S/PV.2770 Security Council

I thank the representative of the United States for the kind words he addressed to me. If no other metier of the Council wishes to speak at this stage, I shall take it that the Council is ready to vote on the proposal of the Ulited Arab Elnirates. It is so decided. A vote was taken by show of hands. In favour-t Argentina, Bulgaria, China, Congo, Ghana, Japan, Union of Soviet Socialist &publics, United Arab Dnirates, Venezuela, Za&ia Against United States of Anerica , Abstaining: France, Germany, Federal Republic of, Great Britain and Northern Ireland ;_ _. ,,._i,l I_. . _,.. .-.,,.j/.. . . . . ,~. ,- : .- Kingdom of Italy, United The PRESIURWT (interpretation :from,Russian): The result of the,'ioting is as follows: 10 in favour, one against, 4 abstentions. The proposal has been adopted. , .._ At the invitation of the President, Mr. Terzi (Palestine Liberation Organ,ization) took a place at the Council table. Count 'ILORK von WARTENBURG (Federal Republic of Germany): I also should like to begin by paying a very warm tribute ,to Ambassador Kikuchi as the outgoing President of the Council and to thank him for the excellence and great skill with which he conducted our business. I should like .to say that ydu, Sir, will have our complete co-operation during your presidency,.which I think will bring us together on important matters. MY delegation abstained in the vote on-the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the Council:.s <debate. In doing so my delegation was guided.by,the provisional rules of,procedure, which the Council has itself established. The procedure followed today .is clearly designed ‘to grant the PLO a status similar to that of a Member State of the United Nations. This does not reflect the true relationship of the PLO to our Organization, and therefore we ., .' % cannot support it. '.This does not mean, however, that my delegation objects to the PLO's being heard by the Council in the present debate.

I thank the representative of .the Federal Republic of Germany for the kind words he addressed to me. Mr. TANICXJCHI (Japan) t First I should like to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your assumption of your very important post in the Security Counci 1. I should also like to take this opportunity to express’our’ deep appreciatiar for the kind words expressed with regard ‘ta Ambassador Kikuchi by yOu and other representatives. I am very, very $*ateful .for the gracious co-operation extended to me by -all Member States. “, ’ We voted in favour of the participa’ti’on ‘of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PI.0) because the Government of Japan has repeatedly expressed its considered view that it is essential to the solution of the Middle East question that the Palestine Liberation Organization , which represents the Palestinians, participate in peace talks. In 1975, Japan, as a member of this Council, expressed the position that the PID, as one of the major parties to the Middle East question, should be invited to participate when this Council conducted its deliberations on the Middle East question, including the question of Palestine. At this time I should 1 ike to confirm that position. Accordingly we supported the participation of representatives of the PI&

I thank the representative of Japan for the kind words he addressed to me. I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter dated 11 December 1987 from the Chairman of the Committee cn the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People which reads as follows: ,I have the honour to request that I be allowed to participate in the Security Council's consideration of the item 'The situation in tie occupied Arab territories'; in accordance with the provisions'of rule 39 of the Council's provisional rules of.procedure, in my capacity as Chairman of the Committee & the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People". . ., (The Presidkt) I On previous occzkions, $he Security Council has extended.invi'tatiam ti , r representatives ofpther United Nations bodies in connection with the consideration of netters on its agenda. In accordance,with pet practice in &his matter, I Propas? that\the Council extend,an-inviqfion.,ti the Chairmanlof,the Committee on' , i : , : the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. : .' ,,:: There being no objection it .is.so d+dedt I) ” 1 ,_’ j.: ,“ : I. .,: ,i * .. * : ; I ;: .;’ .’ , , : : * . I 5 : . . : ,’ a- ‘)‘a ..:;I’ ‘ _ <.‘, : . ’ : . . . : . 1 . . “ . . . . , ; : I .’ . , : . : ,’ ‘I’, ,: The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on the . ,<I . . ; : agenda. '.. ‘ '. *. The Security Council is meeting today in response to the reouest contained in ." . Z'. the letter dated 11 December 1987 from the Permanent Representative of Democratic , '.. ;< ( . . . _, ) , Yemen to the United Nations, in his capacity as Chairman of the Arab Group of '" 2 a j . States'for 'the month of December, addressed to the President of the Security , 2 ‘I .‘, ,. ‘_ Counci:i (s/19333). '? '. '. Members of"the Council have received photocopies of a'letter dated c .‘_ .- 1 ', _ 11 December 1987 from the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the :. L ~, / A. Inalienable Rights'of the Palestinian'People, / L _. J which will be circulated under the i _ ';..: ,, j .. 'I _,, i .t symbolSi1933il .' ". , . . . . .'L' The first'speaker is the.representative -of the Palestine Liberation ,'.' . i., 2 ', .' :. ,, es _. , Organization (PLO). I invite him to make his statement. '_ '.' " .' ,' . ,' '. .' Mr; TERZI (Palestine ~Liberation Organization): ." ,, At the outset let me tell , ..a:<. . , ., . -, ., . . you,'Sir, how ilad we‘are that the representative of the Great October Revolution ",. ., : is presiding over our deliberations _' ,. .,,. _ ; . . . '. ; , particularly at this time, when di' ,, "i * . L.l . . '. ,. " , : ."._._ Comrade Gorbadhev has 'drossed the Atlantic to take the first steps towards'peace. . ' .I . .,.,:r '. $ .( .i '>( ,._ ?: TI., We believe that further contacts between the General S&ret&y'and the President of I I, _.I I ., \ : . -. _I . . the United States will give them time to discuss regional conflicts, including - 2‘ '. indeed primarily _. .,. . . I /* ' - the regional conflict in the Middle East, and that thus we shall " ,( /I .' be spared the necessity of coming to this Chamber as often as we do. TO yOU personally, kit, -' 'J‘ . .! I would say that we have every confidence that with your prudence . . : 1 .:. . :. .,:* and expertise you will lead the deliberations here to a fruitful end. .I. .., ,(I We also express-our gratiiude to the representative of Japan, \' ,",dI who conducted $1 -: ; :; the Security Council's work during November in an exemplary way, particularly when he represented the Council during the International Day of Solidarity with the Paiestinian People. T ( : (Mr. Terzi, Palestine Organization) ,'(. .: '.I> <*' ., I also wish to thank all those who voted for, or even against, Our participation, because eventually those who voted against will know that 1 .'-' -. .; factor and that, as has been said on several occasions, deliberations wit I.~ " < s, . . ., ^_ -I I , ..,_i,. .: 1. *, I I ., I I I .I ,: _.' ;' participation of the PLO would be like building on sand. : ', _ .sF, *' 3 i .:,. ..I a.1 " . Before I walked into the Council Chamber.1 overheard a couple of COIC L : : * "Why are we being brought here?" :- .' ',. 