S/PV.1498 Security Council

The provisional agenda for this meeting of the Security Council appears in document S/Agenda/l498/Rev.l. If I hear no objections, I shall consider that the agenda has been adopted. 8. In view of the urgency of this question, the Soviet delegation has found it possible not to object to adoption of the agenda in the form in which you, Mr. President, read it out.

Since both letters now before the Council refer to the same subject, that is, the situation in the Middle East, my delegation would have preferred that we list the two letters under that single item as has usually been the practice in the past. However, since on some recent occasions there has been a variation of that practice along the lines of the provisional agenda before us, I should be prepared to accept the provisional agenda on the understanding, which is also in accord with our most recent practice, that members of the Council and those participating in our proceedings will be free to deal with the agenda as a whole or with any part of it in their remarks.1

If I hear no further objection on the part of the members of the Security Council, and if they therefore agree, I shall declare the provisional agenda adopted as it appears in document S/Agenda/l498/Rev. 1. The agenda was adopted. The situation in the Middle East Letter dated 12 August 1969 from the Charge d’Affaires a.i. of Lebanon addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/9385) 3. Mr. ZAKI-IAROV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (translated fiorn Rtusianj: Mr. President, in connexion with the adoption of the agenda for today’s meeting, I should like to make the following comment. The situation in the Middle East Letter dated 12 August 1969 from the Permanent Representative of Israel addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/9387) 4. All the members of the Security Council know that the Council has been convened in an urgent meeting today at the request of the representative of Lebanon, on the

In accordance with rule 37 of the provisional rules of 1 See 1466th meeting, paras. 23-24.

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the question on the agenda. I call on the first speaker, the representative of Lebanon.

Mr. President, my delegation is most grateful to you for having convened this urgent meeting of the Security Council. You and the other members of the Council have been hard pressed during the last two weeks in dealing with problems of peace and security in different parts of the world. It was not our intention to add to your ordeal, but a sudden, unprovoked attack on Lebanese territory by Israel has made it imperative to bring this development before the Council for its urgent consideration. 13. My delegation, Mr. President, is happy to see you presiding for this month over the deliberations of the Council. We have always held you in the highest esteem for the knowledge, integrity and impartiality which you have applied to your many activities in this Organization. To us, you nobly represent the great Spanish people, for whom we have the highest consideration and affection. 14. My delegation, in a spirit of co-operation with the members of the Council, has not resorted to obstructive tactics against the adoption of the agenda; naturally, the adoption of the agenda falls within the jurisdiction of the Council itself. However, we have strong misgivings about the manner in which our complaint has.been pIaced on the same level as the complaint belatedly presented by Israel. We are already familiar with Israeli tactics. No sooner has an Arab complaint been lodged with the Council than the Israeli representative comes forward with his own complaint. If Israel had any valid complaint, it should have brought it to the attention of the Council sooner. Israel takes the law inta its own hands, and when a State which has been subjected to Israeli aggression brings its case before the Council, the Israeli representative rushes in to recite to the Council his worn-out arguments about the so-called violent Arab attacks against the innocent women and children of Israel. 15. In his letter of 12 August 1969 [S/9387/ the Israeli representative complains that, during the month of July, twenty-one attacks by shelling, mining and firing were carried out against inhabited localities in Israel. He alleges that these attacks were launched against Israel from Lebanese territory. Why did Israel wait until today to inform the Council of these attacks? 16. Let us now look at the facts that have brought us before the Council today. 17. On Monday, 11 August 1969, between the hours of 1.30p.m. and 1.55p.m., ten Israeli fighter.bombers, 18. The Israeli Prime Minister and spokesmen have alleged that the strike was in retaliation for attacks launched against Israel from Lebanese territory. These aIlegations will undoubtedly be expounded to the Council by Mr. Tekoah before the day is over. The Council is accustomed to these allegations and flimsy pretexts. Similar ones were used to justify the attack on the International Airport of Beirut last 28 December. 19. It is already an established fact that those responsible’ for the Athens incident then had merely transited through the Beirut airport. Israel exploited this fact as an excuse to destroy twelve innocent and defenceless civilian airliners on the airfield. 