S/PV.2396 Security Council

I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received letters from the representatives of Democratic Yemen and Greece 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 tnmting IVNS called to order at 6.45 p.m. Adoption of the agenda At the invitation of the President, Mr. Al-Ashtal (Drmocratic Yemen) and Mr. Dortrztas (Gmw) took the plrrc*es reserved for them at the side of the C’ouncil chamber. The situation in the Middle East: (n) Letter dated 4 June 1982 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/15162); (b) Letter dated 28 July 1982 from the Permanent Representatives of Egypt and France to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/15316); (c) Letter dated 16 September 1982 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/15392)

This meeting of the Security Council has been convened in response to an urgent request made to me by the representative of Jordan earlier today. 4. Members of the Council have received photocopies of a letter dated 18 September from the representative of Greece to the President of the Council requesting an urgent meeting. The text of that letter will be issued as a document of the Council under the symbol S/15401.

In accordance with decisions taken at previous meetings [2374th, 2375th, 2377th, 2385th, 2389th and 2394th meetings], I invite the representative of Lebanon to take a place at the Council table; I invite the representative of Israel 4. I should like to draw the attention of members of the Council to the following documents: S/15382/ Add.2, which contains a second addendum to the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in the Beirut area; and S/15399, which contains the text of

I wish to inform the Council about developments since its meeting last night [2395th meeting], in the course of which it adopted resolution 520 (1982). 8. Immediately after the adoption of that resolution, I cabled its text to the Foreign Minister of Israel with a request that the latter should send to me, before 2000 hours GMT on 18 September, information on action taken or envisaged by the Government of Israel to implement that resolution, as well as any other relevant information. I also instructed Genera1 Erskine, the Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), to follow up that request with the Israeli authorities. Should the Israeli authorities agree to co-operate on increasing the strength of the Observer Group Beirut (OGB), General Erskine is prepared to make immediate arrangements, in consultation with the Lebanese Government, to send additional observers to Beirut. 9. This morning, the Chief of Staff of UNTSO received the following reply from the Israeli Foreign Ministry for transmission to me: “Due to the Jewish New Year, a formal response from the Government of Israel to the Security Council resolution could not be forthcoming within the time-frame determined for the Secretary- General’s report. A senior Foreign Ministry official indicated, however, to the Chief of Staff of UNTSO, General Erskine, that, as previously announced, the presence of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in west Beirut was of limited duration and did not, in any manner, limit the deployment of the Lebanese army in any parts of Beirut. He reiterated that the Government of Israel had instructed the IDF to evacuate its positions in west Beirut when the Lebanese army was ready to assume control over them in co-ordination with the IDF. Discussions to that end between Israeli and Lebanese army officers had been proposed by the Government of Israel and accepted by the Government of Lebanon. In these discussions, plans would be exchanged for the evacuation of the JDF from west Beirut.” Subsequently, the following addendum to the above reply was received from the Israeli Foreign Ministry by UNTSO in Jerusalem: “Already, in the course of the day, these discussions resulted in several positions being handed over by the IDF to the Lebanese army, including those in the street of the Banks. Also today, the IDF surrounded the camps, when it became aware “The IDF were deployed west of the camps and had left the access to the east open in the expectation that the Lebanese army would enter the camps and take up positions, as called for by the Habib plan. This did not happen. When the IDF found out, on the morning of 18 September, they surrounded the camps to protect the population.” A second message received later from Mr. Blum was as follows: “An arrangement has been reached between the IDF and the Lebanese armed forces for the Leb anese armed forces to enter the three camps, tha is, Fakhani, Sabra and Shatila, tomorrow morninr (Sunday) at 10.00 local time.” 11. Members of the Council will be aware of thf reports in the media about the tragic events in wes Beirut. This morning, United Nations observers of thi OGB reported the following. 12. During the day on 17 September, fighting in thi Sabra camp in the southern suburbs of Beirut was ir; progress, and the presence of Kataeb units-which are the military branch of the Phalange Party--war observed at Bir Hassan, in the hospital and airporl areas, in the vicinity of Sabra camp. West Beirut WBS reported to be under IDF control at around 1500 hours GMT on 17 September, with the exception of the Sabra camp area. 13. From 1600 to 1830 hours GMT, on 17 September very sporadic explosions were heard at an unde termined distance north-west of Yarze, where the OGE office is temporarily located. Four minutes befar? midnight GMT, flares were seen over the Sabra area. 14. In the morning of 18 September, all of west Beirut was under IDF control. The presence of Katseb units was again observed in Bir Hassan in the vicinity of the Sabra camp, as well as an estimated 1,000 Kataeb soldiers, at least, with tanks and vehicles in the airport area. 15. Two teams of OGB observers reached the Sabra camp at 0830 hours GMT and found many clusters of bodies of men, women and children in civilian clothes who appeared to have been massacred in groups of 10 or 20. The Sabra camp is dominated by two lBF positions situated 200 and 500 metres, resPectivelYI west of the camp. According to information received from the Lebanese army, the units seen in the Bir Hassan, Sabra and airport areas were in fact Katfieb units mixed with Lebanese de fwro forces coming from southern Lebanon. 23.- However, it seems to me that, in the present situation, unarmed military observers, however courageous or numerous, are not enough. 24. I think it is also well worth noting that, in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) area in the south, conditions have remained quiet and UNIPIL has successfully prevented the harassment of the civilian population by any armed groups. 17. During the period under review, OGB observers continued to enjoy substantial freedom of movement. Their strength stood unchanged at 10.

The first speaker is the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization, on whom I now call. 18. Upon receiving the first word of the events this morning, I directed the United Nations spokesman to issue the following statement on my behalf:

