S/PV.2124 Security Council

The first speaker is the representative of Iraq. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 1. Adoption of the agenda 2. The situation in the occupied Arab territories: Letter dated 23 February 1979 from the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/l31 15)

Mr. President, first I should like to congratulate you on the occasion of your assuming the presidency of the Security Council. I trust that we shall all benefit from your wisdom and experience during our deliberations. The meeting was called to order at 4.20 p.m. 5. The Iraqi delegation strongly supports Jordan’s request to the Security Council to consider the most ominous and accelerating erosion of the status of Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Arab territories in consequence of the Zionist occupation authorities’ systematic, relentless and deliberate policy and practice of settlement, colonization and despoilation of those territories, which constitute a grave threat to world peace and security. Adoption df the agenda The agenda was adopted. The situation in the occupied Arab territories: Letter dated 23 February 1979 from the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/13115) 6. The Israeli occupation forces have continued to ignore United Nations resolutions and to confiscate Palestinian territory in areas where the presence of Palestinians was considered to be illegal, in order to force the Palestinian Arabs to abandon their homes; and they have continued the demolition of hundreds of houses belonging to Palestinian Arabs. Moreover, the question of the torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners is one that cannot be emphasized enough. It is now an open secret that Tel Aviv is trying to acquire an arsenal of nuclear weapons. The refusal of the Zionist entity to sign the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is confirmation of this fact. The Security Council must not fail to bring these facts to the attention of world public opinion.

In accordance with the decisions taken at the 2123rd meeting, I invite the representatives of Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Somalia, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Yemen and Yugoslavia, as’well as the tepresentative of the Palestine Liberation Organization, to participate in the debate without the right to vote. At the invifatio? of the Pres$eift, Mr. Nuseibeh (Jordan), Mr. Hum (Israel) and Mr. Terzi (Palestine Liberation Organization) tookplaces at the ColinciltableandMr. Abde1 Meguid (Egyptj, Mr. .?aipal (India), Mr. Shemirani (Itan), Mr. Bafi (IraqJ, Mr. Tuirhi (Lebanon), Mr. Naik (Pakistan), h4r. Hussen (Sonitiiia), Mr. El-Choufi (Sytidn Arab Republic), &. Erdlp (T&k&y), Mr. AI-Haddad (Yemen) and &. Komatftta (Yugoslavia) took the places reserved for them at ihe sidt! of the Council Chamber. 7. Now the Ziohist authorities have launched a campaign to have Jerusalem rtcognited as t.heir capital. It must be emphasized that such a step would be in violation of General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. The I-Ioly City of Jerusalem is the heart of the Islamic world of 800 million people, and it is being struck by the

I wish to inform members of the Council that I have received letters from the repfesentatives of Mauritania and Senegal in which they ask to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the I 8. The Iraqi delegation views the situation with the most profound concern and disquiet. It is insufferable and totally unacceptable, inasmuch as it poses a serious threat to one of Islam’s foremost religious and historical legacies. Furthermore, it deprives the 800 million Islamic people of their inalienable legitimate rights to perform one of their pivotal religious functions, functions which they have been exercising for 1,400 years. -.

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

Sir, on behalf of the delegation of Pakistan, and on my own behalf, it gives me great 9. The purpose of the current Zionist aggressive policies pleasure to congratulate you on your assumption of the and practices in Jerusalem is to erase totally the Islamic presidency of the Council during the current month. and Arab legacy in the Holy City and itsenvirons, and to Nigeria, with which my own country has throughout squeeze out the indigenous citizens of Jerusalem-both enjoyed close and friendly relations has been in the van- Moslems and Christian Arabs. guard of the universal struggle against all forms of foreign domination, repression and discrimination. With 10. The Iraqi delegation views with the most profound your personal commitment to the cause of justice and concern the current ongoing process of emasculation and freedom my delegation fully shares the confidence,that colonization by the Zionist occupation authorities in under your able direction the Council will address itself in Jerusalem, and regards all such measures that have been a realistic and affirmative manner to responding to the taken so far or might be taken in the future as illegal and deteriorating situation in the Holy City of Jerusalem and in violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the in all the occupied Arab territories. Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,’ and also of the principles and precepts of 16. I should also like to express our appreciation to international law and United Nations resolutions. your predecessor, Ambassador Bishara of Kuwait; who presided over the Council’s deliberations during the last 11. Iraq vehemently opposes the Muslim world being month with exemplary skill and untiring effort. denied its inalienable religious and historical rights and entitlements in the Holy City of Jerusalem, in conse- 17. While addressing the Council on an issue which quence of Zionist occupation, and holds that the redemptouches the most cherished sensibilities of a large segment tion of Jerusalem can only be achieved through Zionist of mankind, we are profoundly and sadly conscious that forces’ immediate, complete and unconditional withdraw- Ambassador Jamil Baroody is no longer with us. In his al from Paiestine and all the occupied Arab territories death, the United Nations has lost one of its most outand the restoration of all the legitimate rights of the standing and dedicated representatives. Our deep condo- Palestinian people, including their inalienable right to lences go to his family and to the Government of Saudi return to their homes and properties, and to achieve Arabia. self-determination, national independence and sover- . . eignty. 18. This is not the first time that the question of the 12. The Iraqi delegation urges the Council to take Holy City of Jerusalem and the situation in the occupied prompt and effective action, including the applicatibn of Arab territories is being discussed in the United Nations. Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, to Ever since the six-day war of June 1967, the concern of ensure compliance with the Charter and resolutions on the international community to end Israeli occupation and the mistreatment of the Palestinian inhabitants has this most crucial subject, and to keep the situation and developments pertaining to Jerusalem under constant been extensively debated. General Assembly resolutions and close scrutiny, with a view to deciding what further 2253 (ES-V) and 2254 (ES-V) and Security Council resosteps should be taken to restore legitimacy and normality lutions 242 (1967), 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 271(1969) and to the Holy City, whose alienation would pose a serious 298 (1971) are a testimony to the continuing concern. threat to world peace and security. evinced by the international community towards the question of the, Holy City of Jerusalem and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. My country, along 13. The Iraqi delegation views the attempts which are with other fraternal Islamic States and all peace-loving now under way to go back to the so-called “Camp David” accords as not representing a realistic policy States, played a role in the deliberations leading to the because they would impose the policy of status quoon the adoption of these resolutions. Here I wish to refer specifically to resolutions 252 (1968) and 267 (1969), adopted at the initiative of Pakistan, which laid down the fundamen- ’ United Nations, Treury Series. vol. 75, p.287. tal principle that Jerusalem cannot be acquired and 2 ’ 19. The last; time the question of the Holy City of, Jerusalem came before the Council was in March 1976, when a draft resolution [S/12022] sponsored by Pakistan as a member of, the Council, along with Benin, Guyana, Panama and the.United Republic of Tanzania, called upon Israel to respect and uphold ,the inviolability of the Holy Places in Jerusalem under its occupation and desist from all other actions and policies designed to change the legal status of Jerusalem and to rescind measures already taken to that effect. As has been pointed out by previous speakers, the inability of the Council to adopt that draft resolution encouraged Israel to continue its policies of military annexation, colonization of the Holy City of Jerusalem and other occupied Arab territories and denial of the just and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. 20. I have considered it necessary to give a brief resume of the past discussions in the United Nations on the status of the Holy ,City of Jerusalem and the situation in the occupied Arab territories and Pakistan’s contribution to those debates, as a demonstration of the deep and continuing attachment of the Government and the people of Pakistan to these issues. Our participation in the present debate is thus a further reflection of our firm belief that durable peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved without Israel withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories, including the Holy City of Jerusalem and the restoration of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people. 23. The above actions constitute a clear and continuing threat to international peace and security and contribute to a serious worsening of the situation. The deteriorating situation in Jerusalem and the occupied Arab territories as a direct result of Israeli actions has made it imperative for the Security Council to discharge its responsibilities under the Charter and to take appropriate corrective and remedial action to reverse and arrest this potentially explosive situation. The minimum that the Council should decide on would be to accept and implement the three interim steps proposed by the representative of Jordan. 21. My friend and colleague, the representative of Jordan, has given a comprehensive account [2123rdmeeting] of the ominous and accelerating erosion of the status of the Holy City of Jerusalem and the plight of the Arab population in the occupied territories. His lucid and welldocumented account lays bare the essential elements of the disturbing situation. The graphic and detailed presen-’ tation made by the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization [ibid.] throws further light on Israeli designs on the Holy City of Jerusalem and the occupied Arab territories. Moreover, the Council also has before it a letter from the Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People [S/13132] which corroborates the testimony before the Council. These documents, as well as recent accounts by objective and impartial sources, reveal a consistent pattern of Israeli policies and practices of annexation and colonization. 24. That the situation in Jerusalem touches, indeed assaults, the most cherished sensibilities of millions of adherents of the three great religions around the globe is a political fact of paramount importance. Its importance cannot but submerge calculations of transient expediency. It is our firm conviction, as expressed in the Lahore Islamic Summit Declaration of February 1974, that the restoration of Jerusalem to Arab sovereignty remains a permanent and unchangeable prerequisite for a resolution of the Middle East conflict. The 42 Islamic States Members of the United Nations have, in a declaration adopted recently [1314J1 expressed their most profound concern and disquiet at the alarming situation in Jerusalem, which if allowed to continue would almost totally erase the whole Islamic and Arab legacy from the Holy City. The declaration regards all measures which have .been taken for the colonization of Jerusalem and other occupied Arab territories, and which might be taken in the future, as illegal and in violation of the 22. Previous speakers have already described these policies and practices in considerable detail. I would only outline some of the more ominous of these Israeli actions: first, the Holy City of Jerusalem has been expanded 15-fold through Israeli colonization and expansion, stretching from Bethlehem in the south to the town of Ramallah in the north, a distance of 40 kilometres-the Holy City has been deliberately reduced to a tiny enclave; secondly,. the demolition of the sacred historical sites in the old quarter of Jerusalem, and in particular the dig- 25. The Middle East is poised on the knifeedge of history. A just and lasting peace in the region has proved to be elusive. In my opening remarks I expressed the conviction that the Council would give a realistic and affirmative response to the deteriorating situation in the occupied Arab territories. What is indeed unrealistic is the assumption that Israel can continue to flout the dictates of justice, to defy world opinion and United Nations decisions, to suppress internal dissent and for ever hold at bay the Arab people, spurning and mistrusting their offers of a peaceful settlement of the conflict. The imperative of peace demands a total reversal of this unrealistic attitude. 26. The Government of Pakistan has been closely watching the progress of President Carter’s current peace initiative in the area. I need hardly reiterate that no lasting peace in the Middle East can be achieved without Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories, without the restoration of the Holy City of Jerusalem to Arab sovereignty, and without the restoration of the legitimate and national rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to establish a sovereign State of their own under the leadership of their sole representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

