Attack on worshippers/Jerusalem – SecCo debate – Verbatim record

SECURITY COUNCIL

Official Records

THIRTY-SEVENTH YEAR

2352nd MEETING:  13 APRIL 1982

NEW YORK

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CONTENTS

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2352nd MEETING

Held in New York on Tuesday, 13 Apri11982, at 3.30 p.m.

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President: Mr. KAMANDA wa KAMANDA

(Zaire).

Present: The representatives of the  following States: China, France, Guyana, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Panama, Poland, Spain, Togo, Uganda, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Zaire.

Provisional agenda (S/Agenda/2352)

1. Adoption of the agenda

2. The situation in the occupied Arab territories:

Letter dated 12 April 1982 from the Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/14967);

Letter dated 13 April 1982 from the Chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/14969)

The meeting was called to order at 5.15 p.m.

Adoption of the Agenda

The agenda was adopted.

The situation in the occupied Arab territories:

Letter dated 12 April 1982 from the Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/14967);

Letter dated 13 April 1982 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/14969)

1. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French):  I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received from the representatives of Iraq, Israel, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey letters in which they request to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite those representatives to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure.

At the invitation of the President, Mr. Blum (Israel) and Mr. Mrani Zentar (Morocco) took places at the Council table; Mr. Mohammad (Iraq), Mr. Naik (Pakistan), Mr. Allagany (Saudi Arabia) and Mr. Kirça (Turkey) took the place reserved from them at the side of the Council chamber.

2. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French):  I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received from the representative of Jordan a letter dated 13 April [S/14970] which reads as follows:

"I have the honour to request the Security Council to extend an invitation to the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in the consideration of the item entitled 'The situation in the occupied Arab territories' , in accordance with the Council's usual practice."

3. The proposal of the representative of Jordan is not made pursuant to rule 37 or rule 39 of the provisional rules of procedure, but, if approved by the Council, the invitation to participate in the debate would confer on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) the same rights of participation as those conferred on a Member State pursuant to rule 37.  Does any member of the Council wish to speak on this proposal?

4. Mr. LICHENSTEIN (United States of America):  The United States delegation has on many occasions explained the reasons why we oppose the special procedure that appears to give the PLO the same rights of participation in the proceedings of the Council as if it represented a State. The PLO is not a State; it is a political movement which presents its claims in the name of a collectivity whose members live under various political jurisdictions. No formula justifies this departure from the rules of procedure. The formula proposed seems to us to seek without basis to enhance the prestige, and indeed to falsify the status, of those to whom it is directed.

5. We have always stressed–and I stress today that we have no objection to the Council's hearing the PLO representatives. Indeed, we have no objection to the Council's hearing the representatives of any political group with a stake in questions discussed here. But we consider that this can be accomplished legally only on the traditional basis of rule 39, which empowers the Council to grant hearings to persons speaking on behalf of non-governmental entities.

6. Accordingly, we ask that the terms of this proposed invitation be put to the vote. The United States will vote "no".

7. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French):  If no other member of the Council wishes to speak, I shall take it that the Council is ready to vote on the proposal of Jordan.

A vote was taken by show of hands.

In favour: China, Guyana, Ireland, Jordan, Panama, Poland, Spain, Togo, Uganda, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Zaire

Against: United States of America

Abstaining: France, Japan, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The proposal was adopted by 11 votes to 1, with 3 abstentions .

At the invitation of the President Mr. Abdel Rahman (Palestine Liberation Organization) took the place reserved for him at the side of the Council chamber.

8. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French):  I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received from the representative of Jordan a letter dated 13 April [S/14971], which reads as follows:

"I have the honour of requesting the Security Council to invite Mr. Clovis Maksoud, Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States, to participate in the consideration of the item entitled 'The situation in the occupied Arab territories', in accordance with rule 39 of the provisional rules of procedure."

9. If I hear no objection, I shall take it that the Council decides to accede to this request.

It was so decided.

10. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French):  The Council is meeting today in response to the request contained in the letter dated 12 April addressed to the President of the Council by the representative of Morocco [S/14967] and the letter dated 13 April addressed to the President of the Council by the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Iraq [S/14969].

11. The first speaker is the representative of Morocco, on whom I now call.

12. Mr. MRANI ZENTAR (Morocco) (interpretation from French): Mr. President, permit me first to convey to you and the honourable members of the Council my thanks for having acceded to the request by His Majesty King Hassan II, who, in his capacity as Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, wished the Council to hold an urgent meeting to consider the grave events which are now taking place in the Holy City of Jerusalem under Israeli military occupation.

13. I should also like to tell you how pleased my country is to see you presiding over this discussion, because of your qualities as a skilled diplomat, whose contribution is greatly sought after and highly appreciated in the most delicate situations at the United Nations: but, in addition, my country is proud to have close and fraternal relations with Zaire–a mutually fruitful co-operation in domains which, for your country as well as for mine, are of major importance, especially as regards safeguarding peace and stability in Africa and defending and strengthening the values of the unity and harmony of our continent.

14. I also wish to take this opportunity to pay a tribute to Mrs. Jeane Kirkpatrick, who last month, on behalf of the United States, was a brilliant President of the Council at a time when this body was considering, as is also the case today, situations that are so troubling and that present such a danger to international peace and security.

15. Having paid my respects to you, Mr. President, and to the members of the Council, I should like to inform the Council that, given the gravity of the events which have taken place and which continue to take place in the Holy City of Jerusalem, His Majesty Hassan II, King of Morocco and Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, has vested in me the great honour of reading out the message which His Majesty has addressed to the honourable members of the Council and, through you and the members of the Council, to the whole of the international community. The royal message reads as follows:

"Mr. President, if we have taken the initiative, as the head of a Muslim State Member of the United Nations, of asking for the Security Council to be convened, our request is also justified by the fact that we are Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee of the Islamic Conference. The letter which all representatives of States participating in that Conference have addressed to you in support of our action [S/14969], while expressing the support of the Muslim world as a whole, bears witness to the depths of its emotion at the very serious events that occurred in Jerusalem on 11 April.

