| United Nations | A/RES/36/120 |
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
10 December 1981
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
A/RES/36/120
10 December 1981
Question of Palestine
A
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 3376 (XXX) of 10 November 1975, 31/20
of 24 November 1976, 32/40 A and B of 2 December 1977, 33/28 A to C
of 7 December 1978, 34/65 A and B of 29 November and 34/65 C and D
of 12 December 1979, ES-7/2 of 29 July 1980, and 35/169 A to E of 15
December 1980,
Having considered the report of the Committee on the Exercise
of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,
1. Expresses its appreciation to the Committee on the
Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for its
efforts in performing the tasks assigned to it by the General
Assembly;
2. Requests the Committee to keep the situation relating to
the question of Palestine under review and to report and make
suggestions to the General Assembly or the Security Council, as
appropriate;
3. Authorizes the Committee to continue to exert all
efforts to promote the implementation of its recommendations, to
send delegations or representatives to international conferences
where such representation would be considered by it to be
appropriate, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its
thirty-seventh session and thereafter;
4. Requests the United Nations Conciliation Commission for
Palestine, established under General Assembly resolution 194 (III)
of 11 December 1948, as well as other United Nations bodies
associated with the question of Palestine, to co-operate fully with
the Committee and to make available to it, at its request, the
relevant information and documentation which they have at their
disposal;
5. Decides to circulate the report of the Committee to all
the competent bodies of the United Nations and urges them to take
the necessary action, as appropriate, in accordance with the
Committee's programme of implementation;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide
the Committee with all the necessary facilities for the performance
of its tasks.
B
The General Assembly,
Having considered the report of the Committee on the Exercise
of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,
Noting, in particular, the information contained in paragraphs
39 to 48 of that report,
Recalling its resolutions 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, 33/28 C
of 7 December 1978, 34/65 D of 12 December 1979 and 35/169 D of 15
December 1980,
1. Notes with appreciation the action taken by the
Secretary-General in compliance with General Assembly resolution
35/169 D;
2. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the
Special Unit on Palestinian Rights continues to discharge the tasks
detailed in paragraph 1 of General Assembly resolution 32/40 B and
paragraph 2 (b) of resolution 34/65 D, in consultation with the
Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the
Palestinian People and under its guidance;
3. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special
Unit on Palestinian Rights with the necessary additional resources
to accomplish its tasks and to expand its work programme, inter alia
through:
(a) The organization, annually of a seminar in North America
in addition to the regional seminars;
(b) More widespread dissemination of its publications in all
the official languages;
(c) The translation of those publications into languages
other than the official languages of the United Nations;
4. Also requests the Secretary-General to take necessary
action on the redesignation of the Special Unit on Palestinian
Rights, as requested in paragraph 1 of resolution 34/65 D, in
keeping with the political importance of its work and its expanded
work programme;
5. Further requests the Secretary-General to ensure the
continued co-operation of the Department of Public Information and
other units of the Secretariat in enabling the Special Unit on
Palestinian Rights to perform its tasks, inter alia through the
production, in consultation with the Committee on the Exercise of
the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, of a film on
Palestinian rights and through the provision of copies of the
photographic exhibit on Palestinian rights installed at United
Nations Headquarters and of other visual material for use by the
Special Unit and United Nations information centres;
6. Invites all Governments and organizations to lend their
co-operation to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable
Rights of the Palestinian People and the Special Unit on Palestinian
Rights in the performance of their tasks;
7. Notes with appreciation the action taken by Member
States to observe annually on 29 November the International Day of
Solidarity with the Palestinian People and the issuance by them of
special postage stamps for the occasion.
C
The General Assembly,
Having considered the report of the Committee on the Exercise
of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, particularly resolutions
31/20 of 24 November 1976 and ES-7/2 of 29 July 1980,
Gravely concerned that no just solution to the problem of
Palestine has been achieved and that this problem therefore
continues to aggravate the Middle East conflict of which it is the
core, and to endanger international peace and security,
Convinced that wider international recognition of the facts
underlying the question of Palestine will lead to a just solution of
the problem,
Recognizing that a lasting peace in the Middle East requires a
just solution of the problem of Palestine through the attainment and
exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights,
Emphasizing the need for a comprehensive effort to seek
effective ways and means to enable the Palestinian people to attain
and to exercise these rights,
1. Decides to convene, under the auspices of the United
Nations, an International Conference on the Question of Palestine
not later than 1984, on the basis of General Assembly resolution
ES-7/2;
2. Authorizes the Committee on the Exercise of the
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to act as the
Preparatory Committee for the Conference and to take all the
necessary steps for its organization, to hold sessions particularly
for this purpose and to make recommendations regarding, inter alia,
the site, scheduling of and participation in the Conference, and the
provisional agenda of the Conference;
3. Invites all appropriate United Nations bodies,
specialized agencies and other intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations to co-operate with the Committee in
the implementation of the present resolution;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to appoint a
Secretary-General of the Conference and to provide all the necessary
assistance to the Committee in the organization of the Conference.
