S/PV.2162 Security Council

I wish to draw the attention of the members of the Council to document S/13514, which contains the text of a draft resolution sponsored by Senegal. 4. The first speaker is the Chairman of the Comettee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and representative of Senegal. I now call on him. 5. ‘Mr. FALL (Senegal) (Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights Of the Palestinian People) (interpretationfiom French): I have been invited to participate in the Council’s discussion in my dual capacity as Chairman of .the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and as representative of Senegal to introduce a draft resolution on the question now being considered by the Council [S/23514. This draft, which is sober in form and prudent in content contains no provisions that are contrary to the Charter or to United Nations resolutions. It recalls principles on which there alnady exists an international consensus. Further, it accords with General Assembly resolution 32/40 A which urged the Council to take a decision on the recommendations endorsed by the Assembly in its resolution 31120. 6. In preparing the draft resolution, our Committee even agreed that the wording used by the General Assembly with regard to the representation of the Palestinian people and their right to an independent State should be somewhat amended so as to win the support of those who said they, 7. The Committee will not push its concern ror concilia-. tion to the extent of going counter to its mandate. In the past, we showed our goodwill by agreeing, in October 1977, that the debate on the question of Palestine should be postponed. We also agreed, on 30 July 1979, to a further postponement of the debate. But that attitude has not always been reciprocated. Certain members of the Security Council have refused and continue to refuse any cooperation with the Committee on the pretext that they did not vote in favour of the resolution which set up that body. We have always denounced that attitude of boycott, which is not only contrary to the principles of the Charter but which cannot be regarded as showing a real desire to work constructively for peace 8. How can it be ihought for a moment that someone is working positively for peace when he refuses to hold discussions with a Committee set up by the General Assembly and whose recommendations were adopted by that same Assembly? I know .full well that there is a trend to consider that resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly do not form, a binding source of law for Member States. But here people forget that the legal basis for the binding character of Assembly resolutions is the fact that the Charter is a multilateral treaty which all the parties have solemnly committed themselves to respect and that the compulsory nature of the resolutions and decisions of the Assembly is conferred on them by the provisions of the Charter on which they are founded. 9. That idea, in the present case, is clearly evident if we consider that the decision which was at the core of the Middle East crisis is precisely a resolution of the General Assembly, resolution 181 (XI) of 29 November 1947, on the partition of Palestine under British Mandate into two distinct territorial entities, one Arab and the other Jewish. To say that Assembly resolutions lack any obligatory character is to deny the very legal foundation of the existence of the State of Israel. 10. The draft resolution which I have the honour to submit is, as I have already said, a very simple draft. There is nothing new in it. The preamble consists of seven paragraphs which I could subdivide into three sections. The first two paragraphs state‘what is happening in the Security Council: the Council has been convened at the request of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and it has heard the parties concerned, including the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The second section, containing three paragraphs, recalls ourconcern which is also that of the Council: being convinced that the question of Palestine is the core of the Middle East con&t, we reaffirm the urgent need to establish a just and lasting peace through a comprehensive settlement based on full respect for the principles and purposes of the Charter and we express the 11. I come now to the operative part of the draft, which contains two paragraphs. Paragraph 1, which is the essential. paragraph, is divided into two subparagraphs and recalls the principles which have been adopted by the United Nations regarding the question of Palestine. Paragraph 1 (a) affirms that the Palestinian people should be enabled to exercise their inalienable right to selfdetermination, including the right to establish, if they so wish, an independent State in Palestine, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the relevant resolutions of the Security Council; paragraph 1 (6) atErms the right of the Palestinian refugees wishing to return to their home to do so and the right of those choosing not to return to receive compensation for their property. 12. I have read in the press that, in a desire for compromise and to ease the way for certain States to vote for the draft, we omitted any mention of a “Palestinian State”. That is true. We used anotherformula: the phrase “national independence and sovereignty in Palestine”. If that formula is’ acceptable to others, we would agree that it is theformula that should be adopted. 