Middle East situation/Palestine question – Letter from Acting CEIRPP Chairman

Letter dated 22 January 1982 from the Acting Chairman of the

Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the

Palestinian People to the Secretary-General

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has already had many occasions in the past year to bring to the attention of the Secretary-General several instances of Israeli actions which carried serious implications for the economic, social and political well-being of the Palestinian people and which constituted grave violations of relevant United Nations resolutions, particularly General Assembly resolution 181 (II),as well as the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949.1/

I regret once more having to bring to your attention another grave action by the Israeli Government which has also been reported by The New York Times.

This time, Israel plans to clear all Palestinian Bedouins out of a great swath of the Negev Desert. Of the approximately 40,000 Bedouins, about 15,000 have been resettled in two large tracts of land near Beersheba. Another 6,000 are to be removed from an area where a new Israeli air base is planned and an additional 19,000 throughout the rest of the desert are to be resettled under the Government's plans.

The Committee is bound to express its gravest concern regarding the disastrous consequences that the Israeli actions will have on the life of the Palestinian Bedouins. It is vital to draw the attention of Israel to the dangers involved in these acts which will further exacerbate the tensions in the area.

I would be grateful if you would kindly have this letter circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under the item entitled "Question of Palestine", and of the Security Council.

________

1/   United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973, p. 287.

82-01457 (E) 0173h