Palestine question – GA emergency session – Verbatim record

Seventh emergency special session

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

PROVISIONAL VERBATIM RECORD OF THE THIRTY SECOND MEETING

Held at Headquarters, New York,

on Friday, 24 September 1982, at 3.30 p.m.

President: Mr. HOLLAI (Hungary)

 later: Mr. SHERIFIS (Cyprus)

 (Vice-President)

 later: Sir Egerton RICHARDSON (Jamaica)

 (Vice-President)

 – Organization of work

 – Question of Palestine: draft resolution /5/ (continued)

 – Temporary adjournment of the seventh emergency special session

 – Resumption of the seventh emergency special session

The meeting was called to order at 3.50 p.m.

RESUMPTION OF THE SEVENTH EMERGENCY SPECIAL SESSION

The PRESIDENT: I declare the seventh emergency special session of the General Assembly resumed, pursuant to paragraph 12 of its resolution ES-7/6 of 19 August 1982, whereby the Assembly decided "to adjourn the seventh emergency special session temporarily and to authorize the President of the latest regular session of the General Assembly to resume its meetings upon request from Member States."

ORGANIZATION OF WORK

The PRESIDENT: Inasmuch as operative paragraph 12 of resolution ES-7/6 authorizes the President of the latest regular session – the thirty-seventh session in this case to resume the meetings of the seventh emergency special session, may I take it that the Vice-Presidents of the thirty-seventh session would also be expected to serve in that capacity?

It was so decided.

The PRESIDENT: Similarly, may I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to decide that Credentials Committee of the thirty-seventh session should serve for the resumed emergency special session?

It was so decided.

AGENDA ITEM 5 (continued)

QUESTION OF PALESTINE (A/ES-7/L.8)

The PRESIDENT: At this point I should like to give an indication of the intentions of the President regarding our work for the balance of the day. In view of the seriousness and urgency of the problem before us, I believe that our interests and the interests of the Palestinian cause would be best served if we proceed without interruption to discuss the item before us. In this connection I call attention to the draft resolution which has been circulated in document A/ES-7/L.8.

After hearing speakers in the debate this afternoon, and evening if necessary, we shall then proceed to take a decision on this draft resolution. After having had consultations with the interested delegations and many others, I propose that the speakers' list be closed at 4.30 p.m. sharp.

It was so decided.

The PRESIDENT: I now call on the first speaker in the debate, the representative of Senegal and Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Mr. SARRE (Senegal), Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (interpretation from French): Sir, the assuredly well-deserved congratulations that my country intends to express to you on the occasion of your meritorious election to the presidency of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly will be conveyed to you, Sir, in due course by the head of my delegation, who will have occasion during the next few days in the general debate of the Assembly.

Nevertheless, I should at this stage like to pay a personal tribute to an eminent diplomat, well-versed in international affairs. I am persuaded that under your presidency, our session will achieve positive results that will serve the cause of peace. The same tribute is due to your illustrious predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Ismat Kittani, whose outstanding presidency will be written large in the annals of our Organization.

For the fourth time this year, we are holding an emergency special session to deal with the grievous tragedy which is being suffered by the fraternal people of Palestine together with the fraternal people of Lebanon, in particular after the genocide of Sabra and Chatila which the international community as a. whole condemns outright. My country, through its President, Mr. Abdou Diouf, described this as a heinous crime and at the same tire invited Members to give serious thought about the future of our civilization.

The frequency of our meetings necessitated by the continuing nature of the threat which events in the Middle East presents to international peace and security is particularly timely when escalation of violence has reached indescribable proportions.

Indeed, after the removal last March of the democratically elected mayors in the occupied Palestinian territories, after the invasion of Lebanon at the beginning of June and the war imposed on the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples, we now witness an organized massacre which has stunned and shocked the whole international community. That carnage, the direct outcome of the invasion of West Beirut by Israeli troops of aggression in violation of the evacuation agreements concluded among all parties concerned, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), opens a new chapter in the campaign of intimidation and terrorism against the Palestinians, whose resistance they seek to stifle at all cost. By this indescribable criminal act, its authors are also carrying out the next step in an insane logic which is clearly predicated on the total denial of the rights of the Palestinian people.

The Lebanese-Palestinian tragedy speaks for itself. It arose from and is fed from the dream of its initiators to convert force into law, notwithstanding the elementary rules of international law and universally accepted moral standards. The moral authority of our Organization which, through the Security Council, has since last June adopted no less than 10 resolutions which have remained ineffective, has unfortunately not come out of this enhanced in any way.

In the light of this tragedy, we do not believe that this is the time for rhetoric or to review the background of the Palestinian problem, especially since our Organization long ago set down a valid framework within which it should and can be ended. I am referring to the Palestinian tragedy.

At present, two things are at stake: first, the survival of the Palestinian people as well as of the independence and territorial integrity of Lebanon. The responsibility of the United Nations in seeking a solution to this problem is all the greater since it is directly responsible for, and the guarantor of, the creation of the Israeli and Palestinian States.

Of course, interim measures have been taken and solutions have been suggested outside the walls of this Organization. These should be welcomed since they all stem from the same desire to find a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the question of Palestine.

Senegal, which has always been a staunch advocate of negotiated peaceful settlements among all parties concerned, cannot but lend its support to these efforts, particularly since they are in line with the United Nations recommendations regarding a just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian problem.

Nevertheless we do believe that this international Organization should continue to serve as the main tool for bringing about peace and, to quote the actual words of the Secretary-General in his report to the thirty-seventh regular session of the General Assembly, as

In this particular case, the common end is to provide the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples with a future of peace and dignity through recovery of their rights to sovereignty and national independence. The other peoples of the region should also be able to aspire to and enjoy such a future. If that were to be brought about, the mutual lack of understanding and the defiance that has been demonstrated thus far would give way to peace.

Crises are not always signs of new misfortune. Very often they herald an acute stage of an illness that has been going on for some time and for which we have not been able to find a timely remedy. From this point of view the tragic events in West Beirut are but another stage in Israel's master plan to engage in territorial conquest and regional hegemony. To eradicate this evil, a first attempt at a solution might be for the Assembly at this session to see to it that Israel bows to the international consensus on the question of Palestine.

At this particularly delicate stage in the Middle East conflict we venture to hope that the international community will be able to display a greater degree of creative imagination in seeking a definitive solution to the Palestinian problem.

By doing so we could break out of the deadlock in which Israel is bent upon involving us at the very time when Palestinians and Arabs are more than ever resolved in initiate political negotiations in order to find a solution to this painful conflict.

It is in this context that I have the honor to introduce on behalf of its sponsors – Afghanistan, Benin, Cuba, Cyprus, India, Kuwait, Mali, Mauritania, Pakistan, Panama, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, Viet Nam and Yugoslavia the draft resolution in document A/ES-7/L.8, on the question of Palestine.

This draft resolution, which is before the General Assembly for its approval, stems, as I have already said, from the desire of its sponsors to create conditions propitious for the restoration of peace to the Middle East, and particularly to Lebanon, after the tragic events I have described.

As Members may note, the draft resolution is based on pertinent resolutions Security Council resolutions 508 (1982) and 509 (1982) which, it will be recalled, were adopted unanimously. It also recalls a principle to which we are all very much wedded as Members of the United Nations, and that is the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force. The draft resolution also refers to resolution 194 (III), to which we are also profoundly attached, which deals with the possibility of the Palestinian refugees returning to their homes. The draft resolution requests the Security Council, a principal organ of this Organization, to take all appropriate measures to ensure that Israel abides by its recently-adopted resolutions 508 (1982) and 509 (1982).

That is shy – after the indescribable events to which I have referred, and in connection with which we are sometimes tempted to remain silent because in certain situations silence is more eloquent than words the sponsors are calling on the Members of the Assembly to vote in favor of the draft resolution.

Before I conclude I should like to draw the attention of Members to operative paragraph 9 of the draft resolution, which requests the Secretary General to prepare a photographic exhibit to give an account of the events in Shatila and Sabra. This paragraph is not innovative in any way; it may be recalled that a similar exhibit was organized by the United Nations on the occasion of the tragic events in Sharpeville, South Africa.

Those are the comments I wished to make in connection with the draft resolution. On behalf of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, I would express the conviction that in adopting this draft resolution the Assembly would once again be following a consistent policy. The Assembly would thus show its participation in the ardent desire to restore peace in the Middle East in a spirit of constructive co-operation. The creation of the United Nations was, after all, based on the ideals of peace and brotherhood, and I am convinced that this Assembly will do everything in its power to ensure that this draft resolution is adopted.

The PRESIDENT: The next speaker is the representative of Malta, Rapporteur of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian people.

Mr. GAUCI (Malta), Rapporteur of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People: I am painfully reminded that the temporary sound of my voice in this hall contrasts starkly with the permanent silence in the graves of the countless victims of the recent massacre in Lebanon. I am also conscious that our debate will offer scant consolation to the surviving relatives of the deceased. For them the rest of their lives will be permanently marred by their personal loss and the nightmarish vision of the atrocity they witnessed. Indeed, one is bound to wonder whether debate will not in fact magnify the sorrow and the resentment and give rise to further acrimony, which I have always urged that we should try to avoid. On balance, however, a few observations are certainly called for.

In the first place we can only hope that our sense of indignation is matched by the feeling of guilt and shame of those who were directly or indirectly responsible for the atrocious massacre. As William Wordsworth might have observed in these circumstances, dull would he be of soul who could pass by a sight so touching in its [tragedy].

Someone has definitely blundered, and blundered very gravely. The dialogue of the deaf between Israeli troops and the Palestinian people was interrupted by a sudden burst of gunfire which transformed that dialogue into the silence of a mass graveyard.

The result is that, in the words of the International Committee of t he Red Cross, "hundreds of children, adolescents, women and old people have been killed, their corpses lying scattered in the streets".

It may not be out of place to point out that, in the best traditions of parliamentary democracy, a Minister with responsibility for actions or omissions in specific areas is bound to resign when events which take place constitute a complete reversal of what was publicly forecast or announced. The fact of having allowed the barbarous slaughter, or of not having apprehended or even stopped the perpetrators when it was discovered, is extremely disturbing, to say the least. Yet, the whole world is told that an investigation by reliable and independent sources is not permissible.

As Rapporteur of the Palestine Committee, I repeat that our deep feeling of outrage is magnified by the conviction that a positive start in a planned program of implementation of internationally recognized rights by the Palestinians, as suggested jointly six years ago, would have prevented this and the other tragedies that preceded it.

Cruelly, but with the dying embers of hope, we might perhaps derive some scant consolation from the thought that, with the universal shock engendered by the most recent events, a clarion call has now been heard which will put a stop once and for all to Israel's present policies. In that sense the innocent victims will not have died in vain in the squalor of their camps. Each one of us, in accordance with our action and inaction, also has a responsibility for the past, as well as for the future. Let those therefore who have remained indifferent in the past no longer do so henceforth.

One lesson remains crystal clear. The road to self-determination of a people does not lie in the extermination of that people by brute military force. If all of us agree on that fundamental premise, then, late as it already is, we can begin building the real blocks of peace in the months ahead.

We have to do so by listening first to what the Palestinians are saying, by allowing the people themselves to decide, by not trying to impose conditions in advance and from outside. We must plan for peace, but not through the injection of massive and deadly armaments. Those, simply put, are the ideas that the Committee on Palestine proposed six sanguinary years ago, with safeguards for all in the interests of peace, and with a prominent role for our Organization in overseeing the steps towards securing and maintaining that peace. We submit that that plan remains our only rational course.

The PRESIDENT: I now call on the Observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 3237 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974.

Mr. TERZI (Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)): The head of the delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the thirty-seventh session will in time congratulate you, Sir, as is fitting, oil your election to the presidency of the General Assembly, but let me express to you my personal feelings. I am very happy and reassured to address the General Assembly under your presidency. During the years when you represented the friendly country of Hungary and the years of your participation in the work of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People you proved your wisdom, your perseverance and your ever increasing knowledge of the plight of the Palestinian people and, consequently, your unquestioned support of our cause and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle to regain and exercise freely our inalienable rights in our country, Palestine.

Black Rosh Hashanah is a source of shame. Humanity at large is ashamed of the crime of genocide, a crime against morality, a crime against Judaism, a crime against all other religions and all moral values and concepts.

Nothing can atone for this crime not all the prayers, not all the offerings of the Judeo-Nazis in Tel Aviv. The Judeo-Nazi military junta in Tel Aviv has committed a crime that cannot be atoned for.

Signs of protest reading "Israel is not Begin or Sharon" must be complemented by signs reading "Judeo-Nazis are not Jews", for Judaism is a faith, it is a moral value, not a criminal concept.

