S/PV.2292 Security Council

As recently as I2 June [228Oth meeting], the United States delegation explained to the Council the reasons why the United States opposes the special procedure proposed to afford the PLO the same rights of participation in the proceedings of the Council as if the PLO were 8 state. 6. In brief, we cannot qp~ to a formula that conrtitutcr a departure from the ruler of procedure of the Council, a formula which has 18 it8 purpose enhancing the prestige of those to whom it is.directcd. 7. We have no objection to the Council’s hearing the PLO but, in accordance with the rules, that can legally be accomplished only on the basis of rule 39, which empowers the Council to grant hearings to persons speaking on Lehalf of non-governmental entities. 8. Accordingly, I ask that the terms of this proposed invitation be put to the vote. The United States will vote “no”.

If no other member of the Council wishes to speak at 1.~ fil~*ol/r: China, German Democratic Republic, Ireland, Mexico, Niger, Panama, Philippines, Spain, Tunisia, Uganda, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Agcrittst: United States of America. Absictir?bti;: France, Japan, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. At the bvitrtticm of the President. Mr. Terzi (Pulestine Liblwtiuu Orgnnizrttion) took a pluce ut the Council table. IO. The PRESIDENT (Lterpretation from French): I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received a letter dated 17 July 1981 [S//4598] from the representative of Tunisia to the United Nations, which reads as follows: “I have the honour to request the Security Council to invite Mr. Clovis Maksoud, Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations, to participate in the consideration of the question entitled ‘The situation in the Middle East’, under rule 39 of its provisional rules of procedure.” 11. If 1 hear no objection, I shall take it that the Council agrees to extend an invitation to Mr. Maksoud, under rule 39 of the provisional rules of procedure.

The Council is meeting today in response to the request contained in a letter dated 17 July from the Char& d’tiaires of the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations, addressed to the President of the Council. I should like to draw the attention of members of the Council to the following other documents: a letter dated 13 July from the representative of Lebanon addressed to the President of the Security Council ]S//45XS]; and two letters dated 15 and 16 July from the representative of Israel, addressed to the President of the Security Council [S//4.59/ cud S//4594]. 13. 1 call on the Secretary-General.

I do not need to stress to the Security Council the seriousness of the situation that has developed in and around Lebanon. After several weeks of relative quiet in the area, a new cycle of violence has begun and-has, in the past week, steadilv intensified. On IO July. the Israeli air force attacked targets in south Lebanon. On the evening of 15. The Charg6 d’affaires of Lebanon has conveyed to the Council his Government’s protest over the Israeli attacks. The representative of Israel has transmitted to the Council his Government’s protests over the shelling by Palestinian forces of towns and inhabited localities in northern Israel. I have also received a series of communications from the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization protesting against the Israeli attacks. 16. While these incidents have been taking place, the area controlled by the United Nations-Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been tense but quiet. To the extent that they could be observed, UNiFIL has reported on Israeli air strikes and on exchanges of fire involving positions close to the UNIFIL area. 17. As an immediate problem, I wish to draw the Council’s attention to the very serious consequences of the destruction of Kasmiyah bridge on the Litani River and other bridges and key points along the Tyre- Beirut coastal road. The blocking of this vital communications link is bound to create great difficulties for the people and the economy of south Lebanon, oarticularlv at this moment which is the oeak of the &ricultu&l season. UNIFIL will also be ‘a!Yected by the blocking of its main SUDBIY route. UNIFIL is studying, asa matter of the greaiest urgency, the best meansofdealing with these problems and, in particular, the transport of supplies via an alternative route through its area. 18. Since the beginning of this latest series of events, I and my colleagues at Headquarters, as well as the United Nations representatives in the area, have been in contact with all concerned with a view to securing a cessation of the hostilities. I regret to inform the Council that so far these efforts have been to no avail, as is tragically affirmed by the events of today. 19. I am sure that members of the Council share my deep concern and dismay at the heavy escalation of violence in the area and, in particular, the bombing of centres of population. All acts of violence which result in civilian casualties, wherever they may take place, are to be deplored. In particular, I am concerned that a continuation of this trend could destroy any 28. Pourthly, for two hours seven aircraft continuously bombed and strafed civilian targets in West Beirut, including the Arab University, a mosque, a high school, a stadium and the roads leading out of the city towards the south. 29. As a result of these attacks, preliminary reports speak of about 380 people killed and 800 wounded. The latest casualty figures that we heard before entering this hall included the case of a mother who had given birth yesterday who was killed and whose oneday-old Infant son had his leg amputated. The final toll may be much higher. 20. The PRESIDENT ~ir~tc~~p~ercrlio,i frw~n Frcwh): The next speaker is the representative of Lebanon, on whom I now call.