D
The General Assembly,
Having considered the report of the Committee on the Exercise
of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the
recommendations contained therein,
Having heard the statement of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people,
Expressing its extreme concern that no just solution to the
problem of Palestine has been achieved and that this problem
therefore continues to aggravate the Middle East conflict, of which
it is the core, and to endanger international peace and security,
Reaffirming that a just and comprehensive lasting peace in the
Middle East requires a just solution to the problem of Palestine
through the attainment by the Palestinian people of its inalienable
rights,
Resolutely emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition
of territory by force,
Recognizing the need to work for a comprehensive, just and
lasting peace in the Middle East,
Recalling and reaffirming its previous relevant resolutions,
particularly resolutions 181 (II) of 29 November 1947, 194 (III) of
11 December 1948, 3236 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974 and ES-7/2 of 29
July 1980,
1. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the Palestinians to
return to their homes and property in Palestine, from which they
have been displaced and uprooted, and calls for their early return;
2. Reaffirms also the inalienable rights in Palestine of
the Palestinian people, including:
(a) The right to self-determination without external
interference, and to national independence and sovereignty;
(b) The right to establish its own independent sovereign
State;
3. Reaffirms, in particular, that a comprehensive, just and
lasting peace in the Middle East cannot be established without the
withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied Palestinian and other
Arab territories, including Jerusalem, and without the achievement
of a just solution of the problem of Palestine on the basis of the
attainment by the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights in
Palestine in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and
the relevant resolutions of the United Nations;
4. Expresses its opposition to all policies and plans aimed
at the resettlement of the Palestinians outside their homeland;
5. Demands that Israel should withdraw completely and
unconditionally from all the Palestinian and other Arab territories
occupied since June 1967, including Jerusalem, with all property and
services intact;
6. Further demands that Israel should fully comply with all
the resolutions of the United Nations relevant to the historic
character of the Holy City of Jerusalem, in particular Security
Council resolutions 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980 and 478 (1980) of 20
August 1980, and rejects the enactment of a "basic law" by the
Israel Knesset proclaiming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel;
7. Demands that Israel should fully comply with the
provisions, in particular, of Security Council resolution 465 (1980)
adopted unanimously on 1 March 1980;
8. Reaffirms the basic principle that the future of the
Palestinian people can only be considered with its participation and
calls for the participation of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people in all
efforts, deliberations and conferences on the question of Palestine
and on the situation in the Middle East to be held under the
auspices of the United Nations, on an equal footing and on the basis
of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations;
9. Endorses the recommendations of the Committee on the
Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People
contained in paragraphs 49 to 53 of its report and draws the
attention of the Security Council to the fact that action on the
Committee's recommendations, as endorsed by General Assembly
resolution 31/20, is long overdue;
10. Requests the Security Council to convene in order to
consider the situation and the adoption of effective measures to
implement the recommendations of the Committee as endorsed by the
General Assembly in its resolution 31/20 of 24 November 1976;
11. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its
thirty-seventh session the item entitled "Question of Palestine".
E
The General Assembly,
Recalling and reaffirming its resolution 2253 (ES-V) of 4 July
1967, 2254 (ES-V) of 14 July 1967, 35/169 of 15 December 1980 and
36/15 of 28 October 1981,
Recalling the resolutions of the Security Council relevant to
the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, in
particular resolutions 252 (1968) of 21 May 1968, 267 (1969) of 3
July 1969, 271 (1969) of 15 September 1969, 298 (1971) of 25
September 1971, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June
1980 and 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980,
Reaffirming that the acquisition of territory by force is
inadmissible,
Bearing in mind the specific status of Jerusalem and, in
particular, the need for protection and preservation of the unique
spiritual and religious dimension of the Holy Places in the City,
Recalling the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,
Deploring the persistence of Israel in changing the physical
character, the demographic composition, the institutional structure
and the status of the Holy City of Jerusalem,
1. Determines once again that all legislative and
administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying
Power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and
status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and, in particular, the
so-called "Basic Law" on Jerusalem and the proclamation of Jerusalem
as the capital of Israel, are null and void and must be rescinded
forthwith;
2. Affirms that such actions constitute a serious
obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in
the Middle East and a threat to international peace and security;
3. Reaffirms its resolution not to recognize that "Basic
Law" and such other actions by Israel that, as a result of this law,
seek to alter the character and status of Jerusalem and calls upon
all States, specialized agencies and other international
organizations to comply with the present resolution and other
relevant resolutions and urges them not to conduct any business
which is not in conformity with the provisions of the present
resolution and the other relevant resolutions;
4. Demands that Israel should fully comply with all
resolutions of the United Nations relevant to the historic character
of the Holy City of Jerusalem, in particular Security Council
resolutions 476 (1980) and 478 (1980);
5. Requests the Secretary-General to report on the
implementation of those resolutions within six months.
F
The General Assembly,
Recalling and reaffirming its resolutions 34/65 A and B of 29
November and 34/65 C and D of 12 December 1979 and 35/169 B of 15
December 1980,
Taking note of paragraphs 26, 27 and 52 of the report of the
Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the
Palestinian People,
1. Strongly reaffirms its rejection of those provisions of
the accords which ignore, infringe, violate or deny the inalienable
rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return, the
right of self-determination and the right to national independence
and sovereignty in Palestine, in accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations and the principles of international law, and which
envisage and condone continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian
territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem;
2. Expresses its strong opposition to all partial
agreements and separate treaties which constitute a flagrant
violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, the principles of
the Charter and the resolutions adopted in the various international
forums on the Palestinian issue, as well as the principles of
international law, and declares that all agreements and separate
treaties have no validity in so far as they purport to determine the
future of the Palestinian people and of the Palestinian territories
occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem;
3. Declares that no State has the right to undertake any
actions, measures or negotiations that could affect the future of
the Palestinian people, its inalienable rights and the occupied
Palestinian territories without the participation of the Palestine
Liberation Organization on an equal footing, in accordance with the
relevant resolutions of the United Nations, rejects all such
actions, measures and negotiations, and considers all such actions,
measures and negotiations as a flagrant violation of the inalienable
rights of the Palestinian people;
4. Decides that all actions, measures and negotiations to
implement or execute such accords and agreements, or any part
thereof, are null and void in so far as they purport to determine
the future of the Palestinian people and of the Palestinian
territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem.