S/PV.2219 Security Council

I wish to inform the members of the Council that I have received letters from the representatives of Bulgaria, Guyana, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the United Arab Emirates in which they request to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the agenda. In accordance with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite those representatives to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure. The agenda was adopted. The meeting was called to order at 5.40 p.m. Adoption of the agenda At the invitation of the President, Mr. Yankov (Bulgaria), Mr. Douglas (Guyana), Mr. Jamal (Qatar), Mr. Allagany (Saudi Arabia), Mr. Adan (Somalia), Mr. Lipatov (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) and Mr. Humaidan (United Arab Emirates) took the places reserved for them at the side of the Council chamber. The question of the exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights: Letter dated 6 March 1980 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/13832); Letter dated 24 March 1980 from the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/13855)

The members of the Council have before them document S/13911, which contains the text of a draft resolutio,n sponsored by Tunisia. 1, The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Spanish): 4. Mr. CHEN Chu (China) (interpretation from In accordance with the decisions taken at previous Chinese): Since the beginning of this year, while conmeetings [2204th, 2205th, 2207th and 2208th meetings], tinuing their occupation of large tracts of Arab terri- I invite the representatives of Algeria, Bahrain, Cuba, tories, the Israeli authorities have stepped up their Egypt, India, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Madaefforts in pursuing the policies of aggression, expansion gascar, Morocco, the Syrian Arab Republic, Viet and annexation. Particularly since the adoption of Nam and Yugoslavia to participate in the discussion Council resolution 465 (1980) on 1 March, wilfully without the right to vote and 1 invite the Chairman of clinging to their own course, the Israeli authorities the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable have not only refused to dismantle the settlements on 5. The question of Palestine is the core of the Middle East question. Without the solution of the Palestine question, there will be no just and lasting peace in the Middle East. In the present circumstances in which the people of the world are calling for unity to deal seriously with hegemonists that are stepping up their expansion in South-West Asia, South-East Asia and the Gulf region, it is imperative effectively to halt Israeli aggression and expansion and to make efforts to achieve the complete solution of the Palestine question. 6. Over a long period, under most difficult and complex conditions, the Palestinian people, led by the Palestine Liberation Organization, has carried on a courageous and tenacious struggle and constantly dealt heavy blows to the Israeli aggressors. Their struggle has won widespread sympathy and firm support from the people of the world. The PLO has likewise won recognition from a growing number of countries. 7. I should like to reaffirm on this occasion that the Chinese Government and people strongly condemn the Israeli authorities for their policies of aggression and expansion and their intransigence in obstructing a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East question, and we will, as always, resolutely support the Palestinian people in their just struggle to regain their national rights, including the right to return to their homeland, the right to self-determination and the right to establish their own State. We firmly support the just struggle of the Arab peoples to recover their lost territories. 8. Since its establishment, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable -Rights of the Palestinian People has done a great deal of work for the realization of the national rights of the Palestinian people. We are in favour of those parts of the report of the Committee’ that reaffirm or conform to General Assembly resolutions 3236 (XXIX) and 3376 (XXX). In our view, the Security Council is in duty bound to adopt clear-cut resolutions on the settlement of the Palestine question in the interests of the Palestinian and other Arab 9. Finally, we sincerely hope that with the solidarity and support of all justice-upholding countries and peoples, the Palestinian and other Arab peoples will close their ranks, make common endeavours and continue to surmount all kinds of difficulties on their road of progress, so as to strive for the final victory of recovering their lost territories and regaining their national rights.