Sir, I should like to congratulate you on your assumption of the duties of President of the Council for the month of July. Your country, Niger, and that of your predecessor, the representative of Mexico, have both played host to large numbers of our people. Many of them went to Niger and Mexico in happier times, but many of them have sought refuge from the carnage and tragedy that our country has been going through over the past six or seven years. 30. Israel bears full responsibility for these attacks, for it was Israel which provoked this recurrent cycle of violence. This affair is more serious than usual, because the civilian nature of the targets and the large number of Lebanese women and children killed during these attacks add a further dimension to the tragedy. 22. I wish to thank the members of the Council for allowing me to speak. I wish also to convey my Govemmen& appreciation for the very clear and-meaningful statement that the Secretary-General he.s just made. 23. The latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon have been unwarranted by the facts. Israel provoked hostilities and used the ensuing cycle of violence as a pretext to carry out its policy of pre-emptive strikes. We condemn this policy, and we equally condemn the cycle of violence in Lebanon. We regret the loss of innocent life, the destruction of property and the hardships created as a result for the Lebanese people. 24. 1 should like to add a few details to the statement that has just been made by the Secretary-General. 25. First, the bridges at Zahrzni, Kasmiyab, J&ah, Habboush, Arab S&m, Bourghoz and Dell&l were completely demolished in an anoarent attemnt to isolate southc:n Lebanon from the rest of the country. including the area of operations of the UNIFIL. which has a Lebanese army contingent under its operational command. This is a source of deep concern to my Government and indeed, 1 think, to the members of the Council. 26. Secondly, two important economic targets were hit and destroyed. A refrigerator factory in the village of Naameh, south of Beirut. employing several hundred people, was hit, as was the American-owned oil pipeline terminal and refinery at Zahrani. At the time this statement was written the tanks were in flames. 31. The members of the Council are aware of the violence and conflict that took place in Lebanon in April, May and June. No sooner had the fighting stopped than Israel started its own version of provoking conflict and violence. 32. The dangerous aspect of this escalation is that not only does it aim to destabilize Lebanon but, in view of the destruction of the bridges I referred to earlier, it seriously hampers and can Get-y well undermine the whole peace-keeping effort decided on by the Council on 19-March lfi8-[reso/u/ion 425 (/9?8)]. A clear pattern is emerging according to which every time serious peace moves are under%ken to find a settlement to the Lebanese crisis, Israel explodes the situation and pretmpts the success of those moves. 33. We wish once more to emphasize the fact that Lebanon, which has never been heavily engaged in actual fighting in the Arab-Israeli wars, is being turned, against the will of its Government and its people, into an arena for a fifth Arab-Israeli war. My Government has always sought pcaee with justice in the Middle East and will continue to do so. Our aim at this stnge is to apply the regime established by the Lebanese-Israeli Armistice Agreement of 1949.’ and to that effect we call upon the Council to pronounce itself on the necessity of reactivating the Israel-Lebanon Mixed Armistice Commission. We should like the Council to make its authority felt through the moral and political support it can give to UNIFIL, enabling it to implement fully its mandate to restore the authority and sovereignty of the Lebanese Governm:nt over every inch of its territory, and we condemn all acts which prevent the realization of those aims. 34. The Council has once again been called upon to be seized and to continue to be seized of this situation 35. My Government and people, who have had more than their fair share of suffering, appeal to you, Mr. President, and to the other members of the Council, to stop the carnage. All military and armed action should stop forthwith so that we can cope with the problems already created: meet the demands imposed by a massive exodus of the civilian population from the areas under attack, hospltallze the wounded and bury the deed. What everybody in this hall takes for granted-the right to live in peace and security- .lppears to be a luxury in Lebanon. We have never hurt any country or any people. We demand that thase who are hurting us stop once and for all. 36. My delegation reserves the right to speak at a later stage in this debate to elaborate further on this question. 37. The PRESIDENT !interpretutbrr from French): The next speaker on my list is the representative of Israel. I call upon him.