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

Mr. President, allow me to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for the current month and to wish you success in leading the Council’s deliberations. Furthermore, I shauld like to thank you and the other members of the Council for giving me the opportunity to participate in the discussions on this important question. 29. The situation in the Middle East continue to be serious as a consequence of the fact the key issues between the Arab States and Israel are still unresolved. 30. The problem that we are discussing today is one of those key problems which deserve the utmost attention of the international community. However, this ,problem is not new to the United Nations. The policies and practices of the Israeli authorities in the occupied Arab territories have for long been a subject of discussion and bitter criticism in various United Nations organs. We have adopted a number of resolutions on this question, the last of which was adopted by the General Assembly about three months ago [resolution 33/1138]. That resolution, which my country also joined in sponsoring, calls upon Israel, inter alia: ‘6 . . . to comply strictly with its international obligations in accordance with the principles of international law and the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative 31. However, there seems to be no sign’ that Israel intends to abide by those provisions. On the contrary, we are receiving every day through the mass media and other sources fresh news about the increasing number of Israeli settlements, demolition of houses and buildings, expropriation of land and property belonging to the Arab people, and measures calculated to change the institutional organization of the Holy Places. Many reports and news items indicate that such practices are being concentrated in and around the Holy City of Jerusalem, which is sacred to the Moslem world. Reported Israeli plans to transfer essential government offices, including those of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, to Fast Jerusalem and news about the pressures being exerted on diplomatic missions in Tel Aviv to do likewise leave little room for optimism as to the intentions of the Israeli Government. 32. The international community as a whole and the Muslim people in particular cannot remain indifferent to those developments which seem to be aiming at the ultimate annexation of the occupied territories, including Jerusalem, by gradual assimilation. 33. Such practices undoubtedly constitute a violation of the Charter and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, as well as the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and create a major obstacle to efforts within and outside the Organization to promote a solution in the Middle East. In this connexion, I should like to reiterate my Government’s view that the Israeli interpretation concerning the applicability of the provisions of the Geneva Convention to the occupied Arab and Palestinian territories is totally unacceptable and devoid of any legal basis. 34. Turkey, as a country situated in the area, is very seriously concerned in the peace and stability of the Middle East. It is our sincere desire to see the realization of a just, durable and comprehensible solution to this problem. Our views regarding the principles and fundamentals of such a solution, as have been expressed many times recently, are as follows: first, Israel should withdraw from the territories occupied since 1967; secondly, the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, including their right to establish their own State, should be recognized; thirdly, the independence, sovereignty and security ofthe recognized frontiers of all the countries of the region must be safeguarded; and, finally, in the long run negotiations for a just and lasting settlement must take place with the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the legitimate representative of the people of Palestine.