"Once again, a bloody and sacrilegious action has rendered more dangerous a situation that already endangered international peace. The facts are well known.

"An Israeli soldier in uniform burst into the square in front of the Al-Aqsa Mosque-the venerated Mosque of Omar, which is among the most venerated Holy Places of Islam-and, using a rifle, opened fire on a crowd of Muslim worshippers.

"The international press has noted that the witnesses agree in stating that he was aiming at those worshippers. At that time, two men died from the bullets of this murderer–a 60-year-old man, guardian of the Mosque of Omar , and a young man 20 years of age. The murderer, who took refuge in one of the mosques, continued his profane and barbarous actions, wounding 22 people, several of whom remain in very serious condition.

"The responsibility Israel bears cannot be disputed. It cannot maintain, in order to attempt to free itself from that responsibility, that the perpetrator of those crimes was acting on his own initiative.  Even supposing that that were established, Israel would not be the less guilty for not having been able to prevent, or wanting to prevent, such criminal acts.

"Indeed, the international press on this occasion has noted the extreme passivity, not to speak of collusion, manifested by the Israeli Government in Jerusalem in regard to various Zionist terrorist movements. These actions, following a whole series of hostile acts committed against the Holy Places of Islam in Jerusalem and against the worshippers who crowd there, recall those which in 1969 were marked by the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

"That indescribable act aroused the indignation of all Muslims throughout the world and led to the establishment of the Islamic Conference. whose first meeting was held in Rabat in September 1969 and brought together all the Islamic heads of State.  The Conference set up a committee whose task it is to protect the presence of Islam in Jerusalem:

the Al-Quds Committee, of which I became Chairman in 1979. I was confirmed in that post at the Taif summit in 1981.

"That grouping of Islamic countries vis-à-vis Jerusalem can be explained on the basis of the violation of international law to which that city has been subjected since the Israeli occupation on 7 June 1967. That act is dealt with in relevant Security Council resolutions concerning the illegality of the occupation of the territories acquired in the war launched by Israel: moreover, it was specifically condemned as an assault upon a city venerated by three revealed religions, a city whose status can be determined only through negotiation and not through a fait accompli.

"The situation thus created by Israel in Jerusalem can only lead to further tension, and especially because of the aggression against Muslims that it makes possible, it gives them the feeling of being the victims of discrimination, an insult to their faith.  Israel's contempt for the peaceful religious coexistence that Jerusalem had enjoyed throughout a long history was manifested once again, inadmissibly, in the Knesset vote of 30 July 1980, which ventured to claim Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel.  That vote violated measures of the United Nations, especially resolution 476 ( 1980), whose purpose was to preserve the status and character of the Holy Places.

"We wish on our own behalf and on behalf of 41 Islamic nations solemnly to protest against an attempt that has but plunged Israel further into international illegality and provocation. This new kind of fait accompli has never been recognized by the international community. If we refer to the reactions of Governments, we can see that they consider it unacceptable for the status of Jerusalem to be the object of unilateral action.

"That was the reaction of the Federal Republic of Germany, which viewed it as an act contrary to international law and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations; and of France, which saw it as a decision that was one of a series of measures aimed at once again calling into doubt the status of Jerusalem. This opinion was shared by the spokesman of the United States Department of State, who stated that the United States considered unilateral acts aimed at changing the status of Jerusalem outside the framework of a negotiated regime to be without any effect.

"Let us recall that the Netherlands and 12 Latin American States having embassies in Jerusalem decided to indicate their disapproval of the Israeli designs by immediately transferring those embassies to Tel Aviv.

"Finally, through the United Nations the various reactions of States were consecrated by the organized international community. On 31 July the Secretary-General made it known that any measure intended to change the status of Jerusalem had no legal validity and on 20 August the Council condemned the Israeli measure by 14 affirmative votes to one abstention [resolution 478 (1980)].

"The unilateral action taken by Israel is fraught with political consequences: it also seriously affects the peaceful coexistence of cultures. No one can be surprised that at its General Conference held in Belgrade in October 1980, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization adopted a resolution condemning Israel for its decision to take over Jerusalem.

"That non-recognition on the part of the international community is based on law and justice, but also on reason. Indeed, the fait accompli created in Jerusalem by Israel in violation of the law of nations is being consolidated by bloody acts that are in themselves flagrant violations of the fourth Geneva Convention¹ on the protection of civilian persons, and it fundamentally affects the specific nature of Jerusalem as the Holy City in which the three monotheistic religions coexist.

"How could anyone not see that the criminal acts of the Zionists violate the interests of the faithful of those religions? Only tolerance and mutual respect among men of faith and goodwill, not new religious wars, will enable Jerusalem once again to regain its truly holy significance.

"That it why, with an insistence that will not cease, we call for condemnation of the state of intolerance and violence that is disfiguring and desecrating a holy city and steeping it in blood.  We ask that the file on Jerusalem be reopened.

"For its part, Islam will never abandon one of the basic principles of its holy book, the Koran, which I shall now quote:

" 'Act in the best way possible until your enemy considers you his friend.' "

16. Mr. NUSEIBEH (Jordan): Mr. President, a mere two weeks ago the Security Council convened [2344th meeting] in emergency session, under your wise guidance, to consider the sinister and provocative Israeli occupation acts of dismantling the structures and functions of duly elected municipal institutions in the occupied Palestinian and Arab lands. They carried out those bestial acts at the point of a gun in a wilful and self-deceptive attempt to break the will of our heroic people and complete the incorporation of their ancestral homeland. With bare hands and chests, the Palestinian people fought it out with the occupation's heavily armed troops and proved to them that brute force, terrorism and lawlessness can never break the indomitable spirit of a proud people struggling for survival and freedom from the yoke of foreign invaders, whatever the cost in lives, injury and suffering.