Mr. President, at the outset let me pay my respects to you on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for this month. I am sure you will conduct the Council’s business with the same skill and fairness which you exhibited in May of last year, when the Council also deliberated a number of difftcult issues. 39. I should also like to take this oawrtunitv of E ying a tribute to the representative’of Me&o, r. Muiioz Ledo. for the able manner in which he conducted the Council’s proceedings last month. 49. How short political memories are. Pa Yz some members of the Council have forgotten t despicable crimes perpetrated by the PLO at Avivim, Ma’alot. Kiryat Shmona, Nahariya and many other towns, cities and villages in Israel. If others have forgotten, we have not. We know and remember that ,lte organization of international terrorists which calls itself the PLO is engaged in a relentless campaign of murder against Israel and its people. 41. The number of people, Israelis and others, who have been murdered in the PLO’s unending atrocities in recent years runs into hundreds. In my letters of I5 and 16 July 1981 addressed to you, Mr. President [S//45Y/ cc& S//45Y4i, 1 drew your urgent attention to the latest of these PLO outrages involving the loss of life and limb and considerable damage to property. 42. The PLO has never made any secret of its lntention to expand and escalate Its criminal designs. If any further proof were needed, only this week Hanni Al-Hassan, one of Yasser A&at’s henchmen, indicated in the Beirut weekly Momfuy Morning that the PLO was preparing to launch a massive offensive against Israel, with the support and assistance of the Soviet Union. 43. From Israel’s point of view, this public announcement only corroborated reliable information which has been reaching us steadily over the last few months about the PLO’s preparations to step up its attacks on Israel. 44. In the last few months we have witnessed a new phase in this campaign-an escalation of a kind and size which has signalled a change in the tactics of the PLO and its supporters, both within and beyond the Middle East. 45. There has, of course, always been a division of labour between the Arab rejectionlst States and the PLO. In recent months, however, we have witnessed a conscious policy on the part of certain Arab States of oueninn their arsenals to the PLO and nutting into its bands-heavy weapons with far greater fire-power than before and in quantities which they have never had before. 46. The build-up has been massive and it has come in the first instance from Libya and Syria. Libya, for example, has supplied the PLO both directly and indlrectlv throunh Syria with batteries of SAM-9 surface-&lr mi&les: In addition, the Libyans-those well-known paymasters and quartermasters of international terrorism-have also supplied the crews to man thase weapons which are stationed in the areas of Damaur pnd Beirut. In this connection, 1 should aho ooint out that the headauarters of the PLO and of all the organizations affiliated to it are located in sections of Beirut and its environs which are under direct Syrian control and protection, 47. Behind Syria and Libya stands that super-Power which uses &hem and the PLO to advance its interests in the Middle East with a view to continuing its penetration of the Middle East and the destabilization of the area as a whole. The Soviet Union has not hesitated in recent months to supply the PLO with new and sophisticated military mcrtirkl. These supplies have reached the PLO through various channels, sometimes through thrrd countries in the Soviet bloc and sometimes, as I have just mentioned, through various Arab countries. 49. All these supplies, both direct and indirect, represent a significant escalation in the Soviet Union’s arms supply policy to the PLO. They are designed to bring about a substantial increase in the PLO’s offensive capacity and its methods of operation. 53. Indeed, I would ask what State represented on the Council would sit back idly and allow Its own women and children to be murdered and maimed by terrorists? 50. If any last doubts lingered about the direct Soviet involvement in the training of PLO operatives in the Soviet Union, they were shattered by none other than the PLO representative in Moscow, Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Sha’ir, who gave an interview that was published in Beirut newspapers on 17 February 1981 in which he stated: 54. Members of the Council need scarcely be reminded that under international law, if a State is unwilling or unable to prevent the use of its territory to attack another State, that latter State is entitled to take all necessary measures in its own defence. 55. The Government of Israel is in fact exercising the inherent right of self-defence enjoyed by every sovereign State, a right also preserved under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. Israel’s response to PLO terror is what anv self-respecting sovereign State would do in similar circumstances. “The oizanization is satisfied with this assistance. Scores and hundzds of Palestinian oftlcers eligible to command major sectors, such as brigades, have graduated from Soviet military academies.” He added that 2,000 Palestinians are studying at Soviet schools and that the number of grants resewed for the PLO was 800 a year, mostly in scientific and technical fields. 5 I. The PLO domination over large parts of Lebanon and the anarchy it has created there are not ends in themselves. They are, above all, a means of assuring the PLO freedom of operation to conduct its indiscriminate acts of terror against my country. Thb is deemed necessary by the Arab qiectionirt States because of the role that they have rllotted to the PLO in their grand design for an all-out war agalnst Israel. Those Arab States regard Lebanon as one of the most important bridgeheads for launching what they call the “next round” against Israel. While they are steadily amassing artillery, armour; and aircraft in quantities now exceeding those of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, they have allocated to the PLO a special task and set it the objective of using Lebanon as a launching pad for acts of hostility, terror, sabotage and subversion against Israel and its civilian population. 52. Israel has invariably brought the outrages committed by the PLO against its population to the attention of the Security Council and of the Secretary- General, but to no avail. One would look in vain for 56. I must stress that Israel’s actions are specifically directed against concentrations of PLO -terrorists in Lebanon. Among the tarpets hit yesterday and today were the headquarters of the so-called Democratic Front in Damour and of the so-called Arab Liberation Front in Ain Al-Hilwc; a Fatah training camp ln the Zahrani area; the operations centre of Fateh in Beirut; and the centre of the Democratic Front in Beirut. In addition, a number of bridges which served prlncipelly as the PLO supply Iinea were destroyed. 57. The unfortunate fact Is that for years now, the PLO in its cowardly way has chosen to take cover in villages and refugee camps, particularly in that part of Lebanon under its control. 58. The former Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations, Mr. Ghorra, did not mince words on this subiect in his memorable speech of 14 October 1976 beiore the General Assembly,f and all of us are well aware that since then the PLO has also entrenched itself in parts of Beirut. as well as in the towns of Tyre and Sidon virtually in their entirety. 