Situation in the OPT/Expulsion of the Mayor of Jerusalem – Letter from Jordan

LETTER DATED 7 MARCH 1968 FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF

JORDAN TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

Upon instructions from my Government, I have the honour to draw Your Excellency's attention to a most serious Israeli violation of the Security Council resolutions.

On 7 March 1968, Mr. Rouhi Al-Khateeb, Mayor of Jerusalem, was arbitrarily deported by the Israeli authorities.  Mr. Al-Khateeb was forced by the Israeli forces to cross King Hussein Bridge to the East Bank of Jordan.

The Jordanian delegation had brought, on several occasions, to the attention of the Members of the General Assembly and the Security Council other acts of expulsion and dislodging of Jordanian dignitaries and citizens by the Israeli authorities.  The latest of these was the deportation of Mr. Anton Attalah, former Minister of Foreign Affairs (document A/7044 of 24 January 1968).

It should be recalled in this context that Mr. Al-Khateeb was one of the leaders who signed the memorandum circulated at my request in documents A/6782 and S/8109 of 3 August 1967, in which the leaders declared their rejection of the annexation of Jerusalem and their adherence to Jordanian unity; and the memorandum circulated in documents A/7058 and S/8433 of 29 February 1968, in which Mr. Al-Khateeb and the dignitaries of Jerusalem protested in the strongest terms the recent measures taken by the Israeli authorities to expropriate 838 acres of Arab land adjacent to the Old City of Jerusalem for building dwelling houses to settle large numbers of Jewish immigrants.

This act of lawlessness constitutes a flagrant violation of Security Council resolution 237 (1967), which calls for ensuring the safety, welfare and security of all the inhabitants of the West Bank of the Jordan, now under Israeli occupation.

It must be abundantly clear by now that the Israeli behaviour is designed to break the will of the people and deprive them of their leaders in order to implement their sinister plan for changing the national character of the City of Jerusalem and the occupied territories.

I shall be grateful if this letter is circulated as an official document of the General Assembly and the Security Council.

(Signed) Muhammad H. EL-FARRA

 Ambassador

Permanent Representative

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* Also issued under the symbol A/7065.