20. Now the allegations are that the Palestinian commandos have launched attacks on Israel from Lebanese territory. These allegations are as flimsy as the earlier ones, No neutral and unbiased evidence can be established. The Council will be requested to accept the word of Israel; and the word of Israel, as we already know, does not represent the truth. Those unsubstantiated words have been uttered many times before and the Council has not only dismissed them, but on many occasions has found enough evidence to the contrary to condemn Israel over and over again for its acts of aggression. We are therefore confident that in this new case the allegations of Israel will be once more rejected as unfounded. 21. If Israel had serious and plausible reasons for complaint, it could have resorted to the United Nations machinery established under the Armistice Agreement between Lebanon and Israel, That Agreement is, in our view and in law, still valid and in force; Israel cannot unilaterally abrogate it. Lebanon has respected, and continues to respect, its obligations tinder that Agreement and under the cease-fire. The Lebanon civil and military authorities have done everything in their power to abide scrupulously by both and to maintain and promote peaceful conditions on our southern border, 22. Israel refuses to resort to the Mixed Armistice Commission established under the Armistice Agreement or to allow any investigation on its territory to establish the truthfulness of its allegations. Israel resorts to the Council when it deems that it serves its purposes to heap insults on the Arab States. It uses the platform of the United Nations for propaganda purposes, to let its voice be heard by those who emotionally support Israel and to provoke amongst them more hatred and animosity against the Arabs. 23. But members of the Council are sufficiently aware of the contempt in which Israel holds the Council, the United 24. Israeli leaders have on many occasions voiced such an opinion. Even the Foreign Minister, Mr Abba Eban, entrusted with the promotion of Israel’s international relations with the world, stated on one occasion: “If the General Assembly were to vote by 121 to one in favour of Israel returning to the armistice lines, tomorrow, Israel would refuse to comply with that decision. This has been made clear to the major Powers.” 25. From 1948 to the present time, the various bodies of the United Nations have adopted scores of resolutions deploring and condemning the acts of aggression by Israel against the Arab States, calling upon Israel to solve the problem of the, Arab Palestinian refugees on the basis of repatriation or compensation; requesting Israel to refrain from inhuman practices against the Arab populations in the occupied territories and against their human rights; calling upon Israel to facilitate the missions of the Secretary- General’s personal representative and of the United Nations commissions entrusted with the responsibility of investigating these practices; calling upon Israel-after we had heard during the last General Assembly, in the Special Political Committee, vibrant, eloquent and humane appeals from the representatives of the United Kingdom, France, the USSR, the United States, and others-to facilitate the return of the Arab displaced persons from the Judean Hills, where they were exposed to the most inhuman and appalling conditions of life, and to have them returned to their old homes and towns in Palestine or to their refugee camps and squatter settlements in the occupied territories; calling upon Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories and to promote conditions where a I peaceful solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict could be reached; and other resolutions calling upon Israel to do many other things. 26. But Israel has set itself to be the supreme, omnipotent and power-drunk ruler of international law and behaviour in the area, nullifying all attempts by the international community to promote the prevalence of international law and morality. 27. The Israelis seem to be bent on acts of violence. They have shot their way through the Middle East; they have generated a chain-reaction of wars and violence. Their military feats have given them temporary advantages; they are still intoxicated with their military murders. They are like a character in a trigger-happy Wes’tern, shooting in all directions: sometimes in the south, sometimes in the east, at other times in the north, Once they tried their military prowess in the west; they tried to spend their military zest in the direction of the Mediterranean and, as a result, they hit a United States liberty ship, causing many fatalities. 28. The Arab countries and peoples have sought, and sincerely seek, peace; for in peace they can use their 29. It is the hope of Israel to rule economically in the future of the Middle East; thus it can allege to the world that it is the only modern and progressive society in the area. But in doing so it is not squandering its own resources. The fat COW of world Zionism is providing it with all the resources it needs to achieve its objective. The Israelis milk that COW with relish, and the $300-400 million drained from it every year are pumped into the Israeli war machine. By doing SO, international Zionism is exploiting the religious and emotional feelings of all Jewry in such a sadistic way as to coin the slogan, “Give a dollar to kill an Arab”. And how many times have members of this Council and other Members of the United Nations heard such a call on the comers of New York streets. 30. Lebanon cannot be held responsible for the actions of the Palestinian commandos. These freedom fighters have sprung from the midst of the million-and-a-half Arab refugees who were expelled from their homeland-their country, their cities, their belongings, their hope for a better life having been usurped by the Zionists invaders who descended upon Palestine from Europe. For twenty years these refugees have been waiting for a fair solution tb their plight. They have had enough of the poverty and the misery of camp life and of the meagre hand-outs of the United Nations. 3 1. The Palestinian Arabs, people with a long-standing and flourishing civilization and with a deep and strong attachment to their Christian and Moslem Jerusalem and Holy Land, have been living in the hope of having their legitimate rights restored to them. Resolutions of the United Nations to administer justice to them remain dead letters. They have reached a point of despair with regard to United Nations resolutions, As freedom fighters and people seeking self-determination, a sacred principle enshrined in the Charter of this Organization, they are not fighting for the love of fighting. The fight has been forced upon them. In self-defence, to regain their sacred and legitimate rights, they have taken up arms against the aggressor and occupier. 32. Lebanon has not been a party to the making of such a situation. For twenty years it has sheltered more than 150,000 of the Arab Palestinian refugees. They ark now, and will remain as long as peace has not been established and as long as the occupation has not been terminated and their legitimate rights have not been restored, potential and active commandos. 33. The Lebanese people, from the President down to the rank and file, have always stood, and firmly stand at present, on the side of our brethren, the Palestinian people. Their cause is as sacred to the Lebanese people as it is to them. President Helou not long ago asserted that truth. He declared that Lebanon is fully prepared today ,and tomorrow to share in any action to erase the consequences of Israeli aggression and to enable the Palestinian people to regain their rights in their sacred land. 35. It may be argued, in the so-called spirit of realism, that the Council will have to reach a consensus or a watereddown resolution. In our view, realism means to look at the Middle East problem squarely in the face. There is a State, Israel, that has committed aggression after aggression against the Arab States, It is sitting on Arab land that it has occupied. The United Nations stands against conquest by acts of war. These Israeli acts of aggression must be firmly and sternly punished by this Organization. Merely deploring or condemning these acts has proved to be useless, The warnings to Israel against repetition of its acts are of no avail. We, therefore, are here requesting action from the ’ Council against the murderous, unprovoked aggressive acts against Lebanon, and this action must be effective and prompt, to forestall any similar acts in the future and to prevent the deterioration of the general situation in the Middle East. Sanctions must be applied, They are provided for in the Charter. They are there to be used. They were not meant to be part of a legal decorum. They must be applied when their application is essential, and their application is now imperative. If the Security Council fails to adopt effective measures to curb Israel’s aggressive inclinations, Israel’s appetite for more aggressions, conquests and expansions will never be satisfied. 36. We are not dealing with illusory fears, We have strong facts which speak loudly. Only a few days ago the Israeli ruling party adopted a policy plank on the basis of which it wilI run for re-election next November. That plank calls for the integration into Israel of the Gaza Strip, a large part of the Sinai Desert, the Golan Heights-not to speak of Arab Jerusalem-and other sections of the West Bank, In the face of these dangers, the Arabs are requested to sit back and to accept conquest, humiliation and the destruction of their lives. 37. The policy of intimidating the Arabs has proved to be fruitless. Israel may receive Phantom aircraft and may seek more Phantoms, but the phantom of the injustice it has committed against the Arab world and now against Lebanon will haunt it. All the aircraft of the world will not help it. One thing may help the Jewish people of Palestine-to resolve within themselves sincerely and whole-heartedly to live in peace with their neighbours-and then not a single aircraft will be needed. They should refrain from acting and speaking from positions of strength towards the Arabs. The Arabs have enough pride to refuse to be spoken to from such positions, “Considers that such premeditated acts of violence endanger the maintenance of the peace; “‘Issues a solemn warning to Israel that if such acts were to be repeated, the Council would have to consider further steps to give effect to its decisions;“. 39. We come to the Security Council today with a request that the Council give effect to those two paragraphs, because Israeli aggression against Lebanon has been repeated. Accordingly, Lebanon is entitled to be given satisfaction, We expect that the members of the Council will see to it in their wisdom that such satisfaction is given to Lebanon. Furthermore, we request a strong condem. nation of Israel for its latest aggression against Lebanon. We also request that Israel be held responsible for all the damages inflicted by that act of aggression against civilian life and property.