17. On Sunday, 11 April, at 9.20 a.m., a gang of armed Israeli troops directed heavy fire from various directions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first Kiblah in Islam and the third holiest shrine, and the magnificent Dome of the Rock from which the Prophet Muhammad–upon whom be peace–made his noctural and spiritual ascension to heaven. This great monument had been painstakingly constructed by artisans to the glory of God over many, many centuries, 14 in all.

18. That Israeli carnage was carried out to give cover to an Israeli soldier–or is he an American? He is in fact both–by the name of Alan Harry Goodman, who was on a murderous journey of death and desecration.  He killed in cold blood a 65-year-old unarmed Arab guard at the Bab al-Magharibah–Moroccan Gate–evidently unchallenged by the armed Israeli trooper who sits there. He murdered in cold blood two other unarmed guardians and seriously wounded a third at the entrance to the Dome of the Rock Mosque; and, having forced his entry into the Dome of the Rock, opened up his fire-arms at the worshippers in every direction, for a duration of half an hour. Eyewitnesses at the scene reported that he had a large stock of ammunition on his shoulders, to murder the maximum number of devout worshippers and civilians in the vicinity. Having murdered 9 and wounded 40 others in the Mosque, this Israeli-American criminal directed his fire at the Al-Manbar–pulpit–the chandeliers, the mosaic, the marble and the carpets, some of which caught fire. The casualties in that premeditated and well-planned assault totalled at least 100 inside and outside the holy mosque.

19. Fearful that the highly provoked victims would capture that gutter terrorist, his accomplices–the Israeli so-called anti-riot troops–imposed a total curfew on that historic and ancient city, demolished a part of one of the walls of the holy sanctuary, stormed the Dome of the Rock and ensured the safety of the criminal by firing at the crowd, and then whisked him away to safety in a closed military van.

20. Those are but highlights reported truthfully and without the manipulations and censorship which have attempted, in vain, to belittle the "Easter Sunday massacre" at one of Islam's holiest sites and one of humanity's great legacies by the very same people who owe their very existence to massive acts of terror and destruction, as well as terrorism against the people of Palestine as far back as the mid-1940s–acts which are too numerous to enumerate.

21. I should like now to draw the Council's attention to the real objectives of the Easter Sunday massacre–for the Palestinian people have never been sparing in shedding their blood in defence of their national homeland, their deep religious beliefs and their millenia-old glorious legacy.

22. The Israeli racist, exclusive and blood-thirsty ends and objectives are the following.

23. The first is to complete the incarceration, strangulation and expulsion of the lawful Palestinian owners of Palestine. They succeeded substantially–and, I am certain, only temporarily–in achieving this objective in 1947 and 1948 by unlawfully seizing four fifths of Palestine and expelling the majority of the inhabitants by abominable terror and massacres in defiance of the relevant United Nations resolutions. And now, having seized and colonized 40 per cent of the tiny West Bank, including Holy Jerusalem, a mere 5,500 square kilometres, and having armed to the teeth the illegal settlers and confiscated Palestinian lands, the Zionist aggressors of all shades of opinion evidently have decided that the time has come to expel the rest.

As I stated in the course of a previous debate on the situation in the occupied Arab territories, the countdown in this final process of liquidation has begun.  The Easter Sunday massacre is but one manifestation of this series of acts of cannibalization.

24. Secondly, there is a determination by a racist Zionist entity and ideology to tolerate no faith or existence other than its own implanted one. They are determined to destroy every Islamic vestige or legacy in the Holy Land, the eternal symbol of which is the holy sanctuary comprising Al-Aqsa Mosque and the noble Dome of the Rock. On their list of targets, of course, are Christian holy sites which they have frequently vandalized during the occupation. Indeed, since 1948 threatening letters have been addressed to Palestinian leaders of the Christian faith. Even an ambulance donated to Bethlehem University, started by His Holiness the Pope through a German church organization, was recently barred.

25. A State Department spokesman has described the abominable crime against the Islamic Holy Places and God-fearing worshippers as an act of a "lone, deranged individual", oblivious of the fact that there are documents available which prove beyond any shadow of doubt that the heinous crime was carried out after a series of threats addressed, over the past several weeks, to His Eminence Sheikh Saddruddin Al-Alami, President of the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem. The threats and warnings bore the signatures of the leaders of the Gush Emunim terrorist gang, the so-called trustees of the Temple Mount and Rabbi Meir Kahane's terrorist gang, whose exploits in New York itself are well known and which advocates the total forcible expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homeland and the destruction of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. I am sure that some of my colleagues must have read Rabbi Meir Kahane's book, which was recently published, advocating this expulsion. His Eminence Sheikh Saddruddin Al-Alami had notified the occupation authorities of the dangers posed to these Holy Places and had requested the withdrawal of the Israeli guards inside the Holy Sanctuary and the intensification of measures to safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of these Holy Places. His requests–attached to which were the threats–fell on deaf ears, went unheeded, because of the undoubted collusion between these terrorist gangs and their godfather, Begin, and his henchmen. They are the supporters who tip the scales in the maintenance of his Cabinet.

26. Indeed, as may be seen in the verbatim record of a Security Council meeting held as recently as 1 April, I found it imperative to read out the text of the threats addressed to the Director of the Islamic Foundation and the Director-General of Religious Instruction and Guidance [ibid., para. 13], in which the aforementioned terrorist organizations had threatened to blow up the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the surrounding area, with the attendant substantial number of Arab dead and wounded. I stated then that Council members might think that this was just another one of those threats emanating from terrorist organizations, but that we know full well how blurred is the line between so-called unofficial terrorist organizations and the Government [ibid., para. 11].

We have had a long experience in this field. I concluded, right here in the Council, by expressing the hope that the President, on behalf of the Council, would issue a statement warning that the international community and the Security Council would not, in any circumstances, stand idly by and accept such a heinous crime [ibid., para. 17).