My delegation has followed with the same concern as everybody else in Latin America this protracted debate on the continuing state of friction which has been disrupting the Middle East. We now have before us the question raised by Jordan concerning the situation in Jerusalem and the Isaeli settlements in Arab territories. 41. For the reasons I have just stated, my country has always tried to adopt the most constructive and impartial approach to the problems of the Middle East, even though the Arab community is more deeply and broadly settled in my country than in any other part of Latin America. Like the Arab and Israeli peoples, we too have sought and worked for a positive and lasting peace in the Middle East. We know the areas of power and influence, of pitiless trade in armaments, which is not carried on by the small countries, but by big Powers, who profit from this trade in death, in a world in which two thirds of the human population drag out their lives in poverty. 37. We are greatly perturbed over the situation in that region. There are several reasons for our concern. Our concern is universalist, human and religious in nature. Aside from the material, economic and political interests which so inflame certain Powers, Bolivia has a tremendous universal and human interest in the situation in the Middle East. This interest is reflected in our relations and integration with the Arab and Jewish peoples, which, like all peoples of the world, found work and a home in Latin America, and particularly in Bolivia, which is a kind of unifying centre, the ethnic and geographical heart of South America. There they have become part of our general national culture, which is thus enriched by a tremendous human wealth from all parts of the world. They mix with and are accepted by us without any prejudices or reservations. 42. It is because we are convinced of the benefits of peace that we have, to the best of our ability, worked to the small extent we can at the international level to try to ensure that the Arab peoples and the Israeli nation can live together in peace. We have looked for methods to mediate the problem; often we have preferred to abstain in the voting purely with the aim of helping to achieve agreement, and also in order to avoid adding more fuelhowever little-to the flames of conflicting interests. 43. Resolution 242 (1967) is a veritable charter for peace in the Middle East. Its carefully worked-out balance was inspired by Latin America, particularly in the context of the General Assembly, before thedecision was taken in the Security Council. However, the provisions of that resolution still await implementation. 38. Since the nineteenth century Bolivia has been welcoming a steady flow of immigrants from Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and other Arab countries who have now become truly Bolivian and who live in all parts of my country. The Arab immigrants have now become “blood of our blood and flesh of our flesh”, as has been said in the past by a distinguished representative of Latin America in the General Assembly. 44. We srive to be impartial and we can in no way go against the principles which for us are firm and immutable, that is, we reject any predatory action. We are and always will be opposed to territorial conquest; we are and always will be opposed to the use of force, the violation of the principles of peaceful coexistence, military occupation, the violation of the rights of the downtrodden, any lack of respect for individuals and peoples who are poor, poor because they are dependent and not because they do not work; like my people, they too have worked for the world and they provided a bridge of gold and silver which served the mercantile leaders of Europe at a time when “Vale un Potosf’ was a common saying. That was the time when everything we had went towards the economic build-up of modern States, beginning with the industrial revolution-we even sold our tin for next to nothing during the Second World War, in our determination to co-operate in the common cause of the democracies. It is because of these convictions we have acquired through harsh and bitter experience that my delegations stands shoulder to shoulder with all the dependent peoples of the world who are struggling at different levels against the colonialist plundering of their national wealth, against racist humiliation, against territorial occupation. Our position is the same as theirs; we are against invasion in South-East Asia, in southern Africa, and we support the indigenous peoples who are struggling resolutely for their political liberation, as we did 39. At that most,difficult time when the Jewish people were being persecuted, it was once again Bolivia which, throughout the Second World War, opened its doors to the immmigration of those people at the time of Nazi persecution, inhuman excesses, racist prejudices and imperialist and colonialist domination, which we all thought had been crushed, in a great glow of universal sanity, when we signed the Charter of the Organization in 1945. 40. Thus, like all the rest of Latin America, Bolivia’s vigorous ancestral Latin stock was enriched, not only by people from Europe, from and through the motherland of Spain, but also by people and races from all other parts of the world. It is because of their universal and human condition that the people of Bolivia have adopted a universal approach. Our people, along with a strong indigenous strain, are a mixture of Spanish and other Europeans, but also of Arabs, of black people from Africa, of people from Asia and also of Jewish people, to such an extent that we may be called a race only if by what is meant by race is merely biological origin. Bolivians are simply people. That is why they are so concerned over any lack of respect shown for people anywhere in the world; and we know something about this through the white domi- 46. Peoples are always innocent. They are more often victims of the excesses of oligarchies, of plutocracies and vertical autocracies which profit by perpetuating underdevelopment through a dual action, both external and internal, in which colonialism has always been the evil driving force. Long-lasting dictatorships exhaust the people. They care little for justice or progress; they do not believe in maternity wards or in hospitals, but want to maintain the sruru~ quo. They laugh at the population explosion that has so frightened the Club of Rome, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Professor Meadows with his computers. 47. We have reasons for being deeply concerned over injustice and territorial occupation anywhere in the world, for we lost our outlet to the sea a century ago. It is with profound serenity and deep conviction that we reject the old, outmoded procedures,and we want to contribute to the enormous effort to eradicate them begun 34 years ago when we all agreed “to reafftrm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small”. 48. It is no less true, just because it is a popular saying, that one values health only when one becomes ill. One must be walled in in order to value an open view. And, similarly, one must have suffered from war more than once and know that it makes peoples poorer and more wretched to appreciate what peace means. One must have suffered from racism and colonialism to know how demeaning and disturbing they are, subjects which were movingly treated by the great humanist Fanon in his book The Wretched of the Earth.l My people will be among the wretched of the earth until it regains its outlet to the sea. We too are struggling for justice, freedom, equality among ail human beings, peace and understanding everywhere in the world. 49. The settlements in more than 125 Arab areas which have been denounced and the territorial occupation and other excesses so frequently mentioned here in detail are actions which my delegation can only rejecf purely on the basis of principle, to begin with. Hence, we-are opposed to the settlements which have been established to the detriment of the people of Palestine and we call for immediate action by the Security Council to spare Jerusalem from the devastations which are detrimental to the traditions of communities worthy of respect such as the Islamic and Christian-Catholic communities as well as the Jewish community itself. 2 New York, Grove Press, Inc., 1966. 51. The delegation of Bolivia will support any proposal aimed at preserving Jerusalem as the common heritage of mankind and prohibiting settlements detrimental to the rights of the Palestinian people, without prejudice, of course, to our advocacy of reciprocal practical guarantees for the peaceful national evolution of the people of Israel.

