S/PV.1936 Security Council

In accordance with the decisions taken at the 1924th, 192&h, 1933rd to 1935th meetings, I shall now invite the Chairman and other members of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the representatives of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Cuba, Democratic Yemen, Egypt, the German Democratic Republic, Guinea, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jordan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yugoslavia to participate in the discussion without the right to vote. Al the invitation of’the President. the deiegtrtiott of’ the Committee otl the Exercise of’ the Itutiic~ttahie Rights of rhe Paies~it~iatt People anti Mr. Terzi (Palestitle Libcratiotr Orgatiiza~ioti) took pitrc~es tit the Corrttcii table trtui Mr. Siddiq (A.~~~i~ttii.srtrtt), Mr. Rahtri (Algeria), Mr. Al Sqj$tr (Btrhrvrin). Ms. Grozev (Buigttria), M. Alaruin (Cuba), Mr. Ashtai (Dettutcra~ic Yemen), Mr. Abdei Megrrid (Egypt), Mr. Fioritl (German Detnocratic Republic), Mr. Camara (Gttinea). Mr. Bn’nyn’sz (Hrrngary). Mr. ,Jaipal (India). Mr. Marpaung (Indonesia), Mr. Shnraf (Jordat~), Mr. Borrlotn (Lao People’s Democratic Republic). Mr. El Hasseil (Maurirania), Mr. Zaimi (Morocco), Mr. Hagras (Oman), Mr. Baroody (Saudi Arabia), Mr. Httssett (Somalia), Mr. A//af(Syrian Arab Reptrblic). Mr. Driss (Tunisia), Mr. Tiirkttren (Turkey), Mr. Humaidan (United Arab Emirates) anti Mr. Perrik ( Yugoslavia) took rhe places roser\*ed for lhetn at’& side of the Corttlcii chamber.

I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received letters from the representatives of Iraq and Poland containing requests to be invited to participate without the right to vote in the discussion, in accordance with the pro= visions of Article 31 of the Charter and rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure. With the consent of the Council and in accordance with the usual practice, I shall therefore invite those representatives to participate in the discussion without the right to vote. 3. In view of the limited number of places available at the Council table, I invite those representatives to take the places reserved for them at the side of the Council chamber, on the understanding that they will be invited to take a place at the Council table when it is their turn to speak. Ai the ittlittrriotr of’ the Plesiti~~tt~. Mr. AI-Shoikhl~ Iraq) and Mr. Jaroszek (Poiattd) took the piace.s reserlwi fctr chetn a1 die side of rlie Cortttcil chamber. 4. Mr. RiOS (Panama) (itltcJ~p~c~toCioti.fiu,nl Spanish): Mr. President, first of all please allow me, on behalf of my delegation to bid you a most cordial welcome to the work of the Security Council. 5. Since my delegation is speaking on the nixt-tolast day on which the Council will be working under the direction of Ambassador Jackson, it wishes to state for the record its appreciation of his efficiency and impartiality in the conduct of our deliberations. June 1976 has been a difficult month, one of intense concern for all members of the Council, and for Ambassador Jackson it has been a month which has proved his skill, his tirelessness and his superior intelligence. 6. My delegation wishes to join those delegations which have expressed their sorrow at the death of two 7. To turn to the question on our agenda, we wish to praise warmly the work accomplished by the members of the Committee established under Genera! Assembly resolution 3376 (XXX). The report it has presented to the Council is an urgent call for a realistic solution to the Middle East conflict to be reached without delay, since time is at a premium. In contrast to other reports, the report of the Committee does not allow its argument to get lost in too many pages of lengthy presentations. It wastes neither paper nor time on futile dialectical exercises. In a relatively small space it goes to the heart of the matter and presents to us solutions aimed at breaking the status quo. One can either agree or disagree with these measures, but no one can deny that they represent points of departure on the road to a solution of the Palestine problem. And the picture becomes clearer in this regard-every day. There will be no peace in the Middle East as long as the Palestinians, continue to live as refugees on foreign soil, harbouring hatred and feelings of revenge from the days of their childhood. 8. The report of the Committee, whidh incorporates the aspirations of the Palestinian people as expressed by its most authoritative spokesmen and also the points of view of the community of Arab countries, proposes some formulas for action on .which Latin America, and in particular Panama, have agreed. I am referring first of al! to the solution of the Palestine problem and, secondly, to peace negotiations leading to a recognition of the right of the States of the region to live within secure and recognized boundaries. In paragraph 34 of the report the Committee mentions “negotiations for a peace settlement in the Middle ’ East, which would cover the question of secure and recognized boundaries for a!! States in the region.*’ In our view, these are the essential elements of the question. Herein lies the basis for the just and lasting peace we have been ca!!ing for years, at times sincerely and at others-why not say so?-as a smokescreen to conceal evil intentions. 9. Now, if we take the two basic principles I have mentioned as a point of departure, we shall have to define our concepts. We are too apt to beat about the bush and spend a lot of time on a question without being able to make a definitive statement on it or, rather, without being able to say what we want to say. We note that time in absolute terms may be limitless, inexhaustibles, when time is related to ephemeral things, such as the life of man and of peoples, it is exhaustible and does come to an end. In the timespace continuum, human activities have their time. Thus we speak of a time to love, a time to fight, a time 10. The painful events which are destroying the beautiful country of Lebanon are the strongest possible call for moderation and good sense so that, under the auspices of the United Nations, Israel, the Palestinians and their Arab neighbours may sign peace agreements. I said a moment ago that the concepts had to be defined and that we had to call a spade a spade; I wish to insist on this since I believe it to be fundamental. Panama supports the rights of the Palestine people to self-determination and the exercise of its sovereignty; but let us be frank and let us say that self-determination and sovereignty are essential .requisites which identify the independent State and that they are valid and have meaning only when they are exercised on a given territory. Every sovereign State must, in order to deserve being so called, be based on a Government, a population and a territory. To my knowledge, mention has been made of an independent Palestine State, but its territory has not been specifically defined. 