59. I must emphasize that it has never been Israel’s intention to harm innocent Lebanese civilians. Because of the way the PLO deploys itself, they tragically find 60. The real problem before the international community and before the Council at this moment is how to put an end to international terror in general-of which the PLO is the linchpin-and, more specifically, how to put an end to PLO terror against Israel. 61. Israel is entitled to expect that the territory of Lebanon will not be permitted to serve, as it has for so many years, as a launching pad for murderous attacks against its citizens. Any realistic appraisal of the matter before the Council must take that fact into account. If certain members of the Council are able and willing to ignore the harsh realities confronting Israel, we cannot. 62. Let me conclude by repeating what I have already stated on several occasions previously. Israel has no fIghI with Lebanon. Israel sincerely desires peace with and in Lebanon. We have supported and we continue to support the independence,- sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of Lebanon within its internationally rec&ized boutidarles. We wish that the effective authority of the Lebanese Ciovemment could be restored at an early date over those large parts of its country controlled by foreign elements. 63. If the Security Council wishes to address itself seriously to the question before it, it must abandon the blinkered attitude it has so studiously exhibited thus far In the face of the slaughter of tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians by the Syrian army of occupation and by the terrorist PLO over recent years. As a first practical step, it must demand the removal of all foreign armies and terrorists from Lebanese territory. 64. The PRESIDENT fintcrpretatiun from French): The next speaker is the representative of Jordan. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. U, Mr. NUSEIBEH (Jordan): Sir, it ir my privilege t@ express my felkitations to you, the representative Of ftiendly Nimr, oti your assumption of the presidency of the Council for this month of July, with full confidence in your statesmanship and wisdom. It is also my privilege to congratulate Mr. MuRoz Ledo of friendly Mexico for the exemplary and dynamic manner in which he presided over the Council last month. 66. We are meeting today to discuss the barbarous, systematic and indiscriminate war-mongering attacks against the sisterly independent and sovereign State of Lebanon, one of the early founding Members of the United Nations. These attacks are a continuum and are part of a vastly augmented pattern of undisturbed iggression begun 11 years ago-against the indomitable Lebanese people and their equally indomitable Palestinian refugee guests, who are there not by choice, but 67. The world in its entirety must understand that the Palestinians’ only wish is to return to their usurped homes and homeland in occupied Palestine. They have no desire to remain in Lebanbn, even though it is dear to their hearts. Their day of deliverance will be the day when they no longer have to endure the intolerable ordeal they have been enduring for 30 years as residents in the squalor of refugee camps, while the alien intruders live in their homes and toil their lands. 68. The Israeli outlaws of today are a mere replica of their own selves. They are terrorists who 30 years ago brought about the uprooting of the Palestinian people. The only difference is that today they are called a State and armed to the teeth with the most lethal weapons of destruction, heaped upon them by either a misguided or a hostage United States, whose policies towards the Middle East are evidently and manifestly drawn up in places other than Washington. What an unprecedented irony that a small nation of 3 million should have obtained the power to formulate and direct a super-Power’s national interest, by the bigotry and lawlessness of its small ally! What an irony that weaponry systems of great sophistication should be showered upon bloodthirsty, reckless and expansionist Israel even before such systems are given to America’s closest allies in Europe and elsewhere! 69. This question-and it is a sad question indeed for all of us-is being increasingly asked, both by many discerning sections of the American people and by people elsewhere, because the answer to it has a heavy impact upon world peace and security: What is the dividing line between the United States and Israel? Or have the two practically coalesced? Or is one overriding the other? 70. The United States possesses by far a preponderance of the Middle East’s strate@c resources. including the utilization of staggering tbnds and unllmited economic opportunities. And yet Israel’s blatant diktat imposes upon the United States the adoption of brutal and immoral policipagainst the very people in whose area-the Middle East--those colossal interests are exploited. It is a truly unique and unprecedented situation---except for the dark chapter of Viet Nam and the reckless bombing and cannibalization in 1970 of the people of Kampuchea, one of the most civilized and ancient people in the world. That triggered the appalling chain of events and the catastrophe which the Kampucheai? people are facing at present, and which I hope the Middle East region will be spared. 71. Today’s massive raids on the capital of Lebanon, the historic, beautiful and unmatched Beirut-and I am sure many in this chamber know Beirut very 72. In I%& even before the Palestinians in Lebanon had been forced to arm themselves in self-defence, I was one of those who witnessed at close range -possibly at a distance of 300 metres-the almost total destruction of Lebanon’s civil national airline on the tarmac of Beirut international airport. Fourteen Boeing and other civilian aircraft were destroyed. That was in reprisal for what? That is what I should like to know. The Security Council condemned the aggression in 1968. 73, No matter what the intensity of the verbal condemnation of the daily massive raids on Lebanese civilians and Palestinian refugees, or the number of mild slaps on the wrist, there is not a single citizen in our region-and I am telling the truth-who is not completely convinced that even though the pilots of those F-I% and F-lb may have Israeli identity cards, or possibly a dual nationality legitimized SW cifIcally for the first time to serve Israeli purposes, the television and compute&cd guidance systems and aircraft are American-made. The Government of the Unlted States, which has officially sanctified Israeli aggression against Christian and Moslem Lebanon, must bear the heaviest moral responsibility for the innocent victims of those barbarous raids. It has declared-1 believe yesterday-that the use of such weapons is an act of self-defence. 1 cannot see how the killing of hundreds or thousands of civilians by F-l% and F-165 is a legitimate act of self-defence. The peopka of the Arab world know this fact all too well; ihei; Governments have come round to this conclusion, which is inescapable. 74. As for the Security Council, if it should fail to act decisively, in deeds and not in words, against such blatant aggression, against this situation ofwar, then let all the peoples of the world know that a new era of the law of the jungle has practically and undisguisedly supplanted the international order based on the Chartel and international law. Let us face that sad fact. 75. It is a basic +cision which devolves upon the Security Council: it must make the decision and live with the consequences. It should not matter very much -we are accustomed to this-that an aggressive Israel will as usual reject any Council decision, as it has done for decades. What is important is that the Council should act without inhibitions, in accordance with its own provisions and inspired by the guidance given by the Charter.