In the annals of the history of atrocities, Sabra and Shatila are now ingloriously inscribed, together with Auschwitz and My-Lai, and west Beirut along with the Warsaw ghetto, the Judeo-Nazis in Tel Aviv with the Nazis of Berlin. The Judeo-Nazis desecrated the Day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is now marked in the annals of history as the Black Rosh Hashanah. It is a day of shame, a day of shame on which the Judeo-Nazis have insulted Judaism and have insulted the Jews everywhere by committing the most atrocious and hideous of their crimes. “The Secretary-General has heard with shock and horror the reports of the killing of civilians in west Beirut. He once again calls urgently for an end to the violence,” 19. I subsequently received a visit from the representatives of France, Italy and the United States, who handed me a statement urging the immediate dispatch of United Nations observers to the sites of the greatest human suffering and losses in and around Beirut, I was also informed by the representative of Lebanon that his Government concurred in that request. 27. The involvement of the Israeli troops in Beirut is very clear. The Israeli colonel outside the Shatila camp told press reporters that he was working on two principles: first, that the area should be “purified” -and to purify an area of its residents is nothing but Nazi doctrine, Nazi terminology and a Nazi act; and secondly, that the Israeli army should not be involved. I wonder. The facts speak differently. 20. In this connection, I should point out that as early as 13 June 1982, I had recommended that the strength of the United Nations observers in the Beirut area should be increased from the present level of IO observers. I have kept the Security Council informed of the difficulties that have been encountered in giving effect to this plan, which was also endorsed by the Council in its resolution 516 (1982). 28. It is a known fact that the troops who stormed the camp were Israeli commandos who had sought the help of some militiamen from the renegade Haddad forces. It is the Israeli army commandos who stormed the camp and committed those crimes. The media, sind particularly the graphic visual medium of television, have provided us with much more than we can take. Bulldozers were used to pile up rubble on the dead in an attempt to conceal them, but arms and legs were sticking out of the rubble, the arms and legs of women and children, 1,500 of them-yes, 1,500 helpless civilians, mostly women and children, were butchered in cold blood, The men were rounded up, placed against a wall and shot in a very Nazi-like fashion, and their resting place was a mass grave. We have witnessed a holocaust, a genocide, in 1982, and on this black day of Rosh Hashanah. For how long 21. I wish to assure the members of the Council that the inability to increase the number of United Nations observers in Beirut has not been for lack of t-epeated efforts to get the necessary co-operation. I wish also to say that the observers actually in Beirut co-operated to the maximum of their capacity with the multinational force while it was present in Beirut and have continued, since its departure, to provide us, within their limited means, with as much first-hand information as possible. I wish to take this opportunity to pay a tribute to those gallant officers. 22. Immediately after the visit of the three representatives, I instructed General Erskine to make a 29. Three medical doctors were killed outside the Akka Hospital, despite the fact that they were waving a white flag. They were met by a hand-grenade which exploded. Three of them died; the fourth was seriously wounded, The bodies of 1,500 innocent civilians were strewn across a wide area; I need not describe it, since everyone has probably seen it on television. 30. Yet the Judeo-Nazis in Tel Aviv tell us that the act was perpetrated by Christian militiamen or Christian Phalangists, or a Christian-this or a Christian-that. That is a malicious and criminal tendency in thinking. They are trying to create a Christian and non-Christian battle; this is but further proof of their racist approach. We warn against such malicious tendencies. 31. We were told, and the Israeli authorities had assured the United States Government, that the Israeli army was there on a mission of peace. What kind of mission of peace was it to eliminate the people? The Israeli army is not only responsible for that crime but is its perpetrator. 32. When Chairman Arafat and the PLO decided to move our armed forces from Beirut to spare the city further destruction, we trusted and we were confident that what had been conveyed to us would be honoured. An agreement had been arrived at stipulating that “Law-abiding Palestinian non-combatants left behind in Beirut, including the families of those who have departed, will be subject to Lebanese laws and regulations. The Governments of Lebanon and the United States will provide appropriate guarantees of safety in the following ways: the Lebanese Government will provide its guarantees on the basis of having secured assurances from armed groups with which it has been in touch, and the United States Government will provide its guarantees on the basis of assurances received from the Government of Israel and from the leadership of certain Lebanese groups with which it has been in touch,” Neither of these guarantees proved to be of any value, 33. Perhaps we were at fault for having trusted the United States. But for how long can the Security Council be prevented from involving itself in protecting the lives of people? 34. The United States undertook to deploy temporarily a force of approximately 800 personnel as part of a multinational force to provide appropriate assistance to the Lebanese armed forces as they carried out their responsibilities concerning the withdrawal of the Palestinian personnel in Beirut. The Palestinian per- 3.5. Yet, we sit here and deliberate. In our opinion, the mere sending of observers and giving authority to the Secretary-General to send a monitoring team is not sufficient. It will not deter the criminals. Something more than that should be done. The Council should send a force-and I am not trying to trespass on the sovereignty of Lebanon-but as long as there are no guarantees for the safety and security of our people, unless the Council provides for the return of our people to their homes and enables them to do so, it is the Council’s responsibility to save those people and ensure their safety; otherwise, we will not sit idly by and be butchered in cold blood. I am sure that it is not the intention of the Council to see the repercussions of such a crime widening. 36. In our opinion, the first step the Council shoull take is to eject the criminal from this court. The crimi nal has to be sent out: there is no room here for crimi nals. Yet, it is the duty of the Council to invoke it own powers, powers entrusted to it by the Charter o the United Nations. People have to respect the deci sions of the Council: that is laid down in the Charte itself. 37. But one permanent member has obstructed thr work of the Council and kept the criminal here be cause it was in collusion with that criminal. Yes some other countries have with goodwill participated in the multinational force; I believe that France and Italy joined that force with all goodwill and good intentions. But what did they achieve? They achieved the removal of the Palestinian elements and other Lebanese elements that had been defending Beirut against the criminals, thus laying the groundwork for the criminals to go into west Beirut and commit the hideous crimes which today the Council is meeting to consider. But to consider to do what? The Council must shoulder its responsibilities. The Charter confers powers on the Security Council. Why not invoke them? Criminals have no place here. Judeo-Nazis who are practising acts of State terrorism have no place here. 38. Yes, we are still counting on the support and understanding of the Council and we remain con* vinced that it will face up to its responsibilities aad defend and protect the lives of innocent people.

Just two short weeks ago, a number of fighters from the PLO left west Beirut. They left so as to save the civilian population of the capital of Lebanon and to avoid creating victims. That was an extremely n&k ~1 of humanism for the Arab nation by a number 01 fighters of the PLO. 40. Meanwhile, how did Israel behave’? lsmcl, in violation of all the relevant decisions of the COt~nsif, 48. We know full well that Israel has already on many occasions disregarded decisions of the Council. Therefore, we consider that the decision we take today must contain a provision to the effect that the Council as a whole, in its entirety, including in particular all its permanent members, warns Israel that in accordance with Article 2.5 of the Charter of the United Nations, it is obliged to abide by the decisions of the Council and to carry them out. The Soviet delegation will insist that such a provision be included in the draft resolution on which we shall have to vote today. And if any delegation objects to such a provision, on any pretext whatever, we will reserve our right to name that delegation at a meeting of the Council so that the whole world might know who it is that is trying to protect the Israeli aggressor, the Israeli criminals, the Israeli neo-Nazis. 41. A new and horrible chapter has been written in this tragedy of Lebanon. Indeed, it could freeze the blood in the veins of all honourable people. Reports from the Lebanese capital indicate that, under cove1 of the Israeli occupiers, the most monstrous crimes have been committed against the defenceless civilian population. The scope, scale and methods of these crimes are comparable only to the crimes of Hitler’s Nazis.

I cannot find words which could even remotely express my delegation’s feelings of horror and revulsion at the cowardly and barbaric genocidal crime-which only the Zionist Begin, Shamir and Sharon, notorious terrorists, their clique and the infamous clients on their pay-roll are capable of committing-of cold-bloodedly massacring and mutilating Palestinian children and men and women, young and aged, all of them unarmed. 42. Hundreds of innocent people, including the aged, women with infants and whole families, have already been methodically killed in cold blood. That is the horsifying scope of this tragedy, and that is the horrible gift of the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Begin, on the eve of the Jewish New Year. 43. We all know the manifestations quite well: a stab in the back, Fascist henchmen and hangmen -these are well known in the Soviet Union, in Poland, in France, in Italy and in the cities of other countries; we all knew them well during the Second World War. 50. The networks, which showed a fleeting glimpse of the victims of that genocide this afternoon and gave a more elaborate report later this evening, warned their audiences to be prepared for the shock of seeing those horrendous scenes in which bulldozers were dumping countless victims into mass graves. Most of the inhabitants of those unarmed refugee camps had already, as members may have seen, been wiped out during the two and a half months of bombardment with Zionist American-supplied weapons of mass destruction. I was not surprised by what I saw, for this has been the incessant pattern of murder and destruction which the Zionist Nazi racist gangs have been perpetrating against the Palestinian people ever since Menachem Begin, winner of the Nobel peace prize, desecrated the hallowed soil of the Holy Land when, in 1943, he arrived in Palestine as an immigrant. 44. Having entered into this inhuman war against the Lebanese people, the Israeli aggressor has finally removed its mask and transformed the country into an enormous death camp. 45. As for the so-called “Peace for Galilee”, how much hypocrisy there is in that slogan! It has turned into completely ruthless genocide against the Palestinians and the Lebanese. That is the “peace and order” brought to Lebanon by the bayonets of the Israeli occupiers. It is extremely similar to the new Fascist order in Europe; the two are as alike as two drops of water. The Soviet Union has issued a warning regarding the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. 5 1. There is hardly any time to elaborate or to condemn. What we face today is the question of the survival of the uprooted and occupied Palestinian people confronted with the bloody butcher’s knife. 46. Although Israel must bear full responsibility for this invasion of Lebanon, this new and horrible tragedy of Beirut will leave bloodstains on the consciences of those who gave the bringers of death the opportunity and the instruments to carry out their crimes, those who placed weapons in their hands in order to ensure political and diplomatic cover in the face of the outrage and revulsion of the entire world. 52. The initial dispatches talk about the massacre of close to 1,500 refugees. But no one is yet in a position to make any count; bulldozers have already buried countless people, as the Israelis did in the south, but a few brave journalists and a few survivors have had a bird’s-eye view of those bodies the savage criminals did not have time to bury in deeper graves. 47. The Soviet delegation considers that the Council must today-and I would emphasize “today”- 54. The information conveyed to the Council this evening discloses the participation of 1,500 Israeli commandos, as the observer of the PLO has informed the Council. The real question confronting the Council is literally “to be or not to be”, for we have become ominously a lame duck and, lamentably, an esteemed body which is being looked upon by the whole world as paralysed by inaction. This is a universal view that must not be allowed to continue any longer. Notwithstanding the fact that the five permanent members are the principal guardians of world peace and security and the non-permanent members are the freely and duly elected members of all the regions and peoples of the world in their billions, the Security Council is the highest executive organ of the United Nations which all these delegations represent. 55. The Palestinian people has been and continues to be a people under trusteeship; the Territory of Palestine was passed on by the League of Nations to the United Nations in 1947 to be held in trust until all of its inhabitants had been enabled to return to their homeland and redeem their inalienable rights. 56. The Council, and particularly its five permanent members, has a sacred duty, under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, to send contingents of armed forces to protect the Palestinian people from additional acts of genocide. As many troops as necessary can be enlisted and obtained, and I assure the Council that they would be forthcoming from the overwhelming majority of the Member States. The Charter specifically provides for that, and nothing less should be accepted or countenanced. 57. As the Secretary-General has said in his annual report on the work of the Organization, the world is “perilously near to a new international anarchy”.] 58. Condemnations have been rendered totally meaningless and irrelevant, as have all resolutions which Israel regards with contempt and derision. If the Council should fail to implement its clear-cut mandate under the Charter, then the most honourable way is for the Council either to declare its inability to continue functioning or to discuss ways and means of restoring its authority and shouldering its solemn responsibilities and begin without delay deliberations 59. There are many alternatives to the vacuum resulting from a failure expeditiously to take such a course of action, which is, to say the least, belated and honest individual self-reliance, regional collective self-reliance, or outright alliances between peaceloving States and peoples throughout the world which rightly feel that their existence is threatened, What is dishonest is to continue on a course of immobility and inaction, which has wrought so much suffering and destruction on so many people who have placed their trust and security in an immobilized guardian of international peace and security. 60. The revolting massacres inflicted upon unarmed Palestinian refugees in Beirut during the past two lo three days highlight this imperative need. The Council is duty-bound to ensure that Israel’s heinous crimes shall not go unpunished by the international community, the backbone of which is the Council.

