around this table and, while we fmd a measure of consolation in the unanimous condemnation of the savage Israeli attack against our people and civilian targets, we regret the apparent tendency on the part of some members to find justification for this act of international banditry. We are sorry that a few delegations have preoccupied themselves not with the substance of the question before the Council, but with side issues maliciously injected into our deliberations by Mr. Tekoah with the intention of perpetuating present cease-fire arrangements-which are, of course, temporary in nature-and to undermine the effects of the efforts of the Big Four. 5. The complaint of Jordan presents specific crimes committed against innocent civilian citizens of Jordan and civilian targets. The allegations of Mr. Tekoah about incidents committed within the occupied territories can only be considered together with the oppressive measures taken by the Israelis against the people. What I want to emphasize is that these Israeli acts of repression and the reaction of the people under occupation should be considered as a separate item, especially since the question was inscribed as a separate item and under a separate heading. I should like to emphasize this because, as I said earlier, occupation brings oppression and oppression leads to resistance. After all, what do we expect the people to do when The Hague Conventions of 1899 and of 1907, the Geneva Protocol of 1925 and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 are violated every single day by the Israelis? What should be the action of the people when the prisoners are tortured and coerced and citizens are deprived of their property? 6. only two days ago-and this is reported in The New York T&es of today-a thirty-year-old Jordanian citizen, Kassem Tamimi, met his death while in prison suspected-I repeat suspected-of sabotage. Hundreds of mourners were stopped by the Israeli police the day&before yesterday and a mounted water cannon was turned on them; and later they were beaten by the police and several were injured; four women were arrested, Our people believe that the suspect was beaten to death in prison. Notables led by Anwar Nusseibeh, former Jordanian Defence Minister, and Ambassador to Great Britain, demanded an autopsy con- 7. What should be the reaction of the people under occupation when the wounded and the sick, the infirm and pregnant women are given no protection; when hospitals are converted into offices for the Guuleiters of Israel who supervise these crimes and endorse their continuation? The confiscation of the newly.built Jordanian Government hospital in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah Quarter and its transformation into an Israeli police headquarters is just an example. Blood banks, Government medical laboratories, tuberculosis ’ sanatorium centres and the Department of Health have been closed down. 8. How should people under occupation react when doctors are arbitrarily imprisoned for no valid reason? I have already reported last week to the Council-as I always do, hoping against hope, that the Security Council will one day take effective measures and take the initiative of convening a meeting ,to bring peace to the land of peace-the arrest of Dr. Nabih Muammer, the only surgeon in Makasid Philanthropic Hospital, whose services are indispensable. Another doctor, Subhi Abu Ghosheh, has also been arbitrarily arrested. 9. What do you, all of my colleagues around this table, think in, all honesty that these people under occupation should do, when day in and day out they hear about or witness more expulsions, and arrests and are subjected to oppressive and repressive measures? I have already cited the arrest of the Anglican Reverend Eba Khoui_ in Ramallah and the closing down of the Anglican Church there. People from all walks of life protested against this. Women in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Beit Zahur took refuge in their churches and protested against such measures. That also was reported to the Security Council. Hunger strikes have taken place in churches and mosques in many other parts of the occupied territories. Christian and Moslem leaders, some of whom had been expelled from Jerusalem, sent a cable of protest to His Excellency U Thant, our dedicated Secretary-General [S/9102, annex I], 10. What should the reaction of the people be when they see their leaders being arrested and expelled? I have already ! reported to the Council the cases of Anton Attallah, our former Foreign Minister, Mr. Rouhi El-Khatib, the Mayor of Jerusalem, who appeared before this Council to present ~ the case of Jerusalem, Ibrahim Bakr, Kamal Nassar, Dr. Daoud El-Husseini, Kamal Dajjani and Dr. Yasir Amre. Those are some of the many names. 11:’ One should ponder the question, what are the just& cations for killing and murdering, in a similar air-raid against Syria, six innocent children, together with many other people whose names are listed in a document submitted to the Security Council and mentioned by my 13. Elementary rules of humanity require that those who speak about the reaction of the people should also be fair, if not to Jordan then to the effectiveness in the future of this august body. The above-mentioned four Conventions specifically demand that civilian populations should1 not be subjected to attack from the air, and that ill-treatment and reprisals be prohibited. Those points and many others are endorsed by the very jurisprudence of the Security Council, which Mr. Tekoah mentions only for the purpose of distorting and confusing the issues before the Council. 14. Much has been said about the reaction of the people in the occupied areas. I had a chance to explain that the Palestine resistance movement is no different from the movements of liberation in many parts of the world where there is occupation and oppression. It is’ the spontaneous expression of a people denied the most elementary human rights. 15. Mr. Tekoah referred yesterday to certain African and European newspapers for the purpose of undermining the resistance movement. He also referred to two conferences held in Europe that he claimed condemned the Palestinian resistance. Let me remind Mr. Tekoah that many conferences representing Governments and peoples and held in many capitals of the world have also supported the Palestinian resistance. 