13. Finally, operative paragraph 2, which is also the last paragraph of our draft resolution, decides that the provisions contained in paragraph 1, that is to say, the paragraph which speaks of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and their right to return should be taken fully into account in all international efforts and conferences organized within the framework of the United Nations for the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. We are not, then, reopening any issue. We are speaking about negotiations undertaken within the framework of the United Nations, and since the Committee is a creation of the United Nations, I do not believe we can be reproached for doing so. 19. We are meeting today to resume our deliberations on one of the greatest tragedies and injustices that has befallen ’ any people in the contemporary world. We have bee# seeking redress for the dispersed and oppressed Palestinian people and the redemption of their inalienable rights for three” successive decades, but-tragically-to no avail. “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.*’ 15. Before concluding my statement, I should like, on behalf of the Committee and on my own personal behalf, to pay a genuine tribute to the current President of the Council, Ambassador Young, for his courage, his honesty, and the sense of realism with which he fulfils his functions; for it is obvious that the President of the Council has the duty to consult all the parties concerned, and particularly those participating in the debate on the issues before it. That is the Council’s practice, and it is the Committee’s wish that it be complied with in a non-selective manner. The Committee would like to assure you, Mr. President, that whatever decision your Government may take with regard to the vote on our draft resolution, you will always retain the esteem, admiration and respect of all its members. 20. The Palestinian people realize more than ever before that they have been the systematic victims of broken promises, unfulfilled resolutions and of hopes have been blasted. A dark shadow of deep frustration has settled upon them, and they have increasingly been left with no altemative but to take direct action, in which they are daily bending body and soul, against all conceivable odds, in order to lay their just cause before the conscience of humanity. Some people look superficially at the effects, without analysing the underlying cause, which is no less than the human struggle for sheer survival. Their struggle goes beyond a restoration of human rights and dignity; it goes beyond a striving for equality. It is a costly struggle for sheer survival and for the elementary and inalienable right to return to their ancestral homeland in conditions of human dignity, equal justice and self-determination.

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

As this is my first appearance before the Security Council under your wise and dedicated stewardship, may I express, Mr. President, on behalf of my Government and myself, the profound respect in which we hold you and the appreciation and fraternal feelings we have for you, feelings that are, I am sure, shared in equal measure by virtually all of the permanent representatives of the 150 States Members of the community of nations. As I extend the most sincere congratulations to you as our singularly distinguished President for the month of August, I am confident that the work of the Council will be .carried out with distinction. 18. It is with a sense of deep disappointment that we learn that you have chosen to relinquish your post as Ambassador of the United States of America to the United Nations in circumstances that have surprised all of us acutely. You can, however, be assured that during your relatively short time at the United Nations, you have left a profound imprint upon this universal community of nations that will remain far beyond your 3O-month tour of duty. Your dedication to the moral and eternal laws that your high office demands; your sincerity, candidness and the human feeling which you have never forsaken in grappling with some of the most intricate international issues, have all been an exhilarating breath of fresh air, galvanizing an increasingly choked, conniving and unhealthy conventional diplomacy which had been creeping in and corroding whatever effectiveness the world body may have had and which is rightly its due. You have conveyed an image of your great country befitting the great values upon which it was originally founded. Although we deeply regret your impending departure and regard it as a grievous loss to the United Nations system of dialogue rather than mono- 21. I do not believe I need elaborate on these self-evident truths, for they concern the common heritage of mankind. From the Palestinian people’s point of view and, I have no doubt, from the point of view of all decent, peace-loving people everywhere, the real issue is this: -First, is Israel interested in and ready for a just and lasting peace? Or is its ultimate goal and penchant openended territorial acquisition and expansion? -Secondly, is Israel ready and willing to live and let live, in which case the indigenous Palestinian people, who have uninterruptedly inhabited the land from time immemorial, would have restored to them that most elemental right to live in dignity and freedom alongside their Israeli neighbours? -Thirdly, the Palestinian people, represented by the Palestine Liberation Organimtion, have categorically expressed their option for peace, and on terms which are truly rock-bottom, as judged in the light of their natural and historical entitlement, as well as of the valid United Nations resolutions, in accordance with which Israel was admitted to membership in the United Nations after pledging solemnly to implement those resolutions in good faith. 