S/PV.2776 Security Council

I should like to inform metiers of the Council that I have received a letter from the representstive Of Nicaragua in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item cn the Council ‘8 agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propOser with the mnsent 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 Council*s provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Icaza Gallard (Nicaragua) took the place reserved for him at the sib of the Council Chamber. The PREsIDaST (interpretation from Russian): The Security Council will now resume its consideration of the item on its agenda. mbars of the Council have before then document S/19357, which contains the text of a letter dated 17 Deceriber 1987 frOQ the Permanent Representative of Spain ti the United Rations addressed to the Secretary-General. Meabets of the Counoil also have received photocopies of a letter dated 15 oeceraber 1987 froar the Permanent Repreeentitive of Zimbabwe to the United NatiOnS, in his Capacity as Chairman of the Co-ordinating Bureau of Ron-Aligned Countries, addceeesd to the Secretary-General, and another letter from the Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-Gemeral. These two letters and their annexee will be circulated as docuwnte S/l9360 and S/19361 of the Security Council. The ffrut npeakar im tha repreeanc~t~ve of xicaragua, - .--_- T invjlo him cb f&e a ~1aCe at the Council table and t0 make his etaterpent. Mr. ICAZA GALLARD (Nicaragua) (interpretation from Spanish) t First of all, I should like to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council. Your country has a lcmg tradition of supporting just causes; that, together with your well-know experience aud diplormtic skill, ensures effective leadership in our work. I wi5h ale0 to congratulate your pred5ces50rr Ambaseador Kikuchi of Japan, for the exeaplary manner in whidx he conducted the Council~5 work last awrrth. My Governmnt and people once again, in thie Council, express their rejection of IBrael’e cqoing violations of the rights of the Palestinian people. c)n 11 Decelrber 1987 in this Council the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organizatign (PIID) gave us an account of the ill-treatment roeted out to students, children and wosm in the tetr itor iea illegally occupied by Israel. Today, 18 DBceEPber, t.hi5 ill-treatment ha5 not only continued but ha5 increaeeed. During the paat 11 day5 the mdia have remrted that Israeli eoldLers hsve shot citizeus participating in ctemnstrationst they have besieged hospitals with tmke, artmted Paleetinian citizens who ha8 been weun&B or weze sick in bed. Yesterd5y we read about the reinforcement of Israeli troops who entered the Gsea Strip, combing the area with infantry troop6 and ammuted ~brs. That brutality by the occupying Polaer has resulted in the death of approximtely 14 Pele8tiniant3, including children and young perme between the age5 of 11 and 17 yeare) many were woun’sd and a goodly number detained. In the face of that ill-treatment the Palestinian resistance hae inareased in the Gaza Strip, Nablue and near Jerusalem. The violence of the occupying Sb#er ha5 resulted in violent acts of @elf-defence by the Paleetinkne, who have been deprived of their nm5t elementary righta and are naRl tired of this unjwt situation whiah 88855 to be going on indefinitely. It ie not the demnetratione by young Palestinians that have caumd the situation which we are ooneider ing today in the Council. It ia not the stones and bottles thrown by the young people at Israeli soldiers that have caused this situation. The eoutoe of the problem is the occupation of Palestine by Israel. It is the dislocation and dispersal of Palestinian society resulting from the occupation that is at the bottom of this situation. Indeed, the Palestinian people cannot enjoy their fundamental rights guaranteed by var ioue international iuetrumants , and more particularly by the 1949 Geneva Conventions pertaining to occupied territories. Israel has refused to acoept the application of those instrument8 to the occupied Palestinian territories for the sisple reasm that it does not intend to withdraw frcm them; cn the contrary, it fe trying to find a way to leqitimiee that occupation by increasing eettlemnts, annexing territory, seizing land, and applying collective sanctions against the lawful inhabitants of those territories. Gppreseion and terror are a constant feature of the everyday life of the Palestinian peoples deetruotion of home, aa88 arrests, e~puleion of leaders, deportetione~ aloeing universities, institutes and schoole; attacks on refuge@ camps, town& neighbourhoods and eveu religious centres are all features of everyday life. Thece is a deliberate ei?fort to affect adversely the economic infrastructure in euoh a way as to make it permanently dependent on the Israeli eccxmey . Ierael’e policiee and cmduct are in oontravention of international legal principles au they have developed wer the past century and codified at The EiagUe, 4hr 4tr44*1 0.44-I -A -4rr4-9 *..cA--,.