'I. '., . . someone asked. 'They want to scream" wa ' "3 reply. No, Sir, we are not here to scream; we are here to bring a very 6 issue before the'kouncil. i : ; . . (, ;,s ._ : ..<' The people I overheard said "If they want to s *. . I 'I '> problem, let them fight". .' ". ., .: L 1 "( . : I assure them that our people are doing all th : 'y' ( ;.t 'I;,; ., *,' ; ‘ *. , : 1 ; the way of resistance against the occupying Power, by whatever means they whether rocks or empty bottles. We have not given up the fight, the legi ,_ . P \: I .i ..' i :, \ fight, against the'occupation and the denial of cur rights. : : :.-. r,<.,; i* *: ',' .' Why do we come here? First, we know that the Security Council has on many 1 .. . . . . _1 I ." .' ':. ,:-, / ,\ ., 2._" .; : '.'A : . _ .I. occasions reaffirmed'that the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection :‘ ; i ,.a., . . ..:,< 'I~;. * _ .I j j ..' b' of Civilian Persons in Time of war is appl-&able to the Palestinian and other Arab 1, . . . 1 ,. ' j '. ! i I I_ + .: , <I ,j.‘ ( territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem. : ,,j . ..i' ;, That is a decision <I : ,\ . . / ; ., , .>) .: ,' < taken by the Council vis-a-vis the occupying Power. : / . ., - .;: :,< But we are also here,because _ .':' *.a.. .: ! '. , . .I, ,', *. /' > ,' ' _r '. .:I ' the Council has a responsibility. The Convention says: "'9 .,'. .~ ., l.'. 'I ., I ". '. :':* : .; "The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to assur6 respect j.;c** ,! ‘L I,... ', ;, .i' i for the present Convention in'all circumstances." , : 7 '. ~ ,i ,. *_: -.,, !... xi -* . . I ! . .! ., -' It is here that the responsibility of the Security Council, all the members of the I . . .( Security Council, is best shown. Will the Council really ensure respect for the ., j ,, .' Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of .' it-;. s!: 12 August ',...: ,iberation ,i :h re are a lout the ,- :: lents: c-, IS :e / D !y can in .' have, . . le ‘I ,’ .imate .‘ ' '2, We are not here to scream. We are not here to give up our fight. We are here .- :: .I 'I : : " exercising a right, a right that has been admitted through that Convention. : ,. ~.. _- ', It is rather strange that the Council had to meet last year on 8 December in :,,:r - -.,. . . :: .,'I ..,-r, ,. &' : . ., : , > ., .. :'. relation to a violation by the occupying Power of the rights of the Palestinian . *.-., .I I '. -, ..' ,J : ', i i : . ., L II.-.:: people*,living under Israeli occupation. -a'> One mtght say "What is the coincidence? ," -' 7, ~ '.. 1%' ,', .,,: -, ,' /.; . . . . i . Things simply do not happen like that." ), y'4y p! j_ 3: * We all know that the General Assembly has :_ ; * ,' I ,, '. ,l. -*_' ,,.., ‘ 2 ., ." ., '. adopted, by a huge majority, a resolution calling for the convening of the * ;<s';: ' 4 : . ,, ,. . _ . ~ ' ‘- -' .,,,:. . . _ ,*. . I- _. . I International Peace Conference in conformity with the provisions of General I- .,_. ‘( .., I I ..- i" ,, _ ; , , : ‘. '. . ; ,;., I,, '; ., ;" . ,'_ '. : .,' : 2: -. Assembly resolution 38/58 C, which clearly says that the best, if not the only, way : .".. j. . .;:, ,. I ,c .:. 1 i .,.‘ ; . . ., : ,J :;; ': to achieve peace is by holding an international peace conference in which the Palestine Liberation Organisation will participate on an eoual footing and with wual rights. In his report on his endeavours the Secretary-General makes it clear that the major obstacle to those endeavours during the year was the position of the Government of Israel. The Government of Israel, whether as a whole or in part, could not accept the principle of an international conference to achieve peace in the area, and rejected the principle of the international peace conference on the . Middle East. Furthermore, we know that only last week the General Assembly adopted several resolutions in which it condemned Israel for its practices against the people in the occupied territories and condemned "Israeli policies and practices against Palestinian students and faculties in schools, universities and other educational institutions in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially the opening of fire on defenceless students, causing many casualtiesa. (General Assembly resolution 42/160 G, para. ) 2 The General Assembly adopted that resolution only a few days ago. Bow d react? It does so by resuming the opening of fire on students, children in the occupied territories, totally disregarding its obligations.regard safety of those people and its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Conve The Security Council is responsible for ensuring that Israel respec implements those provisions. The Security Council has very often taken strongly deploring the opening of fire by the Israeli army, resulting in or wounding of defenceless students. The Security Council has called up .very often to abide immediately and scrupulously by the Geneva Conventia to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. I .oes 3 Israel nd women 3 the Lon. and ./ de< / I t1 :isiois . he death Israel relative (Mr. Warzi, Palestine Liberation Orgariization) But did Israel heed? Did it respond to the call of the Security Council? No. Why not? Because the Security Council should we feel take stronger action than merely calling upon Israel to abide immediately and scrupulously by the Geneva Convention. On 8 December an Israeli check-post in the Gaza area stppped a car carrying civilian passengers, Palestinians, most probably workers who crossed the green line in order to earn a few pennies to provide for their families. At that check-point, an army check-point, the Israeli army opened fire. Four persons were killed and ? -., nine others were wounded. The Israeli occupying Power then imposed a curfew. But, I after all, those four people who had been killed had to be buried and the funeral became a demonstration protesting against the brutalities'of the neo-fascists of the occupying Power. The wounded were sent to hospitals. (he hospital was the El Shifa Eospital in Gaza. The Israeli army was not satisfied and went to the hospital with its tanks in order to'pick up the people from their beds. It dragged them out and took them to detention. The army converted the hospital into some sort of military post. Palestinians are human beings. They simply cannot accept submission so they demonstrate further against the brutalities of.the occupying Power.' Those brutalities axtinue and escalate. On 10 Decetier there were more killings. I will not read The New York Times for members, but on 11 December, that is today, the record of Palestinians felled by Israeli army bullets increased. On Friday, 11 December, four more Palestinians were shot dead, among them a nine-year-old child, who died of wounds that he sustained on 10 December in Ehan Yunis. The victims were shot dead in the Balata refugee camp. we are surprised that we have not yet heard from the United Nations Belief and Mxks Pqency for Palestine Wfugees in the Near East about those incidents in the camp, which is near NablUSr north of Jerusalem. Israeli soldiers opened fire on citizens who were taking part they were coming out of the mosque protesting the iron-fist occupation policy they were met with army bullets. A llyyear-old boy, an 11-year-old and a ll-year-old I girl were killed as a result of this barbarous