11. The report on which I am commenting and whose contents I am once again emphasizing because of its very positive approach, states in paragraph 34: “Upon the Israeli vacation of the occupied areas and the establishment of an independent Palestinian administration, the Palestinian people would be able to exercise its right to self-determination and to decide its form of government through democratic means.” The text I have just quoted makes two suggestions with which Panama fully agress: first, the recognition of the independent State of Israel and, secondly, the location of the independent State of Palestine on territories occupied by Israel by war. 12. If that interpretation is correct, we have said everything that needs to be said on the first point. We voted for the establishment of the sovereign State of Israel, and from the very outset we have supported that State’s right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries. We have maintained the most cordial relations with that State, and we shall continue to do so. With regard to the second point, in order to make the Panamanian position clear I shall quote the following from a statement on this question made in this chamber on 24 March by the representative of Panama, Mr. Aquiline Boyd: “After considering the problem as a whole, it is our conclusion that an understanding can be negotiated, one that will be practicable only on the basis of a Palestinian State, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the Jordan, and that for their part, the Arabs must respect the right of Israel to !,ive That statement is even more authoritative today in the context of the position of the delegation of Panama, especially when we take into account the fact that that distinguished Panamanian diplomat is today the Foreign Minister of Panama. 13. In defining the territorial space on which the Palestinian State should be situated, we shall be laying the basis for future decisions. That will be so whether the elements in question like it or not. I repeat: whether it is accepted or not, this definition will be the point of departure for negotiations in which the United Nations, and especially the Secretary-General, will be called upon to play a very important part. 14. In reviewing the history of this bitter dispute, and taking into account the increasing danger it entails, we cannot but make a strong appeal to the parties directly concerned to forgo warlike attitudes, explore the avenues of conciliation and decide to use them without delay. 15. The destructive potential of the weapons being accumulated today in the Middle East is more than sufficient reason for setting in motion without delay a peace plan based on the establishment of the Palestinian State and the recognition of the State of Israel in accordance with Security Council resolution 242 (1967). These are facts which neither the Jews nor the Arabs can ignore any longer. 16. We would not wish what we have just said to be taken to mean that we are naive or that we harbour any illusions. We know that this cannot all come about spontaneously. An essential prerequisite would be for the United Nations, with all the authority it has under the Charter, to exert pressure on the parties. This is not the age of feudalism, when the lords could decide to wage private wars; it was a matter only for them and their rassals. Today no one can afford the luxury of armed attack without endangering international peace and security. That is why we regard more direct action by the United Nations as indispensable and urgent. In saying that, we are only trying to strengthen or revitalize formulas adopted by the world Organization in the very first years of its existence, as can be seen from General Assembly resolutions 181 (II), 194 (III) and 273 (III). On 29 November 1947, the United Nations Palestine Commission was created. We note with special interest that Panama, along with Bolivia, Czechoslovakia, Denmark and the Philippines, was a member of that Commission. 17. We would not wish to end these remarks without saying that when we speak of urgent understandings to bring about peace in the Middle East, we are taking for granted the honesty and sincerity of those who are to negotiate that peace. The cards must be placed on the table, and the rules of the game must be known. 18. In that connexion, do not let us forget the decisive role played in this entire matter by the two super- Powers. For reasons that it is not for me to judge, they bear in one way or another the blame for .the tragedy in the Middle East. The time has come for them to abandon their imperialistic and hegemonistic ambitions and once and for all to place their immense capabilities, their great resources and their influence sincerely at the service of that just and lasting peace about which so much has been said but nothing positive has yet been achieved. 19. In our view, one of the most burning questions that have given rise to conflict has been and still is the Holy City of Jerusalem. The Committee’s report presents points of view on that controversial question in paragraphs 36 to 39, without being able to make any specific recommendation, as we have all seen. 20. For Panama, the status of the City of Jerusalem is a cause for serious concern. We cannot conceive of celestial Jerusalem, as it has also been called, as territory subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of a temporal State. The Wailing Wall, the Mosque of Omar and the Holy Sepulchre are only three of the major religious monuments which proclaim to the world the imperative need for the City which inspired Tasso to write the 20 cantos of his famous epic to be an open city under an international regime. In this regard, the Panamanian delegation considers very pertinent what is stated in paragraph 37 of the Committee’s report, the contents of which we believe worthy of note; for that reason I should like to quote it. “A suggestion was made that the administration of the City of Jerusalem should consist of two main organs: (a) a 45member legislative body in which the three main religious communities of the city would be equally represented; (b) an executive organ led by a United Nations commissioner appointed by the Secretary-General ‘with the consent of the Security Council.” 