‘-,* --a----- -I.- -..-WV .-we-..” Y.” ~‘m.YLp* Y.-* .IOLI”‘.OI W,,LOL W,.WD. The relatiomhip between the occupying Power aud the civilian inhabitants of an occupied territory is governed by clearly eetablkhed guidelinea and (Mr. Icaza Gallard, Nicaragua) pr inciplee. The rights and obligations of both sides ace defined in numerous charters md oonventions, such as the 1907 05gue Rules, the 1945 London Charter and the 1949 Geneva Comrentim QI the Protection of Civilian Person5 in Tizne of Wac. In spite of the exietenoe of occupation , Israel use5 such eupherisme as WlmPnistered territories” in an attempt to justify conduct that in fact denies the politics1 right5 of the civilians under occupation. Our Organisation ha5 adopted numerous resolution5 along the lines ju5t mentioned; resolution 3236 (XXIX) in which the General Assembly reaffirm the inalienable right of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determi?ration without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and their right to return to their hoses and praper ty. Additionally, there are resolutions 181 (II) and 194 (III) adopted in 1947 and 1948, respectively# the former recognizes the right of the Arab people of Pelastine to have an independent State in Palestine. The setabliehment of a just and lasting pemze in the Middle East must be based on the omplete with&aim1 of Iscael from all occupied Arab territories and on guarantees of the natfanal righte of the Palestinian people within the framework of an international peaof oonference , to be held under the auspices of the United Nations, in keeping with the pcwisions of GenecaL Assembly resolution 38/58 C. The At& oountciea have e%pressed their genuine &sire for peace in the region. We might recall the recent Arab &ma&t Conferenoe in Aman, where the Arab States de&aced their aacmptance of an international cronfereme as the most appropriate means for achieving peace. That Arab Summit Conference also rejected any solution not including Ierael’s amplete withdcawal from all occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories or not ensuring the full exercise of the inalienable right5 of the Pale5tinian people. {Mr. fcaza Gallacd, Nicaragua) Unfortunately, ‘Israel cmtinues to represent a setlou obstacle to the attBlif9Pent Of peaces the event5 which have bed5nounCed here are further proof of *at. Peace in the Middle East will continue to be au unrealizable hope 80 1OnY as Israel fails to change its conduct and until it accepts, within the framwork of recognized United Nations principles, negotiations for a just and stab ,aace in the region. There is no doubt that the peoples of the Middle East, in particular the Palestinian people, the people5 of satthern Africa and Central AxeKica are all today confronting the sam enexy and are involved in the sax5 struggle for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, self-determinaticm and justice. It is for this reason that our people and Govetnuxmt cannot fail to exprees mce again our ooanaitment to and solidarity with the Palestinian people and their vanguard, the Palestine Liberation Organixation, theit sole, legitimte representative. The PRESXDIDJT (interpretation from Russian)t I thank the representative of Nicaragua for the kind words he addressed to DIB. Count YDRK von WARTKNBDRG (Federal Republic of Gernrany) t we have listened with great attenticm to this debate. It is, in the first place, a debate about a dangerous spiral of unrest and acts of violence. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is concerned by the worsening of tension in the territories occupied by Israel and regrets the loss of human lives that has occurred as a result of acts of violence. The victims include defenceless women and children. The international community cannot ZerPain silent in the face of those events. In view of the disturbing developments in the occlupied territories we call upon Israel to bear in mind its obligations as an occupying Power under the provisions of international law, in particular those of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In their declaration of 14 September 1987 the Foreign Ministers of the 12 Ipeder States of the European Comkmity expressed grave concern abaat the angoing Israeli settlement policy in the occupied territories. Other practices, too, of the Israeli occupying forces give rise to grave concerns Auxmg those are administrative detentions, the claeing down of educational institutes, the imposition of collective penalties and the demolition of houses. By the sam taken as the settlement policy, these practices of the occupying P-et constitute violations of international law. Today, 19 December 1967, the presidency of the Tuelve issued a statemmt informing the preos that the l%?elve have today expressed to the Israeli Gwernment their deep concern about the rapidly and seriously deteriorating situation QP the west Sank and in the Gaza Strip. The ‘Rrelve at the saw tii~e urgently called upon the Israeli authorities to Qnsuce the immdiate protection of the inhabitants of the occupied