22. Every time the Palestinian question comes to the fore, . the Israeli occupiers, like the expert jugglers they are, produce from their rich Pandora’s box a multitude of side issues, so as to avoid confronting the moment of truth and of decision-making. Is that the,result of a guilty conscience or of unbridled greed? It is both, notwithstanding their claim and the undiscerning claim of their supporters that it is Israel’s survival which they are concerned about. 24. And supposing, for argument’s sake, that they strive to occupy half or all of the Middle East, would those blind supporters of Israel continue to base their argument on the absurd thesis of concern for the survival of Israel? Would those committed to Israel’s survival connive at such expansionism in the name of Israel’s survival? 25. That is colonialism, imperialism, fascism and racism, as glaring as sunshine at midday in summer, and I hope the Council will understand me when I state that I a? not just namecalling or using epithets, I am telling the brutal truth. 26. The only legal and valid framework for a just and legitimate settlement are General Assembly resolutions 18 1 (II), on the establishment of a Palestinian State and of an Israeli State within secure, defined and recognized boundaries, and 194 (III), on the right of the Palest&an refugees to return to their homeland and live in peace with their neighbours, and Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), which are general formulations complementary to the other valid resolutions. If the parties directly concerned in the conflict agree or disagree about altering or amending the existing legal framework through negotiation and mutual agreement, it is their right and prerogative to do so. The United Nations can subsequently take cognizance of any mutually agreed upon legal framework and, in its discretion, decide what course of action to take. 27. After the decades in exile and more than 12 years of occupation and colonization, there tire people who want the Palestinian people to wait, td give more time for the powers that be to act. “History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture. But groups are more immoral than individuals.*’ 28. We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed< “Wait.” This “wait” has always meant “never*‘. I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of life under oppressive occupation and exile to say “wait”. When you are forever fighting a degrading sense of being “nobody”, then you understand why we find it dillicult to wait. 29. There are people who prefer a negative peace, which is the absence of tension and conflict, to a positive peace, which is the presence of justice. There are those who constantly say “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”. ThM are those who can paternalistically feel that they can set the time-table for other people’s freedom, who live by the myth of time and constantly advise waiting until a “more bnvenient season-. The shallow understanding of peopA of goodwill is more frustrating than no understanding from 31. The representative of Israel, Mr. Blum, has, as the Council will have observed, pioneered a new technique in dealing with the Security Council. Whenever a question pertaining to the Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories is discussed and, God forbid, the Council ventures into the forbidden field of discussing the inalienabIe rights of a dispossessed and oppressed people, the Israeli representative at the instructions of his Government, makes two exalted appearances: the fast foi an oration at the outset to inform the Council of hi displeasure of its being misguided enough-misguided from vile and intrigue-laden quarters-to assent to a debate; the second for an&her oration-or is it a soliloquy?duly performed at the conclusion of the debate, admonishing the Council and those beyond for their hostility to Israel, as exemplified by a vote against it. 32. What happens in the interim, as the Council listens for hours and days on end to arguments as to the merits of the case, is a travesty deriving from Israel’s self-appointed righteousness, a travesty from which the Council must refrain.. For after 12 years of unmitigated and unrestrained military governance, any opposition, even by the highest executive organ in the world, is sinful and intolerable: that is the vain arrogance of lawless power when it peaks--or, more aptly, when it sinks to rock-bottom. 33. But that is only a partial explanation of a psychological aberration and it explains only in part Israel’s attitude towards the Security Council and the United Nations as a whole. For Israel must surely be fully aware that even if’ the world were to revert to a jungle environment, as Israel wants it to do, Israel is not the strongest of beasts. We must therefore look for a more calculated explanation; such an explanation would certainly explain a great deal-indeed, it would explain all. The Council must take full, timely and official cognizance of that explanation. 