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

Thank you, Mr. President, for acceding to my request to participate in this debate, under the Charter of the United Nations. 63. It is with shock and indignation that my GOVernment has learned of the appalling massacre of hundreds of innocent Palestinians in their own camps in Beirut. I shall be extremely brief, since I do not believe that this is the moment for rhetoric. Such an exercise would show lack of respect for the victims, as well as insensitivity to the tragic situation still prevailing in the Lebanese Republic, the population of which has suffered immensely, particularly in the last weeks. 64. The Council has on many occasions condemned the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, as well as the breaches of law which have occurred subsequently and have led both to untold human suffering and incalculable material destruction. 65. We do not need yet another resolution which would simply repeat the previous ones and remain unimplemented in contempt of the Council and of international public opinion as a whole. What we really need is an urgent and succinct resolution that Will provide, without any delay whatsoever--namelYi within the next 24 hours-for adequate, effective measures for the protection of the Palestinians in I& anon, as well as of all the civilians in that country, 66. Let us hope that the members of the Counci’ will rise to the situation and thus help in restoring 76. I wish to say that, despite what the Council has heard in the report of the Secretary-General, in Lebanon there has been clear denial by the Kataeb party-which was mentioned by name-of any participation whatsoever in the ugly massacres that have taken place. The Lebanese, once more and more than ever, are united in censuring any such action and in expressing their horror at this action.

First of all, I should like to thank the Secretary-General for the report on the situation in west Beirut he made just now. 68. The Chinese delegation has learned with great shock that a large number of innocent Palestinians, including old people, women and children were massacred in cold blood in two refugee camps in west Beirut. This violent crime is the direct result of the incursion by Israeli agression troops into west Beirut and is another debt of blood owed by the Israeli authorities to the Palestinian people. 77. I would say that whoever provided this information has probably fallen prey to the clear conspiracy which is obviously aimed at preventing the Lebanese from cementing their unity and from moving forward in the process of healing their wounds, restoring their national sovereignty and electing, in accordance with the Constitution, a President who will at last try to put the country together and enable it to survive. 69. The Government and people of China once again strongly condemn the incursion of .Israeli troops into west Beirut and the Fascist atrocity committed by them. 78, I do not know whom to believe: Mr. Blum or President Reagan. The representative of Israel seems to have told the Secretary-General that the Lebanese army had not taken over its positions, and yet I read in the very clear statement issued by the President of the United States, Mr. Reagan, that the Lebanese army has been thwarted in its effort to take over by the Israeli occupation that took place beginning on Wednesday. 1 repeat: the Lebanese army units could establish control over the city; they were thwarted in that effort by the Israeli occupation that took place beginning on Wednesday. The Lebanese army had already started to assume its responsibilities. It was assuming its responsibilities very gallantly. It was prevented from doing so and was removed from the scene. 70. The’ink has hardly dried on resolution 520 (1982), which was adopted by the Council yesterday, and the Israeli aggressors have committed new crimes in west Beirut. It is an extremely urgent matter to stop the hands of the aggressor and to restore the sovereignty of Lebanon. 71. To this end, the Chinese delegation believes that the Council should consider taking urgent and effective measures so as effectively to ensure that resolution 520 (1982) and other relevant resolutions be fully implemented and a normal and peaceful life in Beirut, and the sovereignty of Lebanon, be restored, and that no more massacres and acts of violence be inflicted on the Palestinian civilians. 79. No Lebanese, whether in or out of uniform, could have reached the scenes of the massacre without going through Israeli lines; this is clear from the map. Least of all could any Lebanese have gone there armed, or in a tank, without the acquiescence-and I do not say more-of the Israelis. 72. The Israeli authorities must comply with the relevant resoiutions of the Council and, pursuant to resolution 520 (1982), as a first step, immediately withdraw all their troops to the positions occupied by Israel before 15 September. Should the Israeli authorities continue to defy the resolutions of the CoLincil and the stern demands of the international community, the Council should consider taking serious measures to effect necessary sanctions against the aggressors. 80. The Lebanese army is prepared to assume its responsibilities again. In fact, it had started to do so, and it is going to do so. But are we now to entrust the Lebanese army with the task of guarding the graves?

The next speaker is the representative of Lebanon, on whom I now call. 81. I sense a desire in the Council to send international forces to Lebanon. I presume the Lebanese Government will be consulted. But, pending those consultations, I wish to say that the Lebanese army would undoubtedly welcome any international role which will emphasize the military as well the political credibility of all the security measures that have to be taken: that would be only normal, 74. Mr. TUl?NI (Lebanon): I shall not delay the Council’s action, for which we are all pleading, by describing further than has been done the carnage that wits perpetrated in Beirut or by expressing the sentiments of horror and revulsion of the world community and of every decent human being. 83. The Government of Lebanon had indicated in the most explicit manner its desire to see the multinational force delay its departure at the time that departure was announced. When consulted, the Government of Lebanon will respond in a manner that wi]] emphasize our confidence in ourselves and our confidence in our ability fully to assume our resPonsibilities, with or without help. But we shall also maintain our confidence in the international comrm.mitY and plead for it to exercise its ability to take whatever measures it deems necessary to restore peace and security in Lebanon.

The next speaker is Mr. Clovis Maksoud, the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States, to whom the Council extended an invitation at its 2347th meeting, under rule 39 of the provisional rules of procedure. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 85. Mr. MAKSOUD: We have resumed the debate in the Council a bit sooner that was anticipated. In its belief in international legitimacy and morality, the Council expected that the 24 hours’ grace allotted to the Secretary-Genera1 to report on compliance with resolution 520 (1982) would be unimpeded because of two factors, namely, respect for the Council, on the one hand, and for the New Year of the world Jewish community, on the other. It appears that Israel had no respect for either. Let me quote from the statement President Reagan made today: “During the negotiations leading to the Palestine Liberation Organization withdrawal from Beirut, we”-that is, the United States-‘&were assured that Israeli forces would not enter west Beirut.” 86. Did President Reagan misunderstand Israel? Was there a lack of communications between Israel and the United States? Have they not developed relations sufficient to ensure semantic precision? Is the President of the United States not saying exactly what has happened, or is Israel lying to the President of the United States? I leave that to the judgement of the Council and to the United States, that it may reassess its special relationships with Israel. 87. The President, in his statement today, continued: “We also understood that, following withdrawal, Lebanese army units could establish control over the city. They were thwarted”-as Mr. TuCni mentioned earlier-“in this effort by the Israeli occupation that took place beginning on Wednesday. By yesterday’s military control of Beirut, Israel claimed that its moves would prevent the kind of tragedy which has now occurred.” 88. We are meeting for a more specific matter today, We are meeting because-and here I would disagree with Mr. Tuini-it was not by innuendo and insinuation that Israel stated that certain Lebanese forces had committed this carnage. They spelled it out in an official statement, a statement that attacked in all directions. They said, and I quote from their prepared statement: “Israel conducted an inquiry into reports that at least 100 Palestinians had been massacred in two refugee camps, since the State of Israel condemns any act of murder.” We are on the verge of witnessing the emergence of a very humanistic Israel. They do not insinuate; they say it outright in their official statement: “As soonas it was discovered that a massacre was going on , , ,‘I, It took them some time to do this; they did not know about it. Israel knows when to be blind; Israel knows when to make its statement. Israel did not know that a massacre was taking place in the Palestinian refugee camps. What a terrible trauma it must be for the Israeli representative that Israel should be accused in the Council by everyone, including the President of the United States. He will undoubtedly reveal his senseof shock at this attempt to encircle and morally choke this neo-Nazi regime. He will probably want to show that Israeli officials and the Israeli army did their best and that if it were not for Israel’s occupation of west Beirut a bigger massacre would have occurred. That is the official Israeli statement. I quote further: “The massacre is only a proof of what we feared might hap pen.” You see, they did not know that this was goi@ to happen under their control. The presence of the Israel Defence Forces has prevented a much greater massacre from taking place. Perhaps Israel should introduce a resolution in the Council whereby the Council can express its thanks and appreciation for the noble humane role Israel has undertaken because+ instead of 1,500 women and children and men dead in the Palestinian refugee camps, there could have been more. Well, there might be more tomorrow if the Council does not adopt immediate and active measures’ 89. By now, Israel cannot bluff the world aflY longer* Israel is trying to put the blame on the Lebanese-who 90. If certain elements were brought in by the Israelis to conduct this process of pre-planned systematic extermination in order that it become the Deir Yassin to scare the remaining Palestinians away, then perhaps Israel niight have used some of the elements of Saad Haddad, whom it had trained, equipped, provided with logistical support and moved around and allowed to play havoc in occupied Lebanon. But in ascribing the undertaking of such a criminal act to a mainstream political force in Lebanon which has provided a President-elect and now another presidential candidate, Israel is deliberately attempting to pre-empt the constitutional process and to make any candidate extremely controversial, thinking that by such innuendo and insinuation it will reintroduce civil strife among the Lebanese and foment civil conflict between the pathetic refugees in the camps and the population of Lebanon, 94. We ask the Council to take action to deter Israel. Let us monitor the record of this criminal entity in our region, this State that has used terrorism as a pattern of behaviour and that is seeking t? enshrine it as a doctrine which must be universally accepted, while humiliating the Palestinian refugees who believed in the sanctity of agreements, who believed that agreements are to be lived up to, who believed that the United States, by its word of honour, would guarantee the basic survival of these helpless refugees in their camps. They believed that; and they still believe it, in spite of their tragedy. We hope that within the next few hours their trust will not have been betrayed.

The next speaker is the representative of Kuwait. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 91. Therefore, at this crucial moment observers are welcome, and we appreciate the Secretary-General’s attempt to have a more effective observer team. We in the League of Arab States think that such a team of observers to monitor and to prove many of the accusations of the Lebanese and the PLO is necessary: but we think that it is definitely insufficient and inadequate. Of course, it is important for our jurisprudence and for history; it is important for a further awakening of the moral conscience of the entire world. Monitoring Israel’s crimes is necessary to deepen our awareness of that Israeli monster that has been let loose on the region; but monitoring presupposes that Israel can be made accountable, that Israel respects world opinion, that Israel does not have contempt for international law, that Israel does not consider itself an exception to international norms and rules and that Israel behaves in a manner rendering it acswerable to certain universally acceptable moral codes. 96. Mr, ABULHASSAN (Kuwait): This is no time to make a lengthy statement; this is a time for immediate action. The massacre that has befallen the Palestinian refugees in what remains of their camps which had earlier been ruthlessly destroyed by Israeli bombing and aggression is all too clear and obvious to all. It requires no further description. 97. The Palestinians believed and trusted in agreements which the United States Government itself guaranteed. Those agreements have been savagely flouted by the Israeli invasion of west Beirut and by the planning and sponsoring of an extermination campaign against the Palestinians in the camps. 98. The Council is called upon to take immediate measures that will ensure the safety and survival of both Lebanese and Palestinian civilians in Lebanon who are threatened by a veritable holocaust. 92. But monitoring is not sufficient; it only allows future generations to know the record of Israel and its crimes of extermination, The carnage today should not be monitored only. It has already been monitored by the world media, by all the intelligence services of the world and by United Nations observers, and it has been condemned by everybody.

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

Mr. President, you will excuse me if, under the circumstances, I refrain from expressing words of congratulation and admiration for your stewardship and that of your predecessor. 93. What is necessary is much more than monitoring. It is necessary for the Security Council to take immediate action, not only to thwart Israel and to penalize it for the crimes it has perpetrated, for its defiance and for its desecration of human existence, but also 101. We are appalled by the Israeli carnage that took place yesterday in Palestinian camps in west 102. It is simply an unparalleled massacre by an occupying Power. Israel is playing havoc with innocent lives in defiance of all norms and in defiance of the Council, which only yesterday called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from west Beirut [resoletion 520 (1982)]. 103. The Council is called upon to salvage its own credibility and to save the innocent population of west Beirut. No pretext, of whatever nature, should be used to stop the Council from taking most urgent necessary action. The whole world, and especially the Arab world, is waiting for the Council to be moved by this Nazi-like slaughter and to use its power to stop this genocide.

At the very outset, Sir, may I congratulate you warmly on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for this month. Knowing your abilities, we are convinced that you will successfully conduct the proceedings of the Council. We wish you success in discharging your difficult duties. 105. Let me also express our sincere appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Dorr, of Ireland, for his work in the demanding and difficult month of August, 106. Once again, tragic news from Lebanon has shocked the world. Public opinion is deeply moved, having heard of the brutality and the scale of the mass murders and atrocities. We cannot but see the rapid deterioration of the situation and the enormous sufferings of the civilian population. There is an urgent need for its protection. It is a matter of utmost emergency. 107. One point must be put straight here, and it should be particularly emphasized: whatever troops and armed units are carrying out the massacre, responsibility for it lies with Israel, It is Israel which has flagrantly violated all 10 of the resolutions concerning the situation in Lebanon adopted recently by the Council. The time for decisive action by the Council is already long overdue. There is an urgent need for decisiveness and the co-operation of all the members of the Council to stop the bloodshed in Beirut immediately. The Council cannot remain indifferent when its resolutions are ignored. 108. The existing situation calls for decisive steps to protect the lives of innocent civilian victims, the Paiestinian and the Lebanese who are now left at the mercy of the henchmen operating in cold blood, The measures taken by the Council should be effective. The 109. In conclusion, let me again stress that now is the time to act, to show sensitivity to the demands and urgency of the situation. 110. Mr. de PINIl% (Spain) (interpretation from Spcrnish): May I congratulate you, Sir, on your ac. ceding to the presidency of the Council, We thought that this was going to be a quiet month. Unfortunately, Israel has once more shaken us out of our siesta and is keeping the Council constantly occupied. Mr. President, I wish you every success in conducting our business. I 11. I avail myself of this opportunity also to con. gratulate the outgoing President, Mr. Dot-r, of Ireland, on the work he did last month, 112. This introduction would be incomplete were I not to welcome the new representative of the United Kingdom, although for special reasons he is today not present in the Council, 113. I should also like to say a few words to (he Secretary-General, first, for the masterly report he has put before us on the tragic situation in Lebanon and secondly, for the most specific information he gave a! an introduction to his annual report, in which he ha! sounded the alarm and drawn attention to the Coun cil’s responsibility for maintaining and strengthening peace and security, which, unfortunately, is in a precarious position today. 114. Once again, the Council is facing a tragic re surgence of the crisis in Lebanon as a consequence Of further Israeli armed intervention. When the material reconstruction of the country seemed about to begin, at least in the capital, and when it seemed that the bases were being laid for stabilization and the Eestablishment of full sovereignty and political inde. pendence for Lebanon, the occupation of west Beirut by the Israeli army, in flagrant violation of the recent cease-fire agreement, and the massacres in the Pal* estinian refugee camps have dashed those hopes aad most seriously and extraordinarily worsened the situation. 115. Israel has constantly disregarded the resolfi tions of the Council, and with this last action it is Once again challenging this main organ of the United N* tions, again placing a11 of us, as individual members of the Council, face to face with our responsibilities, 116. After a long and arduous negotiating Process leading to the withdrawal of the PLO forces f’oy Beirut no sooner had the contingents of the mullp, nation;1 force been withdrawn-a force that had plaYed 117. In this way, the presence of the Israeli army is a cover for the kind of atrocities being carried out in Beirut. Today, with the overwhelming news of the massacres in the Palestinian refugee camps in southern Beirut, we know just what Israeli law and order mean and who are responsible.

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

No words can express our anger, our sorrow and OUI indignation at the wanton execution of civilians in Beirut, a process that started with the Israeli incursion into west Beirut. But the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in its sober style, has issued the ‘following press release, No. 1450, dated 18 September, which is more telling than any statement and is entitled “Massacre in Beirut: ICRC reacts strongly”. The text is as follows: 118. When the Secretary-General tried to increase the number of observers from 10 to 50, the Israeli Government replied that because of the observance of a holy day it could not respond before Sunday. Meanwhile, the tragedy keeps unfolding in Lebanon. 119. The Council can order the transfer of United Nations forces to Beirut, but if the Government of Israel opposes that, our efforts will again be thwarted. In such circumstances, the Council must give serious thought to the measures that should be taken in the face of such rebellion in order to maintain Lebanon’s integrity, political independence and sovereignty, as well as international peace and security. 120. The prestige of the Council is in serious jeopardy.