No other aspect of the conflict in the Middle East is more relevant and central to the search for a just, comprehensive ‘and durable settlement than the one pertaining to the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Unless and until the Palestinian people are enabled to exercise all their inalienable rights, including the right to establish an independent State in Palestine, durable peace in the Middle East will continue to elude us. The region will continue to be characterized by bitter conflict and -what is more-generations of the people of the Middle East will yearn in vain for peace and security and remain exposed to tension and war. 11. This debate on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is therefore highly appropriate. It is in itself a cause for hope and expectation, in that at long last there appears to be a universal realization that the core of the Middle East conflict has to be addressed. Indeed, it is time that the need for the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, including the right to a national homeland, is realized by all as the only realistic basis for the solution of the Middle East conflict. Any serious initiative to solve the question of the Middle East can succeed only if it is predicated on that basis. 12. It goes without saying, therefore, that the recommendations of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People have the full support of my delegation. The General Assembly has repeatedly endorsed them, as has the non-aligned movement. Through the resolutions of the General Assembly and the decisions of the non-aligned moveinent, the overwhelming majority of Member States have been very clear as to what needs to be done to resolve the Middle East ‘conflict and thereby establish conditions of peace and security and cooperative relationships among the countries and peoples of the region. 13. In the view of my delegation, it would be hypocritical and erroneous to speak of self-determination for the Palestinian people and at the same time to dismiss the Palestine Liberation Organization or adopt a hostile attitude towards it. The recent example of Zimbabwe should serve as an important lesson. 14. The PLO is the sole and authentic representative of the Palestinian people. It champions the cause of the Palestinian people-indeed, their struggle to exercise their inalienable right of self-determination, including the right to establish an independent homeland with the full attributes of sovereignty. It is imperative, therefore, that it should be both recognized and enabled to participate fully, on an equal footing with other parties, in any genuine effort towards the solution of the problem of the Middle East. 15. Israel, in particular, should realize that intransigence, labels and slogans will not bring peace to the Middle East. The Patriotic Front has been repeatedly described by some, even around this table, as a “terrorist organisation”. This month, the Patriotic Front formed a respectable Government of a new nation which has won overwhelming recognition and goodwill from the international community. The PLO too has the interest of its people at heart. Israel would no doubt meaningfully contribute to the cause of peace and justice in the Middle East by accepting the reality of the existence of the PLO. . 16. Zambia, of course, strongly condemns Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem. Continued Israeli settlements and other illegal practices in the occupied territories are more than acts of provocation: they are a sad example of Israeli bad faith in any process of negotiation. They demonstrate a stubborn determination on the part of the Israeli authorities to cling to the occupied territories. Israel is under obligation to withdraw from all Arab territories occupied since June 1967. 17. Another disturbing feature of the situation in the Middle East is the continued Israeli aggression against Lebanon. Israel should desist from all acts of aggression against Lebanon and fully respect that country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Israeli raids into Lebanon this month have posed a particular challenge to the authority of the Security Council. We have witnessed a barbaric assault on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon which has led to loss of life and wanton destruction of property. The attacks on the Force surely deserve strong condemnation from the entire international community. Everything should be done to put an end to the cold-blooded murder of soldiers serving with the Force. 18. The conflict in the Middle East has defied solution for too long. The people of the area would like to cherish peace, since they are entitled to peace. 19. Many important resolutions, including resolution 242 (1967), have been adopted,by the Council on the situation in the Middle East. Indeed, many important initiatives have been undertaken to solve the Middle East conflict. In our view, the regrettable failure that has so far attended initiatives in this regard has been caused by unwillingness on the part of some members of the Council to adopt a realistic attitude towards the Palestinians and recognize their inalienable right to self-determination, including their right to a national homeland. 20. We are, however, encouraged by the fact that there is now a growing recognition, particularly in Western Europe, that the Palestinian problem is more than a problem of refugees. We are beginning to hear voices advocating Palestinian self-determination and a realistic attitude towards the PLO. That augurs well for the comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict. 21. I wish, in conclusion, to reaffirm that the questions of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territories will remain cardinal in Zambia’s position on the situation in the Middle East.