16. The conference of the representatives of freedom fighters in Africa, Latin America and Asia representing over fifty countries and a number of international organizations, held in Khartoum last February supported the heroic struggle and resistance of the Palestinians against occupation. The conference emphatically supported their legitimate rights in Palestine. 17. The Conference of African Ministers of Labour which met in Algiers this month, March 1969, called upon .African workers to boycott Israeli goods as they are boycotting South African and Portuguese goods. 18. Yesterday Mr. Tekoah referred to a newspaper in Nairobi which deplored the Palestinian resistance. Let me remind Mr. Tekoah that the Nairobi Government -Kenya-at the last session of the General Assembly voted against Israeli violations of human rights in the occupied territories. 20. Resistance to occupation, annexation, expulsion, deportation, settlements, intimidation, imprisonment and torture is legitimate. What should be condemned is the Israeli aggression that brought about this situation. What the Security Council and the whole world should condemn is occupation itself. 21. It is not true that European leaders who resisted occupation in their own countries are condoning Israeli occupation. I refuse to believe that. Let me cite a great leader of our time, General cle Gaulle, who said in his Press Conference of 27 November 1967 that all the manifestation of an occupation could now be seen in the territories occupied by Israel after the June war, “occupation which never goes without oppression, repression and expulsions -as well as the usual resistance that Israel now in its turn qualifies as terrorism”. 22. In the Second World War, when France was occupied by the Nazis and an armistice was signed, teachers, scholars, students and people from all walks of life left France to prepare for resistance. General de Gaulle left Bordeaux for England by a small plane in order to organize the French resistance. Winston Churchill called him the man who “carried with him in that small aeroplane the honour of France”. Those leading figures saw that only resistance could restore France’s freedom and sovereignty. And today France is leading the world as a great nation with great values. 23. Mr. Tekoah has often spoken of terror and sabotage against Israel committed by Arab commandos and has repeatedly referred to those freedom fighters as terrorists and saboteurs, Let me remind him that terror and killings have been a systematic policy adhered to by the Zionists in erecting the State of Israel. The Arab freedom fighters of today are the victims of Zionist terror and killings. They are those same people whom the Zionists have expelled from their homeland through the means of terror and killing. I. F. Stone, a writer and scholar of the Jewish faith, an American who, at one time was a member of one of the “One [unpleasant truth] is to recognize that the Arab guerrillas are doing to us what our terrorists and saboteurs of the Irgun, Stern and Haganah did to the British. Another is to be willing to admit that their motives are as honourable as were ours,” Mr. Stone adds: “The best of Arab youth feels the same way, They cannot forget the atrocities committed by us against villages like Deir Yassin, nor the uprooting of the Palestinian Arabs from their ancient homeland, for which they feel the same deep ties of sentiment as do so many Jews, however assimilated elsewhere.” He then continues: “We made the Palestinian Arabs homeless to make a home for our own people. That is the simple truth as history will see it, and until we make amends and resettle the refugees and create a new political framework in which Jew and Arab can live together in a new and greater Palestine there will be no peace.” 24. Uri Avnery, a one time member of the Irgun gang and at present a member of the Israeli Knesset, wrote in his book Israel without Zionism: “We distributed leaflets describing the glorious deeds of our older comrades who had planted a bomb in a crowded Arab market. . .” I repeat, “who had planted a bomb in a crowded Arab market”, He continued: “We demonstrated against the British by burning government offices when the British published in May 1939 the White Paper that put an end to Jewish immigration.” 25. Terrorism is not and has never been part of our traditions or values. It was imported by the terrorist gangs of Israel. 26. My Government would like to emphasize once again that it would like to help all United Nations peaceful efforts. We also welcome the meeting of the four permanent members of the Security Council. But we do hope that the Israeli attempts to frustrate their efforts will not be permitted to succeed, We all remember that the Israeli criminal attack against Jordan was preceded by a campaign of vicious propaganda against the Council intended to frustrate its efforts. It follows, therefore, that lack of effective action by the Council will lead to the very result Israel sought to accomplish. 27. We maintain that by not taking a firm stand the Security Council would not help the efforts of its four permanent members, and this alone would weaken both 30. First, there is no justification for equating the individual acts of national resistance within the Arab-occupied territories with a well-planned, premeditated, indiscriminate and large-scale air attack. 31. Secondly, the Israeli attack aimed at centres of civilians and farmers, some of whom came from the West Bank, and Israel arrogantly confessed having committed that crime. 32. Thirdly, any hesitation on the part of the Security Council in taking effective measures, or any underestimation of the grave and serious situation that has resulted from this Israeli attack, can only have the following effects: (a) deterioration of the situation and obstruction of the possibilities of peace in the area; (b) weaken the possibilities of progress in the efforts of the Big Four; (c)encourage Israel to carry out further attack and on a large scale; (d) loss of faith: by peoples and Governments in the effectiveness of this body. 33. Let me reiterate that the victim, Jordan, cannot be equated with the aggressor, Israel, and that a resolution reflecting this reality of the situation is what we hope will be adopted by the Security Council.