Rabbi Arnold Wolf did not hesitate to announce. "I'm crushed and terrified by the massacre and I think all of us have bloody hands. To the learned Rabbi I would say, I share your feelings about being crushed and terrified but please believe me when I tell you that we Palestinians do not hold you responsible in any way for the crime of genocide or any other crime committed by the Judeo-Nazis. Yes, indeed, you did help the junta in Tel Aviv; you would not believe that they were Judeo-Nazis, criminals who capitalized on their being Jews. Are they not the same group that massacred Rabbi Dahan? Are they not the criminals who sank the Patria carrying survivors from the Nazi extermination camps? Are they not the collaborators with the National Socialists in Nazi Germany? Is it not a documented fact, honorable Rabbi that, Irgun Zvai Leumi, which is now the Herut party today in power in Tel Aviv and perpetrator of the crime boasted of its ties with the Nazi Party? For the record one of the fundamental features of the proposal of the National Military Organization (NMO) – that is, the notorious Irgun Zvai Leumi – concerning European Jewry was

The proposal continues:

And the New Order was the Hitlerite New Order. The proposal continued:

The aim was the defeat not only of England but of all the allies in the alliance against fascism.

Again I would address itself through you, Mr. President, to the Rabbi and I would further say: "Sir, I realize how you, a Rabbi, and millions of Jews in the United States of America and other places feel, You supported Tel Aviv because you believed, or made yourselves believe, that Israel was the embodiment of morals and faith and the high values of the Torah. The little you knew is now over.  Now you know better, now you know the truth, and maybe the Day of Atonement will be for you and all others a day to think profoundly how wrong you were, how misinformed and how emotionally exploited you were. Human life, all human life, is to be respected and human beings, the peoples, must be saved from the scourge of war saved from yet another holocaust and yet another act of genocide. Let us all work together so that Shatila and Sabra will not be repeated, as Auschwitz and Dachau were re-enacted by the Judeo-Nazis and their henchmen."

Even this morning a great number of Jews endorsed a statement in The New York Times which said, among other things, "the Israeli authorities helped prepare the way" for the massacre. Thousands of Israelis will gather in Tel Aviv tomorrow to repudiate and condemn the Begin-Sharon policies, but will this atone for the crime?

To the Zionists who have filled the press with such statements as "Israel would not knowingly be a participant in such carnage and if it misjudged conditions it was not malicious and it was not intentional", I say, "enough". Did not Sharon himself admit that the "search and destroy" missions into the Palestinian refugee camps were discussed, planned and co-ordinated with him? Did not Sharon himself order them to "purify" the camps? Was it not Israeli forces that sealed off the refugee camps? Was it not the Israeli army of occupation that brought the instruments of the crime to the scene of the crime and unleashed them to commit the crime of genocide? Was it not Sharon's army, the Israeli army, that supplied the perpetrators of the crime with bulldozers to cover up their crime? Was it not the Israeli forces of occupation and their henchmen that fired against the Lebanese army to prevent – or, in the words of President Reagan, "thwart" – its assuming its responsibility?

Enough, Sir. We have witnessed enough after the Nazi holocaust. Many went scot free because they said, "We did not know. We were not there. We just carried out our instructions and orders." But, again, it is the realization of a dream and a policy clearly stated by Jabotinsky and other Zionist leaders, namely, the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine, which makes it imperative to dispose of the Palestinians, to evacuate the Palestinians and even to eliminate them physically; and to Jabotinsky's heart's content, a junta now sits in Tel Aviv, dominated by a brash, recalcitrant and pugnacious group whose chief symbol is Ariel Sharon, Begin's sword and man of action.

The junta shares the same dream, namely, to tighten Israel's grip on the West Bank and the occupied Palestinian territories and eventually to force the Palestinians there out of their homes. That could be achieved by eliminating all and any vestiges of Palestinianism, crushing Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory and annihilating the representative of the Palestinian people, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

In this context one can only refer to the position of Israel's strategic ally, the Government of the United States, a position best expressed by its statement in the Security Council when it used the veto to prevent action by the Council simply because the draft resolution, as it said, did not refer to "the elimination of the Palestinian armed presence".

It is now clear that the armed presence was a must, a necessity. The absence of the armed presence facilitated the genocide of the Palestinian civilians; 1,097 civilians butchered in cold blood in the Gaza hospital; more than 300 in the Acca hospital – both hospitals clearly marked and identified in the refugee camps. And what was the fate of the medical doctors waving a white flag outside the hospital? A hand grenade hurled at them, killing three doctors and injuring a fourth. This is not the place to describe the horrors and atrocities. The screens in our living rooms have presented to us horrors that words cannot describe; and yet we are informed of mass graves in Damur, about corpses now being washed away at the Ouzai beach outside Beirut.

His Eminence Terence Cardinal Cooke and the Most Reverend John Roach, speaking on behalf of millions of people, have expressed their horror and desperation. They have said that the scenes of the crime "touched the depths of the human soul". The scenes showed the bodies of innocent victims. They describe it as the worst kind of human suffering of men, women and children. This was just short of identifying those crimes as reminiscent of the crimes committed by the Nazis in Aushwitz and other damps. Standing unarmed innocent civilians against a wall and machine-gunning them is the pattern of genocide set by the Fascists. The Israeli hordes adopted this pattern after their failure to advance into Beirut, particularly the part of Beirut heroically defended by the Lebanese National Movement and the Palestinian combatants. The sovereignty of Lebanon was defended, as well as the survival of the Palestinians. The heroic resistance of the Warsaw ghetto was repeated in Beirut.

But the joint forces, Lebanese and Palestinian, aware of Israel's determination to devastate Beirut and physically eliminate the Palestinians, all Palestinians, decided late in July 1982 to move the Palestinian armed forces from Beirut to spare the lives of human beings and also to spare the city further devastation. Early in August the Security Council unanimously took note of the decision of the Palestine Liberation Organization to move the Palestinian armed forces from Beirut, and that the Palestine Liberation Organization had taken that decision to spare Beirut further destruction and devastation and to save civilian lives. It took many, days and weeks to reach some sort of agreement, and that agreement stated, among other things:

In a letter sent by the representative of the United States, Mr. Robert Dillon, to the Government of Lebanon, it was stated:

That Government is the Government of the United States.

The United States Government, by omission, contributed to the crime. The withdrawal of those Palestinian forces and of the Lebanese who were withstanding the Israeli occupation of Beirut only facilitated the disruption of law and order and only facilitated the disruption of the restoration of the Lebanese Government's sovereignty and authority over Beirut.

The question is again posed: was the Government of the United States aware of the Israeli designs and did it engage in collusion, so to speak, or was the Government of the United States taken for a ride? And were others, such as France and Italy, which willingly and with good will participated in the multinational force, also taken in, as a cover for the implementation of further Israeli designs?

But we are sure that in the United States there are many people, the great majority of the people, who have good will and good intentions. I shall quote part of a statement signed and issued by nine respected members of the Congress of the United States:

Israel, in its policy of annihilation of the Palestinians, was not satisfied by the genocide of innocent refugees in the refugee camps, but persisted and extended the policy to cultural genocide. The Israeli forces, this time not through their henchmen but through their trained SS troopers, raided a through their henchmen but through their trained SS troopers, raided a cultural center which contained literature, manuscripts and records of Palestinian history. They looted all that. They stole our cultural record and took it away. The Palestine Research Center in Beirut was not spared. Not even the typewriters were spared – they were the booty for Israeli Judeo-Nazi officers. The preservation of culture is among the duties and responsibilities of this Organization and we demand the immediate return of all the materials, cultural and other, to the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Palestine Research Center is a body diplomatically recognized by the Lebanese Government.

The crime in Beirut was not the first of its kind. The Israeli troopers committed similar crimes maybe a dress rehearsal in the refugee camps around Tyre and Sidon, where thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians perished in the rubble of the camps that were bulldozed by the Israeli troops. These are crimes that were overshadowed or eclipsed while Beirut was suffering the onslaught. The horrors will be revealed and we just hope that the crime of genocide in Shatila and Sabra is not the mere tip of the iceberg. We request the Secretary-General and the Security Council to make public the reports they have on such atrocities. The General Assembly, on 26 June 1982, requested the Secretary-General

Up to this moment we are not aware that such a report has been published, but we do know that the Commission has visited the area more than once.

In this connection, I only trust and hope that the Secretary-General will display in the visitors' hall an exhibit such as was presented earlier by the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People – an exhibit of photographs of these atrocities so that the world may learn that not only ore holocaust was committed, but that there was another holocaust, this time committed by the Zionists in 1982.

The Palestine Liberation Organization wishes to remind the Security Council of its duty to act in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Among the first of the purposes is

It is incumbent upon the Security Council, in carrying out its duties, to investigate immediately the results of the acts of aggression by Israel and its atrocities and to take effective collective measures – we should of course have preferred measures to prevent what has happened – to ensure, at least, that these acts of aggression and genocide do not continue. The Security Council must assume its responsibilities. It already identified the crime, when it condemned the massacre of Palestinian civilians, but it must also identify the criminal, both those who planned the crime and the instruments of the crime. And then the Security Council is under the obligation to take effective measures against the criminals and exercise the powers vested in it by the Charter. The Security Council cannot stand idly by. The permanent members of the Security Council in particular must not deliberately obstruct the functions of the Council. And here we stress the need for urgent and immediate action.

Finally, this Assembly has since 1948 been almost unanimous at every session in calling for the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes where they can live in peace and exercise their rights.

The inalienable rights of the Palestinian people have been identified and affirmed. A program of implementation has also been approved. There is an international consensus that the fate of the Palestinian people and the question of Palestine are the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict. But this has remained a mere document and no concrete steps have been taken to implement the action called for.

How long will the world sit and watch the systematic elimination of the Palestinian people? For how much longer are the Palestinians expected to endure suffering, humiliation and submission? For how much longer will we be prevented from exercising our rights, first among which is our right to life with dignity, life in our own homes, in our own country, in Palestine? And the right of return is not contingent on any other consideration.

The Palestinian people is determined to pursue, its struggle under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization – and it is supported by the community of nations – until we return home to live in peace to live in dignity to exercise our rights, foremost among which is our right to and national independence. Our struggle by all means will continue until we are back home and no longer displaced and scattered. Enough is enough.

Mr. VIERA (Cuba)(interpretation from Spanish): Mr. President, I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election and to tell you how pleased the Cuban delegation is to see a representative of fraternal Hungary presiding over these meetings. My Foreign Minister, when he addresses the regular session of the General Assembly, will have the occasion to reiterate our feelings towards you and your country.

Never before have we examined the Question of Palestine in this forum in such tragic circumstances.

In innumerable resolutions of the General Assembly at regular sessions as well as on the several occasions when the seventh emergency session of the General Assembly has met, the international community has acknowledged and reaffirmed the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people. It has forcefully condemned the aggressive and expansionist policy of the Israeli authorities and required the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Zionist forces from the occupied territories, a demand which in recent months has also included the withdrawal of the Israeli invasion troops from Lebanon.

Moreover, many Security Council resolutions have also condemned Zionist aggression against the Lebanese and Palestinian people in Lebanon, similarly, they have demanded the unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from that country as a prerequisite to the normalization of the situation in Lebanon.

Nevertheless, Israel not only ignores all of these General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, but, rather, incessantly heightens its aggression and brazenly mocks the international community.

The most recent events in the city of Beirut reveal starkly the true character of the Zionist leaders. They show all of their cynicism, cowardice, and disdain for the most basic human values, and confirm the complicity of the United States with the Tel Aviv Government in its intent physically to eliminate the Palestinian people.

Those facts are very clearly stated in the message recently addressed by Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization., and the heroic leader of the Palestinian cause, to Comrade Fidel Castro in his capacity as Chairman of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. Among other things, President Yasser Arafat stated the following:

Although it is extremely difficult to find words to describe the monstrous crime that was committed, its consequences are well known.

Following the departure of the Palestinian forces from Beirut in fulfillment of the agreements reached and of the guarantees offered by the United States envoy and so-called mediator, the Israeli Nazi-Zionists not only advanced and occupied the entire city of Beirut, but also planned, authorized and carried out, together with their Fascist lackeys, the mass assassination of more than 3,000 Palestinian men, women, children and elderly people.

Those unheard of crimes against defenseless civilians are all the more appalling because they were committed against refugees who were driven out of their homeland and their homes as early as 1948, robbed of their goods and forced into exile.

In spite of some last minute statements attempting to ease the indignation that these events have caused in Arab countries and in the world at large, including the United States and Israel, Palestinian and Lebanese blood stains the conscience of the Zionist leaders and those who are their main support and ally, the Government of the United States.

What is happening today in Lebanon forms part of an overall policy based on the disregard and rejection of the inalienable national rights of Palestinian people and forms part of the strategy designed by North American imperialism and its allies for the Middle East.

Only that Israeli-United States alliance and the economic, political, diplomatic and military support given by the United States to Israel can explain the events in Beirut and the impunity with which the Tel Aviv Nazi-Zionists acts.

It is United States weapons, including the most sophisticated among them, that are used by the aggressor; it is United States dollars that are financing its enormous military budget; and it is the United States veto in the Security Council that systematically protects them and makes it impossible for the international community to apply the enforcement measures provided by the Charter.

Those facts have been repeatedly denounced and condemned by the Non-Aligned Movement which includes the majority of the members of this Organization.

In his statement on 16 August 1982 from this very rostrum, when for the third time the seventh emergency special session was resumed, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Mr. Isidoro Malmiera, in his capacity as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, gave a detailed account of the action taken by our Movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just cause and referred in particular to the action undertaken in response to the new act of aggression being carried out since last June by the Tel Aviv Government against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.

In accordance with the statements and position of our Movement, we reiterate today our conviction that in the Middle East a just and lasting peace can be achieved only on the basis of the immediate, total and unconditional withdrawal of Israel from all the Palestinian and Arab territories occupied since 1967 and the full exercise of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to return to their homes and to establish a sovereign and independent State in Palestine.  A just and lasting solution can be achieved only within the framework of the United Nations, with the participation of all the parties directly concerned, first and foremost the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

The attainment of these objectives is all the more urgent following the horrendous massacre of Palestinian refugees in Beirut end the declared intention of Israel to persist in its criminal policy against the Palestinian people and its sole legitimate representative, the PLO.

The international community cannot allow the Israeli authorities to apply the policy of State terrorism against the Arab nation with impunity. We are all duty-bound to ensure that the Security Council fulfils its obligations under the Charter. We the non-aligned countries will spare no effort until a just and lasting peace in the Middle East is achieved and until the inalienable rights of the heroic Palestinian people – a people whose blood has enriched the road to freedom of mankind – are restored.

Mr. OTT (German Democratic Republic): Comrade President, my delegation expresses its great pleasure that the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly and the just resumed seventh emergency special session, on the question of Palestine, are being held under the experienced guidance of a representative of a socialist sister nation and congratulates you most cordially. We wish you every success in this responsible task. The delegation of the German Democratic Republic assures you of its fullest support in solving the complicated problems facing the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly and the resumed seventh emergency special session.

The news of the bloody massacres in Palestinian refugee camps in west Beirut was learned with deep indignation throughout the world. The cold-blooded murder of far more than 1,000 Palestinians, among them women, children and elderly people, is a new provocation of the entire world. More insistently than ever, civilized mankind rightly asks how such atrocious crimes can still be committed in our day. The aggressor, Israel, and its strategic allies have to bear full responsibility for them.

It is becoming more and more obvious that there is a direct connection between the systematic escalation of the policy of aggression and the genocidal campaign of the Israeli rulers, and the intention of those in the most aggressive circles of imperialism to draw all international relations into a whirlpool of confrontation through a "policy of strength".

They stop at nothing to achieve this purpose; they do not shrink from even the most abhorrent crime. It is the imperialist policy of confrontation and the fomenting of new wars and conflicts that have caused the alarming situation in which Tel Aviv feels constantly encouraged to commit new acts of aggression and war crimes. Therefore, it is indisputable that the war against Lebanon and the genocide of the Palestinian people are a direct result of the so-called strategic alliance between Israel and the United States.

The mass murders of defenseless Palestinians are further irrefutable proof of the fact that those in Israel's ruling circles are trying to solve the Palestinian question by genocide against the Palestinian people and that, in this way, the Arab people of Palestine, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), is to be deprived of its legitimate and inalienable rights.

They also prove that State terrorism and genocidal crimes are an integral part of Israel's policy. That is how the Israeli rulers are trying to implement their chauvinistic great Power ambitions.

The Chairman of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic, Erich Honecker in a statement on 20 September 1982, expressed the deep indignation of the people of the German Democratic Republic as follows:

The German Democratic Republic emphatically demands that these new crimes not be allowed to go unpunished. These war crimes must be investigated and the culprits brought before a tribunal of the peoples and given the punishment they deserve. The United Nations must no longer remain passive in the face of the blatant defiance by one of its Members Of its decisions and the norms of international law. It is high time to impose effective sanctions against the aggressor. The first step must be to force Israel to withdraw immediately from Lebanon so as to prevent the escalation of the conflict as well as aggression against other Arab States. The United Nations Security Council and especially all its permanent members must fulfil their responsibility.

In keeping with the basic concern of its foreign policy, the German Democratic Republic consistently supports a speedy just and peaceful solution of the Middle East problem. It therefore supports the six-point proposal made by the Soviet Union on 15 September 1982 regarding a lasting peace settlement in the Middle East. At the same time the German Democratic Republic pays a tribute to the Arab States for the resolve they manifested at their Conference in Fez to undertake joint efforts towards a Just solution of the Middle East conflict.

Mr. PAHR (Austria): In a few days, when I address the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly, I shall have the opportunity to present to you, Sir, in a more formal manner the congratulations of the Austrian delegation, and of Austria, upon your election to the presidency.  For the sake of brevity, let me today just state, that we are very pleased to see you, Mr. President, in the Chair at this resumed session of the seventh emergency special session of the General Assembly.

A most tragic event has caused the reconvening of this emergency special session. Palestinian men, women and children have been murdered in cold blood – refugees, who had sought shelter in the camps of Sabra and Shatila, located in the area of Beirut which has been illegally occupied by Israel. We are horrified and shocked by these atrocities. We are shocked not only because of the enormous bloodshed but also because just a few days ago those people had received international assurances for their safety. We join whole-heartedly in the condemnation of these criminal acts as expressed unanimously in Security Council resolution 521 (1982).

Such crimes must not remain unpunished. The United Nations bears a special responsibility in that regard. The acts committed in Sabra and Shatila run counter to every humanitarian principle this Organization stands for. They jeopardize the very basis of international law which is the framework for our peaceful coexistence. It is the duty of the United Nations to safeguard those tenets of international law and to take effective and prompt action, Should the United Nations fail to shoulder these responsibilities the credibility of this Organization and the trust which peoples and nations place in it would be deeply shaken. It would certainly contribute to the unfortunate trend which the Secretary-General has highlighted in his annual report on the work of the Organization.

Motivated by those considerations, the Austrian Federal Government has addressed a letter to the President of the Security Council, in which we ask the Council to take appropriate action for the full investigation and clarification of those criminal acts. We proposed that to this end a commission should be established; special attention should be given to the composition of this investigation commission to guarantee its impartiality and objectivity.

Austria is gratified to see that the Security Council has swiftly reacted to our request and has started the necessary procedures. We expect that these procedures will lead very soon to concrete measures.

Our commitment to the maintenance of international law and justice and our respect for human life demand that we draw the necessary consequences from these terrible massacres. As long as they go unpunished injustice will remain. Injustice is no basis on which to build the future. No revenge is sought but justice and peace for the suffering people of the area, security for the region and respect for international order.

Finally, I should like to make some remarks in my capacity as President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted on 23 September 1982 the following statement on Lebanon:

Mr. OUMAROU (Niger) (interpretation from French): First, it is a great pleasure for me to congratulate you, Sir, most warmly on your election to the presidency of the thirty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly. The qualities which distinguish you, and the bent of your own career, which has been devoted entirely to international relations, all bespeak, the deftness and the wisdom with which we are sure you will conduct the work of this session, which is taking place at a time when the world is in such a gloomy and disturbed situation because of the disarray of world economies and the growing danger brought about by the problems of the Middle East, with which mankind has to content daily.

The fact that your first task today has been the resumption of the seventh emergency special session of the General Assembly, on the question of Palestine, a mere 72 hours after your election clearly indicates that it is your desire not to shirk problems but to do everything possible to restore tranquillity and peace in the world as quickly as possible. I can assure you of the co-operation of my delegation and its sincere desire to assist you in this noble mission.

Having addressed you as President of the thirty-seventh session, I should be remiss if I were not also to express my appreciation for the remarkable and efficient work accomplished by your predecessor, Mr. Kittani, the President of the thirty-sixth session. Throughout the past 12 months Mr. Kittani has spared neither time nor effort in ensuring that our Assembly deals adequately with world problems. My delegation is very grateful to him, and it is with great pleasure that I congratulate him.

This resumption of the seventh emergency special session of the General Assembly, on the question of Palestine, is occurring at an extremely sad and tragic time, which gives out work a new aspect and confers on this body a particularly serious responsibility.

The Palestinian problem, which has remained unresolved because Israel has stubbornly entrenched itself in its conquering posture, is today further complicated by the wild and benighted attempts of the Zionist entity to destabilize and dismember Lebanon, to decimate the Palestine Liberation Organization and to annihilate, the valiant Palestinian people by means of an unprecedentedly savage war machine.

The entry of the Israeli Army into Lebanon, the tragic episodes of the battle of Beirut, the indignities and the massacres caused by Begin’s army and its henchmen, even in the civilian sectors of that sorely tried city, are all manifestations of this inbred inclination to destruction, to conquest and to domination, and it is that inclination which should now be halted and should be punished and censured if the fears and the great anguish that this terrible tragedy has brought to a shocked and horrified world are not to lead us very shortly to the law of the jungle, to disregard of international law, the rules governing coexistence among peoples and the lofty principles of the Charter which for 37 years have been enshrined in the United Nations.

It is on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference that I am speaking today. Members of this Assembly must be aware that our organization, at its thirteenth ministerial session which closed on 26 August in Niamey, Niger, spent a great deal of time on this extremely serious and indeed insufferable situation; and the decisions that were reached are sufficiently revealing of its unanimous and indignant condemnation of what was happening then and is, unfortunately, still happening in Lebanon, against the sovereignty and the tranquillity of that country and against the security and the survival of the valiant Palestinian people.

Thus our meeting vigorously condemned the Zionist entity for invading Lebanese territory and for its repeated aggressions against the capital and towns and villages of Lebanon, as well as against Palestinian camps. It reiterated its attachment to the independence of Lebanon, its territorial integrity and the unity of its people as well as its sovereignty over the entire territory, within internationally recognized borders. It went on to recall and to reaffirm that the question of Palestine was at the basis of the Middle East conflict and that, Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories, including the town of Al Quds al Sharif, its contempt for the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people and its criminal attacks on neighboring countries constituted a flagrant violation of the principles of the charter of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Charter of the United Nations, the Declaration of Human Rights and the principles of international law. Consequently it decided inter alia to strive, at the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly to bring about the establishment of an international committee which would be responsible for investigating the crimes and the acts perpetrated by Israeli forces during their invasion of Lebanon, in order to bring to international justice the leaders of Israel as war criminals.

The Conference further decided to make every effort to persuade the United Nations to assess the material and human losses resulting from the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, against the Palestinian people, its -property, its institutions and its refugee camps, and to demand compensation from the aggressor.

Hence I believe it would be advisable to recall again to the Zionist entity the statement wade by President Seyni Kountche almost a years ago from this same rostrum, to which, unfortunately, the Israeli authorities have not yet paid heed:

This analysis, which sounds more and more like a prophecy, makes it quite clear that the truth of the Palestinian issue is as follows. There can be no peace in the Middle East without a settlement of the Palestinian problem; there can be no settlement of the Palestinian problem without recognition of the right of that people to return to its homeland, Palestine, its right to determine for itself its own future without any external interference, its right to establish an independent Palestinians State in its country, Palestine, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Therefore, whether it be in Lebanon or some neighboring country or elsewhere scattered around the world, there will always be a Palestinian people which will always strive for justice and will always claim its rights, because these are inalienable and sacred rights which have been recognized as belonging to all peoples, particularly those that are struggling and have become martyrs and refugees.

In attempting to seek justice by itself and inconsiderately resorting to violence, Israel is obviously obeying a dual logic: the logic of its excessive armament and the logic of the silence and impotence of the world. The United Nations and all its Members that are devoted to peace and justice have no right to allow the continuation of a situation which has already affected all of us as one of the greatest tragedies of our time.

Mr. YAQUB-KHAN (Pakistan): Mr. President, the grim tragedy which has caused the resumption of this emergency special session of the General Assembly restrains me from giving full expression to our satisfaction at your election and our appreciation of the contribution of your distinguished predecessor for which I hope to have another opportunity during the regular session. I wish you every success in enabling the General Assembly at this session to take appropriate decisions in carrying out the heavy responsibility which events have placed on it.

In addressing this resumed emergency special session, I am conveying the feelings of the non-Arab Asian States belonging to the Non-Aligned Movement which have given me the privilege and honor of speaking on their behalf.

The universally shared horror and shock over the massacre of innocent Palestinian men, women and children in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila have evoked revulsion and indignation throughout the world. The wanton slaughter of the defenseless Palestinian refugees is indeed a crime against humanity and is symbolic of the tragedy of the Palestinian people, who remain the target of merciless persecution even when driven into exile. That ghastly massacre, which is the direct consequence of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, has rightly exposed Israel to the strongest condemnation of the entire world community.

Events of the past few months in the Middle East are an open chronicle of Israel's expansionism and its resolve to impose its diktat on the area. First, its massive war machine was mobilized to invade Lebanon. Then its forces surrounded west Beirut and rained death and destruction upon its civilian Population in a genocidal drive against the Palestinian freedom fighters, who defended the city with the utmost determination and valor.

When the Palestine leadership decided to withdraw from the city in response to an agreement pieced together by Ambassador Philip Habib, it was expected that the demonstration of such restraint and respect for negotiated peace would be fully honored and respected by Israel. The credibility of United States solemn assurances to responsible Arab Governments were at stake and depended on whether Israel would advance into west Beirut or finally withdraw from Lebanon.

Subsequent developments showed how little Israel was concerned with those weighty considerations. Following the assassination of the Lebanese President-elect, Israel moved its forces into West Beirut in contemptuous disregard of the agreement on the farcical pretext of preventing violence end bloodshed. Apart from eyewitness accounts establishing the fact of a ca1culated plan to destroy the refugee camps by a murderous onslaught, senior Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Sharon, have themselves admitted that the Israeli forces did nothing to stop the carnage. The refusal of the Government of Prime Minister Begin to allow an impartial investigation of the crime itself amounts to an admission of Israeli complicity in the perpetration of the holocaust.