27. Indeed, a photostat of one of those threats has been printed in our press, copies of which, though unclear and in Arabic, I put at the disposal of Council members. I shall make arrangements for the translation. The Israeli occupation authorities were furnished with the originals.

28. Having in mind that this criminal murdered in cold blood many innocent people and wounded many more others, and knowing the background of this bestial act, the Council would agree with me that it was highly inappropriate to exonerate the criminal while deploring the act–as the State Department spokesman did when, in effect, he absolved the criminal as lone and deranged. This is prejudging an issue which is sub judice, if not a cover-up, to say the least.  The Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem, which has called a seven-day general strike throughout the occupied territories, denounced a statement issued Sunday by the office of Prime Minister Menachem Begin which described the Israeli soldier as mentally ill.  The criminal, Alan Harry Goodman, formerly of Baltimore, was inducted into the army last month for the brief service customary for immigrants. Of course, he has a dual nationality.

29. The Islamic Council said it was absurd of the Prime Minister's office to describe the assailant as deranged, because soldiers were supposed to undergo, physical examinations. Moreover, the Islamic Council added, the assailant was not alone. It asserted that he had been covered during his attack by fire from many directions. How else could he have continued his shooting spree within the Dome of the Rock for half an hour until he had expended all his bullets?

30. The Zionist designs against the Islamic Holy Sanctuary are long and infamous. A chronological survey of these activities includes the following.

31. First, continuous and sustained deep digging under the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Sanctuary as a whole–structures which are 14 centuries old–began immediately after the Zionist occupation of the Holy City, in addition to the demolition of hundreds of buildings in the area adjacent to it. These deep diggings have reached such depths that entire structures are threatened with collapse. The diggings are still continuing.

32. Secondly, on 21 August 1969 the Zionists carried out a plot of arson to set the entire Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire. The fire resulted in the total destruction of an 800-year-old magnificent Salahaddin pulpit, handmade over seven years by highly-skilled artisans in Aleppo, and other sizeable sections of the Mosque. The arsonist, Michael Rohan, an Israeli Australian, was declared deranged–not unlike the person in question today–and sent to Australia.

33. Thirdly, on 9 May 1980, 120 kilos of high explosives, scores of bombs, wires and other explosive contraptions were accidentally discovered a mere few minutes away from the time of detonation on the roof of a Jewish school in the Old City, 150 yards away from the target. The Gush Emunim terrorist movement was behind the plan, which aimed at blowing up the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other historical buildings. The day was a Friday and tens of thousands of worshippers might have been killed or maimed if that arsenal of explosives had not been accidentally discovered two minutes before the explosion,

34. Fourthly, repeated attempts have been made by Israeli groups to force their way into the mosques of the Holy Sanctuary, leading to numerous clashes.

35. Fifthly, last year the Israeli Gush Emunim started digging a tunnel leading to the Dome of the Rock. The attempt was discovered and foiled by the civilian inhabitants.

36. Sixthly, last Thursday, 7 April–that is, three days before the Easter Sunday massacre–explosive charges placed by the same Israeli terrorist gangs were discovered at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and dismantled. Beside the charges were pamphlets threatening to blow up the Al-Aqsa Mosque and physically liquidate the religious dignitaries. The threats were written in broken Arabic and issued from the Kiryat Arba illegal settlement overlooking the city of Al-Khalil (Hebron).

37. More revealing about the character and orientation of the culprits are a few sentences of an article dated 11 April from Jerusalem, reporting on the events, an article by correspondent David Shipler, which appeared in The New York Times of 12 April. He said, referring to the Israeli troops, that

"Just before going, one of them, with a laugh, threw a tear gas grenade near the [Al-Aqsa] mosque, upwind of the main door. Smoke from the perfectly placed cannister blew into the mosque, and worshippers came out coughing and wiping their eyes. One elderly man was carried to an ambulance.  A few of the troops walked away laughing."

38. If the spot is as sacred to those troops as they claim it is, it is truly incongruous that the soldiers could have behaved with that bellicose and nauseating meanness which truly reveals what lies deep in their sick hearts. It is not a lone deranged soldier: it is a deranged society, the more dangerous as it is being armed to the teeth by its strategic ally and mainstay, the United States.

39. But, as in all encounters throughout history, the spirit is always more formidable than the machine, for the machine is but an invention of the spirit and of man. The attempt to deprive 1 billion Muslims, close to a quarter of humanity, of one of their most cherished spiritual anchors will not remain unanswered. The Israeli chauvinists and Fascists will belatedly discover that assured fact.

40. His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan, in response to a call from His Majesty King Khalid Ibn Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, has directed the Government of Jordan to declare tomorrow, Wednesday, a day of solemn protest throughout the Islamic world. All work will be suspended throughout the public and private sectors in solidarity with the struggling Palestinian people and the sanctity of the Holy Places. This is a step which will no doubt be followed by many others, until all Israeli occupation forces have been withdrawn from all the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories–foremost among which is holy Jerusalem–and the full rights of the Palestinian people have been fully restored. That is the only way by which the historical serenity, the magnificence and the eternal, universal message of holy Jerusalem can be restored and assured.

41. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French): The next speaker is the representative of Israel, on whom I now call.

42. Mr. BLUM (Israel): A tragedy occurred in Jerusalem last Sunday. A man who may well be mentally deranged committed an act of lunacy. The crime was promptly and vigorously condemned by the Government of Israel, by the two Chief Rabbis of our country and by the Mayor of Jerusalem. The people of Israel and the Jewish people around the world share the sense of revulsion at this despicable act. The perpetrator has been apprehended and will have to account for his deeds before a court of law.