territories, in cumpliauce with interuatioual law and human-rights standards. In the declaration of the Welve of 23 February 1987 and in the declaration of ths Europaan Council held at Copenhagem on 4 and 5 DecerPber of this year, we had already called, together with our European partners, for au improvement of living couditions fn the occupied territories and stated our willingness to copltribute towards the econmic and social devalopnent of those territories. Progress along the way towards a settlement will also depend cm creating a climate of confi&mce between the parties to the conflict. The creation of such a climate would be welcomed fsost by the friends of Israel. Measures likely tc aggravate the situation will, a8 they are not conducive to such a clirmte, jeopardise all prospects for making the Israeli-Arab conflict armmble to a negotiated settleurmt. We therefore once again call cu all parties canearned to alear the way to a negotiated settlement by recognizing the legitimte intereats of all iuvolved. In that amtext we restate our view that the only fOrmU allawing the psace proceso to move forward is at present an international gesce amferencs on the Middle East under the auspices of the United Nations. Sir CrisPin TfaBLL (United Kingdom) I It is late in the month, Sir, but I begin by wishing you well, if you need it, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council. I also convey nry thanks to your predecessor, the Permanent Repremntative of Japan, for his handling of the Council’s affairs during the month of tammber. We have all heard repur ts - and ve have heard a iot about them during this dabate - about the serious violence that has occurred over the Wt 10 days in the occupied tarr itor ies. I wish at the outset to express my delegation’s sympathy with those who have suffered injury as a result and with the families of thaae who have been killed, many of them young people. A nu&er of distinguished speakers have drawn important conclusions from those tragic events aud froar the situation which underlies them. I agree with a greet deal of what has been said. But one argumnt with which my delegation cannot agree is tha,t used at the close of Wednesday’s debate by the Permanent Representative of Israel. It is an important one, and I should like for a mment to say a word about it. IIs said: ‘It is well known that Israel does not consider itself to be an occupying Parer. It is equally well known that Israel &es not formally accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva Convention to Judea, Samsria and Gaza. The principal reason is that this Convention applies in cases where the ousted Power was a legitiraate sovereignty. But that cmdition does not pertain either to Judea and Satilmaria, illegally annexed by Jordan for 19 yearse or to Gaza, administered by the Egyptian military during the saum period. We have decided, however, since 1967 to act itr de facto accordance with the humanitarian provisions of that Convention.* (S/PV.2774, P. 74) Unless the Pernvtnent Representative of Israel is claiming that the territories occupied in 1967 and since were, at the tilae of occupation, part of the State of Israel, that argument is ill founded. As my delegation has repeatedly stated in the Council, the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 and since then are just that% occupied territories, to which applies the Pour th Geneva Convention Relative to the Protectian of Civilian Persons in Time of war. Those territories comprise +fie West Bank, the Gasa Strip, that part of Jerusalem over which aiy bvermnt does not reaognize Serael*s de facto authority, the Golan Beights and, in more recent times and in another content, parts of southern Lebanon. I should in this COnneCtiOn repest that the British Gwernment has long reaognized Jordanian ouvareignty war the west Sank and that my Govemment*o long-standing @~ftim remhe that it io unable to recogniee the eovereignty of any State wer Jerusalem pending a final BetetafnatPan ef the status of that area. (Sit Crispin Tickell, United Kingdoe) (Sir Crispin Tickell, United Kingdom) As a party to the Convention, Israel is obliged, as a mattez of law, to ccmply in good faith with its provisions. We reject any attempt to cloud the issue by talking about applicatim de facto rather than de jure. What we look for from Israel is coup1 Lance - which mans strict and full compliance. In our view, cm the evidence available to us, the use of force by the occupation authorities has been excessive, and has clearly contravened the requireasent placed upan the occupying Power by article 27 of the Convention that all protected persms be treated humnely at all times. The very purpose of the Conventtar is to protect civilians. More widely, my delegation nas expressed serious concern at a range of Israeli policies an5 practices in the occupied territories which are ccmtzrrry to international law ahd in violation of tha huuxm rights of their inhabitants. Our views were set out by the current presidency of the European Community speaking On behalf of its member States in the general Aese&ly debate last month under agenda item 75. X aleo follow my German colleague in drawing attentim to the state-t that was made today. 1 have msf3e1 clear the firm legal basis for Israel’s obligation to admini8tet the occupied territories in humane fashion. But our crmcern is not only humanitarianr it arieee also from the Council’s duty to apply itself to the serious consequences of the aontinued Israel4 occupation for interwtianal peaae and fmmr ity - not leaet In view of its resolutions 242 (1967) and 336 (1973) - and to do itra utmost. to bring about a just, lastiug aud txmprehensive 8ettlerPento t-Q QverRlaent has given its full support to all realietio efforts to that end. tt is eseential that easly progreae be made towards the convening of an inteunatianal conference - in a form to be agreed by the parties ooncerned - which would serve as I a framework for negotiatious to resolve the points at issue. (Sir Crispin Tick&l, United Kingdom) The tragedy of what is now happening in Gaza and elsewhere in the occupied terri(=ies underlines the need for urgent efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement. In the neantfaa, we urge all concerned to do their utmost to put an end to the violencl which has claimed 50 many lives. The PRESIDKKT (interpretation frcm Russian) I I thank the representative of the United Kingdom for the kind words he addressed to me. The next speaker is the representative of Israel. I invite him to take a plao¶ at the Council table and to make his statepent. Mr. NETANYAHU (Israel): Before I address myself to the draft resolution that is before the Seourity Council, I should like briefly to respond to two statemta made here. The first is the staterPent by the representative of Nicaragua. I& pre8umes to lecture Israel un the question of human liberties and human rights. Be is the representative of a regime that is no doubt a champion of these qualities. It showed them very well in the wanta, destructfar of the Me&quite Indians, as it shows them in the way it treats its Gtn citiaens. We have recently lestned from a defeotor frua this human paradise that the rdgtrse in NiJicaragua is preparing an army of 600,000 - this in a country of less than 3 million people - V’nich presumably will Bo nuoh to 5eeure human liberty an& human rights in Central America. The eeeond 8tatePlent on which I uish to make a brief colPlPent is the 8518 by my colleague the Permanent Representative of the United Ping-. It ie true that Britain reaqnized the Jordanian annexation of Judea and Samaria. But it is also true that, 8ave for Britain and one other country, Pakistan, no country represented around thie table - or outside this Chamber, for that matter - did. Therefkxe, we (MC. Netmyahu, Israel) stand by all the state:eiaents we made, and especially We one in which we called thi@ an illegal annexation of territory - as we view it, and as many others apparently agree. f turtr nw to the draft resolution before us. There are two issues which it purports to address. The first me is the questian of the recent events - the recent riots. The second is a broader political agenda. This draft resolution fails on both counts. On the question of the riots, it is imbalanced and one-sided. It does not reflect accurately the events as they transpired. 1t does not make any mention of the deliberate ca&paign of incitement by the Pu); nor does it conamn, let alone mention, the murder by the PLO - of which it openly boasts - of Arabs and Jew in Judea, Samaria arid Gaza. fn this, it can Only reward the inciters and bring abcxt more violence, nore bloodshed, more disturbances. The draft resolution also seeks te introduce a new elemntt a Security Council request of the Secretary-General to involve himself In iSEWes relating t0 security matters which are the exclusive responsibility of Israel. Israel shall not comtenance any interference in this matter - period. OJJ the Political sic%, this draft resolution merely serves as a springboard for political attacks against my country by the wet extreme rejecticmist of peace and WXistence in the Arab-Israeli oonfliat. These are the people who rejected Camp mid, who reject peacer who reject conciliation, who tejeat the very existeme of Israel - a Hsmber state and 8 petty to this oonflict. They are not the ones who should lecture, or for tJmt matter guide, the Security Council on how to achieve peace. POO ow part, we shall amtime our efforts to restore calm and tranquillity in a very diffioult situation. Se shall continue to seek efforts to adrieve a peaceful reeolutim of the ArakIaraelf dispute in all ite aspects, especially through the lmchanirrm of direct , unencunkred and free negotiatione, which will not be su@planted by any other am&ani810, inoluding the attempt to impme the wish of EOM of the Council nmnkxz8, or the Council aa a whole. One thing is certain. Our efforts to achieve tranquillity and our efforb to achieve peace will continue. But this draft teeolution, by the encouragement it offers the inciters and fomebxters of violence and the