21. In support of what I have said, I shall repeat what was stated by Ambassador Boyd at the 1897th meeting of the Council: “The Holy City must continue to be the heritage of the three major monotheistic religions, a sacred heritage of almost a billion and a half of their adherents throughout the world. Jerusalem is the “In view of the presence and tenure in Jerusalem of different groups, the logical and intelligent thing to do would be to find a peaceful, equitable solution to the problem. We must adopt an elevated approach for that purpose and must accept a religious pluralism confirmed by history with sufficient guarantees for the full enjoyment of the respective rights of the three religions. “This approach is not unrealistic; it is a goal that we can all achieve if we demonstrate good faith. Our conclusion is that Jerusalem requires a special status, internationally guaranteed. The basic elements of that status would include the following guarantees, in our opinion: first, freedom of residence, freedom of whorship and respect for the preservation of and free access to the Holy Places, as well as facilities to maintain institutions, temples, homes.and places for those who are in charge of the administration of those institutions. The authorities in charge should give due protection to historical rights and to the rights of the various communities involved to the property they have acquired. The authorities of the city must help preserve and safeguard the historical sites of the Holy City. Secondly, the authorities should ensure equal rights for the three religious communities and should guarantee to foster their spiritual, cultural and social lives. Suitable opportunities must be provided for economic progress so that there may be more employment and better education for those participating in these development plans.” [Ihid., parus. 31-33.1 22. As I mentioned before, we are aware of the fact that the case of Jerusalem is crucial. So far, Arabs and Jews have made it known that, with regard to the Holy City, they will not cede what they consider to be their legitimate rights which each one’ of them claims for historical, religious and political reasons, and even for reasons of international prestige. 23. At the risk of being judged wrongly, we venture to say that if the parties directly concerned can, without interference from those who are fishing in troubled waters, understand that neither side is unilaterally trying to benefit at the other’s expense, we see no insurmontable obstacles to the attainment of the specified goal; and, if that goal is attained, a major step forward will have been made in the search for peace. We are not indulging in esoteric arguments; on the contrary, we are resorting to the original sources of this question and seeking answers in what was recommended and ordered by the founders of the United Nations, by those who created the State of Israel and 24. My delegation wishes to conclude by stating that it is ready to support any intelligent and timely decision which may be taken for the purpose of bringing peace to that tormented region of the Middle East. 25. We are convinced that the rights of the Palestinians and of the Jews must be recognized and, above all, respected. This we feel is only right. A .people such as the Panamanian people that has had recourse to the international community ‘to demand justice and to obtain effective sovereignty over its whole territory, without jurisdictional limitations, can do no less than enthusiastically support what it believes to be just in every part of the world. .

The next speaker is the representative of Mauritania, whom I invite to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

In extending my congratulations to you, Mr. Minister, on your accession to the presidency of the Council, I wish to tell you what an honour it is for the Mauritanian delegation to speak under your presidency. I also wish to pay a tribute to the representative of your country, Ambassador Jackson, who has already displayed a noteworthy degree of tact and skill in the United Nations, and particularly as President of the Security Council. I am personally proud to have him as a friend. 28. Before speaking on the substance of the matter being considered today by the Council, I should also like, on behalf of my delegation and of my country, to extend our sincere condolences to the delegation of the United States upon the senseless murder of the American Ambassador to Lebanon and his two colleagues. 29. This is by no means the first time that the Security Council has taken up the question of Palestine; nor is it the first time that it has had to concern itself with the tragic fate of the Palestinian people. But the debate on this matter in which the Council is engaged today differs in many respects from previous ones and, for that reason, is of particular significance. Indeed, this debate represents the culmination of a relentless quest on the part of the international community, undertaken as a matter of duty in order, at last, to find a solution of the Palestine problem which is both just and equitable. ,, : :: 1 30. Before outlining the various stages and vicissitudes through which this quest has passed, allow me, first, Mr. President, to define the problem itself. 31. A little more than half a century ago, the people of Palestine-an Arab people-was living in peace bn 32. It would be a long and perhaps tedious task to review even a portion of the series of criminal acts committed by international Zionism against the Palestinian people. Suffice it to recall the names of the. Haganah, the Stem Gang and the Irgun to be reminded of the tragic fate meted out to a considerable number of Palestinians. In Deir Yassin and the villages of Nasser El-Dine and Kafou, to name but three, the entire population was executed or herded.into mosques which were then dynamited. 37. It is precisely in view of this failure on the part of the international community that the Arab people of Palestine, united in the Palestine Liberation Organization, rose up as all must rise up who wish to die in freedom or to live in dignity. They made their existence and presence felt as well as their need for their rights to be taken into consideration with regard to their lands, their homes and their property. Essentially, therefore, it was thanks to the determination of - the Palestinian people and to the support of fraternal and friendly countries and of those that prize freedom and justice that the United Nations gradually adopted a new approach to the problem which was more effective and more constructive because it was juster and politically sounder. It is thus that the General Assembly, breaking in 1969 with a quarter of a century of indifference, reaffirmed in its resolution 2535 B (XXIV) the inalienable national rights of the Arab people of Palestine. Since then several resolutions have been adopted by the General Assembly recognizing and defining in ever stricter and more precise terms the rights of the people of Palestine. 33. The first consequence of that terrorist activity occurred in the years 1947-1948 with the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinian Arabs and the total destruction of their dwellings. That figure was subsequently to increase as the Zionist authorities gained strength and as they perfected their terrorist methods and their settlement policy. The Arab people of Palestine, who were now reduced to the state of vagabonds, were not only driven from their homes but were even pursued into the territories of neighbouring Arab States. Meanwhile, as time passed, those countries saw their territories shrink like Balzac’s pem tk chop-in and their sovereignty reduced as they were forced to undergo four successive wars, with their concomitant suffering, poverty and mass destruction. 38. In that period in which the General Assembly adopted a new approach to the problem some events of major importance deserve to be stressed, we believe, because they proclaim the international recognition of the national rights of the people of Palestine and at the same time reveal the importance which the United Nations was henceforth to attach to the enjoyment of those rights. . 34. That, then, is the problem as it appears in all its brutal simplicity. As can easily be seen, the Palestine question is not merely an element of the problem of the Middle East, an element which incidentally for some time now has been regarded as a purely humanitarian one. The Palestine question is the root-cause of this problem and consequently the key to any solution, 35. The United Nations has had this problem before it practically since its foundation. During the first stage of its efforts-from 1947 to the beginning of this decade-the United Nations unfortunately singled out only the humanitarian aspects of the issue and maintained a studied silence, for various reasons, about its essentially political character and its threat to peace and stability in. that region, and indeed to international security. 39. The first event undoubtedly was the welcome given by the General Assembly on 13 ‘November 19742 to the representative of the Arab people of Palestine, our brother Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Although he represented a people that had been wounded in its dignity and whose very existence had long been ignored; our brother Yasser Arafat displayed a remarkable degree of moderation and a great deal of political maturity in the statement he made before the General Assembly. 36.. That erroneous evaluation of the facts, far from alleviating the sufferings of the Palestinian people or 41. By way of completing the process started in 1969 in connexion with the recognition of the Palestinian situation, the General Assembly decided, in resolution 3376 (XXX) to set up a Committee “on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian Peo- ‘pie”. This also is an event of great import because, as I said at the beginning of my statement, it represents the culmination of the efforts which have been made by the .intemational community since 1947 for the purpose of finding a solution of the unhappy problem of the Middle East. The Committee carried out its mandate excellently and submitted a very clear, practical and well-balanced report to the Council. I should like to take this opportunity to pay a warm tribute to the members of the Committee, to its Chairman. and to its Rapporteur. As I have said, they have submitted a clear report to the Council. The Council therefore finds itself at the end of a long period of evolution which was marked initially by indifference and finally by realism and wisdom, and it now has before it concrete proposals which, if taken into consideration, may lead to a just and lasting solution of the Palestinian problem, thus eliminating the main cause of the conflict. 42. This is what gives the Council’s deliberations today a special meaning. The Council cannot shirk its responsibility by underestimating the importance of the Committee’s report or by simply remaining a bystander to the political developments occurring in the United Nations itself. It is only the Council which, up to now, has been unable to adopt a resolution recognizing the inalienable national rights of the Arab people of Palestine, although those rights are no longer questioned except by the Zionist usurpers in Tel Aviv. The proved inadequacy of resolution 242 (1967), the ear of 1973 which it was unable to prevent and the tragic events which recently took place in the occupied West Bank must, however, convince the Security Council of the need to redress this injustice. 43. Of course it can be no pleasure for the Arab people of Palestine to live permanently in refugee camps, to endure all sorts of suffering-in .other words, to live in precarious circumstances. The Arab people of Palestine desire peace, but they want it to be a peace founded on law, on their rights-the right to return, the right to compensation, the right to recognized national sovereignty and independence. 44. For their part, the other Arab countries have tremendous problems of economic and social devel- 45. Peace in the Middle East necessarily involves finding a solution to two fundamental questions-the restitution of the inalienable national rights of the Arab people of Palestine and the unconditional withdrawal of Israel from all occupied Arab territories. It is not by harping on what we conventionally term “secure and recognized boundaries’* that we can continue to evade a solution to these fundamental questions. Besides, there can be no secure boundaries unless they are recognized, and they can be recognized only when they are based on law and justice, two important concepts which do not appear to have any place in the Israeli philosophy. 46. The eyes of the entire world are now on the Security Council, whose *main responsibility is to make might bow to right. We hope that it will not miss this opportunity once again to prove itself equal to its responsibilities by recognizing the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.