43. Today we have been summoned here at the whim of certain countries which seek to exploit in the most cynical manner the misdeeds of one particular individual, acting on his own, in order to fan the flames of religious hatred and incitement. There is a danger–nay, indeed, a certainty–that this debate is intended to be exploited with a view to playing upon religious sentiments of millions around the world. Let me appeal to the Council not to permit the voice of intolerance and prejudice to prevail here. What we are confronted with here is not merely intolerance and prejudice, but also bigotry, bigotry of the highest degree.

44. We did not hear about the sanctimonious concern of Arab representatives when fire was opened by a Turkish fanatic against Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square on 13 May 1981: no Security Council meeting was then requested, and rightly so. Nor were international peace and security deemed threatened when hundreds of Muslim zealots stormed into the holy shrine of Makkah in a premeditated and well-planned attack on 20 November 1979. It took more than a month to flush out the rebels from that mosque, after 244 attackers were killed, hundreds wounded and 64 heads forfeited to the Saudi executioners. The initiators of this debate did not come to the Council then, nor did they raise their customary hue and cry in their own councils. They knew perfectly well that long drawn-out discussions would only inflame the spirits and create dangers for the Saudi custodians of the holy shrine of Makkah.

45. The reason why we are being assembled here today is precisely to boost the incitement, the violence and the religious tensions being set into motion elsewhere. This is the method that Arab leaders have chosen to distract attention from their own problems–the dreary and cruel oppression of their own peoples, the wanton razing of their own ancient cities and mosques in Syria and in Lebanon and the attempts to blot out the rankling memory of the destruction by Jordan of Jewish synagogues and cemeteries in Jerusalem.

46. The countries that are behind the hasty convening of the Council today are of course the very same countries that over the years have not only encouraged acts of terrorism against Israel, but also lent their support–military, financial, diplomatic and other–to a terrorist organization bent on the destruction of my country and on the deliberate and indiscriminate murder of men, women and children in Israel and elsewhere. We have never heard from them a word of condemnation of PLO banditry. What we have heard over the years has been their rejoicing at the wanton killings of Israelis and Jews by PLO terrorists.  These countries that bear such a heavy responsibility for the scourge of international terrorism in general, and for PLO terrorism in particular, have the audacity to pose here today as the champions of law and order in international relations. No doubt we shall hear soon from the representative of Syria, who only a couple of weeks ago treated the Council to the startling concept of sacrificing 40 million Arabs in order to achieve the noble goal of destroying a Member State of the United Nations. We shall also be subjected in all likelihood to the customary high-sounding sanctimonious nonsense of Mr. Maksoud. And we have already been subjected to the display of supreme arrogance, hypocrisy and mendacity by the representative of the Kingdom of Jordan, which is the Palestinian Arab State and which over the period of 19 years of Jordanian control of Jerusalem's Holy Places established for itself a dismal record of sacrilege and desecration. When one listens to Mr. Nuseibeh, one frequently has to ask oneself whether Mr. Nuseibeh himself has become persuaded by his flights of fantasy and outright lies.

47. While the shrill voices of incitement are again filling the air, let me assure the Council that Israel for its part will continue to work for the peace and well-being of its capital, Jerusalem, and its people, as well as for the preservation of the special place which Jerusalem holds in the hearts of people of diverse faiths around the globe.

48. Under the Protection of the Holy Places Law, passed by the Knesset in 1967, the Government of Israel has the duty to protect all the holy sites in Jerusalem. Under this Law, whosoever desecrates or otherwise violates a Holy Place shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of seven years. Israel has faithfully discharged its obligations in this regard.

49. The considerable efforts made by the Government of Israel, indeed by any Government, to protect Holy Places are unfortunately no guarantee against isolated acts of sacrilege by individuals suddenly running amok, as happened in the case before us. That regrettable incident in no way changes the policy basic to the Government and the people of Israel, to strive for tolerance and coexistence in an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation in Jerusalem, whose holiness is great to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Notwithstanding the repeated provocations here and elsewhere, Israel will maintain this policy, so unlike the one that reigned under Jordanian control in the city between 1948 and 1967.

50. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French):  The next speaker is the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

51. Mr. ABDEL RAHMAN (Palestine Liberation Organization): Once again the Council has been convened to consider a threat to peace and security in our region and in the world at large from the crimes committed by the Zionist Israeli forces of occupation.  Although we, the Palestinian people, and the Arab nations have already been the victims of the most despicable crimes and atrocities–and those crimes are nothing new to us, given the racist ideology of the Zionists–the sacrilegious crime committed this past Sunday is of paramount significance. The crime itself was committed on the Christian holy day of Easter Sunday and the target was one of the holiest houses of God, the Haram al-Sharif, the sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque.

52. I am sure that all the representatives around this table and in this chamber have read the papers or seen television footage giving some of the details of what happened on that Christian holy day in that Muslim holy shrine. And I feel compelled to share with them some further information about that crime which the media here were not able or disposed to divulge.

53. At 9.20 a.m. on Sunday, 11 April, a group of Israeli soldiers passed through two check-points manned by the Israeli army. They entered the area of the Dome of the Rock, Haram al-Sharif, One of the soldiers was later identified as Alan Harry Goodman.  This Israeli soldier, brandishing an American-made M-16 assault rifle, took aim at a 65-year-old man, Haj Saleh Yaman, sitting on a bench at the entrance to the mosque and shot and killed him in cold blood.  Then he shot Yihad  Badr, a 22-year-old youth.

54. Protected by the covering fire of the other Israeli soldiers, who sprayed fire from various directions, Alan Goodman entered directly into the sacred mosque and began shooting the worshippers inside the holy shrine who were in the midst of their prayers. Over 50 worshippers were injured.

55. Immediately after he finished his "mission", other Israeli soldiers in the area moved in to rescue him. Meanwhile, worshippers in the area and inside the holy place–confused and shocked by the criminal act and the brutal murders–started shouting and protesting. The Israeli soldiers responded with their firearms and tear gas to cover the withdrawal of the "command unit" headed by Alan Goodman.

