Mideast situation/Dead-Med canal project – Letter from CEIRPP Acting Chairman

Letter dated 7 April 198l from the Acting Chairman of the Committee

 on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

addressed, to the Secretary-General

In my capacity as Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, I have the honour to bring to your attention reports published recently in the press which show, once again, that the Israeli Government is determined to pursue a policy which can only heighten the tensions in the Middle East.

The most recent of these reports concerns the Israeli Government's announced intention of building a canal across the Gaza Strip linking the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean.  This project, which is fraught with consequences for the future and the status of the Gaza Strip, constitutes a violation of United Nations resolutions and a flagrant challenge to world public opinion.  It should perhaps be added that this time Israel does not even claim, as it often has in the past, to be undertaking this project for reasons of security.

No less disturbing is the report that elections cannot be held in the West Bank, undoubtedly because the results would be unfavourable to Israel.

It is clear that Israel intends to pursue a policy of colonization based on outmoded concepts and in violation of international law and United Nations resolutions.  Israel's persistence in following such a policy can only stand in the way of a just and lasting solution of the problems of the Middle East and endanger international peace and security.  That is a source of grave concern to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which believes that measures should be taken as a matter of urgency to put an end to the illegal occupation of the Arab and Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem.

I should, be grateful if you would arrange for this letter to be circulated. as a document of the General Assembly, under item 31 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

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* A/36/50.

 81-09522