Mr. President, we are most pleased and honoured to see the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guyana, presiding personally over these important meetings of the Security Council, First of all, allow me, in the name of the Chinese delegation, to extend our most cordial greetings to you and, through to the friendly Government and people of Guyana. 48. The Palestine question is an important political question that has been before the United Nations for a’ long time. However, owing to super-Power manipulation, the United Nations has adopted a most unjust stand on the Palestine question over the years. Many resolutions on the question of Palestine and the Middle East, including Security Council resolution 242 (1967). have all described the question of the restoration of the Palestinian people’s national rights as a socalled refugee problem. It is only natural that the broad masses of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples categorically reject and resolutely oppose such a practice of shielding the Israeli aggressors, a practice which is most unjust to the victims of aggression. * 49. At its twenty-ninth session the General Assembly for the first time listed the Palestine question as an important item for separate consideration and invited the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in the discussion of the related questions as the representative of the Palestinian people. The General Assembly also adopted by overwhelming majorities resolutions 3236 (XXIX) and 3376 (XXX), reaffirming 50. The Palestine question is an important integral part of the whole Middle East question. The essence of the Palestine question and the whole Middle East question lies in Israeli Zionist aggression and the rivalry between the two super-Powers for hegemony in that region versus the struggle of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples against aggression and hegemonism. With imperialist aid and abetment, Israel has repeatedly carried out acts of aggression against Palestine and the Arab countries, seized and illegally occupied large tracts of Arab territories and driven over a million Palestinians from their homeland, exposing them to prolonged suffering and robbing them of their property. Had it not been for external interference, it would not have been difficult for the Palestinian and other Arab peoples, united as one, to defeat the Israeli aggressors, recover their lost territories; regain their national rights and achieve their national liberation. However, as the two super- Powers, in their rivalry for spheres of influence in the Middle East, have done their utmost to obstruct and sabotage the liberation struggle of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples, to support and abet the Israeli Zionists and deliberately create and maintain a situation of no war, no peace in the region, the difficulty and complexity of the liberation struggle of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples have been greatly increased. This also shows that the frenzied super- Power rivalry in this region is the fundamental reason for the prolonged failure to achieve a settlement of the Palestine problem and the whole Middle East question. 51. Over the past three decades, the heroic Palestinian and other Arab peoples have never ceased to fight, holding high the banner of defiance to Israeli Zionism and hegemonism, and advancing wave upon wave, they have carried on dauntless struggles under most difficult conditions. The armed forces of the Palestinian people have grown stronger through their battles. In recent years, with the victorious development of the struggles of the people of the numerous third-world countries against colonialism, imperialism and hegemonism, the liberation struggle of the Palestinian and.other Arab peoples has known new upsurges and opened up new prospects. During the October War, the heroic fighters of the Palestinian people resolutely took up arms to fight shoulder to shoulder with the fraternal Arab countries and peoples, breaking through the situation of no war, no peace imposed on them by the super-Powers and vic- 52. Of course, the enemies will never be reconciled to their defeat. The Israeli Zionists are gathering their forces and awaiting an opportunity to counter-attack. One super-Power is still adamantly refusing to recognize the national rights of the Palestinian people and is continuing to bolster up Israel. And the super-Power cloaked as the “natural ally” of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples is engaging in the most revealing’ antics and is resorting to more sinister and venomous means to get out of its deteriorating situation. While saying a few hypocritical words against Israeli aggression, it is actually working hand-in-glove with Israel. Its collusion with Israel has grown from secret to open contacts, and the level has been elevated from nongovernmental to official. In the Arab world, it is doing its utmost to sow dissension, setting one State against another, inciting the different factions to kill each other and using Arabs to fight Arabs, so that it may exploit the chaos for infiltration, expansion and control. At the same time, it is using the gunboat policy for political blackmail and military threats. This shows full .well that this super-Power is the ferocious enemy of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples and the main source of a new world war. The Palestinian and other Arab peoples have realized ever more clearly that in order to regain their national rights ,and recover the lost territories it is essential for them to link the struggle against Israeli Zionism closely with the struggle against super-Power hegemonism and to strengthen their own unity so as to resist and strongly oppose the enemies’ intrigues aimed at sowing dissension. 53. We believe that in order to extend active support and to the just struggle of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples and to co-ordinate it, the Security Council must rectify the most unjust stand towards the Palestinian people it formerly adopted under super- 54. In our view, the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People deserves detailed study. We support the content of the report, which is in conformity with the spirit of the fqregoing. As to the inadequacies and ambiguities of the report, they could be remedied by amendmeqts and additions in accordance with the spirit of resolutions 3236 (XXIX) and 3376 (XXX). .55. In the final analysis, the settlement of the question of Palestine and the whole Middle East question must be based on the unremitting struggle of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples with the support and assistance of the people of the world and not on a United Nations resolution. The struggle of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples against aggression and hegemonism is an important component of the struggle of all the peoples of the third world and it therefore commands the greatest sympathy and support from the peoples of the third world and of other countries. We have every reason to believe that the Palestinian and other Arab peoples will be able to foil the disruptive schemes of the super-Powers and Israeli Zionism and that, he.ightening their vigilance, bearing in mind their over-all interests and persevering in unity and struggle, they will steadily improve the situation and gradually lead their just cause to complete victory.

Mr. President, may I say at the outset how happy and privileged my delegation feels in serving on the Council these days under your presidency, as you are a most distinguished statesman and diplomat of Guyana. Your personally assuming the presidency not only enhances the prestige of the Council but also gives full satisfaction to its members-all the more so since, before you came to the Council, it was Ambassador Jackson, Guyana’s Permanent Representative, who during nearly the whole month of June conducted the Council’s albeit complicated and difficult business so wisely and so patiently-in brief, so brilliantly. My delegation would like to express thanks and pay a tribute to you and to Ambassador Jackson for your achievements. 57. Mv delegation takes this opportunity to express its profound Condolences to the ‘United -States helegation on the tragic deaths of Ambassador Meloy and his companions in Beirut. This is once again a reminder of the urgent need for a return to order and peace in that country. 59. It is the considered view of the Japanese Government that a just and lasting settlement of the Middle East problem should be based on the following three requirements: first, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the territories occupied since June 1967; secondly, respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all States in the area, including Israel, and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries; thirdly, recognition of and respect for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people in accordance with the Charter. All three of these requirements are equally indispensable and all three must be met in any solution. 60. It is true that the problem of Palestine is. a crucial element in the Middle East problem. It is very true that the settlement of the Palestinian problem is an integral part of an over-all settlement of the problem of’the Middle East. Without a solution of the Palestinian problem, there can be no just and lasting solution of the problem of the Middle East. However, this has not been sufficiently underscored in the past by the intemattonal community; It was only recently that world opinion really focused on the vital importance of the Palestinian problem. It is therefore in the light of such background facts that my delegation has studied with maximum care the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. 61. However, although we highly value the work done by the Committee, we are bound to state that a number of the recommendations contained in the report in the form of a programme designed to implement the rights of the Palestinian people are of a nature that would make them very difficult to implement, wither legally or politically. As has been pointed out by some representatives during our earlier debates, this conclusion was inevitable, because the mandate of the Committee was so limited that it was unable to take into account all the other elements and circumstances deriving from the three fundamental requirements for an over-all settlement which I mentioned earlier. The recommendations that would be so difficult to implement are included in the most important part of the report. We are not able to support them. 62. My delegation feels, however, that important aspects of the problem of Palestine, such as the rights of the Palestinian. people to return, to selfdetermina~ tion, independence and sovereignty, on which some 63. The current situation in the Middle East should not be allowed to stagnate. My delegation agrees with the suggestions made by the Committee in paragraph 56 of the report to the effect that, since the Security Council remains the only forum in which all parties to the conflict have been able to meet, this unique circumstance might be more actively utilized for a constructive move towards a settlement. We also share the hope expressed in the same paragraph that all .the parties concerned would show statesmanship and a genuine willingness to negotiate-necessary prerequisites for achieving .a comprehensive political settlement. 69. This problem, as we are only too well aware, has affected the entire life of the United Nations, and nothing could be more impressive than the number of discussions that have been devoted to it at all levels and the mass of decisions and resolutions which, year after year, have proposed partial or over-all solutions and have expressed, more or less felicitously, the subjects of concern to the international community and its difficult search for a balance between the brutality offnits accomplis which are a shock to its conscience and respect for the immutable principles that should guide its actions. 64. My delegation again urges that some positive steps be taken as soon as possible to facilitate every effort, including the resumption of the Geneva Conference with the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization in an attempt to achieve an early agreement among all the parties concerned on a just and lasting settlement. 70. Hence, this is not a new question or one that is unfamiliar to the members of the Council, and we are not going to recall once again the genesis and the _ development -of the problem. History will record who was responsible for the fact that the Palestinian people lost their homeland, fled their country and were despoiled of their property. It is in history, too, that we must seek the bases of a realistic analysis that can lead to a future settlement. For we cannot associate ourselves with those whose realism is selective, confined to 2,000 or 3,000 years ago or to the recent period of the past 30 years.

The next speaker is the representative of Algeria. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

This debate in the Security Council is in principle devoted to the consideration of the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. However, the background of the debate is the situation in the Middle East, which places the Palestinian problem in its true context and gives the present series of Council meetings its true significance. The interest that has been shown throughout the world in the Middle East crisis, the concern it arouses in international opinion and the passions it generates among all the protagonists make it totally unnecessary for the Non-Aligned Group to state again that it has.always attached importance to the problem and is observing its developments with attention. 71. Incredible as it may seem, the Members of this Organization took a very long time to recognize such an obvious fact. Some of those Members-which for quite a time determined the positions and decisions of our institutions-stubbornly persisted in regarding as the only basic elements of the crisis the right to the existence in Palestine of a Zionist entity and the settlement of the conflict between Israel and the neighbouring Arab States. The Palestinians, who in their eyes had lost even their personality and their identity as a people, became refugees who at best were the recipients of international charity. 67. Mr. President, we know the great attachment which your country, Guyana, has to the principles of non-alignment, and we appreciate the very praiseworthy part it is playing in our Group in strengthening our cohesion and inspiring us towards dynamism. In saying that, I wish to tell you, Sir, what a pleasure it is for me to welcome you here on behalf of my delegation, and what an honour it is for me personally to address the Council at a time when, by a coincidence that I regard as particularly fortunate, you, the Foreign Minister of Guyana, are its President. : 72. It was only through a long and slow process that it finally became clear to everyone that the real tragedy in the Middle East was the tragedy of the Palestinian people and that no true settlement of the Middle East crisis could be envisaged if it did not deal, above all, with the Palestinian problem itself. That idea may not please everyone, but it is because some have wished deliberately to ignore it that the’situation in the Middle East has remained usolved up to the present time, that it has become more and more complex and its dangers have spread to the entire region and even beyond, introducing an element of permanent tension into international relations. 68. Of course,.1 shall not go on with this statement before paying’s well-deserved tribute to the Com- 74. It is for that reason that we are pleased with the clear development which for several years has characterized the way in which the question of the Middle East has been considered in the General Assembly and the Security Council. The General Assembly recognized, in its resolution 3236 (XXIX), that the Palestinian people was a principal party in the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and reaffirmed the national rights of the Palestinian people to seif-determination, national independence and sovereignty, as well as the right of individual Palestinians to return to their homes and property. At its thirtieth session the Assembly complemented those decisions by establishing the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which, within the framework of the responsibilities entrusted to it, prepared the report which is before the Council today for its consideration. 75. One can easily see that that report has been very faithful to the resolutions of the Assembly and the Council relating to the various aspects of the Palestinian problem. It is clear indeed that it is not for lack of decisions or more or less ingenious suggestions that it has not been possible so far to initiate a settlement of that problem. The Committee has therefore done well to delve into that pile of often very pertinent documents for its proposals. The Committee furthermore invited all Member States and regional inter-. governmental organizations to participate in its work or to submit proposals and suggestions to it. It is therefore difficult to understand how the Committee could be accused of partiality on grounds of its composition or the results of its work when it was possible for any interested party to make known its views and to defend them in ,the course of the Committee’s meetings. 76. For our part, we believe that the recommendations of the Committee are a first step towards a much more realistic grasp of the question of the Middle East, and we are convinced that, if they are sincerely and speedily implemented, they will be able to bring about such a change of attitude that a global and definitive settlement will no longer appear to be unattainable. Nevertheless, we are not so naive as to think that it will 77. We are certain that the Council will attach full importance to the Committee’s report. The least it could do would be to single out among the Committee’s recommendations those decisions which it has already had the opportunity to adopt without‘ being able to ensure their implementation. The Council will note the practical orientation of those recommendations which, while referring to principles already adopted by the United Nations and confirmed by the Council itself, reveal above all a concern for their translation into reality and practical action. This concern should be underscored, since it is aimed at remedying one of the major weaknesses of our organization, which is frequently reproached for being incapable of implementing its decisions. It seems to us that it will be the duty of the Council to see to it that this attempt, which has several merits, does not prove vain and that this will not be another lost opportunity for the Council and our organization to act in keeping with their responsibilities and with the hopes that our peoples continue to place in them.