56. Palestinians–Muslims and Christians alike–in the Holy City of Jerusalem and other cities, villages and towns on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, outraged by the heinous crime, took to the streets to express their anger and to resist the occupation and to tell the whole world that we, as a Palestinian nation, shall live.

57. The Israeli leadership immediately ordered the so-called anti-terrorist squad into the area–this was done with expediency and with total disregard of and disrespect for the emotions and feelings of the people and the sanctity of the Holy Places. Israeli soldiers responded with their usual neo-Nazi methods of repression. They shot into the unarmed civilian crowd. On the first day alone, over 100 people were injured.

58. Protests and demonstrations continued throughout yesterday and today in every single village, town and refugee camp throughout the whole of Palestine, in an expression of the anger of the people at the Israeli crime. Palestinians armed only with their faith, their determination and their bare breasts–men, women and children–faced the Israeli Zionist soldiers, soldiers equipped with the most sophisticated instruments of oppression that Western technology has been able to produce. Those soldiers, today alone, shot over 27 Palestinians. Fourteen of those are less than 12 years of age. One 7-year-old child was shot several times in the head in the Jabaliya refugee camp, assassinated by the supermen of Menachem Begin.

59. That criminal act cannot be seen, nor should it be seen, as an isolated incident, because it is consistent with Zionist Israeli methods and practices in Palestine. And I think that it is relevant for us to recall here that on 9 April 1948, about this same time of the year, yet 34 years ago, another man–then also described by his peers as a madman–went into a Palestinian village, the village of Deir Yassin, and massacred over 254 villagers in cold blood. That so-called madman in 1948 is now, in 1982, the Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin. Therefore, it should not be surprising to us if at some point Mr. Alan Goodman is rewarded by the Zionists and assumes the office of Prime Minister in the Zionist State. But what Israel would he be a Prime Minister for?

60. Zionist teaching and its racist tenets cannot but produce sick minds. An ideology that preaches self-chosen superiority over others can only produce sick minds and criminal behaviour. This was in fact highlighted in an editorial in The Washington Post of 13 April, which cautioned us about accepting the simple explanation that the incident is the action of a crackpot–one deranged man–that should not be given disproportionate importance, as the representative of Menachem Begin tried to tell us here today.  Maybe they are too simple, too narrow, to make the connection between the actions of one man and the prevailing ills of his society and its leaders. The Post editorial highlights that connection:

"The gunman is from the fringe, but it is a fringe sustained politically and psychologically by a far larger and more central body of Israeli opinion. Prime Minister Begin couldn't resist twisting the knife when he deplored 'this terrible sacrilege' at a place holy, as he felt it necessary to say, 'to Judaism, Christianity and Islam–in that historical order'."

61. Our people in the occupied Palestinian territory have been victims of Zionist Israeli terror for the past three decades. Only five days ago a Palestinian peasant woman was murdered by Israeli soldiers while she was in the simple act of toiling on her land.  Simply working in her field, she was unarmed and unprotected; yet she was openly and brutally murdered.

62. Palestinian youths are abducted and tortured–some to death–by Israeli soldiers and Zionist settlers. Vigilantism is rampant and is practised wantonly by the Zionist settlers against the Palestinians. Crops are destroyed. Homes are fired upon. Cars and property are vandalized by those Zionist settlers, who roam freely and at will. Zionist vigilantes, armed and under the protection of the Zionist Israeli soldiers, are spreading like a plague through Palestinian villages and towns, intimidating, beating and terrorizing the unarmed civilian population with the purpose of forcing the Palestinians out of their homeland so that more Zionist Jews can be brought in from other parts of the world–like Mr, Goodman, who came from Baltimore in the United States of America.

63. I think it worth mentioning here that over 60 per cent of the so-called settlers are exported to us from the United States. And the other 40 per cent are mainly from Western Europe. In this sense, the United States not only exports weapons to the Zionist Israeli regime, but also exports Zionist settlers to use those weapons.

64. Is it not about time for the United States to start reconsidering its policy and to take some action against those Americans with dual citizenship–those who carry an American passport and practise a purely racist ideology abroad, while, at least legally, racism is condemned in their own country? Is it not about time also that the United States–which not only practises separation of church and state now but was in fact established by immigrants who were seeking refuge from that dominating combination so prevalent two centuries ago–stopped aiding and abetting a Fascist entity where State terrorism is institutionalized and racism and racial discrimination on the basis of religion are both a practice and policy of that State?

65. I stated earlier that what took place in Jerusalem and what has now been taking place for many years is the logical outcome of a system of government, education and information that propagates the inferiority of the Christians and Muslims in Palestine and the superiority of the Jews.

66. Only recently, a noted columnist of The New York Times, Anthony Lewis, brought out the message and meaning behind the headlines and news of Israeli Zionists in his column "Destroying the Dream", published in The New York Times of 1 April, where he wrote:  "Israel is trying, by force, to bring a million Palestinians under its permanent control." The implications of this, as he notes, are alarming:  "There could not be a surer recipe for division, hatred, insecurity."

67. Zionism abolishes equality among all men, and by so doing worsens the moral injustices that one man can commit against another man in open brutality. This ideology of inequality comes to life and practice in the actions and orders of the Israeli soldiers.

68. In the incident of Sunday, a soldier laughed as he threw a tear-gas grenade near the Mosque. Smoke filled the Mosque, and worshippers came out coughing and wiping their eyes. One elderly woman was taken away in an ambulance. A few of the troops walked away laughing. This perverted display of "empathy" is backed by clear orders.

69. It was Uri Avneri, a member of the Knesset who submitted a letter to the Knesset in which he quoted an Israeli soldier on the orders that soldiers receive from their commanders. I shall now quote from Uri Avneri's letter:

"Anyone you catch outside, your first beat with the clubs all over his body except the head. Have no mercy. Break all his bones. Give no explanations.  First of all, beat. Do not treat this beating as a privilege: it is a duty. They understand no other way."