It is ironical that all the resources of the United States, a super-Power, could not prevent Israel from setting in motion a process which ended inevitably in the massacre of the Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps. Any further delay in securing the Israeli withdrawal from West Beirut could impair beyond recovery confidence in the capacity of the United States to promote a negotiated peace in the region. We hope that the dispatch of the multinational forces, including United States Marines, will secure the immediate objective of safeguarding civilian lives and ensuring Israeli withdrawal from west Beirut.

It is a matter of regret that under Israeli pressure the United States obstructed a decision by the Security Council to station United Nations peace-keeping forces in west Beirut which, in our view, would have been a more effective step to ensure the restoration of conditions of peace and normality.

The United Nations bears a heavy responsibility to take urgent measures to redress the consequences of the crime that has been perpetrated in West Beirut. The Palestinians are in Lebanon because their homeland has been usurped. The United Nations has an obligation to protect their fundamental human rights and to act firmly and decisively to ensure that the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are safe from the predatory forces unleashed against them. The United Nations must also undertake a full investigation into the massacre, an exercise which should be facilitated by the deployment of the multi-national forces in west Beirut.

Apart from the urgent need to protect Palestinian civilians, secure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and take measures for the restoration of normality and peace in that ravaged country, the massacre in vest Beirut confronts the world with fundamental questions inherent in the Middle East conflict.

First and foremost, the central issue remains the fate of the Palestinian people and the exercise of self-determination by them in their homeland, which cannot be realized without Israeli withdrawal from the Arab and Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem. It is clear that peace will not return to the Middle East so long as the Palestinian people are denied their legitimate and inalienable national rights.

Secondly, it is equally clear that the security of Israel is a contrived issue which is being fully exploited in the pursuit of an expansionist policy. Driven by its relentless ambition to annex the occupied territories into "greater Israel" and force their indigenous population into permanent exile, Israel has never sincerely responded to opportunities for peace. More than ever before, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon should leave no doubt that Israel's policies are not motivated by its concern for security, but by an obsessive desire to establish its military diktat and hegemony in the region.

Today, in the aftermath of the invasion of Lebanon, serious initiatives have been launched for bringing about a Just and durable peace in the Middle East. The Arab leaders in Fez, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, have demonstrated beyond doubt the sincerity of their approach to a negotiated peace. It remains the responsibility of this world body, especially the Member States which carry influence with Israel, to ensure that this opportunity is not lost. The inhumanity committed against the innocent Palestinian men, women and children in west Beirut last week demands that we transform our shock and indignation into a resolve to bring justice to the Palestinian people, to which the United Nations remains committed.*

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* Mr. Sherifis (Cyprus), Vice-President, took the Chair.

The PRESIDENT: The next speaker is the representative of Kuwait, who will speak on behalf of the Arab States.

Mr. ABULHASSAN (Kuwait) (interpretation from Arabic): It gives me pleasure to address the Assembly today on behalf of the Arab Group, over which it is my honor to preside this month.

Our Foreign Ministers will have the opportunity to congratulate Mr. Hollai on his assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh session. However, I feel it is my duty to join those who preceded me in paying a tribute to his wide experience in international affairs and his friendly country's support for our Arab causes. I wish him all success in conducting the affairs of the Assembly at this resumed session.

The seventh emergency special session has been resumed today to deal with the hideous massacre committed by the invading Israeli army in Beirut against innocent Palestinians and Lebanese in an effort to liquidate the Palestinian people and dismember Lebanese unity. Israel has outdone even itself with barbarism and savagery matched only by the barbarism and savagery of the Middle Ages.

The Israeli rulers are now trying by all means to avoid responsibility for this massacre, which brings back memories of the Nazi atrocities of the 1940s.  With every passing day more light is thrown on the actual Israeli role in this massacre, which has earned the disgust of all the people and is looked upon as a shameful act everywhere and even by some Israelis. The damaging facts call for all fair-minded people in the world to reject the flimsy Israeli arguments aimed at avoiding responsibility by any means.

It is our conviction that the massacres perpetrated by Israel were premeditated and planned since the Israeli incursion into west Beirut, after the Palestinian combatants had withdrawn in accordance with an agreement whose provisions were guaranteed by the United States through the personal representative of its President.

As has always been its custom, Israel does not respect any covenant or agreement. Its ambitions know no bounds and its behavior is not governed by any values or principles. Hence what it perpetrated in Beirut was not only an act against the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples but also a challenge directed against the conscience and dignity of the world and against humanity, for which this régime has so blatantly and arrogantly shown so little respect.

This massacre is not the first to have been perpetrated by the rulers of Israel. It was preceded by the massacres of Deir Yassin, Kibyeh and Kafr Qasem While the massacres differ in magnitude, they all have in common the aim of terrorizing the Palestinians wherever they may be so as to make them acquiesce and abandon their claims to their lands and their rights and to pave the way for the implementation of the Zionist plan that is the dream of Menachem Begin and his lackeys – namely, the creation of Greater Israel or what they call Eretz Israel. There is no doubt that that is what was in Begin's mind when he decided to perpetrate the Deir Yassin massacre in 1947, when he was the leader of the terrorist gang known as the Irgun.

Israel considers that the only way to create Greater Israel is the perpetration of more massacres, which it hopes will eventually lead to the Palestinians once and for all leaving their homes in the occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza. This leads us to believe that the Shatila and Sabra massacres will not be the last to be perpetrated by the rulers of Israel, who, it seems, have no desire whatsoever for any peaceful settlement based on an exchange of land for peace; rather, they seem intent upon having both peace and the land.

It is time that the international community realized all the expansionist and racist policies and strategies which Israel is so diligently and so actively carrying out piecemeal. Israel is aided and abetted by the community's failure to adopt effective resolutions of condemnation and punishment against the unending crimes of Israel, especially in the Security Council, which unfortunately has become a pawn for the United States Government, which uses its veto power against any draft resolutions aimed at condemning Israel or imposing sanctions on it.

There is no doubt that, in its capacity as the main contributor to the creation of Israel and as the protector and arsenal of Israel, the United States is the only Power that could cut Israel down to size. In this regard, allow me to quote part of the final communiqué issued by the Arab Foreign Ministers at their emergency meeting in Tunis on 22 September 1982:

"The United States, by its insistence on continuing to supplement the Israeli war machine to render political support to Israel in international forums and to side with Israel against Arab rights, particularly the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, is defying the entire Arab nation. With this policy the United States is jeopardizing its international credibility, not only because it is a super-Power and a permanent member of the Security Council, which is responsible for international peace and security, but also because it has provided the Lebanese Government and the Palestine Liberation Organization with guarantees that it will protect the security of the Lebanese civilians and the Palestine refugee camps as well as prevent the Israeli forces from entering West Beirut.

"Consequently the Council considers the United States to share legal and moral responsibility for what happened to defenseless civilians in Beirut in the aftermath of the withdrawal of the multi-national forces. The Council also expresses its deep thanks and appreciation to all the Governments and peoples of the world as well as to all sections of world public opinion which have strongly spoken out against the crimes of Israel. The Council also hopes that this support and assistance for the cause of the people of Palestine will continue."

It is time for statements to stop, to allow time for serious thinking and for action to prevent this clique of Israeli war criminals from implementing their designs which violate the principles of humanity and international law. The blood of innocents, of children and women, which flowed in the streets of west Beirut cries out to us that it is tine for the international community to act firmly and effectively to prevent a repetition of such massacres which have become a permanent slogan of Zionist ideology as understood by the rulers of Israel; for the international community to assert itself against this organized Israeli barbarism as it previously asserted itself effectively against Nazism which jeopardized the security of the world; and for the world's States to make concerted efforts to frustrate the Zionist plot, impose the urgent and unconditional withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Lebanon, and guarantee the security, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of fraternal Lebanon.

The displaced Palestinian People has experienced agonies and horrors, and it is incumbent upon the international community to guarantee for this people its legitimate right to achieve self-determination, to return to its homeland and to establish its independent state under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, its sole legitimate representative.

Mr. ALBORNOZ (Ecuador) (interpretation from Spanish): Please allow me to congratulate the President of the General Assembly, and therefore the President of this special emergency session. His skill and experience are a guarantee of the success of our work. My Foreign Minister will be expressing to him the best wishes of the Government of Ecuador during the general debate at the thirty-seventh regular session.

Ecuador's position has been very clearly expressed on the issue of Palestine and other agenda items on the basis of our absolute rejection of the use of force in international relations, the acquisition of territory by armed occupation and our adherence to the principle of the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Ecuador therefore has firmly maintained the need for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from territories whose inhabitants should decide their own destiny freely, through democratic processes and without external pressures.

But in the specific case of Lebanon, the use of violence has reached inconceivable extremes as evidenced by the massacre of Palestinian civilians in refugee camps in west Beirut. In this connection, as soon as this crime against mankind was known, the Government of Ecuador, through the President of the Republic, issued the following statement:

Therefore, my delegation will support any initiative that emerges from this debate designed to reaffirm the fundamental principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, to condemn the criminal killing of Palestinians in Beirut, and to ensure the implementation of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Security Council.

The PRESIDENT: I now call on the representative of Ghana, who will speak on behalf of the African States.

Mr. GBEHO (Ghana): It is indeed with mixed feelings that I speak on this sad occasion on behalf of the members of the African Group of States at the United Nations, to make a humble contribution to the debate on the question of Palestine at this special emergency session of the General Assembly.

Since this is the first time that I am speaking in the General Assembly since the election by acclamation of His Excellency Mr. Imre Hollai to the high post of President of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly, I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate him most warmly on behalf of all my colleagues in the African Group of countries at the United Nations, on behalf of my delegation, and on my own behalf.

I am confident that his wide experience in the diplomatic field, his keen knowledge of and familiarity with the negotiating procedures at the United Nations and his other outstanding personal qualities will enable him to steer the deliberations on this complex and most delicate matter to a successful conclusion. I wish, therefore, to assure him of our constant support for and co-operation with him throughout the present session and throughout his term of office as the President of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly.

Even though the agenda item being considered today comes under the general title of "Question of Palestine", I wish to focus attention on the horrifying and politically untenable situation in Beirut. It is something which puzzles the international community and of which an explanation is urgently required.

Only a few days ago the world was shocked by the unexpected news of the brutal massacre of Palestinian men, women and children in their camps in Beirut. Even though it was not the first time that the world had been informed of the senseless killing of Palestinians, the news in this case was very painful and utterly revolting because of the vicious, insensitive and indiscriminate way in which the defenseless victims had been executed. The nature of the killings, as was clearly evident from the pictures provided by the mass media, unfortunately demonstrated the savagery and the demented hatred of the perpetrators of the crime and proved how bestial the conduct of humans can be if they are encouraged in wrongdoing. I therefore participate in the debate today, on behalf of the African Group of countries at the United Nations, in order to express publicly our revulsion at and condemnation of the barbarism that was perpetrated in Beirut and, perhaps more important, to lend support to any effort that may be launched by this Assembly to achieve a guarantee against the repetition of such genocide.

It is an incontrovertible fact that the present decade is politically more uncertain and more precarious, in terms of the potential for global conflict than it has ever been since the creation of the United Nations.  We seem to have arrived at a period in international relations when conflicts between nations and the hatred of one people for another have become so intense as to negate the noble objective of the United Nations of fostering a world order in which peace and harmony would characterize relations among nations and peoples. As the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, has quite rightly indicated in his annual report to the General Assembly, armed conflicts have proliferated; repression and exploitation, with their concomitant resistance and violent opposition, have found their way into the scheme of things, in some cases as a result of territorial ambitions and greed, in others out of sheer arrogance and insensitivity, in spite of established norms of civilized international behavior and world public opinion. Our brave new world is thus locked in conflict, tension and fear, but nowhere is this state of affairs more poignant, more immediate to the world situation, nowhere does it more clearly constitute the single greatest potential danger to international peace and security, than in the Middle East, which has known no peace or tranquillity for the past three decades.

It is equally true that a review of the explosive situation in that area at every turn directly involves the State of Israel, which has never failed to be the channel for and instigator, whether on its own or through the proddings of others, of the rather parlous state of affairs in the area. Israel has always exacerbated the tension in the area because of its traditional hatred of the Palestinian–, because of wanton and boastful exhibition of its military might and its contemptuous disregard of the legitimate aspirations of the sovereign States in the area.

A few months ago we were witnesses to unprovoked military aggression by Israel against the sovereign State of Lebanon, an act which brought in its wake the tragic devastation of entire Lebanese cities, the killing and maiming of innocent civilians, including women and children, and inestimable material losses. Israel gave the world to understand that its military action was necessary and was designed to uproot an arch enemy, the Palestine Liberation Organization, from the territory of its northern neighbor, Lebanon. It should not require any logic to discern the illegality of this action and the speciousness of the reason behind it.  But the Israeli action was greeted with murmurs of protest and condemnation only, without any effective action against it, and thus allowed to continue.