34. The stark truth is that many years ago Israel took an e irrevocable decision to colonize and annex the occupied territories,’ particularly the Palestinian territories, even though the nearly total colonization of the Syrian,Golan Heights is to be regarded as a windfall profit. 35. Israel decided irrevocably not to restore any of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people but, on the contrary, to pursue a policy of systematic despoliation and cblonization of the lands conquered in 1967 and to strangulate the remaining inhabitants to the point where the Palestinians’ only option is to fade away-or to be banished. ‘A Letter From Birmingham City Jail, Philadelphia, American Friends Service Committee, 1963. 37. When Begin’s Liid Party took power, a new strategy was adopted. Rationally, it must have been sparked by the devastating evidence on the ground which was impossible to hide or refute. That evidence was subsequently verified by a Security Council commission which established that approximately 27 per cent of the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaxa had been effectively devoured, that the major water resources had been placed under Israeli usage and control, and that substantial numbers of Israeli settlers had already sunk roots. Further, Begin and his Party make no secret of the fact that their official policy is one of total annexation of the whole of Palestine, with a temporary period of transition to allow the remaining Palestinian inhabitants to consider their options within a framework of eventual and assured exodus or natural attrition. 38. The representative of Israel is perforce constrained in’ what he can or cannot say, hi only option being to enter a plea of not guilty, on the totally false and unacceptable &ii of heavenly dispensation through Abraham; even though genetically the Palestinian Arabs and many oriental Jewsbut not the eastern or western European Jews-are the genuine descendants of Abraham through Ishmael. ‘. 39. The Security Council, confronted with the ugly reality of Israel’s self-indictment, has reached a decisive tumingpoint at which it must take a categorical stand. Will the Council acquiesce by inaction in the national obliteration of the Palestinian people by means of open aggression and unbridled force? Or will it at long last recognixethe inalienable right of the Palestinian people to the restorationof their homeland, which is the birthright of every people? 40. Words and resolutions do not change the situation one iota. Imploring and deploring, even by the Secmity Council, have disastrously lost their efficacy. Any resolution must henceforth be action-oriented. Israel must be told in no 41. If the will and responsibilities which devolve upon the Security Council were to be thwarted by timidity in the face of an unconscionable war to eradicate the Palestinian people, then the only alternative course of action open to the United Nations would be to convene a “uniting for peace” special session of the General Assembly to deal with Israel’s ruthless determination to perpetuate the dispersion and fragmentation of the Palestinian people. It is our earnest hope that the Council will take positive action which would render. unnecessary action through the concerted will of the overwhelming majority of mankind as represented in the General Assembly. 42. Mr. Blum chose yesterday, during hii’condescending presence, to malign Jordan for having, in his words, fired the first shot. Which first shot he meant, I do not know. If he meant that Jordan was in the forefront in irrevocably rejecting the Camp David accords pertaining to the enslavement of the Palestinian people, then he was right. It is a fact that we accept with pride and humility, because it was inspired by our manifest destiny to ward off thedemise of our closest kin and Pal&tinian brethren. Besides, there are 1.25 million Palestinian refugees, those displaced and others residing in Jordan, who are deeply knowledgeable as to exactly what is happening, as to what is right and wrong, as to what is just and unjust and as to whether it .is a solution or means their liquidation and their non-redemption. They need no prodding from anyone. For it is the disposition of their lands and properties and their future that is being ordained. They look across the River Jordan with an ever-deepening sense of desperation, and they know all too well that the accords ‘have sealed their fate and have ordained their continued and excruciating exile and dispossession everlastingly-if the accords have their ‘way-but only over their dead bodies. They cannot be fooled for they know what they do and say, while others either do not know or do not wish to know or care about the devastating impact upon the victims of their manipulations. 43. If Mr. Blum was registering his discomfort at the devastating revelations that had been made as a result of a Jordanian complaint before the Council, then I can very well understand why in his unhappiness he singled out Jordan for being instrumental in a process, which had been established by a Security Council commission, and which shows that Israel has so far devoured 27 per cent of tiny Arab Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as almost the whole of the Golan Heights-and that process is” continuing. 