These are orders from the military Government to Israeli army conscripts on the West Bank as quoted by the aforementioned Uri Avneri.

70. In an article in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Professor Amos Elon recounts his conversation with two soldiers:  "Said one soldier, 'Pity we did not finish them off in 1948.' The other said, 'Beasts. It is not too late to finish them off today .' "  Professor Elon asked why they would want to do that. The answer of the soldiers: "Because they are Arab."

71. Most of us can neither give any excuse for such blatant racism or find a response to such stated "logic".

I would, however, repeat the response of the dismissed Mayor of Nablus, Bassam Shaka'a, who lost both his legs two years ago in an Israeli assassination attempt. Just the other day he was barred from his office by a soldier who reportedly taunted him for being "only half a man". Mr. Shaka'a replied, "I may have lost my legs, but you have lost your mind."

72. Indeed, the Zionists have instituted a policy of driving the Palestinians from their homeland through terrorism, oppression and suppression. Their plan is deliberate. Since the occupation began, more than 20 per cent of the total population of the territories has been detained. More than 250,000 Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have visited either the interrogation centre or Israeli gaols. More than a third of the land of the West Bank has been illegally seized and expropriated under numerous pretexts.  Farmers who have worked and earned their living from the land have been deprived of their only means of livelihood. Some who have managed to retain their land have had their water stolen or diverted, their crops left to die and their income ruined. The Zionist military occupation has extended its military authority to the realms of academia, rendering the proper education of our youth, and even an educational environment, almost impossible. And, in contravention of the laws and norms upheld by the international community, the Israeli occupying Power has expelled outright some of the population of the occupied Palestinian territory. In the first 10 years of occupation alone, the Israelis deported more than 1,560 leaders of the Palestinian community. Only two years ago the Council witnessed the expulsion of the Mayors of Halhoul and Al-Khalil. Last year two mayors were severely crippled in an assassination attempt. And just last month three mayors were removed from the posts to which they had been elected. Two of them were the very same mayors who had survived assassination attempts against them.

73. The Zionist Israelis have claimed that they are at war with the PLO In the occupied Palestinian territory. Yes, we are at war with the Israelis. It is a war that we will win, because we represent the national aspirations of our Palestinian people. We represent the will of. our Palestinian people, and we represent not only this generation of Palestinians but even the unborn generations of Palestinians.

74. I am sure that all those who are ready and willing to understand will comprehend the significance of this. It arises from an integral and inextricable composite:  the PLO and the Palestinian people.

75. There is no doubt that our region of the world is living a tragedy. Our tragedy originates with the racist, colonialist movement that was originated in Europe, a movement inspired by the colonial thinking of Europe at that time and further deformed by the refinements of racist Nazi thinking and behaviour. In other words, the Zionist movement is a combination of obsolete theocratic and anti-historical ideologies equipped with terroristic methods acquired from their Nazi oppressors.

76. That infamous movement, which was transplanted into the heart of our homeland and formed what is known to members here as the State of Israel, is the source of the tragic situation that we Palestinians and Jews alike are suffering from at the present time.

77. More than 60 per cent of those who deprive us, the Palestinian people, of being in Palestine were not born in Palestine, including Menachem Begin and his representative Yehuda Blum, while more than 60 per cent of those of us who are not now living in Palestine were born in Palestine .

78. Resistance to the illegal occupation of our homeland, Palestine, and to the continued denial of our people's inalienable rights by the Zionist junta is the legal and moral obligation of all the Palestinian people.  The world stood with the French and other Europeans in their fight against Nazi occupation in the Second World War. The Zionist occupiers are for us, I assure you, no different from the Nazi occupiers of Europe.

79. I should like to remind representatives that it is enshrined in all human values that violence used by a victim in self-defence cannot be equated with violence used by the victimizer. In fact, it should be recalled here that responsible Governments list in their telephone directories instructions to their people on how to resist foreign occupation in the event that it occurs.  I recommend that representatives verify that by looking at telephone directories–in Sweden, for example–in which Governments outline for their populations the procedures for fighting occupation, including sabotage against the forces of occupation. Therefore, so long as we are denied our fundamental, inalienable rights to self-determination and national independence and to live in freedom and dignity in our homes, we have no option but to continue our struggle and we shall not spare any effort to achieve a peaceful settlement of this conflict, which has plagued us and our part of the world for so long.

80. A peaceful settlement based on the recognition of our national inalienable right to self-determination, independence and the solution of our refugee problem, all within the rightful context of international legality, is our objective. Schemes that do not meet those conditions cannot be imposed upon us. And the experience of the last four years should be a lesson to all those who attempt to change the course of history from its forward progression to a digressive, unnatural venture back to the errors of the cold war hegemony.

81. We remind the United States that militarism cannot be a substitute for political solutions. No global strategy, no global consensus, against imaginary threats in our region can deceive the Arab world and distract the attention of our people from the real and imminent danger that confronts us today–the Zionists in Tel Aviv. We are confident of the trends in our region and of the feelings of our people. Those who claim to be concerned for the achievement of a peaceful settlement in the Middle East must learn how to act responsibly: otherwise they only further aggravate the situation.

82. As long as the United States and Israel continue their defiance of the will of the international community and international legality, further disasters can and are to be expected, Israel cannot continue to behave like the little boy who kills both his parents and then goes to the judge and begs for mercy because he is an orphan.

83. Our struggle does not need any legitimization: nor will we be intimidated. We warn those who do not understand, or are ignorant of, our history to study it.  We have outlasted all the invaders throughout our history: they have left: we remain.