The next speaker is the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic. 1 invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. President, I should like to extend to you my delegation’s congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the Council and our wishes for your success in the fulfiiment of your responsibilities in the service of international peace and security. I should also like to salute the good ties between our two countries and express the hope that our friendly relations will continue to progress in the years to come. 54. Our expressions of esteem andappreciation also go to Ambassador Abdalla Bishara of Kuwait for his skilful and judicious performance as President of the Council last month. 55. No one in the Council is a stranger to the item before us today. Press coverage on the subject has been fairly consistent; it has been the object of numerous studies by independent bodies; the same subject has filled hundreds of pages of United Nations documents, Yet, in spite of all these testimonies, irrefutable documentation and expos6s on the unjust and inhumane situation in the occupied Arab territories, the Council finds itself still seized of the same problem. What is more alarming is the fact that, after all these years, the same problem confronts us today in even greater proportions, for the injustice has not been put to an end but continues unabated, the inhumane policies and practices against the Arab populations by the occupying Power have not been mitigated but escalated and the threat posed to world peace in general by the explosive situation in these occupied territories has never been so imminent or more real. 56. My brother and colleague Ambassador Hazem Nuseibeh of Jordan has exposed in detail the grave situation which has resulted from the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Other speakers have elaborated on the Israeli settlements in other areas [2123rdmeeting]. Needless to say, the fate of the Golan Heights under the 57. There are to date 27 Israeli settlements which have been installed in the Golan Heights, as is clearly illustrated in the map annexed to the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories.’ Sixteen of these settlements have been installed in Syrian villages, after the Israeli aggressors expelled their inhabitants, bulldozed their homes and usurped their land. These settlements, which have sprouted like mushrooms in sovereign Arab territory, did not arise overnight. They have been created; politically encouraged and logistically supported by the Zionist entity of Israel. The growth of settlements is part of a preconceived plan actively and systematically pursued by the Israeli Government as an intrinsic part of the Zionist ambition of expansion and annexation. 62. Much has been said about the historical and religious significance of the Holy City of Jerusalem to many peoples of many faiths. From this has emanated a loud round of condemnation of Israel’s occupation of Jerusalem and its illegal measures to alter Jerusalem’s legal status, geographical nature and demographic composition. We indeed associate ourselves with this international sentiment. At the same time, while we do not claim any religious significance for the Golan Heights, we cannot but condemn the Israeli aggressors to no less a degree for their occupation of the Golan Heights. For us, the sons and daughters of Syria, every inch of Syrian territory is sacred. For here we speak of the very essence of the sacred right of the Syrian people to national sovereignty and territorial integrity. And for that reason we shall spare nothing finally to liberate the Golan Heights from the oppressive occupation by Israel. And should the United Nations fail to exert its authority to end that occupation, it will have become an unwitting accomplice in this Zionist scheme of expansion and annexation, in flagrant violation of one of the Organization’s founding principles-that is, the inadmissibility of the acquisition of the territory of others by force. 58. On 30 November 1978 the Israeli newspaper Hu’urerz stated: “The Special Planning Section of Galilee, which is part of the International Jewish Agency, has made plans to settle 44,000 people in the Golan over the next five years. The plan included the establishment of 33 agricultural settlements.” 59. The Israeli Government is just as active as the International Jewish Agency. The Israeli newspaper Davur reported on 16 November 1978 that: 63. The Zionists have skilfully fabricated many other lame excuses to justify their implanting of settlements in Arab territory. They have claimed for themselves a right to a “homeland”, forgetting that their “homeland” was created at the cost of making another people stateless; they have cried for the right to protect this “homeland” and to “secure its borders” by implanting settlements which could function as “security outposts” against their “unfriendly” Arab neighbours. That is a shameless distortion of facts. Israel, with its unprecedented record of aggression and expansion, has no right to speak of the security of borders when it has been the consistent violator of every international boundary and armistice line in the region in the last three decades of its existence. How can these Zionists speak of the security of borders when their representatives make statements like that of Golda Meir, who in 1969 arrogantly declared that “wherever we settle, that is where our borders will be”. “A ministerial committee composed of the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and the Minister of Agriculture has decided to increase by 160 million Israeli pounds the budget allocated for development of the settlements in the Golan.” That article stated that this increase was necessary “to : increase the Jewish settlers in the Golan to a total of 10,000 Jews within the succeeding two to three years”. 60. As recently as 25 January 1979, the Governmentowned Israeli TV claimed that “the inhabitants of the occupied Golan are requesting Israeli citizenship” and alleged that those inhabitants were “asking that the territory be formally annexed, under Israeli rule”. Through lies and vicious propaganda the occupying forces already seem to be making their first attempt-a vain attemptto justify what seems to be the imminent formal annexation of the Golan Heights. 64. They have also tried, in vain, to justify their aggressive and expansionist conduct by seeking legality from the infamous Balfour Declaration, the Declaration which has been so aptly described as “the promise by him who does not own to him who does not deserve” and which by i now has been successfully challenged by many authorities : on international law. It is ludicrous to cite this Declaration as legal justification for Zionist expansionism. In fact, it would be rather interesting to hear what possible justification the Zionists might have for their incursion in the Golan; for nowhere is it stated in this Balfour Declaration that the Golan also was mandated to the Zionists by either God or some colonial country that had accorded to itself the role of a generous donor. It is clear that the Zionists were 61. In trying to cover up Israel’s premeditated schemes of expansion and annexation, the Zionist representatives have tried to deflect the authority of article 49 of the Geneva Convention, which states that “The occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its civilian population into the territory it occupies”. * They argue that since the West Bank was under “ilIega1” Jordanian rule, article 49 cannot apply, thereby justifying 3 A/33/356. 65. But what accounts for this Zionist madness in the Middle East? How can one explain the Zionists’ frenzied implantation of settlements, towards eventual annexation, and their insatiable appetite for more and more of the territories of other Arab peoples? Why have they, in spite of international condemnation, continued, and in fact escalated, their forms and methods of repression and suppression in the occupied Arab territories? It is high time that this seeming aberration on the part of Israel in its desire for more territory be defined in its real terms. The Zionist entity of Israel would not persist in its conduct if there were no actual interests of foreseen gains involved here. And the key factor lies in Israel’s economic interests, which it has accrued out of its occupation of Arab lands. As Defence Minister Moshe Dayan stated in 1972: “Economics is the fly-wheel that keeps Israel and the [occupied] areas connected”. 66. This parasitic economic desire of Israel for the occupied territories was also revealed by lXe Jerusalem Post when it stated in 1973 that Israel’s economic growth “is now vitally dependent on the productive resources of the territories” and that “restoration of the former borders would harm the economies of both Israel and the occupied territories”. 67. As early as 1972 the United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories accurately described the economic relationship between Israel and the occupied territories as a “classic pattern of colonial economic dominance and exploitation”.4 68. It is well known that the contradictions inherent in the Israeli economy have ripened and become acute in the last decade. Faced with a crisis of overproduction, a severe lack of vital natural resources and a need for more industrial workers, Israel has been driven to expand and acquire more territory in search of captive markets as a dumping ground for its surplus of finished goods, in search of vital natural resources, such as water sources, for the irrigation of the agricultural estates expropriated, and in search of sources of cheap labour which it could obtain from the dispossessed population of the territories occupied. 69. The report of the National Lawyers Guild of the United States on the “Treatment of Palestinians in Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza” describes Israel’s interest in the West Bank and Gaza as that of a captive market for their surplus goods-and I now quote from that report: “The West Bank and Gaza obtain 90 per cent of their imports from Israel.. . Since the start of the occupation, Israel has increased sixfold its exports to the West Bank and Gaza, making those territories Israel’s second largest export market, second only to the Uni- ’ A/8828, para. 77. 70. In order to establish their parasitic hold on the occupied territories, it becomes necessary for the Zionist occupiers to penetrate and disrupt the existing native economies in those territories by first depriving the people of their land ownership, thereby depriving them of their traditional means of livelihood. The dispossessed population is then left with no other choice but to seek employment in the industries of Israel, thus fulfilling Israel’s labour needs. They are then channelled to the lowest paid jobs or to jobs for which there are not enough Israelis, or which Israelis are unwilling to fill. The Guild’s report states: “From the West Bank and Gaza, Israel has succeeded in providing itself with a large force of Palestinian labour. The total number of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians working in Israel jumped from 9,000 in 1969 to 70,000 in 1974. Of the total number of Palestinian wage workers (119,000), fully 50 per cent worked inside Israel.” 71. Leaving only the most undesirable jobs for them, and deliberately placing them within the most unstable sector of the labour force, the Zionists have forced Palestinians to work under substandard or even slave-like conditions, discriminated against in job benefits such as vacations and medical insurance, subjected to onerous tax regulations and deprived of labour rights. In periods of economic downturn, the workers from the occupied territories suffer the most, for, being the most unstable and the least protected, they are also the most dispensable sector of the labour force. They are, as it has been described by economists, the last hired and the first tired. And as for those who are not drawn into the industries in Israel, they are left with no choice but to seek employment in the Israeli-installed agricultural economies that are thriving on the richness of the land which once was theirs. 72. It is here that the full dimensions of the inhumanity and the magnitude of the injustice of Israeli occupation are most clearly seen. It is this occupation, motivated by avaricious desires for economic exploitation, which constitutes the most brutal violation of the human rights of the population of the occupied territories. And it is these immense economic gains, not some religious quest to fulfil some biblical mandate, that explain the Zionists’ drive for annexation and expansion and their belligerent opposition to giving up these occupied areas. 73. Hence the many abuses and brutalities, the massive denial of democratic rights and the systematic use of torture on Palestinian political prisoners by the Israeli occupying forces are but the top of the iceberg. For the Zionists have no choice. If they are to accomplish their goal of occupation for economic exploitation, they have no choice but to rule by repression and enforced submission. They are therefore forced to resort to campaigns aimed at crushing the native population’s will and obliterating its national consciousness. 75. Probably the most dramatic illustration of this Zionist desperation was their insane destruction of the city of Quneitra. After the October 1973 war, Israel was compelled to withdraw from part of the occupied Arab territories. They withdrew, but not without leaving the imprint of their racist, aggressive and violent nature. They unleashed their ferocity by making sure that when they left the city would be left in rubble. In a wild frenzy, they bulldozed homes, ravaged crops and property, destroyed buildings, and in a matter of hours turned the city into a howling wilderness. What else coud this be, other than the height of mad desperation? 82. And again, this year, it is expected that a total of $2.3 billion in economic and military aid will be received by Israel. In addition, Israel hopes to receive the first of three United States contributions in the amount of %US 1 billion towards the cost of Israel’s withdrawal-should this ever occur-of its occupation forces in Sinai. 76. Indeed, the Zionists have reason to despair. Their ideology, which rests of the twin pillars of racism and colonial expansion, is anachronistic in a world in which and at a time when these beliefs are considered abhorrent and unacceptable. Yet they shut their eyes to this inevitability. They wish to turn back the clock and to drive humankind back to the time when invasions, plunder at the looting of other peoples’ lands was the name of the game. 83. Aside from this unlimited military and logistical support, the United States has also not been wanting in its political support of Israel. My brother and colleague, Mr. Nabil Elaraby, the representative of Egypt, has adequately reviewed [ibid.] the many efforts and recapitulated the stream of resolutions that various bodies of this intemational Organization have passed against Israel’s aggressive and racist activities. Yet those resolutions have been either rendered ineffective or, often, completely blocked by a lone hand raised by the representative of the United States in an abuse of the veto power and in pathetic patronage of the most isolated regime in the world today. 77. They have reason to despair because, no matter what brutalities they continue to impose on the Palestinian and Arab peoples, the present generation, as well as all future generations of Palestinian and Arab peoples, will continue to give their lives to deal the death blow and put zionism to rest. 78. They have reason to despair, for Zionist ideology, rotten at its core, and inherently bearing the seal of injustice and inhumanity, is doomed to fail in a world in which peoples now desire peace and cherish the ideals of freedom, independence and national sovereignty. 84. The United Nations cannot allow Israeli intransigence to continue riding roughshod over the will of the intemational community. Israel’s racist, aggressive and expansionist character stands in direct contravention to the founding aims and principles of the Organization which the Charter states are “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of. . . nations large and small” and “to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained”. 79. In asserting the ultimate downfall of Zionism, we cannot also underestimate the actual danger it -still poses to world peace today. Nor can we put out of our sight the savage consequences which Zionist aggression continues daily to inflict on the Palestinian and Arab people. For even if it faces death, zionism is still very much alive in its violence and brutality. And this brings up the question: what is it, then, which enables Zionism to continue with its activities? Who and what provides Israel with its life-support systems? 85. I must note that, in carrying out these noble purposes, the Organization has made significant strides in other areas of the world. Through decisive actions andviable measures, the Organization has succeeded in living up to its name and prestige as the guardian of peace and the independence of peoples. Yet, such decisiveness and steadfast defence of the Charter’s purposes and principles are clearly lacking in relation to the Middle East, and as a result the Organization finds itself still confronted with this same problem, which by 80. The evil and brutal activities of Zionism continue to this very day only because the major Power which breathes new life into zionism. By providing Israel with a pipeline of economic and military aid, the United States of America continues to isolate itself as an exception to the almost unanimous condemnation of Zionist Israel. This unrestricted aid has gone on escalating through the years in its 86. We do not lack for positive experiences in adopting this approach to other similar problems. The General Assembly, in its resolution 3379 (XXX), rightly equated zionism with racism. Our clear-cut stand and decisive moves in confronting the racist, exclusivist, oppressive and exploitative regime of South Africa have borne their initial fruits in the within sight liberation of Namibia. Through the application of sanctions as provided by Chapter VII of the Charter, the regime in Pretoria has been compelled, however begrudgingly, to comply with the wiil of the intemational community. What then should bar this same Council from moving with the same decisiveness in applying similar sanctions on the racist, aggressive, oppressive and exploitative regime at Tel Aviv? 87. The tragic plight of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples living under Israeli occupation can never become a belaboured story. The grave threat which the situation in the Middle East and occupied territories poses to world peace, in general, cannot be overstated. The serious challenge which Israeli intransigence poses to the aims and principles of the Charter of the United Nations cannot be over-emphasized. I should hope that, having been engaged in this question for the last 32 years, the Organization has not become numb to the harsh and brutal realities of Israeli occupation, and that none of us here have forgotten the *meaning of the simple but profound saying that “justice delayed is justice denied”.