44. The complaint-I. solemnly assure the Council-has absolutely nothing to do with what was going on elsewhere as far as the timing was concerned. It was prompted by an alarming acceleration of the Israeli colonization of the occupied territories which the people of Jordan were reading about with consternation in their daily papers or, for that matter, in Israeli daily papers and challenging reports, day in and day out, let alone in our own open official reports. 45. I suppose the major embarrassment to Israel was that on this occasion, instead of information being doled out piecemeal it had been crystallixed into a frightening conflguration of facts, figures, maps and other data that arc unanswerable. 46. As for Mr. Blum’s distorted allegation that the’palestinian people would, for the first time in their history, enjoy the blessings of freedom under the socalled autonomy plan, may I suggest, so as to save the Council’s time, that the representative of Israel spare some time to read some history about the Palestinian people, who not only have governed themselves throughout history and from time immemorial but who were also at the heart of empires in which they occupied pride of place. He may not know it, but the fact is that the Ummayad Caliphs, whose backbone was the Palestinian people, had their winter residence at Ramleh near Lydda airport-now called Ben Gurion Airport-and at Jericho, where a magnificent Ummayad palace was excavated in the early 1940s. I know it all only too well, better perhaps than people who are better versed in history and who should give him a briefing. Within the ancient Syrian civiliition, one of the great cradles of civiliition, the Palestinians were at the core. Within the Ottoman Empire they held the highest posts at the seat of power. In their unity with Jordan, sovereignty and power were shared and not an inch was forfeited. Indeed, the Palestinians of Galilee alone had the power and audacity in the eighteenth century 10 defeat Napoleon’s attempted invasion of their territory. And now it is being proposed that they be placed under a strait-jacket of subjugation and municipal autonomy called “self-rule”. Mr. Blum must know that for the first time in 7,000 to 8,000 years, the Palestinians have suffered the catastrophe of exile and, at the present time, more than 12 years of oppressive occupation and dispersion. 47. Even though I spoke earlier in the debate, I wish to reiterate my delegation’s highest esteem and appreciation of Mr. Fall, the representative of Senegal and Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Pale&ii People for his selfless dedication and commitment to the cause of the oppressed Palestinian people. His able leadership and the devotion of his assistants give us every assurance that the salvation of the Palestinian people is in good and determined hands.

Mr. President, first of all, I should like sincerely to congratulate you on your fulfilment of the exalted functions of the post of President of the Security Council for the month of August and to express the hope that under your guidance the Council will make,a constructive contribution towards resolving the questions before us. 49. I should also like to say that the more we got to know you as ambassador and representative of the United States 50. An analysis of the activities of the Security Council shows that various aspects of the Middle East situation are increasingly being brought before it. This shows the acuteness of the Middle East problem; it also shows that the basic issues remain unresolved. :,. 51. Only a month ago, the Council took a decision regarding the illegality of Israeli settlements in the occupied Arab lands. We are now meeting again to continue our discussion regarding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian question is at the core of the entire Middle East settlement. Nobody can deny that irrefutable fact. The solution of the question will first and foremost determine the future of the Palestinian people. Thus far, for various well-known reasons, the Palestinians have been unable to exercise their right to selfdetermination, national independence and the creation of their own State. On the just solution of the Palestinian question, and specifically its just solution, will depend the return of peace to that, important .region of the world. That also is an irrefutable fact. ‘. 52.‘. In ‘the present dangerous situation, the Soviet delegation considers it quite right that the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People should request the Security Council to discuss again the recommendations regarding a solution to the Palestinian question; The timeliness of this discussion in the Council is borne out first and foremost by the fact that, notwithstanding the many decisions that have been adopted on the subject, Israel continues to flout the basic inalienable rights of the Arab people of Palestine. 