During the many meetings held by the Security Council in 1968 to consider the situation in the Middle East and, in particular, serious and repeated violations of the cease-fire, with the resulting deaths, destruction and huge material losses, my delegation has repeatedly stated its views with frankness and sincerity. Those views have always been stated in unequivocal and consistent terms because the concept on which they are based is always the same and consistent. 35. Now that the Council is dealing with new and very serious developments of identical nature with some of the I events of last year, it would suffice if I were to quote my own past statements to establish my delegations’s position. However, I am convinced that a mere reference to those statements, even if succinct, would not be sufficient and that, on the contrary, it is necessary to state our views again. 37. We have never been, nor are we now, prepared to condone the .violent incidents and other serious violations of the cease-fire, and we do not believe that the members of the Council or the Council as a whole are prepared to do so. We do not accept the doctrine of the right of reprisal whereby a State can presumably arrogate to itself tlhe right to carry out military operations of the kind now being considered by the Council in the territory of the other State. We deplore all those incidents, but at the same time we distinguish between the two types of action ‘because their nature is essentially different. This consistent and unchanging principle has led us to vote in favour of all the resolutions relating to the Middle East adopted by the Council during 1968, the first year in which we took: part in its deliberations. 38. The harsh truth is that, as a result of those violent incidents and reprisals, the first and most numerous victims are members of the innocent civilian population. 39. The history of the Middle East, particularly during the last few decades, presents a tragic spectacle of untold war, death and desolation. And we wonder whether the time has not come for an end to be put to those sufferings, or at least a glimpse for hope of better days to come. 40. Deeply distressed by this heart-breaking spectacle of the very recent past and of a present dark with ill-omen, we believe that it is more urgent than ever to take concerted individual and collective action to prevent the deterioration in the present situation from leading to another explosion the violence of which may involve not only the States in the Middle East but also many others in a disastrous conflagration. 41. With this concern foremost in our minds we are following closely all the promising and unhelpful events that are occurring in the Middle East. Among the latter-the really and truly unhelpful-are those which are the cause for this meeting. Their unhelpfulness has been even further aggravated by their timing. The parties to the conflict and the United Nations itself have at their disposal a basic instrument through which a just and lasting peace can be achieved. I am, of course, referring to resolution 242 (1967), which was unanimously adopted by the Coup cil on 22 November 1967 and whose provisions and principles provide the essential elements of the muchdesired peace. The United Nations and the parties also have the means to implement the resolution by putting their trust in the tenacity, perseverance and ability of the Secretary-General and of his Special Representative Mr. Jarring. I need not repeat our views on re;solution 242 (1967), which is based on the draft resolution which 42. I have said that the unhelpfulness of the events that led to our meeting today was unavoidably aggravated by their timing. We are all aware of the contacts now taking place between the four permanent members of the Security Council to intensify the quest for a just and lasting peace based on resolution 242 (1967). We know that this quest isi being carried out within our Organization and that its aim is to strengthen any action taken through the machinery set up and the resolutions adopted by the Council. 43. The structure of the Security Council, laid down in the Charter, confers special rights on its permanent members but also assigns special duties to them, It is therefore right that they should assume those special duties without further delay. The barriers preventing such contacts have existed too long, but we note with satisfaction that they are breaking down. Furthermore, we would be sinning by too much innocence if we ignored the influence that these permanent members can bring to bear on the parties to the conflict. ,. * ?‘. 44. All those efforts, including and supported by our own, - .rwould however not suffice. All our goodwill would not be . sufficient, The full co-operation of the parties themselves is .- required, and the best co-operation consists in strict compliance .with the cease-fire. I have often said that the situation resulting from compliance with the cease-fire must . be regarded as purely temporary by its very nature,, until a lasting, and just and final peace replaces it. At least, however, the right atmosphere must be created so that the quest for that peace, the efforts of the Secretary-General and his Special Representative, and the contacts between the four permanent members of the Security Council can achieve the results which we anxiously await. .45. My delegation therefore does not hesitate to make a new and brotherly appeal for wisdom and caution in the hope that it may result in strict compliance with the cease-tire, for the benefit of the peoples directly concerned and of the international community, which is greatly troubled by the present situation in the Middle East.

I recognize Mr. Liu Chieh.

I have to remind the President again that I am speaking in my capacity as a representative on the Council. 48. We are called’ upon once again to deal with the situation in the Middle East, with special reference to the charge by Jordan that on 26 March Israeli aircraft attacked Jordanian villages and civilian centres in the areas of Es Salt, resulting in heavy casualties and consider.able damage to property. 49. The substance of the charge has not been denied by Israel. There is only the contention that the targets of the attack were centres of armed elements hostile to Israel. Whatever the case may be, my delegation takes a serious 50. The Permanent Representative of Israel, in his statement before the Council on 27 March 11467th meeting/, described this action taken by Israel as an act of selfdefence. My delegation has no quarrel with the right of self-defence, a right recognized by Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. In the present case, however, it is not so much self-defence as punitive action. Israel seems to believe in the effectiveness of armed action as a means of redress. If it does, it apparently has not attached sufficient importance to the urgency and desirability of pursuing conciliatory policies. To force the pace of achieving peace through the application of superior force would prove not only to be futile, but could destroy whatever headway might have been made towards peace and could jeopard’ize the prospect for a just andlasting settlement. 51. In saying this, my delegation is not unaware of the fact that acts of violence and counter-violence have become a daily routine, and frequent exchanges of fire continue unabated across the cease-fire line, especially in the Suez area, The consequence is misery and death for the very neonle in whose name these warlike acts are perpetrated. Whitever the motivation or rationalization may-be, and whenever and wherever they occur, all forms of violence are to be deplored. It is high time to realize that it is only through peaceful means that the cause of justice can be served enduringly and the ultimate goals of the people of the region attained. 52. The basis for a just and lasting settlement has already been provided by Security Council resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative is currently in the Middle East to explore further the possibilities for such settlement. The peace efforts initiated by the interested Powers have barely started. This is no time to rock the boat. My delegation, therefore, earnestly appeals to all parties to give Ambassador Jarring every assistance in. the search for peace, which can only be brought about with the co-operation and by the common consent of all the States in the Middle East area.