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

Mr. President, on behaif of my delegation 1 should like to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of this august body. It is particularly gratifying to see a gifted diplomat who has had a distinguished record of leadership within various bodies of the United Nations, guiding the present crucial deliberations. Your predecessor, the representative of Kuwait, must also be congratulated for the excellent manner in which he conducted the equally crucial deliberations during last month’s session. 90. As members of the Council well know, this meeting marks the first opportunity for the Provisional Revolutionary and Islamic Government of Iran to address itself to vital issues confronting this world Organization. The Iranian people have made their voices heard throughout the world, 91. Few issues of international concern stir the hearts and souls of peace-loving and fair-minded men everywhere with the impact of the question of the illegal Israeli occupation and colonization of Jerusalem and other Arab and Palestinian territories. This fact is especially true in the case of the world’s 800 million Muslims, or nearly a third of the planet’s population, who share a direct and crucial stake in the outcome of this deteriorating and unbearable situation. 92. A brief and objective survey of the existing situation in Jerusalem and other occupied territories points quite clearly to a calculated and systematic process of desecration, emasculation and exploitation of the shrines, legacies and peoples of these lands by their Israeli occupiers. The occupied Holy City of Jerusalem has quite accurately been described as a city having been reduced to a tiny enclave, a ghetto, by Israeli colonization, accentuated by ever-increas: ing Israeli settlements that have encircled Jerusalem from all sides. 93. Furthermore, and much to our profound concern, Israel has proceeded to deface and demolish Islamic sites and shrines, with the Al-A&a Mosque and its adjacent structures representing primary cases in point. The illegal Israeli colonizers have augmented these actions by a planned economic exploitation and confinement of the occupied lands as well. The list of violations against the land and its inhabitants is both a lengthy and systematic one, as vividly demonstrated by the representatives of Jordan and the Palestinian Liberation Organization during the Council’s last meeting, and therefore we shall not dwell upon them in detail at this point. Suffice it to say that the ensuing result of the Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories has been the demographic,economic and psychological strangulation of the region. 94. My Government finds the. situation as it exists intolerable and an affront to the basic sense of decency of all peoples, above all to our Moslem brethren. We reiterate the view put forward earlier by the declaration of the Islamic States Members of the United Nations on the situation in Jerusalem and the occupied,Arab territories, to the effect that Israeli colonization measures constitute a blatant violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention and that they irrevocably run counter to the principles and precepts of intemational law and relevant United Nations resolutions, and, finally, that no means should be spared in order to “restore, by all means, the Islamic and Arab status of Jerusalem and to undo the despoliation which the Israeli occupation has carried out in the Holy City” [S/23145, annex. para. s]. 95. My Government believes that at the heart of any question dealing with the Middle East, including the deteriorating situation in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Arab territories, remains the imperative of the restorarion of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to selfdetermination and an independent State. The fact that .’ 96. The urgency and centrality that the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people holds for any meaningful, just and lasting solution to the Middle East question is now one of the main pillar of Iran’s foreign policy considerations. This policy is not only predicated on the religious and cultural affinity Iranians have always had for their Palestinian brothers, but is also a natural product of the successful Iranian revolution, whose main objectives were the elimination of oppression, colonization and imperialism. Our people have spoken with a firm and resounding voice in favour of human dignity and freedom. And therefore it is natural and fair that we seek for others the same dignities and freedoms that we have sought for ourselves. 99. My Government wishes to reaffirm its position that the Palestinian question is a fundamentally political issue and central to the entire Middle East problem. Full respect for, and realization of, the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to national independence and national sovereignty, are indispensable elements in the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. 100. The situation;as it presently exists, represents a grave threat to international peace and security. We, therefore, inconcert with the other 41 lslamie States Members of the United Nations, call upon the Security Council to take prompt and effective action in this regard, including the application of Chapter VII of the Charter, to ensure compliance with its own Charter and resolutions on this most grave and crucial issue. It is our sincere and earnest hope that this body, by dutifully performing its task, will contribute immeasurably to the restoration of peace and dignity to the region and its peoples. 97. The Palestinian people, who have for too long been victims of oppression and imperialism, are now-being afllicted with outright colonization by Israeli forces, a fact that is well documented by numerous accredited sources. Gross and systematic violations of Palestinian rights in the territories illegally occupied by Israel in 1967, compounded by an Israeli policy aimed at establishing permanent domination over those territories, are amply verified by various studies and surveys conducted both under and outside the auspices of the United Nations. One such report, conducted within the purview of the United Nations, is the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, dated 13 November 1978, and transmitted by the Secretary-General to Members of the General Assembly. In a detailed and thorough study, it points to the day-today violation of basic human rights by the Israeli occupiers as the most stark and evident characteristic of Israeli practices. The report also points to the fact that