For over 30 years the issue of the Middle East situation has been the subject of extensive debate and numerous resolutions in the United Nations. As we proceed with this debate, and as we begin another decade, we face the reality of limited achievement in terms of progress towards a just and comprehensive solution to the conflict. The developments in the occupied Arab territories and the events in Southern Lebanon with which we have dealt recently in the Council have further outlined the troubling aspects of the overall situation. These developments must be seen as symptoms of a problem which has deep and profound causes. We all recognize the Middle East problem as a complex one. But behind this complexity lies a basic fundamental issue; that is the issue of rights. History has shown, and the developments in the Middle East have demonstrated clearly, that the continued denial of the rights of a people constitutes an unending source of grievance and conflict. Throughout this century we have seen the struggles, the sacrifices and the conflicts which have arisen from the denial of the rights of a people. The tragic history and the present plight of the Palestinian people exemplify the injustice which breedshostility and conflict. 23. My delegation remains convinced that the Palestinian question lies at the heart of the whole Middle East problem, and that a just solution to that question must be found if peace is to prevail in the region. 24. In this regard, we consider the recommendations of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to be a realistic and positive contribution to the search for a solution within the framework of the United Nations. We support as a matter of principle the Committee’s endorsement of the rights of the Palestinians to return to their homes and to live in peace with their neighbours, and their right as a people to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty. The principles of the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirm these rights for all peoples. The Palestinians can be no exception. They have the right to exist in circumstances which will allow them to live in dignity and shape their own future. The Committee has also made concrete proposals on the implementation of these rights and has defined the territorial basis for a sovereign independent State for the Palestinian people. These are constructive proposals which neither violate nor conflict with the rights of other parties in the region. 25. It is therefore clear that a practical means can be found for enabling the Palestinian people to attain the rights to which they are entitled. What is required now is for the Council to give its recognition to these rights and thus pave the way for an effective and permanent solution to the Middle East question. It is clear that despite certain positive elements in its previous resolutions, and in particualr resolution 242 (1967), there has been a failure to recognize, through positive action by the Council, an essential ingredient -namely, the political rights of the Palestinian people. 26. It is therefore necessary at this stage, in order to give impetus to the efforts towards a comprehensive solution of the problems of the Middle East, to remedy the deficiencies of past pronouncements and open the way to a principled and realistic approach. It has long been clear that the future of the Palestinian people cannot be approached in terms of the treatment of a refugee problem. Such an approach falls far short of the demands of justice and the objective requirements for peace. 27. My delegation believes that a broad consensus now exists in the international community on the need to add new elements to those already endorsed in resolution 242. (1967), just as there is, in our view, general agreement on the essential principles of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Those principles have been repeatedly neaffirmed in the General Assembly in recent m. 1;: ~ j ., 28. Jamaica believes that the requirements of a comprehensive solution must include the following: ‘I, 29. If the Council is to avoid repeating the failures of 30 years, it has to learn from the lessons of the past. The lesson is clear that the problem will remain with us in its dangerous manifestations until we remedy the injustice which is the underlying factor. As the organ primarily responsible for the maintenance of intemational peace and security, the Council has a serious responsibility and a duty in this matter which it cannot continue to avoid. The cause of peace and justice demands that the Council take a principled and constructive approach to end the nightmare of violence, injustice and conflict in the Middle East and to lay the basis for a just and lasting peace in the region. The Council can take an important step in advancing that process by adopting positive measures on the question of the rights of the Palestinian people. The draft resolution now before the Council is designed to achieve that purpose.