53. We would recall that for more than 30 years now the rulers of Israel have tried to reduce the status ‘of the Palestinian people to that of dispossessed refugees deprived of their basic rights, rights recognized by the United Nations Charter and contemporary international law. Those are rights rccognized as belonging to all peoples. By forcibly depriving the long-suffering Palestinians of their homeland and subjecting them to dispersion and repression, the Israeli authorities hope to create suitable circumstances for the implementation of their far-reaching expansionistic designs aimed at fully obliterating the Palestinian people as a nation. 54. In order to attain these misguided goals, the leading circles of Israel obstinately pursue their policies of colonization and Israelization of the Arab lands they have seized. The materials available to the Security Council Commission established under resolution 446 (1979) provide convincing proof of this. It is borne out also by the statements we have heard in the Council’s discussion of thesituation in the Israeli+ccupied Arab territories. 56. In its treatment of the Arabs in the occupied territoms, Israel stops at nothing; police terror, intimidation, economic pressure, the elimination of Arab culture, the desecration of the Holy Places-all means are being used to make the Arabs forget that they are Arabs and Palestinians. The facts prove that a comprehensive and final settlement of the Middle East crisis can be reached only with the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organixation, the representative of the Palestinian people on an equal footing with other parties in all efforts, discussions and conferences on the Middle East conducted under the auspices of the ‘United Nations. 57. The events of recent days in Southern Lebanon once more unmask the cruel inhumane nature of Israel’s policies towards the Palestinian people. In turning the Palestinians 62. In its recommendations regarding ways and means of securing the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, the Committee suggests a phased programme of implementation of the exercise of the right of Palestinians to return to their homes, based on the implementation by the Security Council of its unanimously adopted resolution 237 (1967). The Committee quite rightly considers that, after returning to their homes, .the Palestinian people into homeless people, the Israeli authorities are at the same time preventing them from leading a normal lie in the countries bordering on Israel, where they have found a temporary haven. The bombing, the artillery bombardments, the armed raids by the Israeli forces against civilians in neighbouring Lebanon have attained really ghastly proportions. ‘will be able to exercise its rights to self-determination and to decide its form of government without external interference”.’ 58. As the Council is aware, at its twenty-ninth session, the General Assembly adopted its resolution 3237 (XXIX), which granted the Palestine Liberation Organixation observer status at the United Nations with the right to participate in the sessions and in the work of the General Assembly and of all international conferences convened under the auspices of the Assembly and other United Nations bodies. That resolution firmly enshrines official recognition under international law of the Palestine Liberation Organixation as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. In its resolutions 3236 (XXIX) and 3375 (XXX), the General Assembly also decided that participation by the Palestine Liberation Organimtion as the sole representative of the Palestinian people on an equal footing with all other parties was a prerequisite for the convening of any conference on Middle East matters under the auspices of the United Nations. 63. The Soviet delegation endorses the Committee’s recommendations, which provide, inter diu, that the Security Council should take concrete action to secure the complete withdrawal by the Israeli occupation forces from all those areas occupied in 1967 and the cessation of the settlement policies in those territories, Israel’s compliance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention of 1949, and the provision of all-round assistance and support to the Palestinian people so that they may fully exercise their inalienable rights on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions. 64. We are nrenared to sm~ort the draft resolution [S/Z3514J, whiih &es that thypalestinian people should be .enabled to exercise their inalienable rights of selfdetermination, national independence and sovereignty in Palestine, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and General Assembly. I repeat that this is only a minimum which can help towards the restoration of justice for the Palestinian people. 59. The United Nations should not forget those resolutions. It seems that certain persons find it convenient to conduct negotiations and to conclude separate agreements and accords that run counter to the fundamental rights of the Palestinians. But such practices will not make the Palestine question disappear and the problem of a comprehensive settlement in the Middle East remains in our agenda. 