shooting. Dozens of Palestinians were hit and wounded in what some sources &scribed as the massacre of Bqlata : refugee camp. i ” I I"' We Palestinians seem to have been chosen for massacres - Deir Yassin, Kafr I Kasim, Sabra Shatila - and now it is Balata. At least 20 people at the CaW were wounded. The Israeli army forced its way into the -men's Union Hospital in I. Nablus, arrested relatives of the dead and wounded .and cordoned off the hospital I witi army units. Balata refugee camp is under strict curfew according to the ._ I latest report. I I The Israeli forces prohibited ambulances from reaching the camp in order to I evacuate the wounded. Israeli soldiers were shooting heavy sorties of fire and the people in the camp were appealing to the International Red Ctoss with thi demand I that it should intercede and'assist in the evacuation of the wounded. Sources in / the refugee camp were appealing for aid and assistance. They were appealing for ir blood dcnations but the Israeli army prohibited blood doors from enterl hospitals to donate blood. What is worse, the Israeli soldiers forced t into the hospital canpound .and fired QI people. There are other hospitals in the 'Nablus district and they were sub: the same treatment by the occupation army. Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus Women's Union Hospital are considered war zones by many eye-witness accc bg the i I weir way !cted to ‘2 wd the mts. (Mr, Ibrei, Palestine Liberation Organizaticn) At noon today - the latest report that we received - which would be 8 o'clock in Nablus, the Israeli forces were still prohibiting ambulances from reaching the hospitals and the Fire Department units were not allowed to pass through in order to evacuate the wounded. That is what is happening -day. If I were to read all those criminal acts and report on every single me we might spend the rest of the evening here, but let me read out only a few. On 27 November the Israeli Military Governor in the Jabalya Camp summoned the imams - priests or pastors of the mosque - and warned them not to make any political speeches during prayers. The imams answered that the speeches followed the Holy Constitution and the Horan. The warning is seen as an attempt to quell unrest after the Qportation order on Hheikh Odeh. The Israelis deport or expel the sheikh of the mosque and expect the people just to say "thank you" to them. We assure--everybody here that they will not'but will ocntinue to fight: i- & i;r$‘..~titheir own 'means. On 20 November it was reported that students from schools and colleges in Hamallah and Hl Birch went on strike. why? After all, the Ihited mtions was I observing the International Hay of Solidarity with the Palestinian People so at least the Palestinians themselves would have to observe that International Day of Solidarity. Those students were carrying out a decision of the General Assembly and responding to their national obligations and duties. The 1srael.i soldiers took positions at the entrances to a number of schools. In Hebrcn, the demonstrations broke out at the polytechnic and students chanted slogans in favour of their : struggle and of their representative, the PI.0 of course. The Israeli Army &ced the college at Hebron under siege and threw tear gas ,.' ,; 1 L' at the s'tudents. .._" ~ ' ,. In the'Gaza'Strip .>. 5.: - and this is still on 3.0 November - student demonstrations I " ,". ,- Israeii~fo&es arrived, opened fire and?beat 'up / students. I.. I i :; L , ~, I “. - ” , . -i _, ,J . . , ‘i . , ._ . , broke out atseveral lo&tions. I .” , . (, , . / l.i On 1 December, about100 residents'from Bethlehem were summoned by the ‘I Military Governor of Bethlehem. &I c.? :. ” They were'interrogated individually by.the Ikp.ltY (f Chief, Civil Admin&tration.' / .I I 9, I i 8 1 In Gaza, the Military Appeals Committee c&fir&d an administrative]detention .) 1 ; order against a~number of persons.. " I-, ..I, 1 . In Nablus - and I am stiil referring to'1 December - a military.for&e broke _ :, ..*; *~: into Hafidiya Hospital and'arrested‘t& you'& who had been admitted to the ./ . -: . I .,~' h'ospital after having been wounded. by bull&s fired'by theIsraeli army in the j ,.. ', ,, :. > " The hospital " , , s,' / ,.- Balata refugee camp, doctor;' protested that if ‘the youths were arrested their lives would be endangered. I <-..':: )_ y, f T‘.! . ‘.. ' The protests were to no avail.1 Of course, for th&e neo-fascist, racist Zionists, Arab blood & cheap,. ‘_ But the.Arabs ..’ j i ‘j”’ .‘I . . On 3 December",. ; ; . . . . f c :’ simply will not heed their wishes. .(I ,., the Israeli &nnander of the central region 'issued an order to ' " ‘ deport'a resident of the J&in c&p and a student at Najah l&iversity; . ' I mention these criminal, brutal activities by the oc&pying &her to--show , I that there is a limit to the patience of those under .foreign occupation.'1 . _ . . Israeli Radio today announced that the resistance is increasing 'inthe Gaza .' : .- ‘ I .' area, in Nablus and in the suburbs of Jerusalem. Sources in the occupied Palestinian territory have rep&&d that the situation is very critical and that a j curfew has been imposed on refugee camps I - particularly the one near Nablus, where there are 15,000 refugees. Our people use primitive arms - rocks and empty I / bottles - but they fightt they do not merely scream. ! '- i. ': '1 ' + ' -Z ' What is really inhuman is that the occupying.Pcrwer forbids the relatives'o-f+ the dead Palestinians to bury them. So-what do the relatives, the families of the.;-' dead victims do?, They sneak into the hospi-tals and "steal" the remains of th&ir ". "" beloved ones in order to give them a proper froleral. But the Israeli occupa'tion' ' .I" forces-;. w-ith their tanks, break tinto the houses in the refugee camps. and lo&for the bodies of the dead victims.- If they find any, they impose a oertain-hour and a' certain place .for the burial of the victims. .- &' : ~. All this is not ,accidental. The commander of 'theaccupation:forEes"~ :She-. central region,,a certain General Amran, made it very clearICin one of h'is .‘c !.' " ':'",' statements that he would,cantinue to send instruments of death to confront‘-the ' '* Palestinians; Iis.made the threat that his troops would open fire on anyone who I‘ "' demons-a&d .against ~e'~oc~pati~. ' ". . :.: . .I '.. -- -:.x : _.sl,l' But why should we not have recourse to,what the Israeli me'd&'them&.ves' say?“'.'