On the other hand, the good will of the PLO, its understanding and desire for peace in the area, were demonstrated in its agreement to withdraw from Beirut, even under the Habib plan, in confident expectation that Palestinian refugees left in the city would be allowed to live in peace and the city be spared further Israeli genocide. This expectation was without doubt shared by large sections of the international community. Acting with the trust which the circumstances of the situation demanded, France, Italy and the United States withdrew troops they had earlier dispatched to Beirut to help and supervise the PLO withdrawal, but the chicanery and the true intentions of Israel soon became apparent. Its soldiers and military gear were once more moved with lightning speed into Beirut, within days of the departure of the multinational force, for the ostensible reason of preventing disorder which might follow the death of President-elect Bashir Gemayel. This Assembly will recollect that almost the entire international community condemned the Israeli incursion into Beirut and demanded an immediate withdrawal, but the disapproval and the call fell on deaf ears. As events of the last few days have shown, this action has again proved to have been premeditated, as the true objective has proved to be far removed from what Israel gave the world to understand.

At the time of the Israeli occupation of Beirut it was obvious to all except the Israelis that Lebanon could not regain peace and self-respect unless the Israelis withdrew at least from Beirut, but the stubbornness that has become the Israeli trade mark made the Begin Government ignore the pertinent advice of even the United States Government, which is the chief supplier of arms to Israel. Today the whole world has seen that the genocide committed, although perhaps not committed by the Israeli forces directly, is none the less revealing of the true intentions of the Ariel Sharon forces.

Some authentic accounts reveal direct Israeli involvement and in other cases assistance in the indiscriminate and tragic massacre of Palestinian refugees, including women and children, in their camps at Sabra and Shatila. Doctors, whose profession enjoins them to save lives, became victims. Even pet animals were not spared. Some accounts indicate that Israeli troops stationed at their observation posts provided flares to light and expose the targets of the perpetrators of this dastardly act. So horrendous was the program that the world will long remember it as one of the most unreasonable and macabre slaughters of human beings in many years, comparable only in its atrocity to such dark deeds as were witnessed in Sharpeville, My Lai and Soweto. We are amazed and appalled that a people which won the sympathy of the civilized world for its suffering under Hitler's Germany should set up and encourage such unspeakable Gestapo methods in dealing with others.

The Israeli army cannot escape blame even in the unlikely event of anyone accepting the claim of innocence made by Defense Minister Ariel Sharon two days ago, on 22 September 1982,in his statement to the Israeli Parliament on the incident. He admitted that it had been agreed between the Israeli Defense Forces and the Phalangists that the latter should enter the refugee camps to destroy terrorists. I am wondering whether Ariel Sharon thought, in entering into this clearly ominous agreement, that the armed Phalangists would do other than unleash brutality on cadres which the whole world knows have been considered as arch-enemies by the Phalangists. How else did he expect the so-called terrorists to be destroyed?  Mr. Sharon's whole explanation of the dark incident in the Sabra and Shatila camps reeks of many contradictions with which I do not intend to bore representatives. But I believe it is more honorable to accept blame for wrong-doing than to offer explanations and excuses which are clearly disingenuous. Ariel Sharon and his murderous Israeli forces cannot escape blame nor the guilty verdict of history, for, as members of a race that was the victim of pogroms in our lifetime, it is unthinkable that they could have allowed, nay, condoned, such genocide.

Both the General Assembly and the Security Council have adopted numerous resolutions condemning Israeli interference in and aggression against neighboring Arab States, particularly Lebanon, but Israel's arrogance and disrespect for this Organization have been demonstrated several times over by its disregard for decisions. This body cannot and dare not continue indefinitely with condemnations which have no effect on a recalcitrant Israel or with resolutions which Israel has no intention of respecting and which it contemptuously ignores. If there is one act that has demonstrated beyond any doubt that firm and concrete action is needed against Israel it is this senseless massacre of innocent refugees, for which Israel is

substantially to blame. The Israeli part in this unspeakable brutality calls for the most serious consideration by the General Assembly with a view to taking firm and decisive action under the Charter that would serve as a deterrent to all.

In this regard, we hope that those who have sheltered and. given political, diplomatic, military and economic succor to Israel in spite of its transgressions will rethink their ways. They should understand that they themselves must also bear some of the responsibility for the Beirut tragedy because of their failure to discipline precocious Begin and his warmongering Government. It is simple logic that if these Powers continue to use their military and economic might to prevent the United Nations from achieving its objectives, global anarchy is sure to result. As far as recalcitrant Israel and the Arab-Israeli situation are concerned, those who prevent the censuring of Israeli leaders should expect a share in the blame for such pogroms when they occur, as the Israeli forces believe indeed know – that all their actions will be underwritten by their Western friends at all costs. It is to prevent such horrors that the United Nations was created and its Charter defined. To promote the defiance of the United Nations tenets and the bypassing of its machinery for promoting peace, harmony and good-neighborliness is therefore indirectly to plunge us all back into the dark days of the Second World War, or something more horrifying. On this occasion, therefore, we wish candidly to tell those who are destroying the authority and relevance of the United Nations in Lebanon and elsewhere that we cannot agree to play the part of the chorus in a Greek tragedy, helplessly beating our breasts and wringing our hands while the dastardly deed is committed before our eyes. We intend to remain with the majority, who have expressed their belief in our common security, rather than to follow military adventures that are sure to lead us to perdition.

The Palestinian question is the responsibility of the United Nations in so far as the Palestinian people is under United Nations trusteeship and our Charter enjoins us to ensure social and political justice for all. It is high time, therefore, that the United Nations took concrete steps not only to put an end to the harassment and such massacres of Palestinians by Israel, but also to create a homeland and a State for the Palestinians. It is because this objective continues to elude the Palestinians that they have become the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In this regard, we are constrained to pay attention to President Reagan's peace proposals, which require the recognition of Israel and its security needs as against a form of internal self-government for Palestinian inhabitants of the West Dank and the Gaza Strip without any provision for guarantees of their inalienable rights to statehood. One could legitimately question the need for and the viability, in terms of national aspirations, of a group of people living within the confines of a territorial area without the sovereign status of statehood. Nor would such a proposal solve the basic problem between the Arabs and Israel, having regard to the existing status of Israel as a sovereign independent State contiguous to Arab nations. We believe that until and unless the rights of the Palestinian people, under its sole and legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), have been accepted and recognized as such and a Palestinian State restored to it, any other proposal that discriminates in favor only of Israel begs the crux of the problem.

We venture to repeat to Israel's traditional allies that any attempt to solve the Palestinian question in isolation, any attempt which ignores the existing border problems, will prove a failure. Any attempt at a solution should be preceded by the acceptance and rigid application of the principle of the inadmissibility of annexation of land through conquest, as enshrined in the Geneva Convention of 1949. For it is only when Arab lands seized by Israel in 1949 have been returned to those to whom they belong that the right atmosphere will prevail for negotiations, leading to the peace and security we all desire to see in the area.

As I said at the beginning of this statement, we raise our voice today in concert with all men and women of conscience, both inside and outside Israel, to protest the dastardly murders in Beirut. We, the African Member States of the United Nations, wish to tell the world that we are sickened enough by these brutal killings which we have repeatedly witnessed in Angola, in Mozambique, in Zambia, and now in Beirut. They are the acts of paranoid and demented Governments which are consumed by either the passions of racial bigotry or religious intolerance. In this particular case, we believe that the United Nations should be given support to deal firmly with this very obvious threat to international peace and security posed by the Pretoria-Tel Aviv axis before we are all engulfed in another global war. No one country, however militarily or economically significant, can achieve international peace on its own. To claim such a possibility is merely to indulge in bitter self-delusion, which is bound to fail, as the Beirut situation has proved. It calls for the agreement and participation of all countries, great and small, strong and weak, to forge an indestructible international peace. Ho other way is possible or viable.

We recognize and appreciate the initiative taken by France. Italy and the United States to send troops to Beirut once more, but such an action, as well as other attempts to handle this explosive issue outside the United Nations, laudable as they are, tend to circumvent the United Nations and thereby ignore and undermine the role which we have pledged for it under the Charter.

Perhaps the time has come for us all to re-examine the peace-keeping role of the United Nations with a view to reinforcing it and making it more efficient. What need is barely reason enough for subverting the authority and good work of the United Nations.

We hope therefore that this Assembly will exercise its collective the responsibility in calling for a full and impartial investigation of the mass murders committed in Beirut last week with a view to having the culprits brought to book. In that regard, the recent decision taken by the Israeli Government to investigate the incident at an appropriate time in the future is unacceptable and must be rejected out of hand. We strongly recommend an international investigation under the authority of the United Nations to ensure that the report is impartial, that all the facts are brought to light and that those guilty are punished.

Peace in the world should be the goal for all of us because without it there can be no progress nor can there be a rational ordering of the affairs of mankind. Let us all resolve in our individual ways and collectively to work towards peace so that we may leave a proud legacy to succeeding generations.

Mr. LING Qing (China) (interpretation from Chinese): At the outset, allow me, in the name of the head of the Chinese delegation, to extend our congratulations to the President on his assumption of the presidency of the resumed, emergency special session.

A little over a month ago, the session was convened at which representatives from different countries unanimously and sternly condemned the Israeli army's invasion of Lebanon, siege of Beirut, attack on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and killing of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians, and strongly demanded that the Israeli authorities comply with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council by promptly lifting the siege of Beirut and withdrawing unconditionally all their aggressor troops from Lebanon. The session adopted a resolution calling for the free exercise in Palestine of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination without external interference and to national independence, and again requesting the Secretary-General to initiate contacts with all the parties concerned, including the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people, to find concrete ways and means of achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting solution.

Where have been noteworthy developments in the Middle East situation since then. The Palestine Liberation Organization and the Arab countries have actively worked for a comprehensive and just solution of the Middle East question. Having regard to the overall interests, the PLO has withdrawn its headquarters and armed forces from Beirut. The formula worked out by the twelfth Arab Summit meeting held recently in Fez, Morocco, has provided a sound basis for a just and reasonable solution of the Palestinian question and the whole Middle East question. In view of these developments, the international community had hoped that progress could be made towards a peaceful settlement of the Middle East question.

Contrary to the expectations of the people, however, the situation in the Middle East has further deteriorated. The Israeli authorities are still obdurately clinging to their policies of aggression and expansion. The Israeli aggressor troops, instead of pulling back after the evacuation of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Beirut, have repeatedly provoked hostilities in eastern and central Lebanon. The Israeli authorities have not only totally rejected the eight-point Arab plan, but also advanced many unreasonable pre-conditions for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, creating thereby numerous obstacles to the restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty.

What was most intolerable was that soon after the tragic death of Lebanon's President-elect, Mr. Bashir Gemayel, the Israeli aggressor troops violated the agreement between the parties concerned. They entered west Beirut in force, attacked the Moslem militia and plotted the cold-blooded massacre of hundreds of defenseless Palestinian civilians in the two refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. This is a new debt of blood owed by the Israeli authorities to the Palestinian people.

In a statement on 22 September, the Premier of the State Council of China, Zhao Ziyang, voiced a strong condemnation of Israel's savage aggression and atrocities. I wish to take this opportunity to express, on behalf of the Chinese Government and people, our profound sympathy for the miseries of the Palestinian people and our deep condolence to the bereaved families. Israeli aggression against Lebanon must be stopped. Those responsible for the Fascist atrocities must be punished.

By grossly trampling underfoot Lebanon's sovereignty and massacring large numbers of hapless civilians, the Israeli array has not only seriously violated the norms of international law, but also posed a flagrant challenge to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, to the humanitarian principles of the 1949 Geneva Convention and to the international community as a whole. Faced with such violation and challenge, the United Nations must not remain indifferent and inactive, but should immediately consider, pursuant to operative paragraph 8 of resolution A/ES-7/5 and the relevant provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter, the adoption of emergency measures to impose necessary sanctions against the aggressors and due punishment to the culprits.

The situation in Lebanon and the Middle East as a whole is at a grave and crucial juncture. Israel must be forced to withdraw all its troops immediately and unconditionally from Lebanon. That is the fundamental way to restore Lebanon's sovereignty and remove the crisis in that country. In order to facilitate a comprehensive and just solution of the Middle East question, Israel must also be forced to withdraw from all Arab territories occupied since 1967, including the Holy City of Jerusalem; to the Palestinian people must be restored their legitimate rights, including the right to national self-determination, the right to return to their homeland and establish their own state; and all countries in the Middle East should enjoy the right to peace, independence and existence. The Chinese Government and people firmly support the Palestinian and other Arab peoples in their just struggle and will, as always, work together with them and make due contribution to the cause of peace in the Middle East.

Mr. ULRICHSEN (Denmark): I should like to begin on a personal note and congratulate His Excellency Mr. Imre Hollai, and you, Sir, on your election to your respective high offices. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the ten member States of the European Community.

We are all deeply conscious of the terrible events in Beirut, which have prompted the resumption of this emergency special session of the General Assembly.

Following these tragic events, the Foreign Ministers of the Ten at their meeting in Brussels on 20 September 1982 made the following statement:

The Ten wish to take this opportunity to extend their profound sympathy to the grieving families and friends of the victims.

Israel has claimed that it was necessary for its forces to enter west Beirut in order to maintain law and order. While the full facts remain to be established – and the Ten hope that this will soon be done – it is clear, however, that the ruthless massacre took place at a time when Israeli forces had assumed control in the area.