65. The position of the Soviet Union with respect to the solution of the Palestinian question is well known. We are firmly convinced that a decisive end must be put to the role of overlord played by the Israeli authorities in the Arab territories which they have occupied since 1967. The Arab people of Palestine must be given an opportunity to exercise their inalienable rights, including the right to selfdetermination and .the establishment of its own sovereign, inde- 61. There are those here who have cast doubts upon the objectiveness of the report which is now before us. Our delegation does not take that view. We thinkthat the report is as objective as possible. In its report, the Committee on 60. All the references that have been made by the participants in the recent tripartite deal on the granting of a certain “‘autonomy” to the Palestinians have a cynical ring to them. Does it not appear paradoxical to them that the future of the Palestinian people is being decided upon behind their backs without the involvement of their legitimate representatives and against their fundamental interests? ‘*Oflcial Records of the General Assembly. Thirty-third Session, Supplement No. 35. para. 59. jIbid., para. 70. 66. Mr. LUSAKA’ (Zambia): Mr. President, on behalf of the Zambian delegation, and indeed on my own behalf, I wish to congratulate you upon your assumption of the office of President of the Security Council during the month of August. The basis of my commendation far exceeds the usual dictates of diplomatic practice in the Council. For us, this is a special occasion on which we wish to register our appreciation of the co-operation and brotherhood that we have shared during your tenure of otIice here at the United Nations. Your impending departure will be greatly regretted by those of us who fully understood and appreciated your unique contribution as Permanent Representative of the United States. Your country has had in you a truly internationally recognized person at the United Nations. I have no doubt that since you are so well equipped and versed in more than the art of diplomacy, you will undoubtedly make a success of whatever you choose or are asked to do in the service of mankind. Please keep on in your struggle to help the needy and to inject into it that conscience in world affairs which is wanting today. We wish you success as we always have done. 67. The consideration of the Palestinian issue and the rights of the Palestinian people is a serious matter for the Council. It is a matter of serious concern above all because the Council in particular and the United Nations in general have been seized of the problem since it came to the fore. ‘The United Nations has a duty to correct the injustices of the past which continue to be perpetuated against the Palestinian people. 68. The Palestinians have been victims of aggression, dispossession, greed, power politics and more. Essentially, they have been refugees even in the land of their birth for decades. To&y, the problem of the denial of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is at the core of the current crisis in the Middle Fast. This assertion or proposition is no mere cliche. It has become quite clear over the years that there can be no solution of the Middle East crisis so long as the Palestinian issue is unresolved. 69. Successive reports of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People have been vivid reminders of the suffering of the Palestinians. What is at issue is that the Palestinian people are being denied their inalienable rights to self-determination and statehood. Every national group on the earth is entitled to a homeland. The Palestinian people .should not be the exception. They have a God-given right to return to their homeland and to live there freely without any restrictions. This is so because freedom is not negotiable. What can be negotiated are the modalities of attaining that noble goal of freedom. , 71. The Security Council has an international responsibility to assist the Palestinian people to retrieve their inalienable rights. In that regard, the recommendations of the General Assembly and the Committee on Palestinian rights provide useful guidelines on how to deal with the Palestinian question. Of course, they are in addition to the previous Council resolutions on the issue. In dealing with the Palestinian question, the Councilmust always bear in mind that the realisation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to selfdetermination, independence and national sovereignty, would not only give birth to the Palestinian State but also contribute positively to the solution of the Middle East crisis. Furthermore, it is vital to observe .&at the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organixation, which is the sole representative of the Palestinian people, is indispensable in all efforts and deliberations on the Palestinian question. No attempt to discredit the Palestine Liberation Organization will impress men of justice. What is required in dealing with the problem is objectivity. ‘72. The Palestinian people are looking to the Security Council for assistance in regaining their inalienable rights. Ahmembers of the Council collectively have a duty to help to resolve the problem of Palestine, for without such a solution there could be a catastrophe in the Middle East in particular, and in the world as a whole. 73. ‘Mr. NEIL (Jamaica): Mr. President, the delegation of Jamaica extends to you its warm congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for the month of August. Your outstanding qualities as a statesman and your sincere commitment to peace and the ideals of the Charter fully assure us of effective leadership for the remainder of the month. We very much regret your impending departure from the United Nations, but you wil1 be leaving us with an impressive record of accomplishment, and we take this opportunity to wish you every success in your future endeavours. 