There are no more names of speakers inscribed on my list for this morning. 54. I give the floor to the representative of Israel.

No rancour and no passion and no abuse can veil reality. The facts are known to all. The Arab States, repulsed in their attempt to. destroy Israel in 1967, have resorted again to the old method of terror warfare, and this was in accordance with the decision adopted by the Heads of Arab States Lt the Khartoum Conference in September 1967. It was reaffirmed at the Arab Conference of Foreign Ministers held in Cairo in September of last year, and since proclaimed repeatedly by Arab leaders. 56. The Arab States try in vain here to find pretexts and justification for this warfare. They call it a popular war; but 57. What is it precisely that Jordan expects us to: do? Allow it to continue its twenty-one years’ war against Israel without defending ourselves? Sit back while terror warfare is pursued from Jordanian territory? Acquiesce in the wanton murder of Israeli citizens’? The world does not expect us to act in this manner. It is time that Jordan should not. Let us all remember the ancient proverb: “He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it.” 58. The representative of Jordan has tried again to shed responsibility for terror warfare. He and his Government would obviously try to do that in a debate in the Security Council. 59. In previous meetings, however, I’ have established Jordan’s juridical and practical responsibility for this warfare. It is only in the Security Council that Jordan negates this responsibility. In the Middle East, Jordan prides itself on it. 60. In an interview to Al-A/warn. thlished iust a few davs ago, on 18 March 1969, King Husse’in said: “After 1967, \;e actually started fedayeen operations. We opened the gates for operation and resistance to the occupation started in the occupied territories.” 61. Jordan’s new Prime Minister Rifai, in a telephone interview with AZ-Jarida of Lebanon on 25 March 1969, stated: “We slqll continue with the resigned Government’s policy to support the fedayeen. ” 62. In a note to King Hussein, Prime Minister Rifai stated on 24 March 1969: “With full admiration and appreciation we remember the wonderful co-ordination between our armed forces and the Arab forces and our beloved resistance fighters.” 63. There can be no doubt whatever about the direct involvement and, therefore, responsibility of the Jordanian Government for terror warfare waged against Israel from Jordanian territory. 64. The representative of Jordan persists in his denials that Ein Hazar served as an El-Fatah base. However, as I demonstrated yesterday, this fact is generally known and has been widely reported in the world press by foreign correspondents who visited the area before the Israeli action on 26 March. The attempt by the Jordanian 65. The representative of Jordan has referred to a report of the death of a saboteur in prison. Tlhe medical examination has refuted the allegations he has voiced here. Since June 1967 this is the only case in which death of an Arab terrorist has occurred in an Israeli prison. I would suggest to Ambassador El-Farra that he examine the records of Jordanian prisons and other Arab prisons, the records of tortures, mental and physical cruelty and deaths that occur in them repeatedly, I would suggest to him that he examine fie records of the deaths of Jews killed since June 1967 in Egyptian concentration camps, Jews barbarically hanged in Baghdad, Jews tortured in Damascus. 66. The representative of Jordan is also unhappy with a number of demonstrations that hnw occurrod in areas under Israeli control. Are demonstrations unusual in the Middle East? Has he forgotten the record of riots and unrest in areas under Jordanian administration and occupation? Let us look at just one single year-the year preceding the June 1967 hostilities. In January 1966, following demonstrations and riots in Jericho, the Jordanian authorities arrested 200 persons there. In April, following widespread unrest on the West IBank, they arrested 2,000 persons on the West Bank. In May, mass demonstrations took place in East Jerusalem, Hebron, Ramallah. The police used force, closed down schools, arrested hundreds of persons. In July of that year, disturbances and mass demonstrations broke out in Nablus. The Jordanian police used tear gas; twelve persons were wounded, 250 arrested. November saw a seric:s of stormy disturbances and clashes between civilians and Jordanian police and army forces, with numerous casualties. On 21 November, shop and business strikes broke out in tfle Rarnallah area. The army was called in to intervene and employed tanks. The Jordanian authorities imposed a curfew and closed down all the schools, Similar events occurred through November and December in most other towns. On 24 November the Jordanian army again employed tanks and tear gas. Twenty demonstrators were killed, Ambassador El-Farra, by Jordanian army forcc,s and many more were wounded. On 8 December 1966, a general business strike was put down by force by the police and the Jordanian army. On 13 January 1967 the population of Nablus rose up; barricades were put up in the streets. The Jordanian army had to surround the entire city and suppress resistance by force, 67. In tile AZ-Muhark of Beirut of 5 July 1966, we read: “According to one reliable source, the number of Persons arrested in Jordan from the last week: in June till now comes to 500 , . . The arrests were made in Nablus, 68. The Jordan representative has mentioned a number of persons arrested by Israel for acts of violence against civilians. He has not mentioned, however, that most of these people are professional troublemakers and that some of them had been arrested by the Jordanians for the same crimes. Daud el-Husseini, mentioned by Ambassador El-Farra, was arrested by the Jordanian authorities on 23 April 1969, together with another 120 politicians. 69. According to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Muharir of 10 May 1966: “The number of persons arrested by the Jordanian Government has reached several dozens, and they include Ayub Abibi and Dr. Subhi Gosha”-mentioned again by Ambassador El-Farra today. 70. According to Radio Baghdad on 27 October 1963: “ 1 . . two days ago at midnight, Dr. Khaled el-Darzi was arrested at his work at Nablus hospital,” 71. A well-known Arab authority, Professor Walid Al- Khalidi writes : ‘6 . . . the West Bank has become a Jordanian colony occupied by the ‘Forces of the Desert and mercenaries’, where the Palestinians are prohibited from organizing themselves; the Gaza Strip is administered as occupied territory by an Arab Government . . .” 