In adopting resolution 521 (1982) the Security Council recognized the urgent need for necessary measures to be taken to ensure the safety of the civilian population in Beirut and avert the risk of further bloodshed. The Ten note with satisfaction that the number of United Nations observers in and around Beirut has been increased, as called for in that resolution.

The Ten trust that the United Nations observers will enjoy full co-operation in the discharge of their task.

In the course of the consultations provided for in resolution 521 (1982), the Lebanese Government informed the Secretary.-General of its wish for the reconstitution of the multinational forces. The Ten welcome the decision by France, Italy and the United States to respond promptly to this request and are pleased to note that the first units from this force have now arrived in Beirut. They hope that this will contribute to the security of the civilian population and help create a basis for renewed efforts towards the successful restoration of the independence and national unity of Lebanon.

The recent tragic events in Lebanon have added further to an already horrific toll in human suffering and material destruction. It is now more than ever incumbent upon all concerned to work constructively towards the achievement of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East which would take account of all aspects of the problem, including the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

Mr. TREIKI (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (interpretation from Arabic)  Our brothers the Ambassadors of Ghana and Kuwait spoke on behalf of, respectively, the African and Arab Groups, to which my country has the honor to belong. I support what they said. I would have liked to stop at this point but the grave events, the situation faced by our Arab nation and the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples, and the recent massacre perpetrated by Israeli neo-nazism, all make it incumbent upon me to speak. I shall not speak at length.

Today we are discussing the occupation by neo-nazism of the Lebanese capital and the massacres of large numbers of Palestinian and Lebanese people. In the recent past we discussed the occupation by the racist neo-Nazis of southern Lebanon; in the not so recent past, in 1967, we discussed the occupation by the racist, expansionist, Zionist entity of the remaining part of Palestine and of Arab territory, namely, the Syrian Golan Heights, and in 1948 we discussed the occupation of Palestine by the racist Zionist entity.

Who knows what we shall discuss tomorrow. The occupation of Damascus?  The occupation of Amman? The occupation of Libya? The occupation of any part of the Arab homeland or any part of Africa by racist zionism, supported by imperialism – especially in the light of the fact that Great Britain at one time proposed the establishment of an entity for racist zionism in Argentina, or in Uganda, in Africa, or even in the eastern part of the Arab Jamahiriya.

But history reminds us also that Hitler occupied Austria, and that he occupied Czechoslovakia, Albania and France. Where is Hitler now? Begin and his racist clique will sooner or later meet the same fate as Hitler.

The Arab nation, when it addresses this Assembly, and I personally, as an Arab citizen, feel ashamed because the world has recognized the logic of force and the logic of occupation. Otherwise, what have we done as the General Assembly and as the United Nations? What can we do? Nothing except to adopt resolutions which we add to hundreds of other resolutions that have been disregarded by the Zionist entity, with the support and assistance of the United States.

In the final analysis, the decision will be that of our Arab nation. We have been colonized by fascist Italy and before it by France and Great Britain and by European crusaders. Where are they now? They have departed. Where is the racism of Smith in Rhodesia?

We have here the representative of the free people of Zimbabwe, and tomorrow the representative of the racist Zionist entity will disappear, to be replaced by the representative of Palestine, not as an observer, but as a representative of the people of Palestine. History and struggle – the struggle of our nation – will provide the solution.

The tragedy which the Palestinian people has endured and is still enduring at the hands of the Zionist gangs reaffirms for us and proves beyond any doubt not only that this Nazi, racist, expansionist policy will occupy Palestine and its capital, Jerusalem, and will not stop at the occupation of the Golan Heights, south Lebanon and the Lebanese capital, but that we will witness more occupation. The Zionist enemy will not stop at that but will pursue the Palestinian people wherever they may be, to liquidate them.

This has been demonstrated in the genocide perpetrated by the invading Zionist forces in the Palestine refugee camps in occupied Beirut. These bone-chilling massacres involved the old and the young, women and children, with one common identity – that of the Palestinian people.

The Zionists, since the occupation of Lebanon, have been declaring their policy quite clearly, and before the entry of their forces into Beirut they declared, after the withdrawal of the American forces – which bear a large responsibility for these massacres – that they, the Zionists, entered Beirut to eliminate the remaining terrorists.

But who are left there? Children, women and old people. The Nazi-Zionist gangs cannot therefore absolve themselves of full responsibility for the massacres perpetrated in Beirut. The entire world has witnessed, through the mass media, the scenes of the martyrs falling, the mass graves for entire families – something, unprecedented in history, except for the massacres perpetrated by the same Zionist racist, Begin, in Deir Yassin and other places during his long terrorist and racist history. It is a shameful stigma on humanity – and especially on the American people, if they do not act to wipe out this stigma, because it was the United States which imposed the agreement whereby the Palestinian resistance was evacuated from Beirut to open the way for the Zionist forces and the lackeys of Zionism, such as the traitor Saad Haddad and the other isolationist militia. These horrendous acts, which are inconceivable, have convinced the world, as demonstrated by its Collective indignation on both the popular and the official level, that the Zionist entity is based on bloodshed, murder, destruction and terrorism; it is an entity based on prevarication and deceit; it is an entity which, under the pretext of the attempted assassination of the Zionist Ambassador in London, occupied Lebanon is an entity which exploited the assassination of the Lebanese President-elect, who was undoubtedly murdered by Zionist gangs acting in support of the occupation of Beirut. History informs us that Britain once killed its Ambassador in Cairo in order to occupy the Sudan. History is repeating itself.

Once more, when the ink with which Philip Habib had signed his guarantees was hardly dry, Israeli forces stormed Beirut. There we see the scenario:  the United States rejects and condemns the genocide, and then, after Israel accomplishes its task and eliminates the "terrorists" – that is, the women and children – the United States forces return, perhaps to give another opportunity to the Zionist gangs to attack the remaining Palestinians in the refugee camps. But the American people has clearly expressed through its awakened conscience its condemnation of these massacres. I am sure that the American people feels responsibility for and is fully aware of what happened. For the weapons used to murder Palestinians are American, and the United States forces paved the way for the Zionist entity to enter Beirut. Sharon, the racist Nazi, admitted that the Israelis arranged, in agreement with the Fascists, the plan for their entry into the refugee camps, while he tried to absolve the Nazi forces themselves of the responsibility for the massacre. Who can believe that terrorist, whose hands are stained with blood?

The Jamahiriya has from the very beginning warned about the seriousness of the Zionist-American plot designed to eliminate the Palestinian resistance with a view to imposing solutions of capitulation and the evacuation of the Palestinian resistance from Beirut, to pave the way for the entry of the Zionist forces with the least possible losses and for the imposition of a fait accompli on the Moslems in west Beirut, and then, later on, for the destruction of the Palestinians and Moslems called by the terrorist Sharon as the fanatic "Muribatun".

All these aggressions and all these crimes of the neo-Nazis could not have been perpetrated without continued United States aid and support, paid for by the United States citizens, to be used in murdering innocent civilians and destroying schools, hospitals, cities and villages. This has drawn the attention of the United States public opinion, which has started to become conscious of the situation and is seriously thinking about the expansionist intentions of the Zionist entity. As stated in The New York Times of 5 September, the technical committee of the American Federation of Labor has called for the suspension of United States aid to Israel and for the spending of this money inside the United States on the American people, which needs it badly.

On 22 September the United States journalist James Reston called for the suspension of assistance to Israel if it persisted in its policy towards the occupied Arab territories. He stated that one fourth of American foreign aid goes to the Zionist entity, that each individual in that entity received $750 of American aid – that is, more than the unemployed American receives in Detroit – and that the Israeli weapons which destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor and were used to attack Syria and to invade Beirut were brought from the United States.

It is truly regrettable that while brutal acts are still taking place in Beirut and while corpses are still being recovered from under the rubble, we find the Security Council unable to adopt any resolution on any effective measure to punish the aggressor, but merely recommending the dispatch of a group of observers.

The United States imposes an economic boycott on Cuba, Libya and other countries for the simple reason that the peoples of those countries have decided to exercise self-determination and have rejected United States hegemony. The United States refuses to impose any sanctions on the Zionist entity and even on South Africa; rather, it gives legitimacy and weapons of destruction to the enemies of humanity in Palestine and in South Africa.

All this affirms the involvement of the United States in the series of crimes perpetrated by the Zionist forces. We find that some United States officials are eager to justify these crimes, instead of condemning them and denouncing them.

The attempt to humiliate the Arab nation and to exploit its present circumstances and impose Nazi, Zionist and American hegemony on the area will not succeed. The Arab nation has an ancient history with an old civilization, and very soon it will be capable not only of eliminating the aggression but of terminating it once and for all.

Will the conscience of humanity awaken now? Will the conscience of those who gave Begin the Nobel Peace Prize awaken now or will they give him another Nobel Peace Prize for the massacre in Beirut? This is the question. But as an Arab nation with a long history we can say, in spite of our belief in human rights and in the ability of peoples, that our experience with the United Nations has been a tragic one, as the leader of our revolution said. Our people may lose confidence in the United Nations if the situation persists and if the Security Council remains an American national Security Council and not an instrument of the United Nations for maintaining peace and security.

This is our collective responsibility as small nations; the time has come for us to make this Organization an effective one and to say to the United States Administration, "The world is not the United States and the world which was unanimous in fighting Hitler and destroying nazism must unite again to destroy Nazi-racist zionism in Tel Aviv and history will undoubtedly repeat itself".

Now that our conscience is about to awaken, we must shoulder our responsibility as a General Assembly and adopt effective and appropriate resolutions which can tell the neo-Nazis that the world will not be silent when faced by their crimes and will punish them. The draft resolution now before us can be nothing but a weak reaction to mass murders. We seem to be unable even to include specific names. In the draft resolution we denounce the massacres in Beirut. But who perpetrated those massacres? It was not the Puerto Rican people but the new Hitler, Begin, supported by the United States. Let us call things by their names and openly condemn the expansionist, racist Israeli policy.

Are we afraid of the American threat? Or do we want a piece of paper without value? Such a paper could not have eliminated the nazism of Hitler had not the entire world and the peoples of Europe themselves taken action.

As I said at the outset, I feel ashamed as an Arab. We feel a loss of faith. We feel that it is time to take the following action: First, we must expel the Zionist entity from the international Organization – that is the least we can do in this regard; and castigate the Zionist gangs by declaring their illegitimacy – that is the least we can do. Secondly, we must impose military, political and economic sanctions against that entity, as provided for by the Charter and by the Declaration on Human Rights as well as by all norms of international behavior. Thirdly, we must adopt a clear position vis-a-vis all countries that help the Zionist enemy materially and in human terms and call on them to refrain immediately from doing so – that is the least we can do. Fourthly, we must call on the United States to shoulder its moral responsibility and take a serious view of the situation, without regard for domestic electoral considerations – that is a historic responsibility of the American people, and the United States Administration must shoulder its responsibility. Fifthly, we must establish an international tribunal to bring the Zionist-Nazi terrorist Begin and his gang members like Sharon to trial – a trial like the one at Nuremberg – that is an absolute imperative. Finally, we must declare 17 September an international day of mourning and denunciation of racist zionism and neo-nazism so that our people may remain aware and so that the massacres will not be just a passing cloud, with the mass media – controlled by imperialism and nazi-zionism – changing in a few days the course of events and making us forget that tragedy.

This draft resolution is hardly strong enough to express our feelings. My delegation will have an opportunity to explain its position concerning the text when it is submitted to the Assembly.

Mr. GOLOB (Yugoslavia): Once again I congratulate Mr. Imre Hollai on his election to the high and responsible post of President of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly.

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the non-aligned countries in Europe.

At present a concerted effort by all countries is necessary in order to block the use of force as an instrument in international relations.

At previous series of meetings of the seventh emergency special session of the General Assembly, most of us have repeatedly stressed the dramatic deterioration of the situation in the region of the Middle East owing to the continued Israeli aggression. In August we warned that the blatant use of force would, if not checked, lead to genocide.*

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* Sir Egerton Richardson (Jamaica), Vice-President, took the Chair.

The non-aligned countries, the mainstay of support for the just cause of the Palestinian people and the Palestine Liberation Organization, have rightly asked for the seventh emergency special session of the General Assembly to be resumed.

The ink had barely dried on the resolution we adopted at that time when Israel brought about a new chapter of bloodshed, death and suffering for the Palestinian people in disregard of the decisions of the General Assembly.

For decades the Palestinian people have been denied their independence and freedom, and a life befitting a human being. A crime of enormous proportions has been perpetrated against this people and its children, a crime for which Israel is fully responsible.

While we in the United Nations are reaffirming the principles of self-determination and independence for the people of Palestine, the bayonet and the bullet are used in an attempt to do away with everything alive and Palestinian. We see in the latest aggression by Israel ample proof that any expansion and any use of force to influence the destiny of other peoples always results in a crime against humanity.

But let us once again assert here that a people cannot be destroyed. There is no means and no instrument of slaughter that can extinguish the spirit of a people and its will to fight for independence and freedom – not even, as is the case with the Palestinian nation, when a nation is not in possession of even so much land as is needed for the burial of those who have been killed, and not even when it has been robbed of everything but its pride and its determination to fight for its right to exist and live in freedom.

