Question of Palestine – Communiqué by NAM Co-ordinating Bureau – Letter from Zimbabwe

Letter dated 28 October 1988 from the Permanent Representative

of Zimbabwe to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

I have the honor to forward the enclosed communique, issued on 26 October 1988 by the Co-ordinating Bureau of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries regarding the alarming situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, with the request that it be circulated as an official document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 37, 40 and 77, and of the Security Council.

ANNEX

Communiqué on the situation in the Palestinian territories

occupied by Israel issued on 26 October 1988 in New York

by the Co-ordinating Bureau of the Movement of Non-Aligned

Countries

The Co-ordinating Bureau of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries met in New York on 26 October 1988 in order to consider the alarming situation in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, including Jerusalem, resulting from the persistent "iron-fist" policies and practices of Israel against the Palestinian people.

The Co-ordinating Bureau condemned Israel, the occupying Power, for continuing its policies and practices, which violate the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. It condemned, in particular, the criminal practices of the occupation forces in the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank such as the killing of defenseless Palestinians, as well as the torturing, wounding, massive arrests and detention of youths; the beating and harassing of women and children; the deportations; the imposition of sieges; the acts of aggression against Holy Places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque; and the usurpation and destruction of homes.

The Bureau reiterated that the situation created in the occupied Palestinian territories by the acts of violence of the occupation forces posed a serious threat to international peace and security. It recalled Security Council resolutions 605 (1987), 607 and 608 (1988), which, inter alia, strongly deplored those policies and practices of Israel which violated the human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories. The Bureau demanded that Israel accept and carry out forthwith the decisions of the Security Council and abide immediately by the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

The Co-ordinating Bureau further reiterated the call by the Non-Aligned Movement upon the United Nations to urgently take effective measures with a view to enforcing the immediate and total withdrawal of Israeli troops and the termination of Israeli occupation of all Palestinian territories, as well as other Arab territories, including the city of Jerusalem, which have been occupied since 1967. The Bureau requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations to monitor the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and bring to the attention of the international community the continuing Israeli atrocities and acts of terrorism against the Palestinian people. It further called upon the Security Council to consider the report of the Secretary-General submitted in accordance with paragraph 6 of its resolution 605 (1987) (S/19443), with a view to implementing the recommendations contained therein. The Bureau also requested its Chairman to continue his consultations with the President of the General Assembly with a view to expediting consideration of the alarming situation in the occupied territories by the Assembly.

The Co-ordinating Bureau saluted the heroic uprising of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories, which represents a further step in their struggle against repression and tyranny. The Bureau reaffirmed the will of non-aligned States to continue to extend their full solidarity and support to the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, so as to enable them to pursue the struggle to end Israeli occupation and achieve their inalienable rights.

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