72. The Jordanian representative, in referring to old British mandatory laws applied by Israel, has forgotten to mention, as he frequently does, the decisive fact in this picture-these laws are also Jordanian laws, applicable on the West Bank, applied by Israel in accordance with generally accepted principles of international law: 73. Indeed, I have no hesitation in saying that when the citizens of Arab States-Jews, and non-Jews alike-begin to enjoy even partially the freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of movement and the personal security enjoyed by the Arab inhabitants in areas under Israeli control, the Arab States will have made considerable progress towards democracy. 74. The representative of Jordan pleads for another one-sided, inequitable resolution. Yesterday he recited an entire list of such resolutions. Have those decisions made any constructive contribution to a solution of the Middle East problem? Can one-sided resolutions make any such contribution? 76. Under these circumstances, a resolution of the kind that is sought by Jordan and its supporters can have only one effect on the situation: to increase tension and decrease the prospects of understanding and peace. Only understanding between the parties themselves can bring about such a solution. If Jordan is really desirous of achieving it, Jordan will seek such understanding with Israel, and not an addition to the list of unbalanced, unconstructive texts.

I call on the representative of Jordan.

It so happens that whenever I want to answer Mr. Tekoah I find myself at the disadvantage of racing with time. I realize that it is almost 1.45 p.m.; I feel I would be imposing on the Council if I were to take the time to answer every single point raised by Mr, Tekoah this afternoon. I shall therefore confine my observations to two or three points, reserving my right to speak again at a later stage. 79. Let us start with the last point raised by Mr. Tekoah, the question of the resolutions. Mr. Tekoah said that a resolution is not binding on Israel simply because, I think, it does not meet the desires of Israel. 80. It is not a question of Jordan’s friends, because the resolutions which condemned Israel on the question of Jerusalem were endorsed and supported by ninety-nine votes in the Assembly, and by thirteen votes in the Security Council, Not a single delegation-be it a friend of Israel or not-voted against those resolutions, which called the Israeli annexation of Jerusalem invalid. 81, But Israel would like the Security Council to behave in accordance with Israeli goals. When the Council took a decision last December, what was the reaction? Mrs. Meir, who is now the Israeli Prime Minister, said: “I am beginning to feel very sorry for this family of nations that sits there and discusses ouractions. It would be more justified if the Knesset were to debate the United Nations and the Security Council,” Israel would like the Knesset to be the supreme organ of the world, telling the Security Council what and what not to do, The present Prime Minister of Israel says that “it wou1.d be much more justified if the K.nesset”-the Israeli parliament-t‘were to debate the United Nations and the Security Council”: That statement appeared in the Jerusalem Post of 6 January 1969, the semi-official newspaper of Israel. 82. Mr, Allon, the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister-number two in rank-said: “The United Nations Security Council has turned into an. insecurity council, encouraging terrorist activity,” That is the Deputy Prime Minister speaking. 83. I could go on and cite General Dayan, who said almost the same thing. So it is not a question of the so-called 84. Mr. Tekoah referred to what is going on in the East Bank but forgot one thing: What goes on in the East Bank is a matter of domestic jurisdiction. The question is: What are the Israelis doing in the West Bank? Why are they there? Why are they occupying the West Bank? IS not their continued presence in the West Bank-on the territory of Jordan-a continued act of aggression, condemned by the jurisprudence of the United Nations? That is the question. 85. But when they expel people-and there are 460,000 people who have been expelled by Israel to the East Bank of the Jordan after the six-day war-they should not expect those people to send them a 1 “thank-you note.” If they expect that they are mistaken; if they. expect the people expelled not to go back and fight they are mistaken. Those people are citizens of Jordan, whether they are on the West Bank or the East Bank. They belong to one territory, recognized by the United Nations, a State Member of the United Nations having the assurances of all its friends that its territorial integrity will be protected. So what are the Israelis doing in the West Bank, and in Sinai, for that matter, and in the Gaza Strip, and in the Golan Heights? .That is the question. 86. I shall take only two minutes more. Mr. Tekoah said that Arab terrorists operate from outside the occupied territories. That is not true. Resistance is from within. But we do know that the Israeli behaviour in the West Bank gives every proof that they are after the annexation of that part of Jordanian territory. I do not have to go far to get you the evidence. Here is General Dayan, the hero of Israel. This is what he is saying to get more popularity-it is something which reflects the thinking of Zionism, He said: “I see the Jordan River as our frontier”-the Jordan River, the frontier of future Israel-“and the mountain range west of the River”-the area which is now being shelled but is not occupied yet, the heights between Syria and the northern part of the East Bank of Jordan-“as bases to protect our frontier”. 87. That is the hero of Israel speaking, He started this whole war, and here he tells you what he wants. Allon wanted to have part of the occupied territory as security; then Dayan wanted more, *to secure the security-to have more area to secure the other occupied area. 88. This has no limit. So the question which the Council should turn to and discuss at this time is: my, after twenty-two .months, are the Israelis still there? I think withdrawal is the answer; and as long as there is no withdrawal there will be resistance. I have no apology to make to Mr. Tekoah; there wiu be resistance because this is the spirit of the day, the spirit of liberation and human rights. When people are oppressed they will resist, until they get rid of the conquerors. And the Israelis are the conquerors.