It was this spirit and this determination of the Palestinian people that made implementation of their right to self-determination and independence one of the priority obligations of the United Nations and a widely recognized moral obligation of the international community at large.

We demand that this obligation to the Palestinian people and to the Palestine Liberation organization, its sole and legitimate representative be met without delay within the framework of the United Nations. We pledge our full co-operation to this end.

The bloodbath in Beirut makes it imperative for the United Nations to do everything to safeguard the entity and the integrity of the Palestinian people to safeguard their lives, to condemn the genocide and aggression perpetrated by Israel and to make Israel withdraw from Lebanon and other occupied Palestinian and Arab lands so as to create the conditions for building a basis for peace and stability.

Self-determination, independence, freedom and human rights have become inalienable values of mankind, and in the case of the Lebanese and the Palestinians they are all being trampled underfoot by the Israeli war machine.

These values may become devoid of any meaning if we do not most strongly condemn Israel for its brutal and impudent action, for which it is fully responsible, and by which it has once again undermined all plans and all efforts aimed at establishing peace in the Middle East. These values will be devoid of any meaning unless all of us do everything possible not to let it happen again and see to it that the Palestinian people and the Palestine Liberation Organization get full protection and assistance.

Yugoslavia has always approached the Middle East crisis, and any crisis for that matter, by giving support to countries and peoples resisting force and aggression and alien will and defending their independence and freedom. The message of support that the President of Yugoslavia, Petar Stambolic, sent to Yasser Arafat, the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was couched in these terms. The peoples of Yugoslavia have whole-heartedly rendered this support, remembering the arduous struggle they waged for their own liberation.

Upon learning of the massacre, the Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia made a statement reflecting the intensity of the anguish felt and the condemnation voiced by the people and political organizations of Yugoslavia. That statement, inter alia, says that

In the aftermath of this great tragedy we find it necessary to repeat once again that the only possible solution to the Middle East crisis and to the Palestinian problem at its core is a comprehensive and political one based on the principles of the United Nations Charter and the principles of the policy of non-alignment.

The solution, I would repeat, can be achieved only on the following basis:  first, the withdrawal of Israel from all Arab and Palestinian territories occupied after 5 June 1967, including Jerusalem, secondly, exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, independence and sovereignty, including the establishment of its own State; thirdly, recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole representative of the Palestinian people and as bearer of its rights to sovereignty and independence; fourthly, recognition of the right of all States in the Middle East to security and independence fifthly, the securing of the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, on the basis of Security Council resolution 237 (1967), which was adopted unanimously; and, sixthly, a comprehensive approach to the solution based on United Nations decisions, including a search for more effective methods based on the Charter of the United Nations, of compelling Israel to comply with those decisions.

Mr. TROYANOVSKY (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (interpretation from Russian): Sir, may I first of all, on behalf of the delegation of the Soviet Union, welcome you, and also welcome the presence in this hall of the representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the fighting vanguard of the Palestinian people, conducting a heroic struggle for their sacred right to freedom and national independence. In a recent message to the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO, Mr. Arafat, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mr. L. I. Brezhnev, emphasized that "At this time of great suffering the Soviet Union remains on the side of the Arab people of Palestine and its sole legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization."

We believe that the just cause of the Palestinians will in the final analysis triumph. On your side are all patriotic forces of the Arab world and the solidarity of all honest people the world over.

Never before has the General Assembly met at such a critical moment, not only for the fate of the Palestinian people but for all peoples in the Middle East. The flames of war which have been burning for more than three months now have cast an insidious glare on the international situation as a whole. It has in fact had an imprint on the activities of the United Nations as well. In carrying out such broad-based aggression in Lebanon, the rulers of Israel have placed before themselves the task of the physical elimination of the Palestinians, first and foremost those who wage an organized strugg1e for the national right of the Arab people of Palestine.

Never has the Israeli aggressor been so cynical in acting, in flouting the inviolability of a sovereign country and in systematically carrying out massive murders of Palestinians and Lebanese, nor has it ever been so flagrant in violating generally recognized norms of international law, decisions of the Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly.  The culmination of the crimes carried out by the Israeli militarists in Lebanon has been the monstrous massacre which took place in the camps of the Palestinian refugees in Beirut. In flagrantly violating the decisions of the Security Council of the United Nations and in violating its own obligations in bad faith, Israel has seized the western part of Beirut after the withdrawal of the United Nations military formations. Furthermore, with the help of its own surrogates, it has carried out there a bloody butchery against the defenseless civilian population. Hundreds of people, old people, women and children, were shot simply because they were Palestinians. The bloody Bacchanalia organized by the Israeli military machine in Beirut stands alongside such monstrous crimes as those of the Hitlerite Nazis, the mass destruction of the people in Babi Yar, in Lidice and in Oradour. What Israel is doing in Lebanon is called genocide. It is genocide as regards the Palestinians, as was carried out by the Hitlerites vis-à-vis other peoples, including the Jewish people, during the years of the Second World War.

These cynical attempts of the Israeli rulers to absolve themselves of blame, for any connivance is not something which can enable then to Conceal the real truth: the cold-blooded killing of unarmed innocent people was planned in advance and was carried out under the control of the Israeli army with its direct co-operation. Even hopelessly simple people cannot be fooled by assertions to the effect that the Israeli soldiers who were 100 meters from the place of these bloody reprisals did not know what was going on in the Palestinian camps over a period of some 36 long hours of indescribable human tragedy. The terrible atrocities carried out by Israel in Lebanon give rise to pain and indignation on the part of all honest people, and the ruling clique in Israel will not be forgiven or forgotten for them.

But responsibility for these crimes lies not only with the rulers of Israel. It is also borne by those who put arms in the hands of the aggressor and virtually inspired its activities. In the course of the blood-letting war in Lebanon, the essence of the policy of the United States of America in the Middle East become especially clear. Its purpose is to ensure American hegemony in that area, to put under its own control the natural resources available to States there, and to reassert the military presence of the United States of America. That is the essence of the Camp David policy, and that is the purport of the strategic co-operation between Washington and Tel Aviv.

The American Administration at this very mordent continues to assure Tel Aviv that it does not intend to reduce its assistance to the Israeli military machine, and it is quite obvious that if it were not for the support of Washington, Israel would not have decided on such acts and would not be in a physical position to continue its criminal policy.

This is precisely why the League of Arab States at its recent meeting in Tunis quite rightly accused the United States of connivance with Israel in the massacre of Palestinians in Beirut. In Washington an attempt is now being made to demonstrate that they are trying to find a solution to the Middle East problem with the so-called Reagan plan. But the proposals of the United States are doomed in their very essence. They deny the right of the Palestinians to self-determination and to the establishment of their own State. As before, this all boils down to promises of so-called administrative autonomy for the Palestinians.  There is only complete silence on the only legitimate representative of the Arab people of Palestine, the Palestine Liberation Organization. Hence the American so-called initiative is nothing other than an old outworn attempt at a separate deal at the expense of the vital interests of the Palestinians and other Arabs which are now in a new advertised package.  This is nothing more than an attempt by Washington to come out of the international isolation into which it was led by its unconditional support for the expansionist policy of Israel.

The tragedy in Lebanon has once again urgently raised the issue of a need for the earliest possible solution to the Palestinian problem, not by behind-the-scenes machinations, but through a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict. Life itself requires an immediate and responsible attitude towards this matter. If talk is to be serious about the real developments towards a settlement in the Middle East, first and foremost we must force the aggressor to comply with the relevant decisions of the Security Council, to leave Lebanon, to cease provocation vis-à-vis Syria and to refrain from its own aggressive policy. A just and lasting peace in the Middle East, we are fully convinced, can and must be based on principles which coincide with general standards of international law, as well as with specific decisions of the Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly as they pertain to this problem.

These principles were once again reasserted by the Head of the Soviet State, Mr. Brezhnev, on 15 September of this year. He stated:

We note with satisfaction that the provisions mentioned, for which the Soviet Union has been struggling for many years, are in accordance with the basic principles of the solution of the Palestinian problem and of the Middle East problem as a whole as approved at the meeting of the Arab Heads of State and Government in Fez. This certainly does not apply to the proposals of a number of other countries. A useful role in furthering such a settlement could be played by the United Nations as has been repeatedly stated by the Soviet Union.

In conclusion, may I express the hope that the present emergency special session of the General Assembly will contribute to the establishment of a just and. lasting peace in the Middle East and that the Palestinian Arab people may be able finally to have its own land, its own homeland and its own State.

Mr. MARINESCU (Romania) (interpretation from French): I should like to take this first opportunity available to me to convey our most sincere congratulations to Mr. Imre Hollai, the representative of a friendly neighboring country, on his election as President of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly.

A week ago mankind found itself faced with horrors and atrocities which it thought had been relegated to the dim and distant past. Like many peoples the world over, the Romanian people learned with great emotion and profound indignation of the massacres which caused hundreds and hundreds of victims among Palestinian civilians – men, women and children, the young and the old – massacres perpetrated in the west Beirut Palestinian camps of Sabra and Shatila in the presence of Israeli troops and during occupation by them of that sector of the city.

It appears to be more than obvious and undeniable that these grave events, resolutely condemned by public opinion in my country and by the Romanian Government, as by peoples and Governments the world over, are a continuation of the brutal violation by Israel of resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and of agreements entered into relating to a cease-fire and military disengagement following the illegal occupation by Israeli military forces of west Beirut.

Romania and its President have continued to warn of the grave danger involved in these actions and have on more than one occasion called for an end to all military action on the Lebanese border and for Israeli forces not to advance on Beirut and occupy the city but to withdraw from Lebanon in order to end this chain of acts of aggression and violence, which can lead only to tragedy.

As was stated on 20 September last by the Romanian Press Agency, which was authorized to do so, the Romanian Government strongly condemns the atrocities committed in Beirut against the Palestinian civilian population, as well as the new aggressive acts of the Israeli army in Lebanon and the occupation of the western sector of that city. The Romanian Government strongly demands an unconditional end to Israeli aggression against the Lebanese people and the Palestinian population living in that country and the withdrawal of all Israeli groups from Beirut and from Lebanese territory as a whole.

The atrocities committed against the Palestinian population in west Beirut are so serious that it seems to us quite legitimate to comply with the almost unanimous demand of the world public, expressed by many Governments, by national and international organizations including Jewish organizations, and by people held in the highest esteem, that full light be shed on what happened in that martyred city and that the guilty be punished. As an expression of the feelings of solidarity existing between the Romanian people and the Palestinian people, the Romanian Government has asked the United Nations to set up a commission of inquiry to find out who is guilty of the massacres committed in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Shatila and to take steps to bring before international justice those responsible for those monstrous crimes.

As we have stated on more than one occasion from this rostrum, we believe it necessary that we do our utmost to ensure respect for the independence and sovereignty of Lebanon in order that we may achieve, in these especially difficult times being experienced by that country, a broad reconciliation of all the political forces in Lebanon, safeguarding its territorial integrity and national unity and ensuring calm, peace and a normal life for the Lebanese people.

The tragic events in Lebanon, and especially in Beirut, the developments in the Middle East, show more clearly than ever that if we do not act resolutely to achieve a global solution to the Middle East conflict, first and foremost a settlement of the Palestinian problem on the basis of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to create its own independent State, peace and security the world over will be increasingly jeopardized. It has been constantly emphasized by my country, as by the great majority of States throughout the world, that a solution to the Palestinian problem on the basis of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people constitutes the key to a peaceful, comprehensive, just and lasting settlement in the Middle East.

Romania has on many occasions shown its solidarity and its support for the cause of the Palestinian people, for its legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and for the achievement of its legitimate rights and aspirations to a free and independent existence in its own national State.

"The Palestinian people", as was recently stated by the President of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu:

The facts show in the clearest manner, and the Middle East no doubt offers us the most obvious example, that the use of force and war, far from helping to solve problems, only further complicate a situation which is already very serious and create premises for new armed conflicts which are even more terrible. Romania continues to believe, and even more so because the situation in the region is more explosive than ever, that, first and foremost, political and diplomatic actions must be taken for the realization of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. To this end, we believe that the United Nations can and must play an essential role in the process of a settlement of the situation in the Middle East. I should like to recall on this occasion the proposal made by the Romanian Government, as well as other countries, that there be convened an international conference under the aegis and with the active participation of the United Nations, in which all States and all parties concerned would take part, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, to consider and solve all the problems of the region so as to establish a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in that part of the world.

On the basis of the absolute necessity of a political solution to the Middle East conflict, and in reaffirming its solidarity with the just cause of the Palestinian people, the Romanian Government and public opinion in my country feel that the existing tension and the extremely serious events which continue to take place in the Middle East require that all States act on an urgent basis and in a spirit of utmost responsibility so that the situation might be settled by negotiations and that a just and lasting peace might be established among all peoples in the region.

We express the hope that the current debate and the decisions that the General Assembly will take will be able to make a real contribution to such a solution, to the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and to the settlement of a problem which is ever more of crucial importance, in international relations as a whole.

Mr. THUNBORG (Sweden): The Israeli invasion of Lebanon has brought tremendous suffering to the population, Palestinian and Lebanese alike.  Sweden has particularly condemned the indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilian targets. To these horrors, yet another has now been added in the form of an organized massacre of Palestinian men, women and children.