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

Allow me to thank the Security Council for giving me the opportunity once again to explain the well-known positions of my country on the negative policy and practices of Israel in occupied Arab territories, which-as an inseparable part of the Middle East problem as a whole-constitute a serious obstacle to efforts aimed at reaching a just and durable solution and are a threat to international peace and security in the region and in the world at large. ‘I . . . the Government of Israel continues to adopt other measures that reflect its policy of annexation and settlement of the occupied territories [typified by Israel] expropriation of property by various methods, such as the arbitrary resort to reasons of military security for the purposes of the establishment of settlements, as has been the case in the El-Bireh area and several parts of the northern West Bank”.s 103. The problem on the agenda of the Council is not new. However, with the passage of time, it has acquired new dimensions and significance, particularly in recent years ever since the lirst portion of Arab land was occupied. For more than 30 years, the international community and the world Organization have been forced to deal with problems resulting from different forms of internationally prohibited acts in the occupied territories. At the same time as its permanent aggression against sovereign and independent Arab countries and the continued occupation and annexation of Arab territories, Israel continues-through the establishment of settlements and other acts of denationalization and the destruction of cultural wealth-to alter the geographic, ethnographic, economic, cultural and historical characteristics of the occupied territories. Such flagrant violation of norms of international law, of the provisions of The report goes on to point out exploitation of the natural resources of the occupied territories, such as that of the petroleum resources of the Sinai and that of the water-table of the northern West Bank. The letter dated 2 March 1979 from the Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People addressed to the President of the Security Council [S/231&J is the latest in a series of diverse reports outlining and documenting unabated Israeii actions aimed at establishing total domination of the occupied territories and thereby denying Palestinians their inalienable and legitimate rights. “A/33/356, para. 131. 104. United Nations documents and the numerous studies made by other independent bodies are full of the data on the serious problem of the uprooting of a whole people from its native land. Needless to say, such acts and all other acts perpetrated by the occupier or committed during the presence of occupying forces in occupied territories are null and void. That is an indisputable and irrefutable norm of classical and modern international law. The purpose of such acts is to consolidate occupation in the Middle East, to legalize expansionist objectives and to prevent the Palestinian people from realizing its right to self-determination and the establishment of its own State. In brief, what is involved is an attempt to confront the international community with a fait accompli and to render a just settlement of theMiddle East crisis impossible. This is not a new practice. It has been known since the days of colonization. however, it is also known that this policy failed in the past and that thereforeail the protagonists of such a policy should take that fact into account. 105. The indignation of the international community has been justly aroused by the special measures undertaken by the Israeli authorities in Jerusaiem, measures taking the form of attempts by the occupying authorities to render worthless and to destroy the cultural wealth of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples, a wealth which at the same time represents the common cultural heritage of mankind and is an irreplaceable source of information about remote civilizations. The purpose of such measures is to change, by force, the importance of the role played by Jerusalem in realizing the coexistence of peoples, religions and cultures in this specific, demographic and ethnic environment. The world Organization had precisely this need in mind when it established, and on several occasions confirmed, the special international status of Jerusalem. 106. A stop must be put to such Israeli activities if we are to ensure the prerequisites for just and comprehensive solution to the Middle East crisis, a solution that would take into account the interests of all the peoples and countries of the-region. if we fail to do that we wiil become the unwilling accomplices of the denationalization of the Palestinian homeland and of the destruction of the culture and traditions of the Palestinian people. 107. The international community does not accept the policy of faits accomplis just as it rejects the use of force in international relations, the usurpation of the legitimate A Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Hague Conventions and Declarations of 1899 and 1907 (New York, Oxford University Press, 19 15). They also ‘6 . . . considered that the Arab . . . inhabitants in the occupied territories are still deprived of fundamental rights and freedoms and that religious freedom is exposed to violations. Israel is strengthening its colonialist policy by reinforcing and increasing its settlements in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories to consolidate occupation, hinder the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and change the natural, political, cultural, religious and demographic conditions in these territories.“8 108. There is no doubt that these measures which pose a constant chahenge to the international community are aimed primarily at depriving the Palestinian people of its national rights. Their persistent implementation provides one more proof of the lack of readiness on the part of Israel to comply with the resolutions of the United Nations for a peaceful, just and lasting settlement of the Middle East crisis and postpones indefinitely the elimination of this acute focal point of crisis, thus increasing the danger of conflict. 109. Yugoslavia has been constantly exerting efforts for a peaceful political solution to the crisis in the Middle East, a solution that would suit the legitimate interests of all peoples and countries of the region on the basis of the three fundamental principles endorsed by the international community as a whole, namely : first, the complete withdrawal of Israel from all the territories occupied in the 1967 war; secondly, the realization of the national right of the Palestinian people to selfdetermination, including the right to establish its own State, with the Palestine Liberation Organization as its sole legitimate representative; and, thirdly, the right of all countries and peoples in the region to a secure and independent life and development. 110. In this regard we have always proceeded from the generally accepted premise that the Palestinian question is the core of the Middle East crisis and that it cannot be solved without the Palestinian people first reahzing its inalienable right to iive freely in its homeland, a tight enjoyed by all peoples of the world. That piatform is gaining an everlarger audience in the world and there is a growing resist- ‘A/33/206, annex I, para. 53. ‘Ibid.. para. 55. 117. It is an’utter disgrace to the United Nations and a grave insult to the memory of the victims of nazism and fascism-including 6 million of my people among them 1.5 million children-that Nazi terminology should be allowed to be revived in this building, or for that matter anywhere in our world. It is an utter disgrace to the Charter ofthe United Nations that those holding such views should be allowed to sit around this chamber table. 112. To conclude, we consider that the Security Council should take immediate and resolute action against all activities aimed at denationalization and at changing the cultural, historical and demographic character of all the occupied territories, including, of course, and above all, Jerusalem. First and foremost, we must proclaim all the measures taken so far to be null and void and prevent any further measures, begun or intended, in that sense. This action can be effective only if it is taken within the context of general efforts to achieve a just and lasting settlement of the Middle East problem based on the elimination of all the consequences of occupation and aggression. All such measures will have our full support. 118. Not content with access to the Organization and its agencies, the contemporary proponents of these base tactics have in recent years exploited the arithmetical majority at their disposal in the General Assembly. The .terrorist PLO has not only been granted observer status in the United Nations despite the obvious danger which it constitutes to international peace and security; it has also been accorded irregular privileges as well as opportunities to participate in the deliberations of various United Nations organs, in violation of the Charter and of the rules of procedure of the organs concerned.