forces that are opposed t0 peace, will not oontribute to that goal. Mr. AL-SHAALI (United Arab Emirates) (interpretition from Arabic) $ It is a great pleasure for our delegation to see you pre8idir.g over the Council, Sir, 8s Pa represent a oountry with a lcmg history of support for just international causes. Your well-knom expertise and diplomatic eaperience make us confident that YOU will conduct our deliberations in a manner that will lead to the desired results. I also take this opportunity to thank Ambassador Kikuchi, Permanent Representative of Japan, for his expertise and the efforts he made while CmduCting our work last nmnth. The Israeli practices against the.Arab Palestinian citizens in the occupied territories are linke in a single chain of events since the Israeli aggression tOOk place in 1967. If the events of the past few drays bear witness to anything, it is to one important fact - that the Palestinian people, like any other people, cannot coexist with occupation, and that thie occupation is rejected, no nratter haJ ferocious its war machine is. They also bear witness to the ferocity with which the ocmpation authorities are dealing with the Palestinian citizens. The Pacts are made very clear by the imistence of this defenceless people on resisting one of the met ferocious war machines and one of the mst racist ideologiee - the settler zioniet ideology. Those who are falling victim to the Israeli oMW8tiOn force8 and the settler gangs eupprtad by the Israeli military establishment are aged 14 to 17, which means that they were born under occupatia, and have seen only soldiers and institutions of occupation and have witnessed only repted acts of aggression, imprisonment, expulsion and uQnPiscation of property. It is estimated that 46 per cent of tne total 1.4 IPillion Palestinians under occupation are under 14. Naturally, that generation, known 88 the generation Of occuapation, will escalate ite resistance to occupation, regardless oP the tyranny of the Israeli war machine. What gives this phecouencn special importauce is the fact that the Palestinian resistance inside those territories has proqressively ana gradually become a popular uprising, in which different sectors of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories are participating. What is called the revolution armed with stones waged by the people of Palestine against the Israeli occupation forces confirms once again that we are duty bound as an international cormunity to concentrate collectively cn dealing with the crux of the crisis Fn the Middle East. The events in the West Bank aud the Gasa Strip have their roots in the Isfaeli occupatim and the international commmity~5 failure to find a solution to the Palestinian question. The Palestinian people is in revolt not because it seeks social services, nor because it seeks a solut).ua to an economic emergency. It is in revolt because it wants to enjoy the uost noble of rights, which the Charter of our Orqaniztrtion has consecrated, the tight of peoples to live in peace. There is ho peace0 except with ftesdom and self-determination. While the ZionfstmoverPantand its supporters are waging a world-wide campaign for the emiqtatiar of awiet Jewry under the pretext of human tights, that Bane movement io waging another emiqtatkn campaign against another maple in another place under a different ptetesk, that of security. Hence, the same Zioniet authorities that claim to defend hunran rights are destroying the human rights of the Palestinian individual in the occupied territories to force the Palestinians out and to instil1 new erettlete in their territsriea. That pretext enables us to explain fsrael*s fnhuman practices aqainst the Palestinians in the occupied territories, and the Israeli strategy becomas clear with the wider pretext% it aixs at replacing the whole Palestinian people with Jeraish immigrants. &bat we ceuuot underatend is the double standards applied by the supporters of Israel in the field of humm rights. Mute than a hundred years have passed since the Zionist attack on Palestine toot plao5. The Palestinian people is still resisting occupation. If that long history means anything, it is that the state of war in the Middle East will continue until justice is restated , until the Palestinian people enjoys its inalienable national rights on the basis of international legitilracy, under the leadership of its sole repreaentative, the Palestine Liberation Orgsnization (PW. In hi5 rekeated interventions the-Israeli representative hes tried to question the fnportance of the trmtter cm the agenda ma the way in which the Security Council was convened. I: wish briefly to recall that thfs ia the !