. The newspaper Ha'aretz reported that a certain Yussi Beilin, who is the '- '-' "", Political Director in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, had said this: "I feel more than ever before that we are reliving the same experiences, that the present stage is Similar to a great extent to the stage that existed on the eve of the 1973 war". The newspaper went cn to report that the psychological security situation and the political tension might cause a new war in the area. So here we have a warning in the Israeli press that all this might lead to a new major confrontation in the area. This is oonfirmed by the fact that the occuWing Power has sent more troops into, particularly, the Gaza region in order to quell the revolt of the people. eoording to Davar, another Israeli newspaper, huge nurrber s of forces from the Israeli army have entered the Gaza area, and they are expecting to confront with violence any uprising that might take place in Gasa or other areas of the L est ‘Bank. Al Bamishmar, yet another Israeli newspaper , reported that a senior- Iisraeli military source had said ;, I “We are facing a. very serious situation. We have to realize that we are facing a very acute and complex situation and that we sitting on. a barrel of gunpowder”. From all that,. it will be understood that wehave come to the Securil , with the intention of drawing the attention of everycne here to the.situal is - but also with the intention of indicating what the results could be. It ,is ,only natural for occupation to,engender resistance.. Such resin ;‘t varying degrees of v-iolence. But I would say that, primarily, the cause c chain of violence - I shall not call it a cycle - is the perps tuation ,of .I occupation . ,Of course, it is eas.y to specify the cure and the remedy: Er! occupatiun and there will be no resistance, and therefore there will be nc v iolmce . put the question we are faced with here isr what do we do in 1 meantime? :, .’ . . ._ : <., (Mr. Terei, Palestine Libkation Organization) I re- .Council .on as,it '. cr.; mce has : this' e I rd I the:.~ r_ ,I e .-. vj .~ : ' '. , Resistance against occupation has been unanimously accepted and considered. ,. 1egLtimate by decision of the General Assembly., I refer to General,Assembly.,. ,.:, , resolution 40/61. '. By the same token, that resistance increases when the hopes for : '._ ‘<!. a peaceful settlement diminish. .c I, Rere we have to put the question: cannot our ~ . people have some hope of a peaceful settlement? Because, given their frustration ,: andthe arrogance of the occupying Power,.we definitely will face vlolencer which .) will, we are sure, mean that the mandate,given to the Secretary-General will have ; to be viewed from a different perspective. The process should be expedited; it is incusbent upon those who reject the ' efforts for:,peace, and who constitute the major obstacle to,them, to respond in a * .- * .~ positive,way. Of course there are political ramifications. But the resistance is ,' a derivative of the occupation , . . and our situation is a derivative of the occupation. '. What is, .to.be done?, That;is the question. tie Council has tro face. should the Council.satisfy itself with strongly deploring , with appealing and asking,. Israel&o rescind or desist? .Or does the Charter of the United Rations provide for other .-,:,,.' remedies?, I.am sure that the wise forefathers of this Qrganization envisaged a - ' -,, situation in which Members would not carry out decisions taken by the security ,,_ . . Council., I refer to-specific ,chapters of the.Charter on the imposition of sanctions. For how much longer can the united Rations, which created the monster called.; Israel,. that spoiled brat called Israel - for how such longer can the Security Council and the United Rations permit those criminal acts reminiscent of i. neo-fascism? The blood of qur children and our women is sacred to us) it is very. * ,. " ,.. much treasured by us. It should not be spilled for nothing. : ..'., Again I repeat that we hope and expect that the Council will take immediate 5 * 9 _' action to Put an end to the current brutal activities. It should also shoulder its responsibility andend the situation of occupation and bring us cioser toa Comprehensive peace; as prescribed in a General Assembly resolution. I

I thank the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PIG) for the kind words he addressed to The next speaker is Mr. Massamba Sarrd, of Senegal, Chairman of the Committee cn the ‘Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. ‘Mr. SARRE (Senegal.) (Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise Inalienable Rights of. the Palestinian People) (interpretation from Frencl me at the outset, Sir, to congratulate you an your assumption of the pre: the Security Council for the month of December. Aware of your qualities experienced diplomat well versed in international affairs and your devot ideals of our Organization, I am convinced that your work will be crOwneN success, ali the more so because your country has just signed, together 1 United States of &!merica, a historic agreement which I am convinced will a step forward in the consolidation of international peace and security. On this occasion we should pay a tribute to your predecessor, Mr. R Permanent I&presentative of Japan, for the exemplary fashion in which he over the work of the Council in November. Lastly I should’like to thank all the members of the Council for au me, in‘my capacity aschairman of the’committee an the Exercise of the I Rights of the. Palestinian People, to take part in its debate with respec grave events of recent days and Israeli practices against the population occupied Pales tin ian ter r it& ies . (Mr. !@er ei, Palestine bberation Organ iza tion) ,f the n/l I: Allaw .dency of is an’ x1 to the d With ith the constitute cuchi, the II presided hot iz ing 1 I ni alienable to thk !f in the The deterioration of the situation in the occupied territory is all the more disturbing because it directly affects not merely the future of the Palestinian population but also international peace and security. In a letter I have sent to the Council I have provided information on the incidents which have just taken place in the occupied Arab territories. -According to United Press International-(UPI) and the Associated Press (AD, on 9 December.1987 Israeli troops in the.Gaza Strip opened fire cn young Palestinians, killing two and injuring 12. The students were demonstrating following the killing of four Palestinians in a road "accident" in which, apparently, an Israeli truck had been used to avenge the death of an Israeli businessman stabbed on 6 Decetier. The critically injured were taken to El-Shifa hospital, where demonstrators were subs&uently attacked by Israeli helicopters, which dropped tear-gas bombs on the crowd. Several members of the police force were injured in the demonstrations. schools and shops remained closed in the Gaza Strip, and hundreds of Palestinians did not go ta Israel to work because Of the demonstrations. According to The r&w York Times and the UPI, widespread demonstrations on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip resulted in clashes with Israeli troops. CM 10 December a young Palestinian was killed and a dozen people were injured. According to the same sources , in the refugee camp of Kalandia, north of Jerusalem, 23 students who had raised a Palestinian flag during a demonstration were arrested. Twelve others were injured during a clash with the police, and many students who had inhaled tear-gas subsequently had to be hospitalized. (Mr. Sarre’, Chairman!, Committee on the Exercise of ithe Inalienable Rights :of the Palestinian People)! I A Reuters report states that a 11 year old Palestinian from Khan Yunis, in the I Gasa Strip, died after being hit on the head by Israeli troops during i demonstrations against the Israelis. According to Reuters and UPI, on 11 Decetier Israeli troops opened fire on demonstrators in the Ralata refugee camp on the west Bank, killing four Palestinians and injuring 30 others. Reuters also reports that in Jerusalem the military authorities held the head of the Arab journalists' trade union in prison without trial for six months and prohibited the distribution of the daily Al-Fajr on the West Bank. It will be recalled that: during the debates at this session delegations