I call on the representative of Saudi Arabia. 91. I cannot remain silent after having heard Mr. Te:koah cite such proverbs as “He that diggeth a pit falls into :it”. I think he should have quoted the proverb correctly because it is an old Semitic one: “He that diggeth a pit for his brother falls into it”., I should like to remind him of a proverb that says: “He who takes by the sword is taken by the sword”. Both acts, digging a ditch and taking by the sword are deplorable in the era of the United Nations,. But the facts of life confront us and we have no choice but to deal with the tragedies and tribulations of people regardless of their race, sex or religion. 92. Mr. Tekoah said that the Arab States had ganged up, so to speak, to destroy Israel in 1948. The Arab State,s did not desire to destroy anyone in Palestine. It was an alien people, who happened to be Jews, that hailed from Eastern and Central Europe, using Judaism as a motivation for political and economic ends, that came into Palestine, and there was resistance. 93. The Mandatory Power of the United Kingdom failed in trying-to bring peace in the Holy Land right from the time it was declared the Mandatory Power at the time of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 up to 1939 a period of twenty years noted for massacres between the Arabs and the Jews. The British themselves had their share of so.rrow as many of their troops, who were supposed to be the:re to maintain peace, were killed and insulted and spat upon. 94. Those alien people from Eastern and Central Europe who happened to be Jews-but more so, I would say, who happened to be Zionists-are at the root of all these tragedies. They talk of atrocities and say that the Arabs are aping the Nazis, having forgotten that even in Lidice, in Czechoslovakia, the Nazis spared the old men and women and children when they retaliated because the valiant Czech people in that small town tried to fight to liberate themselves from the Nazis. When I addressed myself to this question in one of the organs of the United Nations years ago, I checked with none other than my Czech collealgue. He told me that the Nazis did not kill the boys and that no man over fifty, if my memory serves me correctly, and no women were touched. Those were the Nazis, 95. What did the Zionists do? Deir Yassin was wiped off the map of Palestine and every creature-not only human beings-was killed and murdered at dawn, surrounded by machine-guns. By whom? By the gangs to which my Jordanian colleague referred. You talk, Mr, Tekoah, of, digging ditches. That was the cause of the panic of the Arab 97. And who is it that is equating Jordan with Israel here in acts of. aggression, but the representative of a Power that has upheld Israel ever since its inception? Why? It is understandable; it is because that Power, that State which is supporting Israeli aggression, is to a large extent under the influence of the Zionists, who have wormed themselves into the Covernment of that State and to a large extent control its media of information and can tip the balance in the economic and social fields inside that country-and, I dare say, in many other Western countries as well. 98. And why does Israel begin such action on the very eve of the day when the major Powers are trying to meet in the hope of finding some solution? It is to sow dissent among the four major Powers, and-let me be frank-especially between the United States, on the one hand, and France and the Soviet Union on the other, whether jointly or separately, just because the Chiefs of State and the Governments of France and the Soviet Union do not allow the Zionists to sway their policies. The Zionists think they should be subject to the policies of Zionism. The Zionists think that they should come and tell the United States, “You are right in your support of Israel”-leave aside this rceven-handedness”-“and, by consensus, let us sell the Palestinians down the river”-the Palestinian people who have never been mentioned in this Council except during the last three or four years, even then only haphazardly, as an entity, as a people that has a personality and that should have been liberated a long time ago, after the British relinquished the responsibility of their Mandate in Palestine. 99. My brother from Jordan mentioned this morning how certain Powers-he did not name them; I suppose he is more polite than I am, he uses the diplomatic modalities-how certain Powers are trying to equate Jordan with Israel in the latest act of aggression. May I remind my good friend the Ambassador of the United States, none other than Mr, Yost, why the United States is involved in a war in’bthe Far East. Why? Because, we have been told time and again, the United States thought that the Geneva Agreement was infringed upon by one of the parties to that Agreement. Which is more important, and should there not be an equation, even if one dispute is not moresimportant than the other-should there not be an equation made with 100. But the Council pronounces itself and the General Assembly of the United Nations pronounces itself on the partition of Palestine, in resolutions that need no interpretation because they are clear-partition anyway, was illegal-but never mind the illegality of the partition-and on the fact that Israel has gone beyond the partition line and has refused to have the refugees go back to their homeland. I shall not give a list of all those resolutions; but what about the resolution on Jerusalem? Why does not one of those major Powers send a warning, like the warning sent to one of the parties in the Far East, “If you do not obey, there will be war”, Of course it is not a declared war, but in essence there is war. Why do not the big Powers equate us-because we are Asians. 