The next speaker is the representative of Qatar. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 31. ’ Mr. JAMAL (Qatar): Mr. President, I should like to thank you and the other members of the Council for allowing my delegation to participate in this important debate. It is with great satisfaction that we see you, Ambassador Muiioz Ledo, in the chair at this important meeting which is dealing with the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people living under Israeli military occupation and those who are living in exile. Your past record in dealing with the explosive international situation makes you a perfect choice for bringing this debate to a fruitful conclusion. 32. The ournose of our meeting today is to trv one more time to redress the inj&ices inflicted -upon the people of Palestine, who are deprived of their homes and their human and national rights, and sub- 33. Those recommendations have not been implemented because of immobility in the Council, which has yet to take a position on the question, although the urgency of the situation is clearly demonstrated by the increasing violence in the area as a result of continuing Israeli aggression against the neighbouring countries and increased repression in the occupied territories, which are endangering international peace and security. 34. The Government of the State of Qatar, as well as the whole world community, is waiting for the Council to take the crucial decisions that could restore the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, thereby allowing the achievement of a peaceful settlement in the Middle East and defusing the danger to international peace and security. 35. Let it be clear that we are not dealing with the domestic affairs of a Member State but with the fate of a people subjected to foreign military occupation and the future of territories which are internationally recognized as occupied territories which have been taken by sheer aggression. 36. Even as we are discussing the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, among which is the right to establish an independent State oftheir own in Palestine, the Zionist State has taken measures aimed at the annexation of the rest of Palestine through the expropriation of properties and the imposition of economic and fiscal measures with a view to dispossessing and exploiting the population of those territories. Collective punishment, in particular the blowing up of Arab homes and the mass demolition of houses and villages, as well as the continued establishment of settlers* colonies, indicate Israel’s determination to pursue and consolidate its expansionist policies and to frustrate international efforts to find a peaceful settlement of the problem. 37. Israel is in clear violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1.949,* in particular of 38. Israel’s violation of the human rights of the inhabitants of the occupied territories exceeds what has so far been mentioned, and includes the violation of their archaeological and cultural property, interference with their religious freedoms and practices, as well as the desecration of their holy shrines, interference with their family rights and customs, obstruction of their educational and scholastic activities, the brutal suppression of all forms of student expression of opinion and the illegal exploitation of the Palestinians’ natural wealth and water resources. 39. Faced with all the aforementioned facts, the Council has not yet been able to take any positive action to condemn .Israel’s illegal occupation and inhuman acts against the Palestinian people or its breaching of the Geneva Convention and the United Nations Charter, to deter Israel from its continued and utter disregard of General Assembly and Security Council resolutions and to restore the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The actions of the Council have always been blocked by the b&s and inflexible stand of one permanent member, namely, the United States. The United States, which has protested Israel’s actions outside the United Nations premises in the strongest terms, in line with President Carter’s declared human rights policy, still &ems to be inhibited from withdrawing its blind support of Israel’s massive and systematic violations of human rights within the framework of the United Nations, from co-operating with the members of the Council in denouncing those policies, and from taking the appropriate positive measures recommended by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, thus serving the cause of peace in the region. 40. The position of the’state of Qatar on the question of Palestine has been made clear on many occasions. Once again, I should like to restate that position. 41. First, we firmly believe that the question of Palestine is at the heart of the Middle East conflict and that without a just and lasting solution of this question peace cannot be achieved in this troubled area of the world. Secondly; the solution of the question of Palestine must be based on the full implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,.namely, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to national independence and sovereignty and the right to return to their homes and property. Thirdly, the Palestine Liberation Organization is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Its participatiqn on an equal footing with other parties in deliberations and negotiations on the Middle East is essential in order to achieve a just 42. I should like on this occasion to express our total rejection of allegations made in the United States and elsewhere, according to which the Arab States do not wish to see a just solution of the Palestine question or the establishment of an independent Palestinian State. Those allegations are in complete contradiction of the well-known Arab position and represent the wishful thinking and cheap propaganda of the Zionists and their supporters. 43. Unless the Council is prepared to take positive action, words alone are not likely to correct the serious,situation. The present situation in the region does not allow for further delay. It is imperative that the Council act now in a decisive manner to bring about a just and lasting settlement in the Middle East.