referred to the auestion of Palestine and the need to find a comprehensive, just and lasting solution. It is striking to observe, furthermore, that the strong emotions and subjectivity to which we had become accustomed yielded to reason and objectivity. This new approach to the question should lead us henceforth t0 translate into specific action the common denominator on which we all agree, namely organixing an international peace conference on the Middle East. The Secretary-General of our Organixation in his report calls upon us to do so, when he states that “in the light of the,widespread agreement on the part of the international community . . . the convening of such a conference, under united N&ions auspices, offers the best chance of successfully negotiating a comprehensive settlement of the Arablfsraeli conflict. Moreover, my decision to make a special effort this year was endorsed by leaders of all parties to the conflict. These two factors - international backing and the support of the parties - have provided an important basis for several rounds of consultations that have been held thus far and will undoubtedly be crucial to future progress. (I .=. I am encouraged by the fact that the past year has seen favourable developments in the political environment, both in terms of the level and frequency of contacts between the permanent members of the Security Council and between them and the parties. I am also encouraged by the fact that the idea Of an international conference under United Nations auspices has &en given high priority among the Arab parties to the conflict, and has been the subject of lively debate within Israel. These positive trends, combined with the growing~lnternatlonal consensus in favour of the early convenl+g Of a I conference, demand of us t-hat we consolidate and build on the foundation that has so far been established." (A/42/714;paras. 32 and 34) '1! I On the basis of those assessments, which represent the end of a lengthy i process, and on the basis of the principles and purposes of our Charter; noth:ng : ., should prevent us at last from attaining our objective: the establishment of,peace I in the Middle East through the restoration of the inalienable rightsof ithe,. ;; . . Palestlnian,people,.namely their right to self-determination and independence. 1 With respect to those who might raise the question of the right to existence of all the States of the region, I I would refer them.to paragraph 3 (,f) of the Geneva Declaration, which stipulates the right to,exlstence of all States in the region I within secure lnternatlona~ly,,recognlsed~frontlers, with peace and justice for all. I I Only,.a few hours ago the General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted four I resolutions on the Middle East. We note in them, in particular, an appeal for reason, moderation, renewed dedication to the principles and objectives ‘of the, / United Nations Charterr with a view to achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive I solution to the situation in the Middle East and the,.xuestlon of Palestine. I With that approach in mind, the convening of an international peace conference / on the Middle East is .advocated. AS I said earlier; this conference-- the outcome i_ I of a lengthy process of negotiations among the Members of our Organlzatlon - has I just been reconfirmed by 129 votes during the consideration of the C!ueStiOn Of I Palestine,. It will also be recalled that in presenting our Commlttee@s.report to the General Assembly I stated that, if the United Nations delayed in finding a, Solution to the auestlon of Palestine, violence would worsen and come I to, threaten In the absence of a just and lasting solution to the auestion of Palestine, I tension and violence will only increase in occupied Palestinian territories and in :., : the other Arab occupied territories, including Jerusalem. Thus, our Cokittee has, . * ., '. continued to emphasise that the situation will continue to worsen as long as the -. inalienable rights of the Palestinian people have not been exercised. :- ._ _. The United Nations has an undeniable responsibility for ensuring the enjoyment :_ . of the rights of the Palestinians and their protection in the occupied , .' _. territories. We consider,that it is now up to the Security Council to implement the findings of the 1983 International Conference on the Question of Palestine held in Geneva, endorsed by growing majorities in the General Assembly, in particular, ,: by calling for the convening of an international peace conference on the Middle ‘ . . East. 8,. .; . We wish once again to recall that these recommendations are objectively . . ,.' ** I founded upon the underlying internationally accepted principles relating to the ., , : ^. Palestinian problem and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The international community ,, considers that the convening of such a conference is now an urgent necessity. This-:, ..: > view has been expressed not merely within the pnited Nations but also in decisions .: -: of a growing number of other intergovernmental bodies , such as the.League of Arab ,,. States, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Movement of Non-Aligned I ': ..: Countries,,as well as in the declaration of the European Economic Community (EHC) , / .:. ,' :. (,',. . _. and, more recently, the recent Summit Conference of. Arab countries held in Amman. ".* : Hence-on behalf of the Committee, I should like to underscore that the *I ., _: :. - !i question”of Palestine has‘reached a criticai stage. I we urgently appeal for I increased efforts to achieve a just and lasting solution to this question and to I 4 put an end to the intolerable situation of the Palestinian-people. ) ‘In this ‘respect , thecommittee is convinced that the International Peace ! Conference on the Middle I&t, which en joys near unanimous support ,’ offer$ to all .’ ’ the parties concerned broad possibilities for participation in negotiations Y 3 c resulting in a j&t and lasting solution of the question. Given the incr’eas in< :_ i:.” 1 ,._ . I worsening of the si&at& in the o‘ccupied territories, as just described by Ambassador Terzi’, we should’step up our efforts. We there fore appeal to the SecurityCouncil to take-eppropriate steps to restore the policy of dialogue between all’the parties conderned in order.& put an end’to this tragic state of affairs which has prevailed for more’ than 40 years. As I’said ltit week; the time has’come for peace of the valiant. It’ should not be an exclusively Arab or Israeli peace; rather, it should be an Arab-Israeli peace, a pea&e founded on sincere ‘and objective negotiations under ‘the ‘auspices of . . z, the Uni&d Nations;’ ‘we are duty-bound - especially the’ Secutity Council, j the guarantor df in’ternational peace and ‘security I - to seize this opportunity/ a sad but promising one; I to foster the convening of this international oonferenb, the only appro’priate &d timely 6ay of -ensuring a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. ..,~. ‘: . . ,. I I am convinced that events’ in’. the”past week ‘- which was characterised by the ‘. I international communityls steadfast’ ‘commitment‘ to the ‘Brinciples of the Charter of the United‘~Nations as demonstrated by the statements Se heard on the question of / the Middle &st durinti the. holding of the Day of International Solidarity iwith the Palestinian People, as well as during the debates on the question of Palestine and I I . . - : : c 1 ‘. , : , : ,,, ,: ,’ ’ , . -. The PREsID&T (interpretation from Russian): I thank the Chai man of the tiple for Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian P the kind words he addressed to me. I should like to inform members of the Council that I have just ret !ived a letter from the representative of Israel in which he requests to be invi zd to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council% agenda. In c >nformity ) invite / with the usual practice and with the consent of the Council, I propose t the representative of Israel to take part in the discussion, without the right vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Netanyahu took the place re #etved for him at the side of the Council Chamber. The PI&m'& (interpreta~on*froni Russian): I invite"the rep esentative of Israel to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement / Mr. NETANYAIil (Israeljt I should like to congratulate you, Si , on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council. I am confident th it you will perform your duties in the exemplary way that your predecessor, Ambassad Kikuchi, performed his. I am holding the letter from the Permanent Representative of Democr c Yemen, who requested, in his capacity as Chairman of the Arab Group for this mc Ith, an immediate meeting of the Security Council. It is Friday night, 8 o'clock, and the first question that I know is on everybody's mind isr why is the Security Council, I the supreme and most important body of the United Nations, suddenly convened, and with such haste? It is true there are major wars going on in the world kight now, / but it IS not to deal with them or to try to resolve them that the Council is meeting. Perhaps it is because of loss of life - loss of life has, indeed, occurred. I&t I did not recall a similar convening - in fact, by the representative of Democratic Yemen - when over 10,000 people were slaughtered in his own tiuntry in December of 1985. I do not recall a hasty - or even an unhasty - convening of the Security Council by another member of the Arab League, Saudi Arabia, when riots broke out in Mecca and 402 people were killed and 640 injured. I do not recall a meeting of the Security Council when there were riots , in Yarmuk University in Jordan and students were killed - not a word. Nor, for that matter, was there word from the PIX), the very Pu) that raises so <, nuch of this. This is the PI0 that had thousands of its own members slaughtered .in massacres in refugee camps i “massacre” is a word that has kept coming up / here - thousands massacred, ifirst by Syria - I do not recall a Security Council I meeting - and in the war camps, the intramural war camps between the various factions of the PLO themselves and the Lebanese. I do not remember a Security I Council meeting, hasty or unhasty. . So we have to askt why has this meeting been convened with such abruptness I mliay? I think we can glean some understanding from the timing. mday is not an accidental day. It is important to understand a series of dates that have led up to today, and today's date as well, to understand how ludicrous the basic idea of spontaneity supposedly behind the recent violent incidents is. The last thing they are - I emphasize the word "last"'- is spontaneous. YOU will recall that a year ago, exactly the same thing happened: there was a relative period of quiet, a ‘ beginning of tensions in the month of November and violent incidents and the calling Of a Security Council meeting on the last day of the deliberations in the General Assembly. - Now, the reason the month of November is important is because three dates occur in the month of Noveher. The first date is 2 Novetiert that is the anniversary of the &four Declaration. The second date - and this year new one - is 8 November: that is the convening of the Arab sunnnit meeti! Amman. And the third date - which, again, is an annual anniversary - is 29 November, the date of the partition resolution. Why do I cite those I Because, for each cne of those dates the PLO issues specific orders, corn] Calls for incitement, to Palestinian Arabs and asks them, and calls upon ‘ incite riots and violence and terror. And I may add the fourth date, th; today's date, which is the twentieth anniversary - and "anniversary" is ai peculiar / word to use for an organization devoted to murder - the twentieth year to; the day marking the establishment of the PFLP led by Habash. I It too called for the inciting of violence and terror and riots. It is important.to understand that in the month of November, leading'into December, 'there has been an escalation. We recently had bombs placed on L e ~ Tel Aviv-Haifa railroad - luckily, no one was hurt. We had an Israeli civilian by the name of Schlomo Saker, a civilian who was shopping in an Arab market,istabbed to death just a few days ago. / We have had many, many incidents of terror/that are I not reported because they are interdicted; they are simply aborted before'they take place - not for lack of trying, for they try, but they do not succeed so you do not hear very such about them. But the attempts are there. / Beyond and above all that there are, of course; the calls for mobs, violence and inci%tement, especially incitement directed against a very receptive young I population of teen-agers, organized and orchestratid to a T. Some spontaneity: I Now, even so, I must say that sometimes even the PLO can be helped in this grisly campaign v and the help that they received in the series of events we are discussing here was a boost in the form of a traffic accident. I A few days ago, in I Jabaliya an Israeli truck driver swerved off the road, lost control of his: vehicle, I I (Mr. Netanyahu, Isra 5) it is a g at ates? ands, them, to , k is and the vehicle killed four bystanders - Palestinian Arabs. As you can imagine, . :: these kinds Of accidents occur QI all of Israel*s'roads, and we have, i regret to say, a high incidence of casualties. what the PLO let out at that date was the extraordinary canard, which, I must say, caught like wildfire in Gaza, in Judea-Samaria, that this was not a traffic ., / accident but a deliberate act of murder. - ,: . This facilitated the-heating up of a campaign,,of incitement already unde; '.. r ,. -. .:. ' was a stroke of luck, if you want to call it that. : I?, We have, and any country, has under international law, a very simpl :: +y\. .: ; riz . 3 . , j " i c-t -, : : > ,,:, jr ' LZ . ,, . ._ 1x.. .$" . . : rule. The first responsibility of any Qvernment, military or.civilian, . . " ~' : .L .., ._ '/ ,. " : enforce law and order. That responsibility is particularly important bet ,' ., .., Of these attacks have been directed and are directed against innocent by: Jews and Arabs alike. In fact yesterday we caught the terrorist who was responsible for slaughtering - no, let us be specific, for burning alive talking family. This particular terrorist threw a Molotov cocktail - we are not about empty bottles here - a bottle filled with explcsives, at a car tha passed I by. The car had in it the Moses family , a husband and wife and their children. The wife and a child were burned alive. We caught that man. He was also!trying to I set off a car bow. So we have a real problem inside the borders of Israel and ins%-de the territories. We are facing a deliberate campaign of terror, which we / have generally been successful in keeping down, but the PLO has been trying to use I the last six-week period to make it flare up. The descriptions of events here have relied on unsubstantiated press reports 1 and other undocumented information. We are dealing with this at rather short I notice, but I can tell the Council, after a cursory glance, that there ard some / I wild fabrications in the material presented to it. 1 tit me give an example. With regard to the question of hospitals, that is simply a flat lie. Regrettably, in the course of maintaining law and order, there are casualties. Our troops are under strict instructions not ta fire, in fact not to use their weapons I until they have absolutely no other resort or unless they are I already injured or their lives are threatened. When you are surrounded b$ several / hundred people armed with crowbars, Molotiv cocktails and various other weapons 1 I fi) . way. It.. and clear isto . iuse many dI j* tanders, -a (Mr. Netanyahu, Israel) your life occasicnally is threatened. , Israel regrets,any:loss of,.l&fe ,that has. !": taken place, and Israel will continue to do what it can with its security forcesto ensure that there is as little loss of ,life a6 possible. ‘, Put *en,,.occasicnally, such unfortunate things happen,.we do take.care of people. ,In fact, in these. '-,: ‘, I incidents we took the casualties to the local hospitals and.to two o,ther.hospitalS > : in the vicinity% the hospital in Ashkelon and the Sir.ocka hospi,.tal in eersheba# gia _' : ," So what the council has heard-, among other things, is simply flat Lies. , .i' ,~ __ _,, I what I have described here,,which I think explains.whatwe. atle_@.tnessing a I_ tonight, is a very simple pattern.: It.has,been repeated for more,:than a yeart that _:, ,'- ,, is, it is being repeated for the second year, , I have,not had time.to .check, .but I : i _, _ shall look back to 6ee whether there is already a three-year pattern. .In any case.:: '. here is the twoyear pattern. The PIO incites violence. :,The violence produces :-,-, :, ~. .< Arab and Jewish casualties. The PLO then,,.,asks, for ,the.Security,Council to ,be .::: : convened to discus6 not merely the violence abut. the ills ofoccupation,- This is. :;'j . the natural progression. Presumably the question of..the,political gtatus.ot Gazq~-+~:5 . . . . and Judea-Samaria would not warrant a meeting, hastyor unhasty, .late on P,rdQy r.,r*, night, but, since the matter has been raised,.let me.deal,+th itvery ,briefly. .-. . . The Problem of achieving such a settlement .is,indeed a comple.x.pne,.it~is not.,:- : . *. ,: simple, and it is a desirable end. lb achieve a peaceful resolution, a peaceful' :-:r . I. political settlement, is exactly what we want. The reasOn we have not had, it,has,-:,.~..~ nothing to do with the grievances involved. The ‘grievances can be settled,, .' They., x.' ._. are difficult, even complex, but they are not impossible. There isnothiing in the'. Arab-Israeli dispute, that is beyond resolution.-, not refugees, not borders.~+~All ,sJ+-:i , . . these things could be negotiated. Matters of much greater complexity have>:been ::!I..~. negotiated successfully in the last century, particularly in the last half _ (Mr. Netanyahu, Israel) century.. Fifty'million'refugees have beensettled under far more diffi&lt condi~ons, .: _ . . . ., . The teason'we 'are not settling these problems is that the PLO, l&h its z .../ i, ,,' predecessors under the‘.'&fti, who rPade-‘a.'pabt'with"Hitlerl were' not in&rested in a solution; they'were'interested in liquidation~;'~ ," 1. The problem from the s&t was not ,. that the-Palestinian Arabs lacked a State but that the Jews had one.' 0 <‘(. ' &is was and remains the source of the,conflict. ,j j 'That is the first reason why the PI;0 will I: “,h, , ,: !f‘. stand up:and refuse and resist and'obstruct and subvert any attempt at Ejeace, ! , because their comaiment,is nat-to peace 'but to the"destruction bf the Jewish State. , I The second reason is a'monetary'.cne.- The PLO is big business, it i's good : 1 8. business.. Many people are living'off the'hundreds'of mill&s of doll+ they get ', I , annuallycfrom the Saudi‘Arabians'and 'othe&..who' pay monies 'into the‘c&f.ers of the \ PL0. .j .,. By'now there is a Cast of'people, grot& and loaders &o'bel&g.to! the " : i _.. richest-terrorist organfzations'in history"and'who h&e a vested interest in : ,,,. keeping .alive the cause .they are -fighting for.' It is for the&'awn good: 'A solution.would summarily:end that. " ' "- ' . " ' " “'I .I. .I'. , '. ! ,, ,, / i I ". , The'third reason is .so&th'itig that Dos&evski un&st&d'a hun&ed years ago, ! ,I .I / He'said that if you have a group of 'f&'terrorists together '&d you persuade four I . . of them that the fifth is-a renegade to the'cause, .: they will'kill him; :x/d once they kill him they 'are ali locked in a 'circle of blood‘and they cannot.escape. ' -: That is exactly what we arti Seeing',here. 1 8.’ It is not only Jews that are victjms'of i_ .., this terrorism. In fact 'many more Arabs 'thanJews have been'.k'illed by 'the PLO. I : mst recently, for example, a man '1ike'Safa Al Mazri;".the mayor of Nablui, was 1 .I 1. murdered by the PIX), because he was thinking of a poii‘iical settlement. I ‘. , \ % . . I j The matter'of apolitical settlement'h'as been'ra'ised here. The Pti is not ..' 1 interested in,a'political settlement. It' is not interested in pe&e. It is . I It' is 'interested' in" something far I interested in ,anything but.settlement and peace. I( ,. 1 8, ; ,. : .. ,b. more concrete:' 'in preventing even the Lmprovement of.'the refugees' status. f am.‘ not referr'ing'to the legal-status but to'the status in physical terms; The ‘I‘sraeit' Government hasput forward many proposals to rehabi1itate'refugees7 tomake v&t "' improvements -in' the quality of housing and so on:‘ who resisted them? ' The PIKE: l't-"' said,, "-This is an'unacceptable change in the quality'cf l'ife". We went ahead and ,, made a few of those unacceptable changes , such as electrifi&tion , new ho-us&g, new"' roads; -improvements in agriculture and in fishing,'impiovements'in'.&e b&king- I I system, improvements in the way people live, iii'their educdtional.and health '- conditions. The PIKD.opposes any Anprovement'in the~stakis'quo. It encourages every opportunity to upset it, because x&t .it w&its is conflict and 'disputk'and .' I" violence-and terror'.'., .: .' 1. : Recently we thought there:w& a glimmer of hope that,there would be a"change ' ." in this.ccndition, this strangiehold by th'e PLO and its flk‘on &b"political "" ' .~ process that hastied down the‘hkab-Israeli'confl.ict~sfnce'the'beg&ng of this 'I." century.::We thought there was some opening. ‘Thai. thought emerged"& a r&hit Of.“!'. an indication:at the Prmman sumnitconference , where'we saw that the PLO was'for Vie"' first,.time beingbput ti *the sidelines, where it deserves to be; by'the Arib*' " : I countries. ..', " 1 : ,' .\ (Mr,. Wetanyahu, Israel) .’ . I . , . .’ 2 .’ .‘I> ;’ ._ . 1 i . ‘. :< .I (Mr. Netanyahu,' Israel) It is clear that what we have been seeing in the past Six weeks from the PLO'S own exhortations and incitements is that what it is trying to do is escape the / conclusion that so many of the Arab leaders apparently reached in Amman,/whethet I they say so directly or indirectly. What.recent events and, more important,. this I Council meeting tonight are all about is an.attempt by the PLO to bail itself Out of a condition of irrelevance 1 , powerlessness and lost prestige. The question * really is: i Should this be the business of the Security Council - to bail them.out of their irrelevance? f think there is no auestion that that is the last task for which this, body is suited. j ,I I The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Russian): I thank the .representative of Israel for the kind words he addressed to me. I " I call on the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, who has asked to speak in exercise of the right of reply. ; Mr. TERZI (Palestine Liberation Organization): It.is sometimes difficult , to understand how shooting by the Israeli Army at students could, have beein ,. incitement by the Palestine Liberation qrganization (PLO). We have heard a great ,, deal about what is happening in the occupied Palestinian territory being lin response to calls by the PLO. ~,I would think that members of the Council bould wonder if the PLO really has such support from the Palestinians,under occupation. If it does,.,then why not deal with it? Our people in the occupied.territories have '. I made it very clear that they do support and recognise the PLO as their soye, legitimate representative, We did not plan the convening of the Council this evening. It was T criminal and brutal acts of the Israeli Army that resulted in the cold-blooded murder Of a number of students and women that made it necessary. we 'woulP have preferred that such a thing had not happened. But, since the Israeli Army showed I , its teeth in implementing au "iron-fist" policy against our'people, as I said in my opening statement, we felt that it was the,duty of the Security Council to address the situation, ‘in view of the position taken in the Council that the Fourth Geneva ~$!???!x~~~~ a.g#lies to those areas and that the.~t,ties,.qr~.~,un~~r .an .d?liga.$$o,n,,,W, j y.* ; *,,.a,, .i.. ;y*. .<""%U . . . . ..- .:.-, ( > ,. ,,.,..(~, .', -. ,,: . . . ..y ,>,, ., , :* .+ ,.,'f _*._ ,. J .I respect and &sure respect for the provisions of'that'convention. That Is why.we % .F came here. .That Ist'bel has a real prcblem, we agree,. We know that it has a>major problem." Israel still cannot decide whether it is a Jewish State,.a State of the 1' Jews, and'who is a Jew. At the end of the,twentieth century Israel is still engaging in Byzantine discussions to establish who is and'who.is not a Jew;,who belongs tb the State of Israel; whether he should be a Sephardf or an Ashkenazi. They have those problems, we know. But Israel's one major problem is &at it is an occupying Power. An occupying ~ Power has some obligations arising from its being an occupying Power. I think Israel knows that it is the only State Wamber of this Organization which has been labelled an occupying Power. That. is the problem that faces Israel. That +i the ,pr&lem that keeps almost 30 per cent of the Israeli prime-age population ~~ ~~, " constantly tider arms. Occupation is really a costly thing. The only solution is to.end it. The life of any soldier who is a member of an occupying Power is threatened. After all, the people under occupation are not going to give,him red-carpet service; they are not going to fraternize with an occupying officer. \' < I recall that during my service in the Second World War we had instructions "“not to fraternize with the people under occupation in arope. I would just say to. . / 'the Israelis that they should not hope tofraternize, because the resistance ,_/ .against their presence in Iheir awn country is the primary task. (Mr. Terzi, Palestine Liberation Organization) We cannot conceive of any Israeli civilians in the occupied territoiies. I After all, an occupying Power i6 prohibited from transferring any of itslcivilian population into the occupied areas. Besides, every 'single Israeli citizen of prime I age is a member of the armed forces, whether in uniform or in the active ireserve, so one can say that there are no civilians. They should not be there, in the Occupied territories, in the first place. One cannot really permit such j provocation. / Some may be thinking, do the Palestinians living in the occupied territories seek better dog food or do they want to be in gold cages? They want to be free to exercise their political rights. How many Palestinian refugees have been enabled to return to their homes? There are more than 2 million of us who are denied the fight and the possibility to return and live in peace in our own homes. if a tent is changed into a hut, that is not what we demand. We demand that we return to Palestinian territory and live in peace there. / , , The PLO does not need to be bailed out. I wonder whether we should believe the Secretary-General when he informs us that the major obstacle to peace is the Government of Israel? There was 4 challenge there. I The Secretary-General had endeavoured to bring all the parties to the negotiating table for a comprehensive peace. who rejected that? TheiPLO, at the meeting of our National Council in April, unanimously accepted that approach. I We would very much have preferred to use this Council to start the negotiation6 for peace. . I repeat: this is a challenge. If anybody wants to negotiate peace, this table is available to him. We fully endorse that. (Mr. Tarzi, Palestine Liberation Organizaticn) We want peace to spare our children and those children living in our houses from the threat of elimination, from the threat of being the fourth generation to live in a garrison State named Israel, or being the fourth generation to live in Palestinian refugee camps. We want them all to live in peace and harmony in iheir own homes. The PLO is not looking for a way out. The PT.43 has shown every single sign that we want the process of a peaceful solution, a political settlement. As a _. . matter of fact, it was at Amman that the PLO insisted on bringing this issue to the summit, which was originally meant to be an extraordinary summit to deal with Only ;. .' one item, namely, the Iraq-Iran war and the situation in the @lf. We just would not like to open the books about collaboration with the Nazis. The Irgun Zvai Ieumi, which is the party of Mr. Begin and his likes, was openly and in public making statements that they should ally themselves with Hitler, because they had mutual+and connnon interests. 'And the renowned and respected Professor pit a big advertisement Albert Einstein and others like him did not hesitate to The New York Times asking that Begin and his likes, who were Nazis, not be permitted to desecrate the soil of the United States. We are here to address an immediate issue, which is a derivative of prolonged occupation. We hope that this Council will convene cne day, the sooner the better, to consider ways and means to bring about comprehensive peace and convert the discussion at this table from accusations to positive negotiations.

There are no further speakers on my list. The next meeting of the Security Council to continue COnSideratiOn of this agenda item will take place on Monday, 14 Dece&er 1987, in the afternoon, at a time to be announced later. (The President) ) I should like tb remind members that we have already agreed to meet on Monday to Consider the question of the continuation of the mandate of the Uniteq Nations Peace-keeping Force 'in QprUS. I The meeting rose at 8.35 p.m.