The next speaker is the representative of Egypt, I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. f22. Mr. ABDEL MEGUID (Egypt): We are horrified and shocked. A massacre of hundreds of human beings has been committed: children have been murdered, women have been butchered and men have been killed in cold blood. Who is responsible for those crimes? The responsibility of the Israeli army of occupation is absolutely clear to us. This day will be a day of shame for Israeli policies and measures and those who gave the orders. 123. It is our considered opinion that this massacre was calculated, first, to exacerbate tension in Lebanon and undermine efforts for conciliation and restoration, for peace and security in Lebanon; and, secondly, to create conditions that would serve as a pretext for Israel’s continued occupation of Beirut and Lebanon. We are confident that the Lebanese people will reject all such conspiracies against itself, its future and its brethren. We are confident that everybody by now knows what operation “Peace for Galilee” is all about. 127. Sharon and his henchmen in Beirut are tonight serenely inebriated with Arab blood as they commemorate a Rosh Hashanah-a New Year-which, knowing the Israeli objectives, may be expected to be as cruel and tragic as each and every year since the inception of the Zionist State. “ICRC delegates in Beirut have reported that hundreds of chiIdren, adolescents, women and old people have been killed in the Shatila quarter of Beirut, their corpses lying scattered in the streets. “The ICRC has also ascertained that wounded patients have been murdered in their hospital beds, while other patients and doctors have been abducted. “On Friday, 17 September, and Saturday, 18 September, ICRC delegates in Beirut had to evacuate two hospitals which, because of these conditions, couId no longer function. This has come at a time when other hospitals in Beirut are overcrowded with wounded and dead. “Meanwhile, some 300 people have taken refuge at the ICRC delegation in Beirut, and the number is increasing hourly. “The ICRC solemnly appeals to the international community to intervene to put an immediate stop to the intoierable massacre perpetrated in Beirut on whole groups of people and to ensure that the wounded and those who treat them be respected and protected and that the basic right to live be observed.” 129. Israeli Caterpillars, made in America, are busily bulldozing the site of the crime en mnsse, to remove the corpses of people whom Sharon and his henchmen and allies-whoever they are-have killed, assassinated and executed. The corpulent Sharon has certainly gained some additional weight as a result of this new orgy. Obesity seems to be a state of mind. 130. The Council is meeting less than 24 hours after resolution 520 (1982) was adopted. Since that resolution was adopted, a most ominous development has taken place, and the Council is bound to consider it. It is an ominous development, pregnant with grave and sinister repercussions, some of which we can already predict and some of which are unpredictable but no less sinister for that. 131. The indiscriminate massacre of innocent civilians which is taking place at this very moment-the Rosh Hashanah-proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that the present crimes are an extension of the Machiavellian and deceitful slogan, “Peace for Galilee”, a plan launched on 4 June 1982 in order to achieve three goals: first, to liquidate the Palestinian people physically, along with its legitimate representative, the PLO; secondly, to dismantle Lebanon by rekindling the flames of civil war; and thirdly, to divert attention from the execution of a master plan aiming at the final liquidation of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as of the remnants of Syrians in the Golan Heights annexed by Israel, an annexation which the Council, if it had not been for the United States, would have condemned unanimously. 132. One of the most important components of the cease-fire was the saving of civilian lives. Yet, it is quite clear that the Zionist interpretation-or its misinterpretation, which is a lie, as I said yesterdayof the cease-fire does not have it so. That cease-fire was worked out by the United States, the patron and protector of its surrogate, Israel-and the reverse could also be true. We are confused: who is the surrogate? I do not know, 133. The cease-fire worked out by the United States was intended to give Israel, and its surrogates, WI - ever they are, a chance to continue the onslau ,lt against unarmed civilians by the cowardly Isrz.eli soldiers who hide behind their armour, those cowards who enter refugee camps with their armaments, with their tanks, to kill children, women and the elderly, to execute the unarmed young because they are potential warriors. The victims of this aggression, of this murder, are both Lebanese and Palestinians, not to speak of other nationalities: they are Arabs. 134. Whatever has been declared today, we cannot believe that the United States, the guarantor of the 135. Collectively and individually, you, as members of the Council, bear a responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations to make good your resolutions, your promises and your obligations arising from that Charter. The Secretary-General has complained time and again about the impotence of this body to carry out its obligations, We gave you those obligations. If you do not carry them out, we will take them back. You hold a monopoly on force, Why, then. do you throw this responsibility upon us, the small countries, and through your silence and impotence encourage so highly developed a super-Power as the United States and its surrogate, Israel, to monopolizc the use of force and to crush the Arabs, to crush the Africans, to crush the Latin Americans, to crush the Asians? 136. The Arabs are people known both for their patience and for their impatience. We have been patient, but our patience is not unlimited. We have never had any doubt as to the congenital criminality of the Israeli mind, a criminality that is inherent, part and parcel of the Zionist colonialist system in Palestine. Deir Yassin, Kubia, the assassination of Count Bernadotte by the gentle foreign minister of Israel, Mr. Shamir, Ezer Sharon, the king of Israel, and Begin, who is received like a monarch in the United States-Begin, Sharon, Shamir, the three notorious and most-wanted terrorists, visit the United States and everyone bows-everyone, that is, but the people of the United States. Everyone bows to them because of the votes they control, because of the money they control, the technology they control, the universities they control. But there are signs of revolt, a true revolt, in many quarters. 137. The masterpiece of Israeli cynicism and sadism in the occupied territories, whether evidenced by the bombing of Beirut and the south or by the killing of civilians, is now set out before you, the members of the Council, and yet that country is supposed to be -as one member, its ally, has called it--‘% strategic acquisition”, “a garrison”, “a guardian and a beachhead of democracy”, “the only democracy in the Middle East” -one that kills, segregates, creates ~38. However, the time is not propitious for speeches. I could speak for hours about the criminal history of Israel, but I would rather remind members of the Council that it was only yesterday, 24 hours ago, that it adopted a resolution to prevent the very crime that is being committed today. Only yesterday, we tried to prevent that crime, and now it has been committed. According to democratic radio and television, which, financed by large corporations are, of course, the very voice of truth and wisdom, Sharon today informed US that the Israelis would remain in Beirut for weeks, when only yesterday the Council gave Israel 24 hours to withdraw. 144. These atrocities and the reasons behind them must stop. By occupying west Beirut, in violation of its commitments, Israel has attempted to justify its action by invoking the need to ensure order and to prevent further tragedy. By invoking such reasons, Israel has arrogated to itself the right to be the sole judge of its behaviour and has invaded Lebanon. Basing itself on such ideas, Israel has refused to implement United Nations resolutions, paralysed UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, refused to co-operate with United Nations observers, opposed any increase in their number and, in general, refused any intervention by the United Nations. 139. The United States condemned Israel on paper, but in the Council we heard no statement from the United States. As the United States representative, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, is fond of saying with regard to our statements, we took note of the fact that the United States failed to explain its vote yesterday. The reasons for that failure remain obscure. Why? That country always explains its vote, everyone has always explained his vote. In a tragic situation such as the one we are now witnessing and have been witnessing, one in which the United States is a guarantor of a cease-fire, why was there no explanation of vote? 145. The least that can be said is that this attitude and this deliberate flouting of the Charter of the United Nations have not brought about the results which Israel said it sought to achieve, and this is more than a euphemism. Alas, we see where this has led. 146. I do not wish to speak further on that tragedy and I shall simply quote what the President of the French Republic said today: “My reaction to the news I am receiving from Beirut is one of horror. Those who bear the responsibility for such excesses are traitors to the cause they believe they are serving. The international community must rise up in protest against such massacres and decide on the measures necessary to prevent them. 140, There was no explanation because there was no intention to implement the resolution that had been adopted. That is the crux of the matter. We now ask the Council, which has so far failed to implement any of its resolutions relating to the Middle East, Palestine or Lebanon, to impose concrete measures. We want action. Small countries require action. We have bestowed the power to take action upon the five permanent members of the Council and upon its other members as well. We want resolutions to be implemented, and if they are not implemented, we want sanctions to be imposed against Israel. We want to stop Israel from committing such acts once and for all. “France has already taken action to facilitate the implementation of peaceful settlements in the region. In the present circumstances, it is resolved to act once again. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is in touch with the parties concerned with a view to deciding what initiatives are desirable, including” -and I stress: including-“those involving the use of United Nations resources.” [S//5407, N~~LJX I. 1 141. We ask the Secretary-General to denounce Israel in the strongest possible terms. He has done so ln the past; he can do it today; he can do it in the future. We need the Secretary-General. His voice is heard throughout the entire world; he is the guarantor of the Charter and of the United Nations.

The representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization has asked to speak. I now call on him.