74. I also wish to express our appreciation to Ambassador Richard of the United Kingdom for his able presidency in July and ‘we fully endorse the tribute you paid to him yesterday at the reopening of the debate. 75. The current matter before the Council, namely the question of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, is a crucial element in the over-all problem of the Middle Fast. For more than three decades, the United Nations has been seized of the question of Palestine, which lies at the very heart of the conflict in that region. The question has been-the subject of extensive debate, discussions and resolutions, but without concrete results.. With the passage of time and the evolution of events, the whole question has increased in complexity. At the same time, the plight ofthe 76. We have studied the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. We view the report as a positive contribution to the search for a peaceful solution of the question within the framework of the United Nations. We support the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and to live in peace with their neighbours, a right which is widely acknowledged by the United Nations and should hardly give rise to any controversy. 77. We also support the right of the Palestinians as a people to selfdetermination, national independence and sovereignty. It is a right to which all peoples are entitled and which should not be denied to the Palestinian people. The concrete recommendations in the Committee’s report on the territorial basis for nationhood we consider to be both constructive and realistic, and they neither violate nor conflict with the rights of other parties in the region. ‘78. There are some elements in the Committee’s recommendations on the modalities and procedures for implementation on which we have some doubts, based on practical considerations. There may be need for further refinement of those procedures, bearing in mind that the various aspects of the Middle East question are closely linked and that it would be most desirable for all of them to be settled within the framework of a comprehensive settlement which would lead to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. 79. We think it is the duty of the Security Council to promote the achievement of that objective by identifying the basic ingredients of such a settlement. Its resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) already contain elements to be taken 80. Jamaica considers that the essential foundation for such a solution should involve: .first, the withdrawal by Israel from the Arab territories occupied since 1967, in accordance with the principle of the inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by force; secondly, the recognition and implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, for we believe that no solution to the Middle East problem can be effective or permanent unless they are given the opportunity to exercise their inalienable rights and allowed to live in dignity and to shape their own future; thirdly, the establishment of appropriate arrangements to guarantee the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all States in the area and the recognition of . their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries. Further, the Palestine Liberation Organimtion, as the representative of the Palestinian people, should be invited to participate on an equal footing with all other parties in all efforts of the United Nations towards a just and lasting solution of the Middle Past problem. 8 1. Jamaica’s position on the problem is not based on any partisan commitments. It is based on a realisticassessment of the question and it is guided by a desire to promote, in a :onstructive way, the cause of peace and justice. We recogsize the inalienable rights of all the parties involved. We recognize the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, and we also recognize the right of Israel to exist in peace and security within recognized boundaries. We urge the parties directly involved towards mutual accommodation and peaceful coexistence and we urge them to seek through practical ways the means by which the legitimate rights of all the parties can be real&d and safeguarded. i?e meeting rose at 1.05 p.m. HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS I Unite 1 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 les librairies et les agences depositaires du monde entier. Informez-vous auprAs de votre libraire ou adresses-vous A : Nations Unies, Section des ventes, New York ou GenAve. KAK IIOJIYYHTb NIAAHEIII OPI’AHH3A4HH OIi-bEAHHEHHhIX HAUHZ? R3aaHm OuraBBBaunB OCl~enaBeBBbrx HauBR ~doauro BynB~b a BBHB~BLIX uara- 3HHax B areBTCrBaX a0 BceB paBOHaX raepa. HaBOAHTe CnpasKB 06 B3BaBHaX B aameu BBBmBord r.faraaBBe riBa nimble no anpecy: OpraBBBauBa OCi~enBBeBBbrx HauwR, CeasBa no npoBame aBBaBBR. Hbto-HopB mm Xeaesa. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS Las publicaciones de las Naciones Unidas estsn en venta en librerfas y casas distribuidoras en todas partes de1 mundo. Consulte a su librero o dirfjase a: Naciones Unidas, Secci6n de Ventas, Nueva York o Ginebra. Litho in United Nations, New York Price: $U.S. 1.50 79-70002-March 19824250