101. Where is Lord Caradon today? In Anguil& The United Kingdom sent a police force; it sent a part of the navy to that tiny island of Anguilla. Why does not the United Kingdom, along with its allies, send a police force or an army to the shores of Palestine? We do not expect them to; we do not want them to. But why is there this double standard? To Anguilla they send a force; with respect to Palestine, it has been a tennis ball between the big Powers and other Powers for them to play with throughout all these years. At the expense of whom? Of the indigenous people of Palestine and the poor innocent people too who are being killed in Israel, the Jews. Do not think we are so inhuman as not to value human life as such, even of the Jews. 102. If the big Powers meant business they indeed would have acted with dispatch to see that justice was done, justice that is enunciated in the Charter. 103. Someone has just reminded me that the United States is not even, a signatory to the Geneva Agreements. But the United States has a moral responsibility like the Soviet Union, like France, like the United Kingdom, to see to it that Israel obeys the United Nations resolutions. I am 104. I say “so-called Israel” because I should like this Council to know that not all the Americans here in this country are on the side of Zionism. I shall quote from the declaration of a Jewish organization that numbers thousands upon thousands, but they are not as articulate as the Zionists. They say that those Americans of the Jewish faith want full and equal national rights not only in the United States : “Zionism is a philosophy of despair. It states that all Jews share a common nationality linked to Israel. It works for the in-gathering of the Jews in Palestine . . .“- Is there any wonder that the Arabs are fearful and that many of them are in panic? - “ and produces the self-segregation of Jews from fell;; Americans. Zionism seeks to invest every Jew with a nationalistic relationship to all other Jews and with a Zionist national commitment to Israel. Judaism is a religion, not ‘a nationality. We are not anti-Zionist.” -These are Jews’who are talking.-“We urge Americans of all faiths to reject the Zionist concept that the State of Israel is a fulfilment of the Biblical prophecy of the homeland of the American Jew.” 105. The famous correspondent Bob Considine, who paid many visits to Israel, was asked time and again, “Why do the Americans hesitate to come to Israel? ” Mr. Ben Gurion posed that question. Bob Considine wrote: “ Why do they hesitate? ‘, David Ben Gurion once asked me. ‘Can’t they understand that we need their skills, we need doctors, engineers, scientists, teachers and farmers desperately? ’ ” I am quoting from Bob Considine. “The old man.. .” -meaning Ben Gurion; I would have said “the venerable man”, but this is the American way of saying “the old man”; they call their father ‘(the old man”-“. . . did not like my answer, ‘I guess they feel they have already found the promised land.’ ” -meaning here in America. 106. Mr. Tekoah wants all the Jews to go to his promised land, Palestine, and that is at the root of all the trouble. Do not equate Jordan with the acts perpetrated by your people, Mr. Tekoah-not the Jews from my part of the world. They are my people. You talk about your people and I talk about my people. The oriental Jews are my people. They spoke Arabic, they ate Arabic food, their customs were Arabic. they were with me at school, we I never had any barriers on account of their being Jews. Do not confuse the issue and never say “my people”, because they are not your people. Your people are those of Central loyal citizens of the United States. But the media of information, which you control, try to brainwash them and to play on their sentiments, which is quite natural. 107. Mr. Tekoah talks of freedom of thought. He talks of free association. He talks about the Arabs inside that State as enjoying freedom and democracy which he alleges are wanting in Arab countries. We do not want the Periclean type of democracy, with all due respect to the Greeks. 108. If Pericles’ bones have not crumbled beca.use of the passage of centuries, they must stir in his tomb when some of you around here begin to talk about democracy as if it were a monopoly of Western countries. Democracy has existed in Asia, without the name; it has been in the institutions of Asia, in the tribal systems of Asia, where kings and chiefs of tribes are subject to the law and are not immune. What are you talking about when you speak of democracy? A perverted democracy in whose n,ame many crimes have been committed. Once Thomas Paine said, in this country of the United States: “Oh liberty, how many crimes are committed in thy name? ” Democracy-with machines, ballots, trying to influence the sublimiinal minds of prospective voters, bribing them with tangibles and intangibles, the spoils system. 109. You can have your democracy! Leave our institutions intact and let us evolve them into something better! But do not try to use such fetish, such a stereotyped word as democracy. It is outmoded. The people in almost every country are being brainwashed by such slogans. But the youth has awakened. They do not believe that there is democracy in spirit, except perhaps in certain communities. In the modern world, in the name of democracy wars are being waged. 