This is again Black Rosh Hashanah because the Judeo- Nazis have committed not only the crime of murder but also that of perjury. The Israeli ambassador in Washington, Moshe Arens, said today that his country had not given the United States a pledge not to enter west Beirut after the withdrawal of Palestinian and Syrian forces from the war-torn city. However, in his statement, President Reagan said: “During the negotiations leading to the PLO withdrawal from Beirut, we were assured that Israeli forces would not enter west Beirut.” 142. In his annual report on the work of the Organization, the Secretary-General has already stated his opinion with regard to the Security Council. We want this opinion to be translated into action, and effective action is not possible unless the Council adopts measures under Chapter VII of the Charter. 143. Mr. de La BARRE de NANTEUIL (France) fifltW,ctrrtion fiutn FrcJtrca/t): First of all, I should like to exPress my indignation and my revulsion, as well 150. In sharing his outrage and revulsion over the murders of Palestinian women and children, President Reagan expressed his “deepest regrets and condolences to the families of the victims and the broader Palestinian community”. In the name of the PLO, the recognized representative of the Palestinian people, I wish to extend our thanks to the President of the United States. He underscored “the desperate need for a true peace in the Middle East, one which takes full account of the needs of the Palestinian people”. 151, Since the United States Administration decided to deprive us of the pleasure of addressing it directly, I can assure President Reagan, through you, Sir, that the needs of the Palestinian people are but the legitimate needs of any people: the Palestinians wish to live in peace in their own homes in their own country, Palestine, and to exercise therein their right to self-determination, Had those needs and rights been endorsed, respected and exercised, our Palestinian brothers and sisters in the refugee camps would have been spared massacre. But the time is still propitious for the Wnited States Administration to join in the international consensus in upholding our rights and bringing peace to the area and to the world.

I should like to inform members of the Council that I have just received a letter from the representative of Algeria in which he requests 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 that representative to participate in the discussion, without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the provisiona rules of procedure. At the invitation of the President, Mr, Sahwun {Algeria) took the place reserved for him at the side c-if the Council chamber.

I invite the representative of Algeria to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. President, at this tragic hour when we are meeting you will allow me, even though this is the first time that I have spoken in the Council, not to dwell on your merits and those of your predecessor, merits which I appreciate as being substantial. 155. Women, children and elderly people have been massacred in cold blood in refugee camps in /’ west Beirut. That horrifying massacre could not have taken place without the help, complicity, encourage- ‘, ment and, i~daed, cnll&or&~~af the only force that exists in %vest Beirut-& other words, the Zionist 156. What has happened in Beirut derives directly from our indecision, from our side-stepping in the face of the insidious determination of the Tel Aviv leaders to impose a reign of terror in Lebanon and thence throughout the Middle East, The Council is thus once again faced with its responsibilities. Either it assumes the responsibilities conferred upon it by the Charter of the United Nations, particularly Chap ter VII, or it must step down for ever, for it will have left thousands of innocent people to be massacred with impunity. 157. The situation that prevails calls for the taking of effective and urgent measures. It calls for the Council to apply the relevant provisions of the Charter and to set up a force to be sent to Lebanon immediately with a view to saving the defenceless population now falling victim to terrorism. 158. The credibility of the Council and of the United Nations itself depends on the decision that the Council will take. That is why my delegation joins in the appeal made by previous speakers who have called for swift action.

I call on the representative of Israel.

In his annual report on the work of the Organization, the Secretary-General has drawn attention to the ongoing decline of the United Nations and invited us all to pause and ponder about the reasons for this decline and about the remedies 10 check this process that has been going on for years, 161. I submit that tonight we have a very clear demonstration of the reasons for this decline. 162. Put simply, the Organization is increasin&’ perceived around the world as a body to which people come to lie. I have postponed my intervention here tonight. I first wanted to listen to this procession of liars, and I was not disappointed, because lie they did, and not in good faith. They lied deliberately. 163. A crime occurred in west Beirut last night. Civilians were murdered, and we join all those who genuinely express their revulsion and indignation at such crimes. We do so because, in contradistinction to most speakers seated around this table, we arenot selective in our respect for human life. 164. But what are the facts? 165, The Israel Defence Forces have been deployed west of the refugee camps in west Beirut. The eastern 172. The representative of the State that established the gulags, the representative of the country that has done away with the rule of law, sermonizes here about compassion for innocent human beings. How did you put it? Of course you know exactly what happened last night in west Beirut. You know that the people were stood against the wall, golovoi k sfenke-with their heads against the wall. Ironically, and not surprisingly, as you know, this is the kind of execution practised in your country. The notion comes from the Lubianka, that notorious prison in Moscow. That is where they execute people golovoi k stenke, 166. For reasons best known to the Lebanese Government, the Lebanese armed forces did not take control of those camps. This morning, the IsraeI Defence Forces discovered what had happened in the refugee camps during the night. For the protection of their inhabitants, those camps have been surrounded from all sides, it being clearly understood that we expect the Lebanese armed forces to take control not only of the refugee camps but also of west Beirut in its entirety, of Beirut in its entirety, of Lebanon in its entirety. 173. Do not try to apply your notions of humanity and inhumanity to other places around the world. 167. I can inform the Council that an arrangement has been reached with the Lebanese armed forces for them to take control of the refugee camps in west Beirut tomorrow, Sunday, at 10 a.m. local time. 174. But Mr. Ovinnikov is just one example. I shall not run down the entire list, the sorry procession of liars. I shall give two or three more examples. 175. The representative of Jordan speaks for a country which exactly 12 years ago massacred thousands of Palestinians in what became known as “black September”. I know that was a little family affair and I should not mention it- 168. These are the facts. But let me ask you how many of you are interested in the facts, How many of you around this table are interested in the facts? Is it not much more pleasurable to engage in an orgy of hatred? In this body and in other bodies of the United Nations, my country has been subjected to many diatribes and orgies of hatred. And, having been here for some years, I believe I have become immune to this kind of treatment. But let me tell you in all frankness that the Council has stooped here tonight to new depths of moral degeneration and intellectual depravity. 176. Mr. NUSEIBEH: (Jordan): You are a big liar. / ., 177. Mr. BLUM (Israel): Mr. President, is it customary to interject such remarks? I seek your ruling.

I appeal to all representatives: please be moderate and exercise some courtesy in speaking out. That is what 1 beseech all representatives. 169. I know that, once I am finished, such defenders of the United Nations as the diplomatic mercenary Mr. Maksoud will jump up and rise in defence of the Organization. I am not endowed with a sense of prophecy, like Mr. Maksoud, this latter-day prophet, who prophesied what I was going to say, but, judging from past performance and past experience, I believe I will not be deceived. 179. I call on the representative of the Soviet Union on a point of order.

In view of the unprecedented language used by the representative of Israel in the Council, which is an offence to the members of the Council and to the United Nations as a whole, I think the representative of Israel should be called to order. 170. ‘A blood libel against my country is being spread here. And some speakers have apparently forgotten that the customary time for spreading blood libels against Jews is Passover, not Rosh Hashanah.

Again, I beseech all representatives here to exercise moderation. Of course, sometimes there is a twilight area on which it is pretty difficult to make a ruling; but if all representatives are kind enough to exercise some moderation, I think the proceedings of the Council will be much smoother. 171. Well, I can forgive Mr. Ovinnikov such an oversight. He comes from an atheist State, and such hallowed customs apparently are no longer remembered in those circles in the Soviet Union in which he moves. But, Mr. Ovinnikov, let me tell you: you are absolutely faithful to a long tradition of pogwrnschiki in your country. And, for the benefit of those who probably do not know that expression, which omniously comes from the Russian language, I would invite the Russian 182. I call on the representative of Israel.