&cur ity Council of the United Nations; it is not another Securtity Council. Therefore, the Council does not receive instructions from Israel. It is oonveued acoording to rules governing its procedure. It is the mater of its own dscisions, and it W&IS convened aa a collective response to a request by a Msatber State. The agenda and the subject under discussian ccmcern not simply a begitimte right of the Msmbere of the United Nations but a duty of the Council. The blood of the Palestinians being shed by the occupaticm forcee is not cheaper than the blood of others. The Israeli occupation of Arab territories is a subject of which the Couucil has been seiaed since 1967, the date of the Saraeli aggreoslon. The Council has adopted many resolutions declaring the occupation null and void and confirming the applicability to the occupied Arab territories of the 1949 GeneWoS Csnvttltion relative to the Protection of Civilian PesBQna in Time af War. This is the Ccszncil that &&d&i that ieraei is 5s occupylug force. (Mr. Al-Shaali, United Arab Emiratea) The Israeli practices are among the items before the Cleneral AsselPbly, but, more iagortsut, the whole quoetion of Palestine is me oE the matters that have been before the United Nations since its inceptions and Israel ams its existence to this Organisation, whose resolutions it ia nou ignoring. AS for the oppressim from which the Palestinians are suffering in the land in which they took refuge, the Israeli representative knows very well that the basic injury inflicted ar the Palestinians is Israel% expelling them from their territories and depriving then of the right to eelf-deterainetion~ otherwiee, they would not have needed to go anywhere else. This Council is at a critical stager it either decides to shoulder its responsibilities undsr the Charter , or it shirks them end lets the outoolae of them problem be decided there, on the ground. I do not believe we are seized of a mysterious questian, one whose details are doubted. We either condone the tyrmt, or make it knatm to the viotilas that there is a conwience sepresented in this Counoil that cannot accept the cartinued injustice. I believe Ye are not asking for the ispoeeible if we say that those States that have been supputting Ierael rmjuatly mufat otrike a balance batween euch poliaies and their internaticnal responeibilitiee. The PfUBIDENT (interpretation from Russian) t I thank the representative of the United Arab Emirates for the kind words he addressed to me. The next speaker is the representative of the Palestine Liberation Orgsnization, cn whom I n4w call. Mr. ‘ITPi (Palestine Liberation Organization) 8 It seepIB I always have the sad duty of bringing ead news to the Council. mday, at noon Jerusalem time, after several thousand palestinians left the lvluslim shrine - it is Friday - of the Al-Aqsa Mosque they were confronted by hundreds of Israeli troops in riot gear? equipped with tear-gas equiment. There wae a confrontation) the troops used tear gas to break up the marchers. A ‘IS-year-old Palestinian, xhaled FIusni Seadeh, died as a result of that brutal Israeli behaviour. Al50 today, in the Ga8a area , Haysara Eatnigi, 20 years old, died of bullet wounds sustained when Israeli troops opened fire on der~onstretors as they were emerging fram their Priday noon prayers. Then, the victim was taken by his family lo be prepared fot burial. The Israeli acmy went to the gh8Jai.a acea demanding that the remaine be handed over to them. In Khan YUniS the SSraelis used helicopters to drop tear-gae cannisters and boFpbe 6x-b our people. Score8 of people were taken for treatmmt to lesser Baapita in ghan Yunis; hundreds ruShed to the hospital to offer blocd as and if needed. The ISraeli army then Declared the area around the hospital a military aQLeI ta prevent the people from offering blood for tranefusions should they be necSsSary. Three &ye ago, tUafee Yusef Rteifan, 14 years old, was wounded by SSraeli SrW bullets% last night he died, and only five muberm of his faaily were permitted to L&e iiia, iate ai night, and bury him. (Mr. Terzi, Palestine Liberation Organization) Many more people have been injured, some having been beaten with Israeli array rifle butts. In Reft Labia too the army opened Eire. An l8-year-old girl named Hannan el-Beik was rue&d to hoepita suffering Eros injuries received as a result of th@ brutality of the Israeli army. TXDday the fataeli army bulldozed through the Shifa Hospital in Gaza and arrested 40 Palestinians, seven of whom were being treated for wounds. kbdul Selam Shehad&, a 29-year-old from Breij refugee camp, died from bullets f ited into his head by the Israeli army today. While we sit here and indulge in debate, we see newspapers such as today’s Newsday, sharing a civilian, protected by the army, firing his Uzi Subuxhine gun into what the paper calls unseen Palestinian demonstrators on Wednesday. The CoPrPiseiarer-General of the united Rations Relief and works Agency for palestine Refugee8 is the West East (UWRWA) , Mr. Giorgio Giaoomell i - prompted, I think, by his human feelings - made a trip to see for himself what is going on there. I ah&d like tc quote frcm what he said about that trip: *I tharght it proper for md to see the Government of 1srae1 and to explain the Agency93 views an the situation. Our impression is that the unrest has hem dealt with in a way that may serve to create more turbulence rather than imprave security. There seems to have been a rather heavy-handed reactian in ecu+3 0aBea. . . . While I do not presunm to be able to advise the fucaeli autlmritieu3 m security nwamre8, I feel obliged to point out that what is happening is extremely dangerous. More end more Palestine refugees, especially ycung people, have lost all fear and are becoming involved in riolemt aanfrantatian.’ (Hr. Terzio Palestine Liberation Organization) Au UNEWA inforavltion bulletiu further reports that aamg the 21 Palestine refugees km to have been killed in violent incidents iu the occupied territories this3 year - 12 in the Gaza Strip and nine in the West Sank - two were 17-year-old schoolgirls and seven were youths aged between 11 and 19. Reports from UNRWA area staff indicate that wre than 200 refugees , mostly young pmple, have been set iou~ly wounded in these inc! dents. Ebra than 600 refugees have been arrested or detsined during the period. Yet we sit here arguing whether or not the Geneva Ccuvention is applicable; whether the name should be the land of Cauaan, or Judea and Samaria, or Palestine. We are dealing with an issue that involves human lives, an ieeue that has sham beycnd any doubt that the Palestinians uuder occupation, of whom we are proud, cannot and will not permit the perpetuation of occupation. But at the B(LPIB tim we feel it our duty here to secure for those Palestinians cawrete meamwea by the Security Council - naturally, as I said yesterday, with the advice and recomendaticm of the Secretary-General - to ensure the safety and security Of thofse refugees. We cannot sit and watch the occupied Palestinian territories becom an Auschwitz or a Da&au. We leave it to the conscience of the nretiere of the COuJrcil to reapund to this historic mumant. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Russian) t X shall new make a statement in my capacity a5 Permaueut Representative of the uhion of soviet Socialist Republics to the United Rations. More than 20 years have now passed since Israel’s occupation of the Acab territories, but despite its methods of terror and violence Tel Aviv has not been able to break the Palestinian people or its will to resist and to establish its own State; no: has it been able to destroy that people’s political vanguard, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (Pm), which defends and represents its legitimate interests. The Arab people of Palestine and the Palestine Liberation Organizatiou are objective realities , and it is impossible not to take them into acaouht. 1 snail not nay list all the crimes Israel is perpetrating in the occupied territories. They have been set forth in detail in statements trade here. 18raelgs CI%d5 ms5 violations of huasn rights in the occupied territories have been pointed out in many United Nations docuaents. They have been condemned in the General Assembly, in the report of the Special Cumittae ta Investigate P5raeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied TerKitOrieS and in the aourss of consideration of the question of Palestine, the situation in the Middle East and other items. The observations of the Seuretery-Oeneral in his recent report on the situatiar in the Middle East are fully justified. He states% “fsrael*s occupation of Arab territory for over 20 years has been and conttrues to be deeply resented by the inhabitants. The oooupation haa given rise to mob uurest and violehue, with tbe result that many innocent lives have been lo5t. It was in the wake of sudh unrest that the Security Council adopted resolution 592 (1986) on 8 Deceplber 1986. Since then there have been mere violent incidents, and ame lives have been lest. . . . the situatim will remain unstable as lmg as a aettleaent is not reached.* (A/42/714, para. 35) Uo references to the need to ensure its oun security through what Israel calls the struggle against terrorism and no loud declarations regarding the peaceful intentions of Tel Aviv can justify Israelis crude violaticm of the noms Of international law and the ‘United Nations Charter. Israel88 traupling underfoot of of the human rights and dignity of the populatim of the West Bank aud Gaza negatively affects the situation throughout the Middle East. As is emphasized in the report of the Committee co the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, 18rael*s policies and practices *have continued to pose ~bstaclas to the efforts twards a anmprehensiver just and lasting solution, and to exacerbate tsnsion and conflict in the atea, further endangering international peace and security”. (A/42/35, para. 51 Throughout the world there is grwing understanding that one’s owu security can be e-tared only by taking into account the security of other peoples and their aspiration to decide their destinies for theaselves. That is bsiug demmstcated by experience. In the cmwee of the meting at the highest level iu Wa8bington which ended a feu days ago, the General aoretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Patty oP the Soviet Union, Coma& brbachev, statedt .Pmple want to live in peace* with everyare assured of the right to life, freedom and happiness, and, of courser other huipan rights, for not a simgle developed society can live normally in a world where the welfare of the few is achieved3 thr*gs ,he ~erty 232 -d8--1-- -1 -AL--- Y”..OC r,Ly YL “YIWL I). S&Spie w&at km live in a demxnatic and free world, here all are equal, where each people has the right to ite am social choice without exterual hterfereuoe.’ Buch a world can be establiehed - we are profoundly convinoed of this - in the (The President) Middle East, but QI one absolute ccuditionr that each of its peoples understands that iaplekmkation of its cm rights is not tr, be achieved at the expense of the rights of others. ft is not by chance that here in the Security Council, as also in the General Assembly, wl.th few exceptions all who have spoken have emphasized the need to begin practical measures to iaplemnt United Nations decisions on the entire range of problelae of the Middle East and pointed cot that without a solution to the question of Palestine it will be iqumsibls to establish a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. There is increased understanding in the world that the achievement of mutually accsptable agreements m this key problem as well as ~1 other fundamental aspects of a Middle East settlsment are possible only within the cuntext of an intsrnaticnal conference with the pacticipaticm of all parties directly involved, including the Palestine Liberation Organizetion. The proposal to hold an internatiaml ccnferenae has again received the broadest support and approval. at the present session of the General Assembly. The establishment of such nrachinery would allar for unfficaticm of the efforts of all States in the achievement of an imadtate and just palitiecrl settlenkant and would give real impetus to the lsumhing of a movement tmmcds peace and make it possible to put an end to negative tendemciea in the region that are fraught with explosive danger. Effeative preparatim foiz such a conference with the participation of all parties irrvolved, including the Arab people of Palestine - whcse sole, legitilmste y&r-,*,(uo (p ,1?* vsrlu~l- 7 *k----L’-- ----*--... -- - -UUCu.w YIYCIL~~b~~ u~y6nroorron and the five permanent mabets Of the Security Council would promts the ~~n~~nt of a negotiating process to adrieve a settlement QI a just and lasting basis, as is demandea by the interests of all the States and peoples of the region and the interests of international peace and security. (xhe President) Xn our view, there naJ exist objective possibilities for ending the dangerous course of event5 in the Middle East. It is most imrtant in present conditions to begin practical movement in the direction of a canprehensive settlerpent, which mu5t provide for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all Arab territories occupied since 1967, the implementation by the Arab people of Paleatine of its inalienable national rights to selfdetermination aud the establishment of its cm independent Stal;ei it must also ensure the rights of all States of that reyion to a safe MB independent existence and development. In the hope that the Security Council will give an appropriate assessment to the illegal actions of Israel in the Gaze and on the West Bank and will take necessary steps in this connection, the Soviet Union once agaiu c5lls an all States to make their contribution to defusing the conflict situation in the Middle East. At the same time, we stite our readiness to co-operate with all those who truly aspire to implement a Middle East settlement QI a just and lasting bade, taking into accmmt the interests and rights of all States aud peoples of that region. I now resum 5rl functicm a8 President of the Gecurity Council. As amber6 are awace, intensive consultations have taken place today between the sponsors of the draft resolutia, and several mMmrs of the Council iu order to produce a text that would have the raaxisum broad supprt within the Council. I have been inform& that the cmeultaticns ~1 tbls matter have not yet been makpleted. In that connection, I have bean requested to suspend the meeting for we hour. If there are no &jectious, we shall prmeed accordingly. There being none, the xssting is SuspeuaeB. The meeting was suspended at 5.45 p.m. _a.d resumd at 7 p.m. The PRESIDENT (inteIzpretatior. from Russian)t I have been informd that further consul.tatfons are required among the co-sponsors of the draft resolutiou and melabers of the CounciL. Rence, with the consent of the Council, we shall defer a decision until the afternoon of Monday, 21 December. I propose that at 3.30 p.m. on Monday we hold informal consultations among members of the Council, for the pWpose of hearing the Secretary-General*8 telpout on the question of the implementation of the Security Council resolution adopted in connecticm with the camplaint of Angola. franrediately after those coneultations, we would tesum, in this Cha&er, consideration of the item on today’e agenda. There appear to be no objections to that progoaal. It is therefore so de?ided* The meeting mse at 7.05 P.m.