If the representative of terrorist Begin believes that the Security Council can believe that military tanks T-349, T-349. T-S% and 155 Howitzers were in place in the Arab University of Beirut and in the Mosque of Imam Ali when both places were bombed today, causing hundreds of casualties-if he believes that that military hardware was also found in the refrigerator factory in Naameh, then he would expect the Council to believe anything. 78. At the outset I wish to say that I feel it a great honour, Mr. President, that you, a son of liberated Africa and brother freedom fighter, are chairing this meeting. I wish to thank you, Sir, and through you the other member5 of the Council who have also agreed to invite the Palestine Liberation Organlzation to participate in this debate. 79. At this point, I should also like to extend to the representative of Mexico the expression of my highest esteem for his prudence and the sense of diplomacy that he manifested during the debate on another Israeli criminal attack and act of aggression against the peaceful country of Iraq, in its peaceful pursuit of better conditions for its people. 80. For the representative of Begin I should like to start bv savinn at the outset that the motto of the crlmind and tehorist Begin, a5 pronounced in his book 7he Revolt. is this: “As for the United Nation5 Organization’s prohibitions, we would manage some&w. In the circumstances this was no question of morals.” That is the basis of the dealings of Begin and his respect or disrespect for the Organization. gl. I shall spare the Council a detailed study of the terrorist mentality, the sacred terrorism practised by the Zionirtr and Israel. I shall not refer to the bornbe placed in the soukr of the Old City of Jerusalem in the 193th. I &all not now refer to the maasacm and B of Deir Yassl.r, in which Begin took pride. I shall talk about the latest in these criminal and terrorist attacks. 82. On I July, and after a long lull, in the most intensive shelling of South Lebanon for several weeks, Israeli artillery pounded the towns of Nabatiyah, the villages of Aichiye, Arab Salim. Al-Kihan and Habboush for over five hours. They also hit Beaufort Castle, which overlooks the Litani River and northern Galilee. 83. It was not mere coincidence that Israel resumed its heavy bombardment of southerrl Lebanon at that time, on 1 and 2 July, in the wake of the Israeli elections and after the first signs of a certain measure of detente in the Lebanese arena-a reconciliation in Lebanonhad appeared. The attack on I July, then. did not take 84. On IO July at 1 I o’clock in the morning, Israel started another major air attack on two areas in southem Lebanon: Habboush, on the Sidon-Nabatiyeh road, and Al-Wadi Al-Akhdar, north.eaot of Nabas tlyeh. The raid lasted for over an hour and was accompanied by an Israeli artillery bombardment of roads in south Lebanon, particularly in the Habboush region. Several civilians were killed or wounded in the raid. 85. Let us think for a moment about what 10 July means. It coincides with the visit of the special envoi 92. Later that day, at 2040 hours, naval vessels of Resident Ronald Reagan, Mr. Habib, to the area. were operating in the vicinity of Sidon and Tyre, and So again, it is not accidental or an isolated event that at 2110 hours the Israeli air force was overflying and Israel escalated its attacks on that day-perhaps to dropping flares over Rashidiyeh, Ras AI-Al& Nabawelcome Habib or to discourage him, I do not know. tiyeh and Arab Mm. Six hundred Israeli shells were fIred in that short period of time. 86. On I2 July, and that was last Sunday, at I630 hours, while the Moslems were sitting down to break their Ramadan fast, Israeli Phantoms, Mirages and F-Ms attacked the coastal town of Damour and the neighbouring villages of Naameh and Haret Al- Naameh as well as Deir Zahrani on the SidonsNabatiyah road. The raid lasted for over 90 minutes and involved approximately 24 planes. The refrigerator factory in Naameh was severely bombed, and again, as was mentioned by my good-friend and colle&e, the respected representative of Lebanon, that was an econotiic outlei employing scores of civilians. In ‘dition to the refrigerator factory, the Israeli aircraft kz;ittdtile factory in Damour, which was severely 87. Up to March this year, 6S civilians had been killed and more than 100 seriously wounded. On that day of I2 July-and it was a Sunday-I was instructed by Chairman Arafat to approach the Secretary-OeneraI, asking him to use his good offices to put an end to the criminal attack. I certainly will leave it to him to inform the Council, whenever the proper time may be, of his ;ytityt8 and endeavours. They were, of course, to no 88. Then, watching that escalation, Chairman Arafat registered his strongest protest through the Secretary- General; but he also wanted to state that there was a limit to our patience, that the blood of our children is not free for the spilling, and that our children and women are not there lo be exterminated while the world and we watch. And we have informed the Secretary-General that there is a limit to our patience. 89. Again on 14 July, Israeli bombers attacked five villages in two areas of southern Lebanon. The attack was directed at the Del-Hamia and Dibbiya region, south of Damuur on the Beirut-Iiidon coastal road, at Jarmaq and Arab Salim as well as the village of Zifta nearby. Fine aircrafts took part in the actual bombing 90. On IS July, at 1740 hours, there was intensive shelling of Nabatiyeh and Arab Salim; at 1805 hours there was intensive shelling of Ras AI-Ain. Rashidiyeh and Kana Junction: at 1825 hours there was intensive shelling of Sidon; and at 1830 hours there was concentrated shelling of Ras AI-Ain, Nabatiyeh, Sidon, Kafer Roumane and Serba. 91. At that moment we could not but retaliate, and counter-attacks with rockets targeted at enemy sources of fIre were launched. 93. That is not the law of the jungle: that is not “a tooth for a tooth”: that is “a jaw for a tooth”. 94. But the Israelis persisted in their criminal attacks. On 16 July they resorted to air strikes. At 1425 hours, Damour was hit; at 1600 hours, Wadi Al-Akhdar, Arab Salim and Jarmaq were hit, as well as Ain Al- Hilweh refugee camp and Zahrani and Habboush bridges; at 1650 hours, there was another air attack on Ain Al-Hilweh refugee camp; at 1730 hours, Kasmiyah bridge was struck-and I think that that has affected United Nations operations in that area: at 1735 hours, Zahrani and Habboush bridges were again hit from the air: at 1740 hours, the Habboush bridge was once again hit and so was Deir Al-Zahrani; and at 1743 hours, there were further air strikes on the Zahrani and Habboush bridges. 95. In all those letters we addressed to the Secretary- Geneml we asked for his immediate intervention so that efforta could be undertaken by the United Nations to bring these criminal Israeli activities to an end. But, again, to no avail. More than 50 people were killed or 8~Iourly wo~dcd on 16 July 1981. 96. I have just seen one of today’s newspapers. It carries the banner headline: “Terror in Brooklyn -Aged Couple Brutalized”. I wonder how the press could describe the brutalizing and killing in cold blood of civilians by the hundreds-and this is not yet the end of these attacks. 97. I would describe today as an infamous day, to the extent that the United States today cuuld not decide whether another shinment of P .l6s could be sent to Israel to be used to drop bombs on our refugee cnmus and kill our civilians. I hoae to God that the Uniied States will be sensible enouih not to send these means of destruction and put them in the hands of the bloodthirsty criminals in Tel Aviv. 102. Once again the PLO appoais to the Cmlncii to use its good offices, to USC its authority and to use the Charter in order to bring peace to the Middle East. We appeal to you onto agaIn, please enable us to return to our homes, because if we are not enabled to do so, then we must force our way back thoro.