The representative of tl\e Soviet Union seems to believe that he can use wi.11 184. But to come back to the case of Jordan, we had that little family affair in which thousands of Palestinians were massacred. Hundreds of them, including PLO operatives, came fleeing across the Jordan River to find refuge in the Zionist “hell”. Yet, the representative of Jordan comes before the Council and sermonizes the way he does. 185. Then we have the representative of Syria, who with his characteristic lucidity took Israel to task-the spokesman for the rCgime that perpetrated the horrible crimes in Hama. We still do not know the exact figures of the people massacred there: they range from 6,000 to 25,000. And Mr. El-Fattal has not had the courtesy to inform us of the precise figures. So he asked for the floor to make an impassioned speech. 186. Mr. Maksoud has set himself up as the new moral monitor of the United Nations. Curiously enough, he has also spoken on behalf of the Government of Lebanon. I must confess that we, at least, have been under the impression that there is a representative of that country in our midst. But if Mr. Maksoud seeks new employment as an examiner of morals and international behaviour, he has chosen well. He will have plenty to do. He will be able to examine what happened at Hama, in Syria; what happened to the Kurds in Iraq, and what happened in quite a few other countries for which he claims to speak here. He can also look forward to a career as a historian. He can look into the massacre of the Palestinians in Jordan, of Lebanese and Palestinians murdered by the Syrians and by the PLO in Lebanon over the years, and so on. I am sure he can be assured of many years of gainful employment. 187. Let us for a change be honest with ourselves. What we are seeing in Lebanon these days is nothing but the tragic residue of international indifference of many years. One of our colleagues expressed sorrow over the fact that he was robbed of his afternoon nap. The trouble is that too many people have been napping for eight years in regard to Lebanon. 188. How many meetings did the Council have over the past eight years on Lebanon, Lebanon proper? Anybody who would care to look at the records of the Council will find that we continuously and repeatedly asked for such a debate. We were ignored, studiously ignored. There are countries that historically have posed as the protectors of the Christian community in Lebanon, and everybody knows that the Christian community in Lebanon has been pleading with them over these years and has been seeking their protection and their aid. They were ignored. The Lebanese Government sought the protection of various 189. When 100,000 Lebanese were massacred over the years, the Council was not convened in any meeting, emergency or otherwise. Mr, Ovinnikov was not interested; now he has his reasons: it is much more convenient to talk about Beirut than about the Panjshir valley in Afghanistan. 190. We are paying for the indifference of the Organization and of its individual Members, the callous indifference to the agony and tragedy of Lebanon over all these years. But is it not somewhat hypocritical now to come and pose as people who are concerned with humanitarian matters? 191. A tragedy occurred last night in Beirut. We condemn it; we express our revulsion; we are horrified by it. But, members of the Council, search yourselves: are not all of you who have been napping all these years also slightly responsible for it? 192. I know that it is much more difficult to admit to such guilt than to bewail the fact that an afternoon siesta could not materialize. 193. That is why I have been saying that tonight we had here a clear demonstration of the reasons for the ongoing decline of the Organization. 194, Mr. DORR (Ireland): Mr, President, in view of the seriousness of the issue and the tone which the debate has taken, it is difficult to begin with the usual courtesies. However, I may hope that in doing so 1 will perhaps help to lower the pitch somewhat, so permit me to take a moment to congratulate you, Sir-or at least to wish you well-on taking over the Presidency in this difficult month. I know how capable you are and how well you will handle it, and I wish YOU every success. 195. I should also like to thank all those who expressed their thanks to me for my tenure of that seat during another difficult month, the month of August, and I should like to join warmly in the ~1. come to the United Nations extended to the new representative of the United Kingdom, Sir John Thomson. 196. In recent days, we have had the shocking ass@ sination of President-elect Gemayel of Lebanon: we have also seen the take-over by Israeli forces of west Beirut. Now we have reports of a terrible massacre in the Palestinian camps in and around Beirut. Like other delegations, we are appalled at those reports, and we are also deeply concerned at the whole situ* tion disclosed in the Secretary-General’s oral report to us. 197. In view of the appalling nature of what was done, and in view also of the background to it Over 198. In view of the urgency of the situation, I shall be very brief and limited in what I say.

Mr. Clovis Maksoud, Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States, has asked to make a further statement. With the consent of the Council, I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 199. As a first and urgent step, we feel, like others here, that it would be right to authorize formally, and to back fully, the Secretary-General in increasing the number of unarmed observers from 10 to 50. We would also want to insist on their full freedom to deploy, and to insist on the obligation of all concerned to cooperate fully with them in their difficult mandate and in their efforts to monitor the whole situation and, where necessary, to establish the facts. 206. Mr. MAKSOUD: Sharing as I do the genera1 feeling of urgency, I shall be very brief. I note that the filibustering technique utilized by the representative of Israel to deflect attention from the central issue of concern has, as anticipated, been pursued, When one cannot answer criticisms, one tries to undermine the credibility of the critics. He has done so by going around the entire Council table and calling everyone a liar. When he was called a liar, he felt insulted, Yet he can heap insults on everybody else in the pursuit of his form of political terrorism in the Council, which is only an outward manifestation of the regional terrorism Israel practices, If he continues to pursue this course, he may be able to delay the adoption of resolutions, but I would hope that he will no longer be able to paralyse the Council’s collective will. 200. But the mandate of unarmed observers, however courageous they are-and they are courageousis, and must be, limited. It may be necessary for the Council to consider more than this, We would therefore favour a second stage. We believe we could request the Secretary-General to undertake immediate consultation with the sovereign Government of Lebanon to see whether there are further steps which the Council might consider to assist that Government in ensuring full protection for the civilian population, including, in particular, the Palestinian population in and around Beirut. That is the approach we would favour, and we would favour action by the Council rather than prolonged speeches.

The representative of the Soviet Union has asked to speak in exercise of his right of reply, and I now call on him.

I would have considered it beneath my dignity to respond to the statement made by the representative of Israel had he not gone so far as to insult the Council as a whole and all its members individually. He accused the members of the Council of dealing in lies.

It was suggested in our earlier consultations that we should keep this debate short so that the members of the Council could return the more quickly to consideration of what action the Council should take in response to the terrible happenings in Beirut last night. I had not, therefore, intended to speak, but after so many speakers have stated their countries’ positions, I should like very briefly to state my own country’s position. 209. I would give only two specific examples of occasions on which the representative of Israel has dealt in lies here. These examples have been proved by actual events. My first example occurred in early August, at one of the night meetings of the Council, when the Soviet delegation, in its statement, said that it had received information regarding a further advance of Israeli troops towards Beirut. The representative of Israel said that we were lying and qualified our statement as a lie. On the following day, the veracity of the Soviet Union’s warning was confirmed and Israeli troops were proved to have in fact moved forward, If memory serves, I believe that, at one of the Council’s subsequent meetings, Mr. Blum took it upon himself to prove that, nevertheless, he alone was right and that the facts and realities were somehow wrong. We have not heard about that from Mr. Blum. But the lie he uttered here after consultations with his Government remained a lie. 202. It is that the ruthless massacre of innocent men, women and children has aroused indignation and revulsion in my country. We condemn it without reservation. Two weeks ago there seemed at last to be hope that we might soon see a return to some measure of peace and stability in Beirut following the agreement negotiated by Mr. Habib. Those htipes now seem to lie in ruins following the assassination of the President-elect of Lebanon and the subsequent invasion of west Beirut by the armed forces of Israel. 203. Last night’s tragedy has confirmed our worst fears of what the consequences of those events would be. It has confirmed our belief that if the spiral of violence in Beirut is to be stopped, a first step must be the immediate withdrawal of Israel to the positions it occupied before 15 September. 210. My second example is the following. In one of his statements, the Soviet representative warned that 211. I am sure that the “free” press in this country will pass over in silence what is now being said by the Soviet delegation. The “free” press in this country publishes only the statements of Mr. Blum. That is the criterion of freedom to which the press in this country really adheres, but it is a poor and limited freedom, in the end, and one that benefits only what is pro-Israel.

The representative of Jordan has asked to speak in exercise of his right of reply, and I now call on him. 2 13. Mr. NUSEIBEH (Jordan): It is truly nauseating that while Mr. Blum’s armed forces are being universally condemned throughout the world and while their hands are still dripping with blood that has not yet dried, he should have chosen to refer to a conflict of views that occurred 12 years ago and in which mere hundreds on both sides were involved. 214. I would answer him as follows, although I have already done so many times before. This evening in particular, I had not wanted to dignify the representative of Israel with an answer, or to allow him to derail the discussion of the cowardly holocaust inflicted upon the Palestinian refugees last night while the Israelis were celebrating their holiday, which must have been a twofold one for them. I have had many occasions to reply factually and in detail, and I shall do so again, in rebuttal of the colossal lies of Mr. Blum regarding this question. I am all too familiar with it, He should know perfectly well that what happened in Jordan 12 years ago was in fact a family quarrel that emanated from Israel’s aggression and its occupation of Arab Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. In addition, it was a manly fight between two differing points of view on how best to struggle against the Israeli aggressor, who had not only occupied Palestinian lands, territories and people, but was also devastating large Parts of Jordan as Israel subsequently did in Lebanon and elsewhere. 215. It was never a perfidious criminal act unlike the actions of the Israeli tanks and commandos that ringed the refugee camps in Beirut. Having failed for two and a half months to take even one inch of the 216. What happened in Jordan was never a quarrel between Palestinians and Jordanians; the contenders belonged to both groups. The Israeli representative knows that perfectly well. Besides, it involved a handful of Palestinians who crossed the Jordan River, and not hundreds, as he well knows. And I SBW them -probably five or six-on television. 217. The alien immigrants who usurped Palestine never repatriated a single Palestinian since the P&Stinians were uprooted in 1947. Is it conceivable that they would now admit hundreds of Palestinians? NO one would be happier than I if they did. But they will never do that. 218. Let anyone go to Jordan and he will see for himself the brotherhood, peace and prosperity which all citizens and all inhabitants-Palestinian and Jordanian alike-enjoy, and let anyone compare that with the reign of terror which has been imposed upon the occupied territories and the Palestinian people and which has now been extended to the valiant people of Lebanon, who are also being treated as inhabitants of occupied territories, Today alone, thousands of Lebanese civilians have been arrested, That was reported on all the networks. There have been house-to-house searches; in addition, a curfew has been imposed on the newly occupied territory of Lebanon. 219. I would advise Mr, Blum not to reopen the subject; otherwise, I shall introduce a volume and shaw him the endless list of crimes which the Israelis have committed from as long ago as 1943-1944 to this day.

