CEIRPP meeting – Summary record

COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE

RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 32nd MEETING

Held at Headquarters, New York,

on Thursday, 29 June 1978 at 10.30 a.m.

Chairman:  Mr. RAO KOURI (Cuba)

CONTENTS

Representation at conferences

Bulletin

Other matters

     This record is subject to correction.

     Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages, preferably in the same language as the text to which they refer.  They should be set forth in a memorandum and also, if possible, incorporated in a copy of the record.  They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Chief, Official Records Editing Section, Department of Conference Services, room A-3550.

     Any corrections to the record of this meeting and of other meetings will be issued in a corrigendum.

The meeting was called to order at 10.55 a.m.

REPRESENTATION AT CONFERENCES

1. Mr. YOGASUNDRAM (Secretary of the Committee) reporting; in the absence of the representative of Tunisia, on the Committee's participation in the World Conference to Eradicate Racism held in Basel from 17 to 21 May, said the Conference had condemned Israel's racist practices in the occupied territories and had denounced the cciltinued aggression against the Arab people and the denial of the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people. The Committee's participation in the Conference had been particularly useful because it had provided an opportunity for meeting with the representatives of various organizations. He had established contact with several non-governmental organizations in Geneva and had held exploratory talks concerning their possible assistance in organizing the Day of Solidarity. Since the Committee had now finalized its plans for that occasion it would be possible to follow up on those exploratory talks. He had also called on the Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, who had promised the Committee every assistance once he was officially notified of the Day of Solidarity. Such notification had been sent.

2. Mr. SY (Senegal), reporting on the Committee's participation in the Seminar held in Washington D.C. from 20 to 21 May organized by the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, said that the organization in question had been established in 1967 and that its goals were largely in line with those of the Committee itself. The Seminar had opened with statements by prominent personalities and had continued with meetings of various working groups in which he had participated. Co-operation betweenthe Committee and the Palestine Human Rights Campaign could be developed. The latter might attend meetings of the Committee and the Committee should send its publications to the Campaigns offices and should participate in the Campaign's next conference.

3. The CHAIRMAN in the absence of the representative of Guinea, read out a letter he had received from him in which he reported on his mission to the Week of Solidarity with the Anti-Imperialist Forces in the Middle East in their Struggle for Peace and Social Progress held in the German Democratic Republic from 5 to 11 June. High-ranking local officials had been present, as had a large Palestine Liberation Organization delegation headed by Yassir Arafat. The Week had been marked by the opening of an exhibition of Falestinian art in the Islamic museum of Berlin, a solidarity meeting with progressive Arab forces in Frankfurt-Oder, during which the German Democratic Republic had reaffirmed its complete support for the Palestinian cause, and a Meeting in Dresden, following which a solemn declaration had been adopted.

4. Officials of the German Democratic Republic had shown great understanding of the problems with which the Committee was involved and had promised to send a film and documents on the Palestinian question as their contribution to the Day of Solidarity scheduled for 29 November. In that connexion, he suggested that the Committee should invite the Palestinian folk company to New York to take oart in the Day of Solidarity.  The Committee might also wish to send a letter of thanks to the German Democratic Republic.

5. The CHAIRMAN recalled that the Committee had been invited to attend the World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, scheduled to be held from 14 to 25 August.

6. Mr. GAUCI (Malta), Rapporteur, speaking as Chairman of the Task Force, said that work on the film and studies was going ahead on the basis of the understanding reached at the 31st meeting. The Task Force recommended that the Committee should be represented at the forthcoming Conference by three members and that, in accordance with the practice of other committees, two of those members should be the Chairman and the Rapporteur. At the present time, the Chairman's travel schedule was not quite definite. He himself would not be able to absent himself for the entire two-week period. Accordingly, it might be advisable to see whether other members of the Committee would be available to attend the Conference. He suggested that a decision should be deferred to a later meeting when the Chairman's travel schedule might be more definite. He drew attention to the desirability of having a representative of the Special Unit attend the Conference and pointed out that if the Secretary went, as a member of the Secretariat, his expenses would not be charged to the Special Unit's limited funds; thus, the Committee could still send three members.

7. The CHAIRMAN said that, if he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee agreed to postpone a decision concerning representation at the Conference until his travel schedule was more definite and until the interest of other members in attending the Conference could be determined.

8. It was so decided.

9. Mr. TERZI (Observer, Palestine Liberation Organization) said he was proud to see that the Committee was recognized not only by the United Nations but also by other international organizations. The establishment of closer relations with non-governmental organizations, as mentioned ty the Secretary in his report, was a very positive development. The Committee might like to invite the Palestine Human Rights Campaign to its meetings as well. His delegation had never doubted the support of the German Democratic Republic, which had given concrete demonstrations of its support. The Palestine Liberation Organization would like to be included, if possible, in the Committee's delegation to the forthcoming World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination.

10. The CHAIRMAN said that the wishes of the Palestine Liberation Organization would be viewed with sympathy during the consultations concerning the Committees representation at that Conference.

11. Mr. KANTE (Mali) said the Committee should endorse the suggestions that had been Made.

12. The CHAIRMAN said that, if he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to endorse the suggestions to send letters of thanks to the Palestine Human Rights Campaign and to the organizers of the Week of Solidarity, in the German Democratic Republic.

13. It was so decided.

14. Mr. YOGASUNDRAM (Secretary of the Committee) said that since the bulletin had been drafted the Chairman of the Committee had sent a letter to the Secretary-General. That could be added as section (v) on page 8.

15. Mr. KORNEYENKO (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) expressed the hope that, in future, such important documents would be made available earlier so that members of the Committee would have time to study them in detail. Referring to page 6 he suggested that the words "the Chairmen of the Geneva Conferences, should be inserted in the last line of the penultimate paragraph before the names of the United States of America and the USSR as letters had been addressed to the representatives of those countries in their capacity as Co-Chairmen of the Geneva Conference.

16. He also proposed that the beginning of paragraph (iv) on page 8 should be reworded to read: 'At its meeting on 16 March the Committee decided to send  through its Chairman a message to the President of the Security Council associating itself with the corresponding provisions of Security Council resolution 425 …. That would more accurately reflect what had in fact taken place.

17. Mr. GAUCI (Malta), Rapporteur, suggested that it would be more correct to say "unanimously associating itself with those provisions of Security Council resolution 425 ….".

18. Mr. KORNEYENKO (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) accepted that suggestion.

19. The CHAIRMAN said that if he heard no objection he would take it that Bulletin No. 1, as orally amended, was approved.

20. It ras so decided.

OTHER MATTERS

21. The CHAIRMAN recalled that one outstanding matter had been the question of how to circulate the letter from the Palestine Liberation Organization. He had consulted various delegations and wished to suggest that the matter could be expeditiously resolved by having the Working Group draft a letter to the Secretary-General based on, and mentioning the positive aspects of, the message signed by various members of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Committee could ask the Secretary-General to circulate the letter as a General Assembly document.

22. It was so decided.

The meeting rose at 11.45 a.m.