The Security Council has once again had to convene in an umont meeting. Tho quostbn is not a new one, but it is-becoming increasingly tragic. It is the explosive situation in the Middle East caused by Israel’s aggressive actions. 99. Lot me assure the Council that Begin’s aim in 1948 was to create an atmosphere of terror, to torrorize the Palestinians and force them from their homes. This campaign of terror cannot bo repeated; we shall not permit it to be repeated; we shall Bght back. We are not here merely to announce this, but we are hore to toll the Security Council that we have had enough, that the Security Council itself has failed. What has the Council achieved7 Recently. when Iraq was hit, we said that failure to condemn Israol and make it pay for its crime would encourage Israel to strike at other locations-and it did. 104. Just a few weeks ago the Council was considering the quostion of Ista;l’s aggrosslon against Iraq. At that time it was a question of tho Ismoli air force’s bombing of tho nuclear-rosoarch contra near Baghdad. That criminal act was strongly condomnod by the Council and quite rightly dosc&d as a clear vioiation of the Chartor of the United Nations and of the norms of international law. 105. Today the Security Council is once agaIn having to consider tho question of Irtnoli aggression. This time, it is a question of a aharp txpan&n of the barbarous war whioh lard hns ban w&w for many yoam now againrt tho L&Mow popb and Iho Palortinian rotistanco movomont. 100. Habib’s trips sometimes make us won& what his mission in the area is. Is that envoy of Proshiont Reupn then to remove tho Syrian misrilor, or is he tlton just for a cover-up to allow lrrxol to act more brutrtly in the area? I any thxt b86auao Bogia t43kI tkc mombon of the Knesset-md this wu npmed h the Jwusaht Past, 3 Juno to 4 July-that in the days prior to the bombing of the Baghdad reactor, he deliberately intensified his warnings about the threat posed by the Syrian missiles in Lebanon. His purpose was to keep only that one issue in mind in foreign capitals while, naturally, he planned to attack Baghdad. In plain English, Habib was being used as a cover-up while Begin was preparing for another criminal attack. The question is:-Is‘Hab6 being used now also as a cover-up to facilitate t’ elimination of the Palestinian people? That is a quesllon that the United States is under obligation to answer. Is the United States sending Habib to the region because of his beautiful lovable Arab name? Because “Habib” in Arabic means “lovable”. Is it se.rding him as a cover-up for 106. The Irmoli rmmlr ele ODonIY docluln that they are llow et&~ l now pliue341 this r&cl. In other words, the Israeli leaders, flouting the Zenerally recognized norms of international law, are <dte brazenly claiming the right to intervene openly in the internal affairs of Lebanon, on the trumped-up pretext of the so-called preventive strikes. They cynically call the border with Lebanon “the so-cailhd b;rder 6f the so-called sovereign State of Lebanon”. Israeli heavy artillery has be& savagely strafing many southern Lebanese towns and villages and Palestinian refugee camps. Israeli aircraft, of American manu.. facture, are bombing from the air, their helicopters are landing troops and Israeii warships are britlging t .,.i s of commandos to Lebanese soil to carry out :4 tive raids against the civilian population. 108. The reason for Israel’s being so bold as to defy the entire international community so blatantly and for so long is hardly a secret to anyone. The reason is the virtual encouragement given to the adventuristic policy of Israel by Washington, which for many years has been providing all kinds of assistance and support to Israel in its armed attacks against the Arab States. 109. The reason for the current increase in Tel Aviv’s audacity is also evident. It is that now the winds blowing from across the ocean are particularly favourable for the aggressor. It has not passed unnoticed that now, almost at the highest ofVicial levels, they call Israel not simply a friend, but also an ally. This is not semantics, this is politics, and the calculations implied can be seen from what follows. I IO. In January of this year, when they were working on the United States policy in the Middle East, one American author rather cynically wrote the following: “At the political level a new strategy would suggest that the United States Administration seriously reconsider the utility of United Nations resolution 242 (1967) as the model for an eventual solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.“* And further on, that writer says really appalling things: “It is thus a real question whether now is the ideal time for Israeli withdrawal from other occupied territories. just as these assets are growing in value.“* IO 112. The first is-and I think it would be useful for the members of the Council and for the Middle East countries to know this-that the author, Mr. Geoffrey Kemp, is now involved in dW.lOping the United States policy on the Middle East and he reports on these matters to the United States National Security Council. 113. The second, which is more widely known, is that now it has in fact been declared by Washington that a settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict should be postponed as not being urgent. In other words, looking at the Israeli occupation of Arab lands as an asset growing in value has become the official viewpoint of Israel’s protectors. In the light of that, It is hardly worth being surprised at Israel’s rushing to make more and more statements about its right to intervene in the internal affairs of the Arab countries and peoples. 114. The representative of Israel has tried to divert our attention from the fact that it is Tel Aviv, as well as the support for its aggressive oolicv bv the United States of-America, that79 behind ihe pies&t explosive situation in the Middle East. He said that the Soviet Union was helping the Arab countries and peoples. Yes, we do help, and we have never made a secret of it. But we are helping the victims of Israeli aggression -and there is a tremendous difference there between our policy and that of the United States, which is helping the aggressor, Israel. Moreover, just as soon as Israel halts its aggression and occupation of the Arab lands it has been occupying since June 1967, there will be no reason for its so-called concern. That is the clear policy of the Soviet Union: the representative of Israel only pretended that he did not know it. 115. We believe it is time to put an end to this dangerous playing with fire in the Middle East at the expense of the Arab countries and peoples, and the first step in this direction can and must be taken immediately, today. 116. The Soviet Union advocates an immediate haIt to Israeli ssprsssIon s&tat L&anon and refusea to accept this dangerous develoumertt in the Middk Ea. Isra&s recent armed attackhas once again convlncin& shown that we can no longer delay in taking decisive action to curb the aggressor. In these conditions, it is incumbent upon the Security Council strongly to condemn Israel for those acts of armed aggression against Lebanon and demand that Israel halt them and not commit any further similar acts. 1 17. The PRESIDENT (i,lre~/~,ertrriori~o,,t Frcwcl~~: The representative of Israel has asked to be allowed to speak in exercise of the right of reply, and I call on him.

