CEIRPP – GDR statement

Statement made by the representative of the German Democratic Republic at the first meeting of the Committee on 26 February 1976*

The mandate entrusted to our Committee pursuant to resolution 3376 (XXX) is to recommend a programme of implementation designed to enable the Palestinian people to exercise the rights recognized in paragraphs 1 and 2 of General Assembly resolution 3236 (XXIX) and, as has already been stated, to submit a report and recommendations to the Secretary-General to enable him to transmit the report to the Security Council.

The importance of the implementation of the inalienable rights of the Arab people of Palestine, as laid down in resolution 3236 (XXIX), for a just political settlement of the Middle East conflict has been emphasized both at the twenty-ninth and at the thirtieth session of the General Assembly. The debate which took place in the Security Council in January this year has proved that the Palestine issue is the central issue for solving the conflict. Hence, without the implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestine people, including its right to a State of its own, a political settlement of the Middle East conflict is impossible, just as, without a political settlement of this conflict, the implementation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people is inconceivable.  In a number of resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly the overwhelming majority of Member States, proceeding from the purposes and principles of the world Organization, has reaffirmed those rights.

Resolution 3236 (XXIX) , adopted on 22 November 1972, which, according to our mandate, is the basic document for the activities of our Committee, emphasizes such inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as the right to self-determination without external interference and the right to national independence and sovereignty. Resolution 3236 (XXIX) also reaffirms the right of the Palestinians to return to their homes and their property from which they have been displaced and uprooted, and the same resolution obliges our Committee pay due attention, in particular, to this right.

The resolutions debated and adopted with regard to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people clearly show the tragedy which the Palestinian people is suffering because of the continued Israeli aggression.  They also make clear that it is necessary fully to apply the provisions of the United Nations Charter the implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and for achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

In this connexion, I should like to draw the Committee's attention to the repeatedly mentioned and interesting idea of establishing a time-table for the implementation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

It is no secret to anybody present here that the settlement of the Middle East conflict is a very complex task that is composed of various element; Thus, the settlement of this conflict cannot be achieved without Israel's withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied in 1967. I refer, in this context to the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and of the General Assembly. especially those resolutions that have contributed essentially to making clear the complexity of the Middle East conflict.

Nobody who is interested in a just and lasting settlement of the Middle East conflict can avoid considering the question of Palestine as a question of national self-determination today. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) a. legitimate representative of the Arab people of Palestine is recognized throughout the world. To question this fact would mean to negate the necessity of obtaining a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. One of the conditions for this is the equal participation of the PLO from the beginning in the Geneva Conference on the Middle East, a Conference which is an instrument established for the complex discussion and settlement of the Middle East conflict, and therefore the implementation of the national rights of the Palestinian people.

It seems to me that our Committee should do its utmost to reaffirm emphatically the legitimacy of the rights of the Palestinian people and to mobilize international public opinion for the implementation of those rights to which all peoples are entitled in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. There are, in the view of my delegation, various possibilities, such as, for instance, the organization of hearings and perhaps seminars and other arrangements which could be implemented within the framework of the work of our Committee.

In my opinion, our Committee will have to confront the fact that the governing circles of Israel still reject the implementation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and oppose a just and peaceful settlement in the Middle East. As everybody knows, the Israeli Government still ignores the numerous resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Security Council concerning the relaxation of tensions in the Middle East and the political settlement of the Conflict.

Do those governing circles not yet understand that a policy based on a Zionist concept of aggression and a false estimate of the international balance of force is doomed to failure?

The attitude of the German Democratic Republic towards the Middle East conflict is well known. The long-standing and growing alliance with the Arab people of Palestine and its only legitimate representative, the PLO, is an integral part of our policy. We think, therefore, that it would be appropriate if this Committee, on the basis of its mandate and in accordance with resolution 3375 (XXX) of the General Assembly, invited the PLO to participate in its proceedings. I am convinced that an explanation of the views of the PLO with regard to the work of this Committee would be very helpful to it in fulfilling its mandate.

The task of this Committee is a very responsible one. The mandate obliges us to give a report not later than 1 June, and we believe that there has already been some delay, and it seems to us that we should start concrete work as soon as possible

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