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

Mr. President, I wish to thank you, and through you the other members of this Council, for giving my delegation an opportunity to address this body on the question of the exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights. 46. The world is at present”experiencing a period of increasing tension, of sharpening confrontation between the super-Powers and of renewed efforts to assert claims to, or demarcate, spheres of interest in accordance with perceived strategic considerations. Such developments have given rise to understandable fears and anxieties about the preservation of international peace and security. Small States in particular are disturbed by present trends in international relations and have become acutely aware of their own vulnerability in a world in which their very independence is jeopardized by the cynical resort to force or the insidious encouragement of acts of destabilization by the militarily and economically powerful. In this atmosphere of crisis and militarization, the role of the United Nations in reaffirming and applying those principles that are the foundation-stone of their independence and provide the best guarantee for its future protection assumes particularly critical 47. This 0,rganization has a proud record as the moral and political pressure point for the universal application of the principle of self-determination, the implementation of which has resulted in the independence of so many nations. However, one of the most striking contradictions in the Organization’s impressive record in this regard has been not only its failure to have this principle applied to the nation of Palestine but also its historical role in denying the Palestinian people the exercise of its right to selfdetermination. It is timely, therefore, that, at a moment when the worsening international situation is causing deep concern to many independent nations that have come into being as a result of their exercise of the right to self-determination, the Council should be debating a question that was born of the violation of this very right and which, more than any other, dramatizes the very grave threats to international peace and security overhanging our world today. 48. That the crisis stemming from the eviction and expulsion of the Palestinian people from its homeland should still be unresolved after more than 30 years is a woeful commentary on man’s capacity to tolerate and even abet the most repugnant forms of injustice. Now a tense and unsettled international environment is reinforcing the appeal of the oppressed Palestinians for fresh efforts to be undertaken in a serious and constructive manner to undo the injustice inflicted on them and so contribute to the long-sought and much-desired solution to the Middle East conflict and, thereby, to the strengthening of international peace and security. 49. The Council once again is presented with the opportunity of taking such action as would move the Middle East question beyond its present stalemate. The Council’s task is facilitated in that the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has put forward a reasonable, balanced and phased programme for the implementation of the rights of the Palestinian people. This programme enjoys widespread support in the General Assembly, where it has been endorsed on several occasions. As it is firmly based on the relevant resolutions of the Assembly and the Council, the programme therefore reflects the cohective wisdom of this Organization. Its purpose is to serve the interests of the international community, which is anxious for a final settlement of this enduring problem. Obviously it does not cater to the narrow and necessarily selfdefeating interests of the few as opposed to the many. 50. The passage of time has shown the inadequacy and futility of Middle East initiatives that have ignored the fundamental importance of implementing Palestinian rights as a sine qua non for resolving the Middle East dispute. Step-by-step and partial ap- 5 1. The deteriorating situation in the occupied territories taxes to the very limit the patience so far shown by the Palestinian people and its acknowledged representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization. Despite the inglorious role of the United Nations in relation to their fate, the Palestinians have shown and continue to show a commendable faith in the ability of the Organization to correct a long-standing injustice. They have chosen to work with the international community in formulating a programme that has the potential for achieving that elusive goal of a just and comprehensive Middle East settlement. In responding to the trust that they have placed in us, we have an obligation to set about actively implementing the programme with which they identify and to ensure their full participation in all efforts directed towards the solution of the Middle East problem, of which, it is almost redundant to stress, they constitute the key element. 52. Recently the world witnessed the birth of the nation of Zimbabwe. Its independence, after years of hard struggle, shows how the indomitable spirit of the true fighters for freedom cannot be subdued and how inevitable is the need to come to terms with this fact. No settlement of the Middle East question is possible without the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. No settlement of the Middle East question is possible if the PLO is excluded from negotiations that are directed towards that goal. The Council cannot for ever avoid recognition of this reality, which enjoys almost universal acceptance. By adopting the programme for the implementation of Palestinian rights, the Council will be placing itself in step with a growing international consensus and will put an end to its anomalous separation from this almost universally shared position.

