Letter dated 20 June 1985 from the Permanent Representative of Israel
to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
What distinguishes terrorists is that they systematically and deliberately attack innocent civilians. The indiscriminate murder of civilians is what has made the PLO the quintessential terrorist group of our time. Here for your information are recent PLO statements of the activities of its constituent groups:
|
31 March: |
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said that its units killed a Jewish civilian in the village of el-Birah; |
|
9 April: |
The PLO said that it used incendiary bombs to attack a "Zionist bus in Jenin"; |
|
22 April: |
The General Command of the Palestinian Revolution Forces, said that it launched forces "to carry out suicide operations in the heart of Tel Aviv"; |
|
28 April: |
The Baghdad Voice of the PLO said that "it used incendiary bombs to attack a Zionist vehicle on the Beersheba-Jerusalem road"; |
|
12 May: |
The Palestine Revolution Forces General Command said that it detonated three bombs in Israel, including one near the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem; |
|
27 May: |
The Palestinian Revolution Forces General Command said that it detonated a bomb in the city of Haifa; |
|
30 May: |
The Palestinian Revolution Forces General Command ssid that it set off a bomb in the city of Afula; |
|
14 June: |
The Baghdad Voice of the PLO said that the Palestinian-Lebanese Joint Forces fired Katusha missiles on villages in Upper Galilee; |
|
15 June: |
The Lebanese News Agency reported that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said that in early June it planted bombs in Gaza and Tulkarem, lobbed grenades in Nablus, and raked civilians' cars with automatic fire on the Gaza road; |
|
17 June: |
The PLO said that it planted bombs and launched hand-grenades in the refugee settlement of Dehaiysha, Al-Doar and Al-Maazzi, and lit off bombs in the Jerusalem suburb of Ramot and French Hill, as well as in Tel Aviv; |
|
19 June: |
The Baghdad Voice of the PLO said that the PLO detonated a bomb in the city of Ashkelon; and the Voice of Palestine from Saana said that the PLO detonated a bomb in the city of Qiryat Gat. |
The most of these attacks either failed or were never launched is irrelevant. What is significant is that the PLO boasts of murdering, bombing and rocketing innocents on buses, in cars, hospitals, villages and cities. When it comes to terrorists, the general rules is: look at what they do, not what they say. In the case of the PLO, however, a slight amendment is in order: what they say, in the Middle East at least, is an excellent guide to what, given half the chance, they would do and to what they really are.
I have the honour to request that this letter be circulated as an official document of the General Assembly, under items 38 and 130 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.
(Signed) Benjamin NETANYAHU
Ambassador
Permanent Representative
—–
_______________
*A/40/50/Rev.1.
Document Type: Letter
Document Sources: General Assembly, Security Council
Country: Israel
Subject: Agenda Item, Armed conflict, Incidents, Palestine question
Publication Date: 21/06/1985