The representative of Israel has asked to be allowed to speak in exercise of the right of reply. I call on him. 119. Not content with all that, the General Assembly has been induced to create the so-called Palestine Committee.g As is well known, that body functions at the beck and call of the PLO. Its recommendations, as set out in 1976, are nothing but a prescription for the dismantlement of Israel in stages-the PLO design translated into United Nations jargon, flying in the face of the elementary principles of international law in general and of the Charter in particular.

As I said in my statement last Friday [2123rd meeting], the current debate has been deliberately staged at this time with a view to impeding the ongoing peace efforts in the Middle East. For that reason I refrained from referring in substance to the gross distor-’ tions contained in the Jordanian statement. We shall comment on it and on other statements made here at a less inopportune moment, and we reserve our right to do so in due course. 120. Still not content with that manipulation of the United Nations, the Palestine Committee, through yet another abuse of the means and machinery of the United Nations system; steered through the General Assembly the establishment of a “Special Unit on Palestinian Rights” in the Secretariat. That Unit has been staffed in a way which patently vitiates the Secretariat’s integrity. Under the close supervision of the Palestine Committee, it acts in a way’which makes a mockery of the Secretariat’s independence. In the last year it has produced a series of pseudo-scientific studies which are designed to give wide currency to PLO propaganda under the enblem of the United Nations. 115. However, permit me to remark briefly here on the style employed by the Jordanian and other representatives in their statements. The Jordanian representatives repeatedly referred to my people as “vampires”, “vultures”, “malignant, out of control cancerous cells”, “bubonic plague”, and similar pearls of language taken straight out of the Nazi vocabulary and disturbingly reminiscent bf the terminology used in anti-Semitic propaganda throughout Nazi-infested Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. This is not particularly surprising-for he and his like, including the terrorist organization known as the PLO, had as their ideological and political mentor the infamous Haj Amin el-Husseini, head of the Palestine Arab Higher Committee in the 1920s and 193Os, who used anti-Jewish incitement as a weapon in his political arsenal and thus found a common language with the Nazi Fiihrer and his cohorts. He spent the war years iri Nazi Germany, actively collaborated with the Nazis in the mass extermination of European Jewry and was wanted as a war criminal by the Allies after the Second World War. Many of his Arab followers openly sympathized with and supported the Nazi war effort during the Second World War. 121. As though this were not enough, the facilities of the United Nations were grossly misused last November to house an exhibition mounted by the terrorist PLO under the auspices of the Palestine Committee. That exhibition was not merely a vulgar attack on a Member State; it also vilified the Bible, Judaism and universal values which have contributed so much to world civilization as a whole. 122. I am bound to sound a solemn note of warning. Manifestations of this kind are malignant. Their dangers 9Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. 116. By contrast, the Jewish people, one of the prime targets and the main victims of nazism, rallied to the cause 123. It so happens that tonight the Jewish people celebrates the festival of Purim, commemorating the downfall of Haman, who had the dubious distinction of being the first to plot the genocide of the Jewish people. That was some 2,500 years ago. The details are recorded in the book of Esther. Since then there have been numerous others of his ilk and the Jewish people hasovercome and outlived them all. 124. It cannot have escaped notice that the Palestine Committee was represented here by the mouthpiece of the “Tropical Gulag”, as it was so aptly dubbed in Le Munde of Paris on 16 February. The representative of Cuba, that well-known champion of non-intervention in internal affairs in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, is scarcely the best quaiified spokesman on conditions in Judaea, Samaria and the-Gaza district. 125. The representative of Lebanon also spoke in the deliberations on Friday last. Propriety would perhaps have dictated that he should bring the ongoing.occupation of his own country before the Council before leaping to participate in this debate. Instead of raising his vexatious complaints here, it is a pity that he did not join the large group of Lebanese Christians who came to pray in Jerusalem last Christmas. 126. Today, Iraq, Syria and Pfiistan, among others, joined the fray-a bizarre assortment and sorry crew, to say the least, when it comes to international peace and respect for human rights. 127. Iraq is a leader of the Arab rejectionist States which have committed themselves to doing everything within their power to subvert the peace process in the Middle East. Let me quote Iraq’s ambassador at New Delhi on the eve of the Baghdad Arab summit which it hosted. As reported by the Midlle East News Agency on 24 October 1978, he said that “Iraq does not accept the existence of a Zionist State in Palestine. . . the only solution is war”. 128. Intent on translating its aggressive and unlawful designs into practice, lraq has embarked on a course of intensive rearmament which has already m.ade it the most heavily armed country in the Middle East. Moreover, it has also taken the decision to go nuclear. Given all this, as well as the violent record of its regime, it is now.constituting one of the most serious threats to world peace. 129. Besides, it surely would be more appropriate for Iraq. to stop the brutal suppressionof the. Kurdish people, which has been so well documented by the International League for Human Rights that it needs no repetition here. That chilling account of executions, tortures and mass forcible deportations is known to all of us. 130. And what of Syria? How can Syria be so brazen as to appear here today with its recent record in Lebanon? In its illegal armed intervention in the Lebanese civil war, it r’uthup to 1 million Lebanese into refugees. This is not to mention Syria’s brutal oppression of its Christian minorities throughout the years and its unrelenting persecution of the 4,500 Jews whom it continues to hold hostage.in defiance of world opinion and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Indeed, only on 3 1 January, a large group of parliamentarians from the Council of Europe signed a declaration requesting member States to intervene on behalf of those helpless Jews being held in pawn by Syria. 131. I was intrigued to hear the representative of Pakistan appearing before the Council as anauthority on what is and what is not legal. I am certain that the vast majority of Council members would hardly regard amputation, flogging and stoning, all practised inpakistan, as falling within the bounds of any enlightened legal system. 132. Since coming to power on 5 July 1977, the military Government of Pakistan has made increasing use of marital law to curb political opposition. According to Amnesty International estimates, several thousand political prisoners are held in Pakistan. Amnesty’s 1978 report states that at least 160 of these prisoners have been flogged for engaging in peaceful political activities. On 29 June 1978, the International Human Rights Federation in Paris condemned the use of flogging as a punishment for political offences in Pakistan. In May 1977, Amnesty International published a special 92-page report on Pakistan, expressing deep concern at a wide variety of human rights violationsin that country. The representative of Pakistan may also wish to enlighten the Council on the treatment of the Bihari and Baluchi minorities in his country. He may further wish to enlighten us on his country’s record in what is now Bangladesh. The representative of Bangladesh will doubtless bear him out on that. These credentials, of course, make him extremely well qualified to pontificate in the Council.