I wish to thank the representative of Lebanon for the kind words he has addressed to my country and to myself. 41. The next speaker on my list is the representative of Israel, on whom I now call.

Allow me, Mr. President, to extend to you my delegation’s highest respects and to express the hope that the period of your Presidency will see the cause of peace advanced in the Middle East. 43. I should also like to pay a tribute to your distinguished predecessor, Ambassador Boye of Senegal. 44. For several months now the world has watched the Arab Governments turn their efforts towards the intensification of warfare against Israel. Almost daily the Arab capitals resound with battle cries, Some Arab leaders no longer conceal their intentions, No longer are attempts being made by them even to pretend that their objective is the final termination of the conflict and the establishment of true peace with Israel. In statement after statement they speak of the pursuance of war, of the use of force as the only means to be applied in relation to Israel, of a “war of attrition” that would bring Israel to its knees. In all these months not a word of peace has come from the Arab capitals, All thought, all action seem to be devoted to increasing violence and tension. 45. Despite the fact that the cease-fire established in June 1967 provides for the cessation of all military activities, terror operations continue unabated and the regular armies of the Arab States have enhanced their attacks against Israel. The more militant of the Arab States exert growing pressure on others to expand the armed assaults on Israel. 46. It is thus that Lebanese territory has become a base for terror warfare. 47. In addition to the centres of terror organizations known to exist in Beirut, saboteur squads trained and 48. On 11 July 1969 a saboteur squad penetrated into Israel from Lebanon and was intercepted by the Israel Defence Forces west of Nahal Senir. In the ensuing clash three of the saboteurs were killed. 49. On 12 July the restaurant at the Banyas springs was attacked by bazooka fire from Lebanese territory. Three civilians were wounded. On the same day, small arms fire was opened on an Israeli patrol near Fashkul. SO. On 14 July bazooka shells were fired from across the Lebanese border on Israeli positions in the Abbasiya area. 5 1. Again on 14 July the village of Margaliyyot was attacked with small arms fire from Lebanon. 52. On 16 July an attack with Katyusha rockets was carried out from Lebanese territory on the village of Nahal Senir. 53. Also on 16 July mines were planted by saboteurs from Lebanon south of Metulla near the Lebanese border. 54. On 27 July a mine was planted west of the village of Abbasiya. 55. On 31 July a terror squad which had crossed into Israel from Lebanon attacked Israeli positions in the Fashkul area. Return fire by the Israel Defence Forces killed one of the saboteurs, while one Israeli soldier was wounded, 56. On 1 August the town of Qiryat Shemona was attacked from Lebanese territory with Katyusha rockets. One civilian was wounded. 57. The next day, on 2 August, an Israeli Vehide was blown up by a mine near Yaroun, a village on the Lebanese border. 58. On 3 August Qiryat Shemona and the area of the villages of Misgav’Am and Kefar Gil’adi came again under Katyusha rocket tire originating from Lebanese territory. 59. Later that day the area of the village of Fashkul was shelled from Lebanon with mortars. 60. On 4 August a vehicle of the border police wasblown up by a mine in the vicinity of the village of Yaroun. 61. Also on 4 August mortar shells were fired from Lebanese territory on an Israeli position in the Hermon area. The same area was shelled for a second time later that day. 63. On 7 August it was found that two explosive charges and two mines had been planted by attackers from Lebanon near the warer fower of Metulla. That day a terror unit from Lebanon exploded a charge under the bridge between the villages of Shetula and Netu’a. 64. On 11 August a military vehicle was blown up by a mine in the Fashkul area. An Israeli soldier was wounded. 65. Tonight at 0145 hours the Qiryat Shemona area was again shelled by Katyusha tire from Lebanese territory. Some shells were fired on Kefar Yuval. 66. The shelling and mining raids from Lebanese territory had been going on day after day in utter disregard of the cease-fire, endangering the lives of innocent civilians, bringing bloodshed and destruction to towns and villages. 67. The Lebanese authorities seemed unable or unwilling to curtail those attacks. Israel had no alternative but to resort to self-defence. 68. On 11 August Israel acted to disable the terror bases situated on Mount Hermon. From these came the attackers of Israeli villages and the assassins of Israeli citizens. 69. A communique of the terror organizations’ command broadcast by Radio Damascus on 11 August at 2215 hours local time confirmed that the Israel air action was directed against the encampments of the terror organizations. The communique stated: “At 1335 hours the Zionist enemy carried out an attack on our fortified positions in Upper Galilee south of Mount Hermon. . . The bombardment continued half an hour but our fighters put into action anti-aircraft guns and succeeded to shoot down two planes , . . Three of our men were killed, one of them while operating an anti-aircraft gun and after he had succeeded to hit one of the planes, Seven of our men were wounded.” 70. Yesterday the Egyptian Middle East News Agency announced that five saboteurs were killed and that the funeral of one of them, a Syrian, would take place in Damascus itself. 71. These communiques leave no doubt regarding the target of the Israeli action and the character of the resulting casualties. 72. It is true that for obvious, basic reasons the terror organizations established their camps in the immediate proximity of Lebanese villages, and even utilized buildings situated within the confines of these villages. The Israeli action, however, was carefully aimed at the saboteur concentrations. If, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, there is nevertheless an innocent civilian among the casualties of Monday’s action, it is indeed a cause for regret. We are deeply sensitive to the tragedy of civilian casualties, and they are the victims of the same brutal and senseless 73. It is not by making preposterous allegations against Israel in the Security Council that the Government of Lebanon will discharge its duty towards its civilian population, but by an honest attempt to put its house in order, and by assuming the full responsibility of a sovereign Government for barring its territory to aggressors against a neighbouring State. 74. It is a callous and cowardly act to place military positions in the proximity of civilians. The Secretary- General has been right to point out recently that military positions in the proximity of United Nations observation posts endanger the lives of the Observers. What is true on the West Bank of the Suez Canal is also true on the slopes of Mount Herman. If there have been any civilian Lebanese casualties, those responsible are the ones who continue to wage war and sow bloodshed, even if Arab representatives choose to use these hapless victims of Arab warfare for further incitement and propaganda. 75. The presence of the terror encampments in the areas of Israel’s air action is generally known and documented. 76. For instance, the Lebanese daily Al-Yom reported on 28 April 1969: ‘Mr. Abd el-Majan el-Zin, member of the Lebanese Parliament, declared: there is a no-man’s land between Lebanon and Syria in which the fedayeen are now concentrated.” 77. In the Washington Post of 19 May 1969 we read the following eyewitness account dispatched from Beirut: “It has now been established beyond doubt that some Syrian-trained commandos in southern Lebanon are actually regular Syrian army soldiers in commando uniform . . . Ostensibly, the Syrian-trained commandos called Al-Saiga are in the rugged Mount Hermon area to harass Israel from a refuge within Lebanon. “But in fact, the AI-Saiga commandos in southern Lebanon, seeded with camouflaged Syrian regulars, are now serving a double and highly insidious purpose-both to harass Israel and to create dangerous political tensions, possibly civil war, within Lebanon itself. Syria has long had a covetous eye on the Lebanon, a nation of bankers and traders which the French carved out of ancient Syrian territory as a homeland for Christian Arabs. “The more orthodox commando units in southern Lebanon belong to Al-Fatah. “Thus the security of vulnerable Lebanon, with its half-Christian, half-Moslem population, may ironically 79. Since 1948 they have tried all means of warfare against Israel. They fought Israel with their regular armies. They have assaulted Israel with their irregular forces, trying sometimes, as the Lebanese representative did today, to masquerade them as groups of disgruntled refugees. They failed repeatedly in their aggression because they were motivated by nothing but a desire to deny the people of Israel its right to independence and sovereignty. They failed miserably because Israel fought back in self-defence, because Israel fought for its life. Arab aggression has proved a continuous failure because bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed, even as it is being carried on by the Arab States now, is a sickly, degenerating pursuit. The soldier who fights under the slogan “kill, butcher, destroy” is a pitiful man, and the assassin whose orders are: murder Jews, men, women or children, is hardly the embodiment of courage and dedication. That is why the people of Israel know that they shall prevail over the conspiracy of darkness