The next speaker is the representative of Oman, whom I invite to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

May I be allowed first, on behalf of my delegation and on iny own behalf, to express our profound regret and our sincere condolences to the delegation and Government of the United States upon the tragic death in Beirut of the Ambassador of the United States and his colleagues. SO. Sir, may I also take this occasion to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council. We are very pleased to see you occupying that seat, since Guyana has always played a very important role in the United Nations as a member of the Non-Aligned Group. Your presence here today, Mr. Minister, shows the importance which your country attaches to the Palestine question as well as to justice and international peace. There could be no better occasion than a time when J, <>LI are presiding 81. The Security Council has met on a number of occasions to debate the question of the Middle East, but this is the first time it has broached the problem which is the very starting point of the conflict. We are here today to reaffirm that there can be no just and lasting peace in the Middle East as long as Israel so arrogantly continues to ignore the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people by indulging in practices which are contrary to international law and the fourth Geneva Convention.3 Furthermore, the Israeli authorities continue to defy the very clear-cut resolutions of the Council and the General Assembly; they have expropriated the lands and property of the Palestinians, acquired land by force, uprooted the population and set up new Israeli settlements in its place. An innocent population has thus been subjected to humiliation and discrimination and refused the right to its own land. 82. However, in recent months we have seen that the Palestinian people is not willing passively to accept Israeli occupation or to see its rights ignored any longer. An important event took place when elections were held in the West Bank, and the result of those elections amply demonstrates that the Palestinians do not intend to give up either their freedom or their aspirations to independence and national sovereignty. They are aware of belonging to the Palestinian people and of living in part of Palestine; those are the facts of the case for the inhabitants of the West Bank. At the same time, those elections showed the attachment of the Palestinian people to their representative, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and the demonstations which took place in the occupied territories cannot be divorced from the struggle being waged outside by a much larger group of Palestinian people. 83. Israel must measure up to its responsibilities not only towards the population of the occupied territories but also towards all those Palestinians who have been forcibly displaced, who have the entirely legitimate desire to return to their lands, and who are entitled to recover their property and have their freedom and autonomy guaranteed. 84. We have before us the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and Ishould like to take this opportunity to thank its Chairman, Ambassador Fall of Senegal, as well as the other members of the Committee, who have done such an excellent and objective piece of work. I am certain that their task was a laborious one, and in our view this report reflects great honesty visci-vis all the parties involved, as well as a praiseworthy 85. The Committee’s report was based on Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. We have all read its contents, and I shall not go into detail; I shall deal only with the most important points. The Committee recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to return to its homeland in order to exercise its right to self-determination, independence and national sovereignty. The Committee recommends the participation, on an equal footing, of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which it regards as essential in the efforts being made under United Nations auspices to reach a solution to the Middle East problem. Finally, the Committee emphasizes the need for .a more important part to be played by our great organization in the search for a just and lasting solution. 86. The Council is apprised of the facts, and it has before it the Committee’s report. Now what it must do is to give serious study to this document, which represents a sound foundation for a just solution of the Palestinian problem. As requested in the report, the Council should take action and pay due attention to this problem in order to preserve international peace and security. It is essential that the full recognition of the national rights of the Palestinian people be obtained. The Arab world has already had occasion to express its viewpoint on this matter, and it is determined that these rights shall be restored. The world community itself is becoming increasingly aware of the fact that it is impossible to conceive of any solution of the Middle East problem which does not take account of the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people. Those rights can be secured only if the occupation of Arab territories is brought to an end. We demand that Israel immediately withdraw from the occupied territories. In so doing, it would demonstrate its good faith and would show that it really intended to seek peace. The Palestinian people, represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization, will continue its efforts to ensure that its rights are restored and that it can return to its homeland. 87. The right to self-determination of the Palestinian people must find its expression in Palestine, notwith standing Israeli objections, and it is the duty of the Council to ensure that this is’ achieved through the strict implementation of all the resolutions of the United Nations. The situation in the Middle East represents a constant threat to peace, and it is the duty of the Council to find a just and lasting solution. The exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is an integral part of a peaceful solution of the situation in that region because it is the absolute prerequisite for peace in that area. The Council should use all its influence and exert pressure on Israel to make it recognize this essential truth. 88. I would venture. to hope that the members of the Council, which bear the main responsibility for