The next speaker is the representative of the United

First of all, I should like to thank-you, Mr. President, and the other members of the’council for having allowed me to take part in this important debate on the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. . 55. . With regard to the recommendations of that Committee, ‘we stated in the Council, on 18 June 1976 [192&h meeting]., that they can constitute a valid and realistic basis to enable the Palestinian people to exercise its inalienable *rights and to prepare the ground for a settlement of the Palestinian question, which is central to the Middle East crisis. However, one notes with regret that those recommendations, many times approved by the General Assembly, have so far not been the subject of a decision by the Council. Why? Because one major Power, which protects Israel, has constantly blocked the adoption of such a decision; The political and military assistance given by that major Power ‘to Israel has encouraged the latter to continue denying the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in their ancestral homeland and to persist’in its policy of expansionist colonization. 56. We note also, with satisfaction, the success scored by ‘the Palestinian cause throughout the world last year and since the beginning of this year. We are in .fact witnessing the emergence of a broad consensus in the international community on the need to take into account the rights of the Palestinian people in every peace effort in the Middle East. Support for the Palestinian people was confirmed in the decisions adopted at the Summit Conference of the Organization of African Unity, held at Monrovia, and at the Sixth Summit Conference of Non-Aligned Countries held at Havana. Such support has also been expressed in. many other conferences which have been held on that subject by public organizations in all continents, and in particular in western Europe. Some countries of western Europe which are members of the Common Market have also intensified their dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization and have opened PLO offices in their respective countries. Such support was also manifest in the statements of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of various countries during the general debate at the thirty-fourth session of the General Assembly, and in particular in the statements of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of some countries which in the past had sympathized with Israel. 57. That said, we must also note the regrettable fact that the United States has refused to join in this new awakening in the international community to the Palestinian problem. In fact, the United States continues to aid Israel militarily, financially and diplomatically. And we all know very well that in the absence of that American support, Israel could not have continued to “the continuation of that policy will have an adverse effect on the mutual relations and interests of the Arab countries and the-united States”.3. 58. Once again I wish to afBr& that the Camp David accords and the Washington treaty constitute, in our view, a negative and dangerous development in the Palestinian question. My colleague and brother from Algeria, Ambassador Bedjaoui, submitted to the Council on 9 April [2208th meeting], a comprehensive analysis, both political and legal, of what he termed the deep crisis of credibility surrounding that separate settlement. My delegation endorses that analysis and those well-founded arguments, and I also wish to recall that the President of the United Arab Emirates has stated on several occasions that no Arab leader has the right to take unilateral decisions concerning this matter of destiny, in the defence of which the Arab nation has mobilized all its energies and potential. Is it not true that those accords have brought about a strategic imbalance in Arab solidarity, which is the cornerstone of the struggle of the Arab world to recover its legitimate rights through the liberation of occupied Arab territories? Is it not also true that those so-called peace accords do not open up the way for’a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the problem in the Middle East, because they neglect the, two basic principles for such a solution-to wit, withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied since 1967 out of an imperatively necessary respect for the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, and the right of the Palestinian people to selfdetermination, independence and the creation of a sovereign State in Palestine? To that let us add that those accords ignore the problem of sovereignty over Arab Jerusalem. Furthermore, those accords disregard the United Nations resolutions and public opinion in general which affirm that the Palestinian people must participate, through its legitimate representative, the PLO, in all efforts or negotiations aimed at finding a solution to this problem. 59. I should be remiss in my duty if I did not thank the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Ambassador Kane of Senegal, as well as the other members of the Committee, for the sincere and serious efforts they have been making in fulfilling their important task. Let me conclude this statement by affirming that I entirely agree with the Chairman of the Committee in his conclusion concerning the quest for urgent solutions to the problem, that: “The search for a solution can be accomplished initially, as we see it, by the adoption of a resolution which would recognize the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, as they have been defined by the General Assembly.” [S/PV.2204, para. 35.1

Mr. President, I thank you and the other members of the Council for giving me the opportunity to take part in this debate on Palestinian rights. 62. Let me first of all congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for the current month. Your accession to this office is particularly welcome because of your political experience and diplomatic skill, and in view also of your country’s unceasing efforts to promote the principles and purposes of the Charter. 63. Ever since the question of Palestine became a responsibility of the United Nations, the Organization has sought to resolve the grave problem of the area with the aid of a series of commissions, special missions and committees. Many of these bodies have made recommendations or negotiated agreements which have had far-reaching effects on the Middle East situation. It is a matter of great satisfaction to Somalia that in the present phase of the Palestinian question the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People is following the precedents set by former United Nations bodies. The establishment of the Committee by the General Assembly has emphasized the competence of the United Nations to deal with the problem of Palestine. 64. Under the admirable chairmanship of Ambassadors Fall and Kane of Senegal, the Committee has shown the determination of the international community to redress the historical wrong done to the Palestinian people. Above all, the work of the Committee reflects an international consensus, now firmly established, on the principles and measures which must be implemented to ensure a just and lasting Middle East peace. 65. My Government strongly supports the recommendations of the Committee with regard to the return of the exiled Palestinians to their homeland, with regard to the recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and with regard to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State. 66. Over three decades ago, the Palestinian people were terrorized into flight and excluded from their homeland by a people that had intimate knowledge of the bitterness of diaspora, and this wrong, as we know, has been at the heart of the Middle East conflict. The world community needs to change its annual reaffirmation of the right of the exiled Palestinians to return to their homeland from mere ritual and rhetoric to active implementation of the resolutions of the Security Council and of the General Assembly. 68. Most important of all, the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood in Palestine must be restored. These rights, as the historical record shows, were dishonestly and illegally taken away from them early in the century and traded in the market-place of imperialist interests. 69. The major obstacle in the way of implementing these principles is, of course, the intransigence of successive Israeli Governments, which has reached new heights in the blind fanaticism of the Government of Menachem Begin. As we know, far from withdrawing from all occupied Arab territories as required by resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), the Israeli Government has steadily progressed from a policy of creeping colonization of Arab lands to one of blatant annexation and expansionism, in pursuit of the plan for an expanded Israel. 70. The Council is familiar with the details of Israel’s harsh military occupation and of its illegal policies carried out on the West Bank and in Jerusalem in defiance of the Geneva Conventions governing the conduct of an occupying Power. Zionist annexations, expropriations and illegal settlements began to be effected soon after the 1967 war and these illegal measures have been repeatedly described and repeatedly condemned in the General Assembly and in the Council. It is instructive, however, to let The New York Times, a newspaper which cannot be accused of pro-Arab bias, describe the situation. In an editorial of 13 February it said: “Under the cover of the Camp David accords and East-West tensions, Israel continues to change the legal and demographic conditions in the West Bank. By one ruse after another, Jews are encroaching upon the region’s Arabs, adding to the ‘archaeological’ and ‘army’ camps with newly requisitioned or purchased rural lands and now with claims to ancestral homes inside . . . Arab cities.” The editorial also noted the hollowness of Israel’s defence of its actions on grounds of security, pointing out that Arab hostility was being knowingly provoked and that the spreading tentacles of Israeli settlements were themselves the excuse for new security arrangements. 71. The world community is now faced with the cumulative effects of the illegal policies carried out by Israel over the past 14 years. It is challenged also by the arrogant Zionist claim, now openly asserted, that international law, international agreements and the resolutions of this Council are of no 72. The unanimous adoption of resolution 465 (1980) only a few weeks ago shows that all sectors of the international community fully understand that Israel’s occupation policy is unjust, illegal and completely untenable and must not only be stopped but reversed if there is to be any prospect of peace in the Middle East. In the light of the welcome unanimity of the Council on the nature of the obstacles to a Middle East settlement and in the light of the widening consensus that peace in the area is impossible without the realization of Palestinian rights, it would seem only logical for the Council to move forward and take positive steps to remove these obstacles and lay the foundations of a just and lasting settlement. Obviously, mere condemnations of Israel’s violations of intemational law will be of no more avail now than they have been in the past. 73. Somalia has already expressed, in this and other international forums, its conviction that the Council should endorse, without delay, the international consensus on Palestinian rights expressed in resolution 3236 (XXIX) and reaffirmed in its resolution 34/65 A. We believe that, in doing so, the Council would provide an essential building block of a Middle East peace which is missing from its resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). We believe that the Council must also consider possible courses of action necessitated by its responsibility for removing threats to international peace and security. No one denies that the Middle East conflict threatens world peace or that the Palestine question is central to the Middle East conflict; so the Council’s duty in this regard is clear. 74. One of the most tragic aspects of the Palestinian problem from the earliest days of its existence has been that the rights of the Palestinian people have always been held hostage to external interests. We see this at the present time, when sincere attempts to advance the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people are being unfairly linked with materialist considerations about the supply of Middle East oil. It was also evident in the past, when the issues governing Palestinian rights were not those of justice and humanity but of the desire to reward world Jewry at the expense of the Arab people of Palestine for financial and other support in times of war. 75. Today, the special relationship between the United States and Israel is one of the crucial factors affecting the resolution of the problem of Palestine, since the unquestioning and open-ended moral and material support of Israel by the United States undoubtedly fuels Israeli intransigence. Unfortunately, the United States’ foreign policy towards the Middle East is bedevilled by ambiguities. A tradition of democracy and fairness leads the Government of the United States to subscribe, at least in principle, to international decisions on the Middle East, but the 76. Zionism in the United States and in Israel has been masterful in its exploitation of fears of anti- Semitism and in its sustained misuse of the historical tragedy of the Nazi holocaust. It is possible in the United States to criticize the Governments of countries on any continent of the world without being accused of prejudice against the racial characteristics or prejudices of any of those Governments or countries. It is not possibie, however, to make the mildest criticism of the policies of the Government of Israel without an immediate outcry and charges of anti- Semitism and of raising the spectre of a new holocaust. 77. Here in the United Nations we are also familiar with-but less impressed by-unscrupulous attempts to divert attention from Israel’s inhuman and illegal policies through the gross exploitation of sensitive issues. But the result of Zionist influence in the United States is that the reaction of successive American administrations to Israel has been to give in to its every whim for fear that it will throw a tantrum. In the context of the Middle East question, such attitudes only serve to increase the danger of renewed regional conflict and of serious international repercussions. This situation presents a moral and political challenge of the highest order to the leadership of the United States. We hope that it will come to realize and lead the American people to the realization that a just and lasting Middle East peace is in the interests of all the peoples of the Middle East, including those of Israel, and that this can only be obtained on the basis Litho in United Nations, New York 003cil 83-61462-August 1986-2.425 78. In any event, the steadily increasing momentum of the struggle of peoples against foreign domination and to gain self-determination and independence will not be stopped. This has been evident over the past decades. The recent accession to independence of Zimbabwe after years of struggle and sacrifice by its people and with the active support of the United Nations provides the most recent evidence of the fact that the tide of history is running strongly with the. forces of liberation. The United Nations, for its part, must continue to exert every effort to bring about by peaceful means the realization of all legitimate national aspirations and in particular those of the Palestinian people, which has been so grievously wronged. 79. In conclusion, I reaffirm my Government’s support for the full exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights and for the view that any settlement of the Palestinian question should be made on the basis of the self-determination of the Palestinian people and the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian State. The meeting rose at 6.50 p.m. NOTES ’ OfJicial Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-Fourth Session, Supplement No. 35. * United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 287. 3 A/34/763, annex.