I call on the representative of Jordan, who has asked to speak in exercise of the right of reply.

I shall try to be as brief as I can. I wish to assure the members that in replying to the representative of Israel it is much more out of pity than any other consideration. The representative of Israel is trying to defend the impossible-the unquestionably indefensible, defiant and lawless policies, practices and designs of ,an IsraeliGovernment turned berserk and totally oblivious of the norms and rules of international law, decency, United Nations resolutions and conventions, let alone any sense of proportion, in relating to the fundamental concerns of the entire world. 135. The representative of Israel is indeed in a very tight comer-in an untenable situation-when he attempts by diversionary and ill-tempered remarks to answer the crux.of the complaint before the Council. To begin with, I should like to dispute the right of the representative of Israel to speak as a Semite. He is notga Semite. We, the victims, are the Semites who are being victimized. Secondly, he has “Is not Jerusalem the goal of this long journey on the path to liberty in which we are all engaged together? 136. The representative of Israel spoke about the great war effort which his people made. What war effort, may I ask? 1 remember that in 1943 and 1944they requested the British Government to form what they cal1ed.a Jewish brigade. That Jewish brigade had clear instructions to prepare itself for the oncoming onslaught on the totally disarmed Palestinians. When the moment came, they went on an excursion to Italy just to see what war looked like. They came back and showed us how it looked. “Are we not, Moslems and Christians alike, dedicated to Jerusalem, in hope, determination and sacrifice? How can we forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, when thou art humanity’s Mehraje to God, and the symbol of the spiritual values that descended upon us from His holy inspiration? “In thee, 0 Jerusalem, Moslems and Christians . . ., in their cQmmon yearning for eternal peace, find, each according to this religion, a sacred community in their obedience to God and their cQncern for man. 137. Everybody knows the efforts made by the Arab peoples during the First World War and the Second World War. Every family in Palestine had a son working in one of the British military camps in the war effort. The entire Jordanian army was in every single spot of Palestine working for the war effort to annihilate the Fascists. Now the representative of Israel tells us that we did not fight in that war. We did fight during the First World War and the Second World War. “To your esteemed conference we have come from the ancient churches of the East”-going back to 2,000 years-prompted by the spirit of friendship and amity which has bound us to you, generation after generation. For, by God’s mercy and providence, there has developped in our countries more than a common humanity: a oneness that cannot be destroyed. Hence, we are conscious that it is our destiny to carry to the Christian world abroad the message of Palestine, to kindle its sacred tire wherever it is fading, voicing this message loudest where people deafen their ears or close their eyes to its reality and truth. 138. The third point mentioned by the representative of Israel was terrorism. Who introduced terrorism in our part of the world? I have seen it with my own eyes as long ago as 1945. I still remember the mutilated body of a Mr. Walsh, who was in charge of supplies for the war effort in the entire Middle East, when the King David Hotel was blown up, resulting in 120 fatalities-men and women who were employees of the Government. I saw his body catapulted from the King David Hotel to a wall of the YMCA opposite the street almost 150 metres away. Who was responsible for that? Begin-his master’s voice. I saw the remnants of the village of Deir Yassin-a score of little children; 250 men, women and children were literally butchered in cold blood. The children paraded in Jaffa Road and Zion Square in order to show their fellow men and wQmen how brave they were. We took those shaken children in and house them, and we knew the gruesome story of the terrorism they had suffered. I could go on forever mentioning the record of Israeli terrorism, which uprooted the indigenous Palestinian people from their homeland. “Whence the great honour that we have asked for: to speak from the rostrum of this very great conference to the Christians of the world and to the Moslems as well, proclaiming that Jerusalem is their pride and glory and that once delivered by rightful struggle this Holy City Qf God will be the source of the virtues of the new man who will, in Qur homeland, stand against the injustices from which we have all suffered. “You will allow me at this juncture to salute His Holiness Pope Paul VI for his constant cQncem about Jerusalem, his indefatigable struggle against Judaizatian and his insistence on its remaining the City of Faith and Peace. For then will Jerusalem appear again in its glorious light, giving a new life to the oppressed who, through their sufferings, have dreamed of it as the unique symbol of perfection and their ideals- 139. Our part of the world has always been tolerant, peaceful, just and decent. When I mentioned the fact that 700 to 800 million Moslems had been denied theirinalienable right to pray in Holy Jerusalem, I of course took it for granted that they are 20 to 30 million Christian Arabs who are equally denied their right to pray in the churches of our Holy City. What is the use of these churches and mosques if they become museums, as the Israelis would have them by taking a monolithic whole of the Holy City of Jerusalem? “Need we say how nostalgic we all are for this particular beauty and nobility of Jerusalem, which emanated from a holiness that no other city has ever had, the holiness of the Word which was given her and which she has always sought-a holiness which had been the blessed custody of her Arab inhabitants*‘-we are called Palestinian Arabs today, but we are the amalgam ofall the races that have lived in Palestine from time immemorial- “who are now subjected to tyranny and many of whom have been forced to emigrate from the most beloved City?‘- and tens of thousands of Christian citizens of Jerusalem, as well as tens of thousands of Moslems, have had to leave their Holy City in which they had lived for literally thousands of years. 140. Last Friday my colleague Ambassador TuCni, for whom I have the highest respect, read out excerpts from an address which the Patriarch of the Antioch Orthodox Church-the oldest church in the whole of the Middle East-gave at the Lahore Islamic summit conference. With “The continuity of the tradition which the Palestinians have kept as a cherished trust is an imperativecall-a call for a Jerusalem delivered, which will be again the home of its people. For to us the preservation of stones, be they sacred shrines, cannot be more important than the living presence of people”- who constitute Jerusalem, for what is the use of churches, mosques and synagogues without the living souls of people who are their constituents? “Such, in our understanding, is the Palestinian character of Jerusaiem, a human image, both national and universal, a call upon all believersto meet in the free and tolerant pursuit of truth. “To us in particular, the significance of the Holy Places has acquired its plenitude by the fact that throughout 141. I could go on and on reading this message, but I shall turn now to the representative of Israel and remind him of this: never in our history have the Arabs or the Moslems persecuted the Jews. In fact, when they weie persecuted, they found their only abode in the Islamic world, as he very well knows. We gave them respect and equality, because we regard them as brethren in religion. But when it comes to the Israelis wanting to snuff out our life, to destroy our existence in our Holy Land, then we say: no; we shall continue to struggle until we are able to go back to our ancestral home. The meeting rose at 6.45 p.m. HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIOKS PCBLJCATIONS United Nations publications may be obtained from bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Consuit 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 les librairies et les agences d&osltaires du mondc entier. Informer-vous aup& de votre libraire ou adresser-vous R Nations Unies. ,Sction des ventes. New York ou Ceneve. KAJ~ ~l~.lJ’SJil’b Ji3,‘4AHJiR OlTAHH 3AUNJf OG%E.lJfHEHJfJ~lS HAUJiR COMO COSSEGUIR PJe!BLlCAC~ONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS Las publicaciones de las Nariones Unidaa estin en venta en hbrerias p casas distribuidoras en todas partes de1 mundo. Consulle a so lihrero o dirijase a’ Naciones Unidas. Serri6n de Ventas. NUC\R York o Ginehra Lirho in United Nations, New York 00400 19-10062-October 1982-2,250