84. Mr. LICHENSTEIN (United States of America):  I have no intention of discussing the merits of whatever issue may in due course be brought before us. But in view of the astonishing characterization by the representative of Jordan of the statement issued by the United States Department of State on Easter Sunday and, further, in view of the astonishing inferences that he chose to draw from that statement, I believe that for purposes of the record it is essential that I read out the actual statement to the Council.  It was issued on the afternoon of 11 April by the Acting Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary Walter Stoessel, and reads as follows:

"We deeply deplore and condemn the senseless violence at the site of one of Islam's most sacred mosques and extend our condolences for all those who have suffered physically and spiritually from this outrage. According to the information available to us, this was the work of a deranged individual who has now been taken into custody. We call upon all Governments and peoples throughout the Middle East to refrain from any acts of violence which could cause further loss of life and increase tensions in the area."

85. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French):  The next speaker is the representative of Iraq. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

86. Mr. MOHAMMAD (Iraq): On behalf of my delegation and in my capacity as current Chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, I should like to thank you, Mr. President, and the members of the Council for inviting us to speak. We have high hopes that under your wise leadership the Council will be able to adopt a resolution on the serious issue that is before it in keeping with the dictates of justice and law.

87. The nations of the Muslim world find it impossible to believe that the terrible crime, which is the subject of this meeting, against peaceful worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque could have been perpetrated without the complicity of the racist Zionist authorities. Otherwise, how can one explain the fact that an Israeli soldier, carrying a rifle, could pass unnoticed through two Israeli check-points, then enter the Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, one of the most sacred shrines of Islam, and spray the worshippers inside without anyone trying to stop him?

88. Furthermore, I should like to quote the following which appeared in The New York Times of 12 April about this criminal act:

"one of [the soldiers], with a laugh, threw a tear gas grenade near the mosque, upwind of the main door. Smoke from the perfectly placed cannister blew into the mosque, and worshippers came out coughing and wiping their eyes. One elderly man was carried to an ambulance. A few of the troops walked away laughing."

I need not add to this graphic description of the actions of Israel and its soldiers which refutes their claim of protecting and respecting the Holy Places and the Holy City.

89. The Council has met a number of times during this year to consider the continuing grave situation in occupied Palestine, the Zionist policy of creeping annexation and the liquidation of the Palestinian people. The criminal attack by an Israeli soldier–who is also a citizen of the United States–against the holy sanctuary, the sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque, is a manifestation of the racist, colonialist mentality of the rulers in Tel Aviv . It is sad to see that all those policies and practices are encouraged and protected by the United States, a permanent member of this respected body, through its vetoes and its military and economic support of the Zionist entity.

90. The criminal, barbaric action of the Israeli forces against the Muslims in Al-Quds has once again thrown out a challenge to the entire Islamic world and has provoked widespread protest in the Muslim community everywhere. We consider that the act is only a logical outcome of a policy that is intended to insult and violate the religious beliefs and institutions of the Palestinian people and the Islamic nation as a whole.

91. The resistance of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories reflects their determined rejection of the Fascist military occupation. The news dispatches of yesterday and today report that the Palestinians protesting against the Israeli criminal act now include all the people in the towns and villages of the occupied Arab Palestinian territories. A general strike has been called.

92. Moreover, all Islamic nations have declared their solidarity with the Arab Muslims and expressed their outrage at this criminal act. His Majesty King Khalid has declared 14 April a solemn day of protest throughout the Islamic world in solidarity with the Palestinian people .

93. My country expresses its deepest concern and indignation at Israel's defiance of the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly. We believe that the time has come when condemnation and censure alone will no longer be enough to induce Israel to desist from its present acts of aggression and its continued criminal acts. Strict imposition of the sanctions provided for under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, including interruption of economic and military relations with Israel, is imperative to impress upon Israel the necessity to bring an end to its occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories, including the Holy City of Al-Quds.

94. Finally, firm and decisive action by the Council would reinforce the faith of the international community in the effectiveness and ability of the United Nations with regard to the maintenance and strengthening of international peace and security.

95. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French):  I call on the representative of Jordan, who has asked to speak in exercise of his right of reply.

96. Mr. NUSEIBEH (Jordan): I must say that I was quite astonished to hear the representative of the United States describe as "astonishing" what I had said in regard to the statement of the spokesman of the State Department. Indeed, I find no contradiction between what I have just said and what he has read out to us–namely, the text of the statement.

97. I was right in saying that the spokesman for the State Department, on the spur of the moment and before investigations had been carried out, volunteered the judgement that the man who committed this abominable act was a "lone, deranged individual".  I acknowledged in my statement that the State Department spokesman had deplored the act, while describing the perpetrator as a "lone, deranged individual". But how could he have known?

98. I am surprised also, as I said in my main statement, that the State Department, with the magnitude of its information, was not aware of the background of the crime which had been committed at the Holy Sanctuary. In fact, I reminded the Council of the statement I had made on 1 April, in which I quoted verbatim the threats and warnings that had been addressed to the leaders of the Islamic community, that the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and all the adjacent areas would be blown up.  I am sure that the Consulate General in Jerusalem, which has some very capable people, knows full well what is going on.  It is, therefore, jumping to the wrong conclusions–indeed, more than that:  it is almost absolving the perpetrator of the crime–when a spokesman for the well-informed State Department volunteers the judgement that this man is a "long, deranged individual".  How could he have known?

99. Evidence which I read out today proves that the perpetrator was part of a gang which gave him full fire cover and made sure that he would be whisked away to safety.  I cannot see what is astonishing about my statement in what ways it contradicts the statement and in what ways it contradicts the statement which the representative of the United States has just read out to us.  I stated that while deploring this act the State Department spokesman had ventured the judgement that it was the act of a "long, deranged individual".   But even it we were to assume that there would be a full investigation of the case, nobody would venture to make a judgement while the case was still pending, because that would simply absolve the criminal of his crime.  We all know that no deranged person can be held liable or responsible, nor can he be punished, for any crime that he commits.

100. It is therefore astonishing to me that what I stated seemed so astonishing to the representative of the United States.

The meeting rose at 7 p.m.

_____________

Note

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