I believe that we are all grateful to the representative of the Soviet Union for 119. He lectured the Council on questions of lnternational aggression-and here 1 would agree that he is extremely well qualified and well placed to give us that lecture. His country has acquired great experience in international aggression: in Prague, 1948; in Budapest, 1956; in Prague again, 1%8; and, more recently, in Kabul in 1979-and I could add many more examples around the world. So, in actual fact, the heroes of Prague, of Budapest and of Kabul are also the real heroes of Beirut-and no amount of diversionary statements can obscure that simple fact. 120. I would also invite the Council to ponder another curious phenomenon. We have here the representative of Lebanon, who can and does speak for his country. But there are also others here who arrogate to themselves that right. Is it not an anomalous situation that here at the United Nations the terrorist observer feels free to submit communications and to make statements about the situation in Lebanon as if he were the territorial sovereign there, rather than leaving this matter to the representative of Lebanon? But, then, so many irregular privileges have been granted by the United Nations to the terrorist PLO-some of them we have witnessed in the course of this debate-that no one seems to notice, or at least no one seems to think twice about this patent irregularity. Nor is that the only manifestation of the arrogation of Lebanese sovereignty by some outside terrorist. 121. The Lebanese Army cannot move freely within those amas of Lebanon controlled by the terrorist PLO; indeed, it can enter those areas only with the consent of the terrorists and on the!r conditions. The main road ftom Beirut to Tyre through Sidon is entimly under t6Prorist cuntro1. 122. The PLO terrorists feel free to invite groups of visitors, including foreign parliamentarians, to the Lebanese territory that they control, without even seeking permission from the Lebanese Government, and this degree of highly publicized arrogance has often caused the Lebanese Government considerable embarrassment. Indeed, the PLO terrorists are so cocksure of themselves that last summer they took the initiative, over the head of the Lebanese Government, to request a meeting of the Arab League’s Arab Defence Council to discuss the situation in Lebanon. And on 6 September 1980, Radio Beirut reported that the Government of Lebanon had protested to the Arab League against that move by the terrorist PLO. 123. Finally, there is another aspect of the PLO’s activities which deserves the close attention of the 124. The PRESIDENT flttlrrpr~tutlonfruttl Fretwh): The representative of the Soviet Union has asked to be allowed to speak in exercise of the right of reply. I call on him. 125. Mr. OVINNIKOV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) littterpretatlon from Rttsslatt): The representative of Israel, Mr. Blum, has resorted to the usual diversionary tactics, but that is not what we are dealing with now. I noted that he nevertheless thanked the Soviet representative for clarifying the position of the Soviet Union, so perhaps I might expect a similar kindness in return. 126. I would ask him just one short question: Is Israel willing to withdraw its troops from the Arab territories it occupied in June 1%7? In advance 1 must say that, if Mr. Blum refrains from answering the question and remains silent or if he once again resorts to his diversionary tactics and does not answer the question, then that will mean a confirmation of the fact that Israel does not wish to withdraw from the occupied Arab territories, and that is the whole essence of the problem. And so, Mr. Blum, is Israel willing to withdraw its troops from the occupied Arab territories? 127. The PRESIDENTtintrrpr~tatiunfrum French): The representative of Israel hu once a&n requested that Ito k &owed to apeak in exorcise of the right of reply and I now call on him.

I wonder who is engaging here in diversionary tactics. 1 have one simple question for the representative of the Soviet Union: Would he be good enough to produce before the Council the licences from the Government of Lebanon for the importation of Soviet tanks, Katyusha rockets, guns, troop carriers and other pieces of Soviet military hardware which his country has sogenerously supplied to its stooge and proxy in Lebanon, the terrorist PLO? If he avoids an answer to that question, 1 will be able only to conclude that he indeed engages in diversionary tactics. 129. Mr. PRESIDENT fi/rre,prc~tcctio/r ,~o,rr I;i~r~c/~j: The representative of the Soviet Union has again asked IO be allowed to speak in exercise of the right of reply and I call on him.

I thought that the representative of Israel had listened more carefully to the Soviet statement. I listened very carefully to his statement, and 1 already answered hls question in my statement Tho answor was that when Israel withdraws its troops from the occupied Arab territories, then chore will be no roason for his socalled concern. So I Just ropeat my answor. However, in turn I shwld like to hoar the answor from the roprosentatlvo of Israel: Is Israel willine to withdraw its troops from the occupied Arab territories? I3 I, The PRESIDENT Iinferpre/a/ion fPorn French): I should like to make the following statement [S//45Y9]: “The President of the Security Council and the members of the Council, after hearing the report of tho Socrotary-Oonoral, express their deep concern at the oxtont of the loss of life and the scale of the destruction cauead by the deplorable oven18 that have been taking place for several days in Lebanon. “They launch an urgent appeal for an immediate end to all armed attacks and for the greatest restraint so that peace and quiet may be established in Lebanon and a just and lasting peace in the Middle East as a whole.” The meeting rose at 10.40 p.m. NOTES ’ OJ7dul Records ofrhe SecurNy CMW~/. Fortrrh Yrur. S~sclal HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NAllONS PUSLlCAllONS -- M3on Wvhl IO)-June IYXH-?.020