110. Somebody said something the other day about bigotry. I do not want to mention his name in order not to embarrass the representative of the host country. He is a legislator. He said: “Adam and Eve, if I had my choice, would have been born in the United States”. T.he Americans have power now. They think that the who:le civilization, the whole creation should begin here. I think that Eden was in Iraq, at one time Mesopotamia. Maybe, because now Iraq is Arab, it was a mistake to have Eden there; it should have been located in some country which can wield power. “Even-handed treatment”. What evenhanded treatment? What have we done to you? You went into our part of the world when we opened our doors for You to come and trade and prospect for natural resources. What have we done to you that from a distance of thousands of miles you want to shape our destiny? And here, because of the might of the big Powers, and the bounty which they can distribute to all, under all kinds of epithets-technical aid and I do not know what else, loans without interest, and so on-you can buy som,e of our politicians, but you cannot buy our people, 111. Leave us alone, for heaven’s sake, to evolve our respective countries, in Asia and in Africa, in peace, Do not 112. You Western countries fought the Germans in two world wars. You never confiscated the private property of the Germans. Ah, you might say-Israel might say-“There were m,any Jews in Arab countries that had to flee for their lives”, The Zionists set themselves up as if they had a power of attorney from those Jews. They even exacted a power of attorney from those Jews to deduct from Arab accounts the value of such property. It is all confusion leading to tragedy. 113. I do not believe that anything will come out of it in my lifetime, unless, by a sort of change of heart, or miraculously, the European Zionists come to their senses and realize that there is no future for them in Palestine in the long run. They cannot pit themselves against a hundred million Arabs, leaving aside the indigenous people of Palestine. The door is open for them to come to their senses, and you gentlemen here, especially those who are responsible, may be able to persuade them that if they want to live in peace in the Middle East they could do so as human beings-they could be of the Jewish faith-but not as an exclusive society setting themselves up apart from the rest of the world, as’ if indeed they were the chosen people of God, taking the letter of certain passages in the Bible with a fundamentalistic interpretation. 114. They should know very well that King David said: “I look up to the hills.” And one of those hills is Mount Zion. It is a spiritual looking up to the hills, to the Invisible, to the Unknown, which, I must say in praise of Judaism, is God, the Invisible, the Ineffable. It is so in Islam’s Ninety-Nine Epithets describing God. ,Nb’ one can define Him. Those outside the pale of monotheistic religions also consider the creative force-the Brahmin, for instance, as 115. Saudi Arabia has never sought a .seat on this Council or any other in the United Nations, and if we sometimes allow ourselves the liberty of being expansive about any subject it is because we feel that this item is very vital to us. And as a Member of the United Nations, signatory to the Charter, it is incumbent on us to make our views clear to every member of the Council and every Member of the United Nations, including Israel, so that there may be no misunderstanding in the future as to our stand. 116. Only recently his Majesty King Faisal, in a speech at el Hadj-the pilgrimage-declared that he and the Saudi Arabian people are prepared to make martyrs of themselves to retrieve Jerusalem. It is my duty to mention this in concluding my statement. And I hope, Mr. President, that you will give me the floor when any draft resolution is tabled.

There are no more names on the list of speakers for this meeting. 118. I wish to inform the Council that .great efforts are being made to accelerate cdnsideration of the problem on the agenda of the Council today. For the proper assessment of the case, and in view of circumstances beyond the scope of the Council, I propose that we should meet this afternoon. On the basis of private consultations with members of the Council, it seems that for the majority of members it would be suitable to meet at 4.30 p.m. The meeting rose at 2.35 p.m. HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS United Nations publications may be obtained from bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Consult your bookstore or write to: United Nations, Sales Section, New York or Geneva. COMMENT SE PROCURER LES PUBLICATIONS DES NATIONS UNIES Les publications des Nations Unies sent en venla dons ICI librairier et les ogences dCpositaires du monde entier. Informez-vous aupr&s de votre librairia ou adresrex-vous b: Notions Unies, Section des venter, New York ov Genbve. KAK IlOllY’iMTb MBAAHHR OPI-AHHlA~HH 06bEAHHEHHblX HAuL4i-i 11:1~~111r111 Oprllllll:lnr(nIl @h?~nIlcI1I1I~IX ~IaI{Ilii J1oiIiIIo IWlIITb n PlllIXIII~IS wuwtiitax 11 i\l'C'IITI'TIlllS 110 III'CS ~.llll"lOll~X Jlll~Kt. .&llO,!(IlTC t'll~tllW11 (;6 ll:1~~llllllX II IIaUIP31 lillllilillOM Wll'LMlllC Il.-Ill lllllllllTC II0 a;rllN'y: Op~alln3aI~llfl 06ze~nucnubn Ilal~llil. CCIiIIIIH uo llpOxa;liC II3~alIlll"l, fIblO-fiOpli II.lll 53teClleBa. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS Los publicacioner de Ior Nociones Unidor est6n en venta en libreriar y cosos distribuidoras en todas partes del mundo. Consulte a su librero o dirijare ai Naciones Unidor, Secci6n de Ventas, Nueva York o Ginebra. - Litho in United Nations, New York Price: $U.S. 0.50 (or equivalent in other currencies) 82035-November 1972-2,,050