The representative of Lebanon has asked to speak in exercise of the right of reply and I now call on him.

I shall be extremely brief. I do not think that anything that has been said here this evening, particularly by the representative of Israel, is apt to lead me to change my statement concerning the Lebanese army and responsibility for what happened yesterday in my country. 222. However, I should like to reiterate once more, in view of what we have heard, that we are prepared to assume our responsibilities fully and, should the international community wish to be associated so as to increase or emphasize both the political and militarY credibility of this operation, we should welcome any such involvement, Hence, my Government supports the proposal of the representative of Ireland to ask the Secretary-General to engage immediately in ~mWltatiOns as to how best the Council can aSsUm its responsibilities.

Despite the lateness of the hour, my delegation does not wish to deprive itself of the satisfaction of welcoming and congratulating you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for this month.

Mr. President, I shall be very brief indeed. I just want to remark on the statement made by the representative of the Soviet Union, 225. First of all, I believe it is indicative of the state of the Council that the representative of the Soviet Union has become its foremost defender. Secondly, I would be interested to know what amount of coverage the “free” press of the Soviet Union gives to my statements. Thirdly, the Israel Defence Forces moved into west Beirut last Wednesday. This proves how accurate Mr. Ovinnikov’s statement was last August. Fourthly, Mr. Ovinnikov’s statements last August were foul and obscene in the language they used in reference to my country, and so was his main statement here tonight. 235. Similarly, we cannot refrain from paying a tribute to Mr. Noel Dorr, of Ireland, for the exceptionally skilful way in which he conducted the work of the Council in the month of August. 236. Although he has already been here for a few days, my delegation wishes to extend a welcome to the new representative of the United Kingdom, Sir John Thomson. 237. My delegation cannot find adequate words fully to reflect our indignation and repugnance at and condemnation of the massacre committed against more than 1,500 Palestinians in the refugee camps in west Beirut. The massacre of defenceless civilians anywhere in the world is to be condemned, but the massacre to which we have been referring tonight is countless times as repugnant because it has been committed against refugees who form part of a people who are being prevented from returning to their homes and are denied the right to their own property, theil self-determination and their own national State in their age-old country. To the painful circumstance of exile is added the permanent threat of violence, terror and massacre.

The representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization has asked to make a statement. I hope that he, too, will be brief. I now call on him.

I listened with great interest to the statement of the representative of the United Kingdom. 228. When we came here, we did not think that we were coming to a synod in cutnero. We were hoping that the Council would take some action, at least to guarantee the safety of, and provide some safeguards to, the civilians in Beirut, especially the Palestinians in refugee camps, 238. My delegation wishes to convey to the PLO. the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, our feelings of deep concern at this terrible massacre and to express our solidarity in the face of this tragedy. 229. Mr. President, I would appeal to you and the other members of the Council to take some such action before the meeting adjourns.

There being no furthei speakers, I shall now suspend the meeting in order to enable the members of the Council to enter into consultations on the matter. 239. Since Israel invaded Lebanon last June, my delegation has consistently voted in favour of all Council resolutions intended to bring about the total and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory. Similarly, we have unreservedly supported the need for respect of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon. In consonance with the unanimous feeling of the international community, we have advocated the re-estabtishment of peace in Lebanon and national reconstruction. Therefore, my delegation feels alarmed at recent events which have contributed to a worsening of the already delicate situation in Lebanon, making the situation in that sorely tried country increasingly dangerous.

I should like to draw the attention of the members of the Council to document S/15400, containing the report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of Council resolution 520 (1982), which is before them. The Council also has before it document S/15402, which contains the text of a draft resolution which was prepared in the course of consultations among the members of the Council. 232. I understand that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution in document S/15402. If I hear no objection, I shall now put the draft resolution to the vote. 240. Panama feels that it is urgent for the Council to adopt effective measures to prevent a worsening of the situation in Lebanon, particularly in Beirut, and 241. Once again, the Council has a formidable challenge before it. We hope it can discharge its mission with the co-operation of all the Members of the United Nations, in particular those permanent members of the Security Council which are able to bring a decisive influence to bear on the solution of the crisis in Lebanon. Therefore, my delegation will vote for the draft resolution that is before us, since we consider that it contains elements which constitute an important step forward on this path, although we are aware that the solution to the problem of Lebanon will be found only within the context of a complete, just and lasting solution to the question of the Middle East, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.

The hour is late; therefore, I shall be very brief. 243. Our position with regard to the events in Lebanon has been well known. We stated it yesterday; we also stated the root cause of the problem and ascribed responsibility, I shall therefore not repeat that. 244. I have asked to be allowed to speak to express our condolences to the bereaved families, to the PLO, to the Palestinian people, and to the Lebanese people and its Government in the tragic deaths that have struck many families in Beirut. 245. We shall vote in favour of the draft resolution because we see it as a first step, at least, in arresting the situation which is developing and could become much more dangerous. We believe that the United Nations, despite its detractors and those who organize tirades against it, has a positive role in ensuring that the people of Lebanon and the Palestinian people are protected and not subjected to more massacres. 246. For those reasons, Uganda will vote in favour of the draft resolution and hopes that all the other delegations will do the same. I appeal to the Government of Israel and all those concerned in Lebanon not to impede the implementation of the resolution if it is adopted.

I now put to the vote the draft resolution contained in document S/15402.

I shall now call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting, 2.50. At the same time, I should like to express my appreciation to the representative of Ireland, Mr. Noel Dorr, who, with his usual skill, patience, resourcefulness and imagination, conducted the Council‘s work with distinction during the month of August, 25 1. My delegation would also like to welcome as a member of the Council and to the United Nations the representative of the United Kingdom, who is not here with us this evening. The Guyana delegation looks forward to working very closely with him during his period at the United Nations. 252. We have listened with dismay and qualm of conscience to the clear and lucid report of the Secretary-General on the matter before us. We thank him for his report. Unfortunately, the assistance which he sought in carrying out the mandate entrusted to him was not forthcoming. 253. The world’s conscience has been shocked at the news coming out of west Beirut. The Guyana delegation is appalled and horrified at what took place in Lebanon on 18 September. More than 1,000 civilians -Palestinian women, children and men, defenceless people-were massacred. 254. Consequent upon intensive negotiations aimed at bringing a halt to the sufferings in Lebanon, an agrcement was concluded. Honest and trustworthy people accepted and acted in good faith on the terms of that agreement. However, Israel, one of the parties to the agreement, breached the good faith in which that agreement was concluded and used the opportunity of the withdrawal of the freedom fighters of the PLO -which was supervised by a multinational forceto take control of west Beirut and caused one of the most heinous crimes to be perpetrated against the Palestinian people. 255. I refer to the massacre of the Palestinian refu* gees, evidence of which we have all seen on television in our own living-rooms. I take this opportunity to express my delegation’s condolences to the relatives and families of those who have suffered during this massacre. 256. Looking at what transpired, one cannot help concluding that the whole of this exercise had been premeditated and planned, The Council has on various occasions called for the withdiawal of Israeli fdrces from Lebanon. On Friday last, in resolution j2f (1982), the Council, in condemning the recent Israd incursion into west Beirut in violation of the cease- 257. If the Council is to continue to carry out, its primary function of the maintenance of international peace and security, and thereby maintain its credibility, it must ensure that its resolutions are implemented. My delegation feels that, in the light of the tragic incident which took place on 17 September, it is imperative that the resolution we have just adopted, NOTE HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS United Nations publications may be obtained l’rom bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Consult your bookstore or write to: United Nations, Sales Section, New York or Geneva. COMMENT SE PROCURER LES PUBLICATIONS DES NATIONS UNIES Les publications des Nations Unies son1 en vcnte dans les librairies et Ies agences depositaires du monde entier. Informez-vous aupr&s de votre libraire ou adressez-vous A : Nations Unies, Section des ventes. New York ou Gentve. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLIC’ACIONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS IAS publicaciones de las Naciones Unidas estan en venta en librerias y casas distribuidoras en todas partes del mundo. Consulte a su librero o dirijase a: Naciones Unidas. Seccibn de Ventas. NWW York o Ginebra. Litho in United Nations, New York 00400