that. surrounds them today and that in the end peace and security for all will reign in the Middle East. 80. No feats of propaganda can alter these basic facts, Arab aggression against Israel has been from its very inception an international crime. That was true in 1948, when the Arab States invaded the nascent State, It was true: in the fifties and sixties when terror warfare became the: method of Arab belligerency. It was true in 1967 when the: Arab States felt that the time was ripe for the resumption1 of full-scale hostilities against Israel. It is also true today when the so-called “war of attrition” is being waged againsl. US primarily by means of terror operations. In all its stages, in all its forms Arab aggression against Israel has remained s crime contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and the tenets of international law. 81. To claim for terror warfare conducted today any special dispensation is a travesty of law and justice. To try to portray it as a consequence of the 1967 hostilities is a falsification of fact, of history. The present terror warfare is not different in origin, method or character from that pursued against Israel five, ten and fifteen years ago. The failure of Arab aggression in 1967 does not bestow on warfare by terror, always criminal, always despicable and condemnable, an aura of respectability. United Nations jurisprudence has proscribed it. Impartial Members of tl~l~ United Nations have always condemned it. “Lebanon supports this exercise by the United Arab Republic of its sovereign rights over the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba. We will stand by the United Arab Republic . . . In a total war the Arabs will use all means to defeat their enemy . . .” (1344th meeting, paras. 18 and 21.1 83. On 5 June 1967 Lebanese planes attacked the Israeli town of Metulla. At the end of the hostilities Lebanon informed the Secretary-General of the United Nations that it accepted the Security Council resolutions on the ceasefire. Lebanon had, however, ignored its obligations under the cease-fire by failing to prevent attacks from its territory against Israel, in violation of the cease-fire, and by allowing the establishment on Lebanese soil of the terror warfare bases which were the target of Israel’s action on 11 August. 84. The attitude of the Lebanese Government is reflected in the following recent statement by its Prime Minister on 7 August 1969: “There is a need to convene an Arab summit conference as soon as possible. The Arab States must assist Lebanon to impIement her obligations according to a plan which the summit will decide upon. Lebanon should be respon- 85. The Prime Minister of Israel, Mrs. Golda Meir, declared yesterday: “Our policy towards Lebanon is no different from that towards other Arab States. Lebanon must be responsible for acts of sabotage originating from her territory , , . Israel wants peace with Lebanon but peace must be reciprocal,” 86. The Government of Lebanon knows that Israel’s aim is scrupulous maintenance of the cease-fire and the attainment of lasting peace. The Government of Lebanon is aware that Israel has shown great patience and restraint in the hope that the Lebanese authorities would put an end to the utilization of their territory for armed attacks against Israel, in breach of the cease-fire. It is the failure of the Lebanese authorities to do so that has necessitated Israel’s recourse to the right of self-defence. 87. It is not too late to secure observance of the cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel. It is not too late for the Security Council to call on Lebanon to abide by its cease-fire obligations. Such a call may well prove of cardinal importance to future developments in the area.

I wish to thank the representative of Israel for the kind words he has addressed to me. 89. As no other representative wishes to speak at this time, I shall adjourn the meeting. me meeting rose at 6.35 p.m. HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS United Nations publications may be obtained from bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Conrult Your bookstore or write to: United Nations, Sales Section, New York or Geneva. COMMENT SE PROCURER LES PUBLlCATlONS DES NATIONS UNIES les publications der Notions Unies ront en vente danr ler librairier et ler agencer dbporitoires du monde entier. Informer-vour oupr&s de votre librairie ou adrersez-vow 6: Nations Unier, Section der ventes, New York ou Gen&ve. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS Los publicaciones de laa Nacioner Unidos est6n en venta en libreriar y casas disfribuidorar en todas portes del mundo. Csnsulte o su librero a dirijose a: Naciones Unidar, Seccicin de Ventar, Nuevo York o Ginebro. Litho in United Nations, New York Price: $U.S. 0.50 (or equivalent in other currencies) 82175-November 1972-2,oSo