Mideast situation/attacks – Letter from Israel

LETTER DATED 9 SEPTEMBER 1985 FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF ISRAEL

TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

In recent letters I have described the systematic and deliberate attacks by the PLO against defenseless Israeli civilians. These acts of indiscriminate murder and destruction reveal the true nature of that terrorist organization. Here for your information is a list of innocent civilian victims who have been murdered by the PLO during the past year:

Miss Revital Seri was murdered near Bethlehem on 22 October 1984;

Mr. Ron Levy was murdered near Bethlehem on 22 October 1984;

Mr. Zalman Abulnik was murdered in El-Bireh on 30 March 1985;

Mr. David Caspi was murdered in Jerusalem on 19 April 1985;

Mrs. Micha1 Cohen was murdered near Beit Shemesh on 30 June 1985;

Mr. Meir Ben-Yair was murdered near Beit Shemesh on 30 June 1985;

Miss Leah Almakayas was murdered near Afula on 21 July 1985;

Mr. Yosef Eliyahu was murdered near Afula on 21 July 1985;

Mr. Albert Buckris was murdered in Nablus on 30 July 1985;

Mr. Andre Alush was murdered in Tulkarm on 24 August 1985.

The PLO continues to plant explosives in the densely populated areas of Israel's cities. Crowded markets, public buses and large stores are earmarked by the PLO as particularly vulnerable areas where large numbers of civilians may be killed. Many innocent people have miraculously survived these PLO attacks. But others were less fortunate. Many of them have been seriously wounded and some have become permanently disabled. The following are some of the most recent victims:

Five children between the ages of 8 and 10 were stabbed repeatedly in the face while waiting for a bus in Jerusalem on 19 July 1985;

Mr. Jacob Reitter was stabbed repeatedly while walking in the Hebron market on 10 August 1985;

Mr. Uri Oved was stabbed while walking through the market in Jenin on 24 August 1985;

Mr. Moshe Fitusi was stabbed in the back while in the city of Gaza on 5 September 1985.

The PLO spreads its terror outside Israel as well. In the past year the PLO perpetrated numerous acts of death and destruction against Israeli and Jewish targets throughout the world. They include the following:

In Paris a bomb exploded during a Jewish film festival on 29 March 1965, killing and wounding 21;

In London a travel agency conducting business with Israel was extensively damaged by a bomb on 6 June 1965;

In Genoa the Zim Shipping Company, an Israeli firm, was damaged by 8 bomb on 18 June 1985;

In Copenhagen a synagogue was bombed, injuring 21 people on 22 July 1985;

In Bangkok a bomb exploded near the Israeli Embassy on 11 August 1985;

In Cairo Albert Atrachki, an Israeli diplomat, was assassinated on 20 August 1985;

In Milan the Zim Shipping Company was damaged by a bomb on 23 August 1985;

In Istanbul the offices of El Al, Israel's national airline, were damaged by a bomb on 27 August 1965.

Directed solely against innocent civilians, including women, children and the elderly, the PLO boasted of its responsibility for each of these crimes. It has recently escalated its campaign of terror by infiltrating terrorists and smuggling weapons and explosives from Jordan. Indeed, murder and destruction are regarded by the PLO as commonplace tactics to be used at all times in the most indiscriminate and brutal manner. Israel will continue to take appropriate measures to defend the lives of its citizens against these savage attacks.

I have the honour to request that this letter be circulated as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Benjamin NETANYAHU

Ambassador

Permanent Representative