The next speaker is the representative of Poland, whom I invite to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. President, in thanking you personally, and the other members of the Council for granting me this opportunity to speak before it on the important question on the Council’s agenda, I cannot fail to pay a tribute to Guyana’s statesmanlike and very efficient presidency of the Council in the month of June. Indeed, it has been a fitting beginning for the second decade of Guyana’s existence as an. independent State, one with which Poland maintains relations of friendship and cooperation. 91. May I also take this opportunity to tell Ambassador Sherer of the United States how shocked and sorry we were to learn of the tragic deaths of Ambassador Meloy and Counsellor Waring, who lost their lives in the line of duty. 92. Poland is not a newcomer to the world community which seeks with concerted voice to ensure the full and unhampered exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. In fact, in sponsoring General Assembly resolution 3376 (XXX), which established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, we proceeded on the assumption that our long-standing efforts and those of the entire socialist community, of which we are an inseparable part, have greatly added to the new political quality and the pressing urgency in recent years of the problem of Palestine. This new dimension of the problem has found its undisputed expression in our organization’s change of attitude towards the Palestinian question from a so-called humanitarian approach to one of political significance par excellence, a change which placed the Palestinian cause in a new political context. 93. We are happy to see that the last two years have witnessed a real awakening in the progressivelyminded segment of the United Nations membership with regard to the problem of Palestine. General Assembly resolution 3236 (XXIX), to which my country gave its unreserved support, represented an important step towards the realization of the fundamental goals of the people of Palestine. It was an historic achievement of both the United Nations and the Palestinian people. That same cause was served by the adoption of Genera1 Assembly resolution 3237 (XXIX), granting the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status in the United Nations, and thus allowing representatives of that organization, the sole representative of 94. Another milestone along the same road was the comprehensive debate on the Middle East conflict in the Security Council last January. The present debate and the report before the Council represent yet another breakthrough on the road to victory in the struggle for justice of the Palestinian people. 95. The problem we are discussing today is the product of a continued policy of aggression, intolerance and occupation of the Arab lands. As such, its political content shoud be viewed. .as being twodimensional First, the problem is part and parcel of the Middle East conflict, whose elimination would be an important contribution to the strengthening and universalization of detente; and; secondly, it is an example of the struggle for the. inalienable right to self-determination without external .interference and for the right to national independence’and sovereignty. This dual nature of the issue accounts for the fact that the Palestinian question is the core of the Middle East problem, which can be satisfactorily solved only .by a comprehensive political settlement, a settlement which must comprise three decisive elements, namely, withdrawal by Israel from all Arab territories occupied since 1967; safeguarding for the Palestinian people of all its inalienable and legitimate rights, including the right to establish its own independent State; and, securing peaceful and independent development, within their recognized and internationally guaranteed borders, for all countries of the region, without exception. 96. It is the considered view of the Government of Poland that the most appropriate forum in which to work out such a comprehensive settlement, based on the relevant decisions of the Security Council and the Genera1 Assembly, is the international machinery provided by the Geneva Peace Conference, with the participation of all interested parties, including full and equal participation by the representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a solution advocated by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and supported by a great number of States. , 97. The Polish delegation has been pleased to note that in submitting its report, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People took into consideration all the important political factors of the situation, basing itself on the resolutions of United Nations organs. Consequently, the Council has received a document which represents an important contribution to the settlement of the Palestinian problem and a basis for the Council’s reaffirmation of the inalienable rights of the Arab people of Palestine. “We shall continue to give our resolute support to the just demands of the Arab,nations to remove the results of aggression and peacefully settle the problems of the Middle East, with all the States of the region guaranteed full security and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian nation duly recognized.”

I should like to inform members of the Council that I have just received a letter from the representative of Cyprus in which he asks to be invited to participate in the discussion. Aecordingly, I propose, in accordance with the usual practice and with the consent of the Council, to invite the representative of Cyprus to participate in the discussion without the right to vote under the prov.isions of Article 31 of the Charter and rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Rossides (Cyprus) took the place reserveci for him at the side of the Council chamber.

My delegation would like to express its appreciation and gratitude to the representatives of Panama, Mauritania, Japan, Algeria, Oman and Poland for their expressions of condolence with regard to the deaths in Beirut of Ambassador Meloy and his two colleagues from the American Embassy there. The meeting rose at 5.45 p.m. Notes 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 sont en vente dans Its librairics et les agences dkpositaires du monde entier. Informez-vous aup& de votre libraire ou adressez-vous 1: Nations Unies. Section des ventes, New York ou Gensve. COMO CONSEGUlR PUBLICACIOhZS DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS Las publicaciones de las Nacioncs Unidas estin en venta en librerias y casas distribuidoras en todas partes del mundo. Cons&e a su librero o dirijase a: Naciones Unidas. Seccibn de Ventas, Nueva York o Ginebra. Litho in U&d Nations, New York ‘00300 83-60801-February 1985-2.200