The deliberate mass murders committed against defenseless civilians in Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut have caused shock and outrage all over the world. All segments of Swedish public opinion have joined in expressions of revulsion and sorrow.

In open defiance of unanimous calls by the Security Council, the Israeli occupation of Lebanon continues. It was extended to West Beirut soon after the multinational force had left. In so doing, Israel assumed the responsibility for the protection of civilians in that area. Israel did in fact, at least at one stage, claim concern for law and order as the compelling reason for the move into West Beirut.

While the actual perpetrators of the killings will forever carry with them a heavy burden of guilt, there can be no doubt that responsibility for this crime lies also with Israel. In fact, the Israeli Government itself has admitted that the Israeli army made arrangements for militia forces to enter the Palestinian refugee camps where the massacre ensued. It should not be difficult, therefore, for the Israeli authorities to fulfil their duty to identify the perpetrators so that they can be brought to justice. The international community is entitled to demand a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the massacre.

These most recent horrors serve to underline the utterly precarious conditions of the defenseless Palestinian refugees in camps that have been very severely damaged by the terror bombings and shellings directed at them by the Israeli defense forces.

As their camps have been the primary target of the Israeli aggression in Lebanon, it is among the Palestinian refugee population that the suffering has been and is most acute. This holds true even though the devastation extends well beyond the refugee camps and many victims have been claimed also among the civilian Lebanese population.

While the task of providing humanitarian assistance to the suffering population is the responsibility of the international community, the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Israel as the Power in control of most of the area, and as the Power that has inflicted most of the damage, are obliged to allow the international aid agencies freedom of movement and the right freely to carry out their aid activities.

The most urgent need facing the Palestinian refugees is for the provision of shelter in the camps in southern Lebanon and Beirut before the onset in a few weeks' time, of colder weather. The destruction of the refugee camps is so pervasive that the task of sheltering the remaining population is a most formidable one, requiring a massive international effort to be completed in time. The appropriate channel for such a joint effort is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA must receive generous financial support from all, and vigorous political backing from those Governments best placed to exert influence so that that organization can be allowed to help in the most effective way possible.

In conclusion, it must be stressed that the tragic and horrifying events in Lebanon and the increasingly precarious situation for the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon show more clearly than ever the need for an urgent and comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict. The continued suppression of legitimate Palestinian rights is the major obstacle such a settlement.

Mr. BALETA (Albania) (interpretation from French): This new resumed emergency special session of the General Assembly on the eve of the opening of the general debate of the thirty-seventh session became essential because of the very serious events which took place recently in Lebanon. The whole world learned with grief and profound indignation of the revolting news of the atrocities which the Zionist occupation forces and the reactionary forces working for imperialism committed in the mass massacres against the defenseless inhabitants of the Palestinian camps in the city of Beirut.

Israeli Zionists once again implacably, and with blind hatred and racist fanaticism have committed horrible carnage upon the elderly Palestinians, children and babies, resembling the similar monstrous crimes committed in the past by the Nazis and the darkest imperialist and reactionary forces in history.

The tragic death of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of human beings during the Zionist night of St. Bartholomew in Beirut is yet one more link in the long chain of horrible consequences of imperialist Zionist aggression in the Middle East. The massacre perpetrated in the Palestinian camps by the most barbarous means and methods shows once again the spirit and the criminal intent of the Zionists and their determination to go further and further along the course of aggression and genocide against the Palestinian people and other Arab peoples. It shows that the Israeli Zionists will stop at nothing to put into effect their diabolical plans to eradicate the just cause of the Palestinian people and even physically to exterminate that people. In the savage massacre of the Palestinians in Beirut, the Israeli Zionists at the same time are attempting to terrorize the Arab peoples and to make them renounce their rights. They thus continue arrogantly and brutally to defy world public opinion.

The recent massacres of which the Palestinians were the victims were not unexpected events, nor merely blind acts of vengeance or isolated acts which cannot be repeated. The mass killings that took place in the Palestinian camps were a premeditated act, prepared and executed with criminal intent and in cold blood, with unprecedented cynicism, by the Israeli Zionists and in close collaboration with their masters, the American imperialists. All of that took place following a long series of military measures as well as political and diplomatic maneuvers, carefully prepared in Washington and Tel Aviv and carried out by the Israeli army of occupation and the emissaries of American imperialism in Lebanon.

Israeli Zionists and their imperialist American masters, pitiless executioners of the Palestinian people, have used every means to deceive world public opinion and to hide their true face, that of assassins. The American imperialists attempt vainly to hide behind a few cynical demagogic phrases pronounced by their leaders and politicians, to dissociate themselves from the crimes committed against the Palestinians after the Zionist army entered the western part of the Lebanese capital. However, they fool no one, they have always been the instigators and have protected the Zionists in these aggressive acts. They are equally guilty of the massacres of the Palestinians in Lebanon.

As on other occasions, in the case of the latest massacre in Lebanon, the arrogance of the Zionists cannot merely be explained by the support and encouragement which they draw from the strategic alliance that exists between Washington and Tel Aviv. The Israeli Zionists once again have benefited from the anti-Arab policies of the Soviet socio-imperialists and the undermining positions that the Soviet Union continues to take on the legitimate struggle for the rights of the Arab peoples. The Soviet socio-imperialists formally declare their support for the victims of Zionist barbarism, but in these grievous times they unceasingly take advantage of the events that are occurring in the Middle East the better to serve their interests as a super-Power, to create the best possibilities for themselves in the course of their rivalry and dealings with the United States of America.

The Albanian people and the People's Socialist Republic of Albania vigorously condemn, with great indignation, the massacres perpetrated by the Israeli Zionists, the American imperialists and all reactionaries in their pay against the Palestinian population in Beirut. The Albanian people have always been at one with the just cause of the heroic struggle of the Palestinian people, the cause of all the Arab peoples. We remain convinced that despite the very serious and difficult situation that has now been created in the Middle East, the people will triumph over their enemies and achieve their legitimate national rights. The hatred of the Arab people and of the Palestinian people, sorely tried but strengthened through many battles, will undoubtedly explode anew and with greater vigor. This people will undoubtedly some day avenge the victims of all the massacres and the Zionist carnage; they will punish the murderers of their sons and their daughters; and that is only right.

Peace in the Middle East will never be established by expelling, dispersing and massacring the Palestinians, nor by perpetrating aggression against the Arab peoples and countries. There can never be peace anywhere while extreme racist chauvinism perpetrates abominable crimes against freedom-loving people and when violence and the use of force is resorted to by reactionary nationalism to cause national hatred by attempting to subjugate or eradicate by sword or by fire an entire people such as the Palestinians, who ask only to be the masters of their destiny in their own country, in their own home where they have lived for many generations and for many centuries.

Mr. KIRCA (Turkey): The need for a just and durable settlement of the question of Palestine is now more urgent and compelling than ever. The recent tragedy in Beirut which has scarred the conscience of all humanity is perhaps the saddest but most powerful attestation in blood and tears to the standing imperative of a Palestinian solution. Can any people be asked to pay a price higher than that which the Arab Palestinians are paying in the pursuit of what are in fact their inalienable rights?

The people and Government of Turkey remain deeply grieved by the horrifying massacre of hundreds of innocent Palestinian men, women and children in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, in Beirut. We are truly shocked and our sorrow will not end until this supreme sacrifice by the Arab Palestinian people is redeemed through the realization of the Palestinian national cause.

The Head of State of the Republic of Turkey, General Kenan Evren, has denounced this abominable atrocity and has invited the United Nations to take immediate and effective measures for the restoration of peace and security in Lebanon, as well as in the region. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mr. Ilter Turkmen, has also expressed Turkey's indignation and has called, as a first step, for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Beirut without delay and the dispatch of an international force to the area in accordance with the request of the Government of Lebanon. It is the view of the Government of Turkey that Israel, which, contrary to its commitments, occupied Beirut, cannot be absolved of the responsibility for what transpired there subsequent to its occupation.

The time for the community of nations to proceed to the final resolution on a just and lasting basis of the question of Palestine has unmistakably arrived. That time is now. Any further delay will cause more suffering and far more serious destabilization in the region. The forces of peace must gain the upper hand and the recent initiatives, particularly those by the Arab States for a just, lasting and comprehensive solution of the Middle East conflict, at the core of which lies the question of Palestine, should be supported. To arrive at a solution in that process, the Palestine Liberation Organization must, as the representative of the Arab Palestinian people, participate as a full and equal partner.

Only when the Arab Palestinian people are given their homeland where they can establish their own independent State can peace, stability and security have a chance in the region.

Mr. KASEMSRI (Thailand): My Foreign Minister will at the appropriate time extend my Government's congratulations to the President of the General Assembly. However, since this is the first time that the Thai delegation has spoken at this session of the Assembly, I should like, on behalf of my delegation, to take this opportunity to extend our warm respects and sincere best wishes to him.

The world was deeply shocked by the ruthless, massacre in west Beirut last week, resulting in the death of hundreds of innocent Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The Thai delegation joins preceding speakers in extending its heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families. We condemn in the strongest terms the perpetrators of these dastardly crimes and demand that the culprits be brought to justice.

I should like now to read out the following statement issued recently by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand:

"The Government and the people of Thailand, deeply shocked and saddened by the massacre of the Palestinian people in refugee camps in Beirut during 17 and 18 September 1982, hereby condemn those who were responsible as well as their accomplices for this savage and inhuman act. The Government of Thailand urges that the rights of all civilians be respected without exception and that the violation of the rights and safety of these people be terminated forthwith."

It is evident that the atrocities followed the violation of the cease-fire agreements by Israel. Hence the Israeli authorities cannot escape the moral responsibility to conduct not only their own investigation but also a review of their policy of ignoring the relevant United Nations resolutions. In particular, Israel must comply with Security Council resolutions specifically calling for the withdrawal of all their forces from Lebanon without further delay.  Many of the facts concerning the massacre remain to be ascertained through an impartial investigation. My delegation will therefore support any proposal that such an investigation be allowed to proceed as soon as possible, either by individual Governments or by the United Nations, with the consent of the Government of Lebanon and with the co-operation of all parties concerned.

Meanwhile, the safety of the civilians in Lebanon must be ensured and the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized boundaries must be respected by all.

It was most unfortunate that this shocking and tragic event should have occurred at a time when constructive and peaceful efforts on the part of all concerned were most needed for the restoration, maintenance and consolidation of peaceful conditions in Lebanon, in accordance with the wishes of the Lebanese people themselves and in conformity with the relevant United Nations resolutions. It is all the more imperative that the quest for peace in this important region of the world must go forward in order to ensure strict observance of the legitimate rights of all States and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people by all parties concerned.

Mr. GONZALEZ CESAR (Mexico) (interpretation from Spanish): I should like to congratulate the President on his election to the presidency of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly. His qualities as a diplomat and his wisdom as a negotiator are well known to all; they guarantee the success of our work.

The situation in Lebanon is extremely delicate. Thousands of lives, the viability of a sovereign country and the fundamental principles without which international peace and security cannot exist are in danger. This meeting is proof of the gravity of the facts, despite certain interpretations aimed at reshaping public opinion.

The latest events in Beirut indicate the renewed tendency of powerful States to impose their will upon others, ignoring the true aspirations of peoples and trying to impose on them ideological and political conditions which, in the last analysis, are designed to deny them their right to self-determination. It would seem that only a handful of countries are entitled to full sovereignty, while the remainder are entitled only to economic, political, strategic, military and even social subordination.

On 20 September my Government clearly condemned the events that occurred in the Palestinian camps in Beirut in the following terms:

Moreover, on the same day the Senate of the Republic in a unanimous vote expressed:

My delegation will vote in favor of draft resolution A/ES-7/L.8, entitled "Question of Palestine". We support in particular the appeal to the Security Council to investigate the facts and report on its findings. From that inquiry, we shall have to draw the appropriate consequences and take measures accordingly. Responsibility for the facts is not limited to those who carried out the killings physically, irrespective of who they might be. The guilty parties are also those who planned the massacre and permitted it to happen or created the conditions under which it happened.

The importance of the resolutions of the General Assembly cannot be denied by arguing that they indicate a selective attitude, the application of double standards, or that they are the result of maneuvers or manipulations which have taken place in the corridors of this building. That is not so. United Nations resolutions merely express, with all its moral value and political force, the thinking and the will of Member States.

We are convinced that in this case, the serious concerns and genuine aspirations of the international community will once again be reflected.

The PRESIDENT: In accordance with General Assembly resolution 477 (V) of 1 November 1950, I now call on the Observer of the League of Arab States.

Mr. MAKSOUD (League of Arab States): It is unfortunate that Mr. Hollai's presidency has to be inaugurated at a moment of tragedy for the Palestinian people. However, this does not prevent us in the League of Arab States from congratulating him on his assumption of that important office, the holder of which is expected to give expression to mankind's conscience.

At this moment of tragedy that has befallen the people in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps it is necessary that we ponder not only the event in itself but the fact that it is a logical conclusion of a very deliberate policy and plan which started with Deir Yassin and Dibbiya and culminated in the horrendous crime last week in Sabra and Shatila.

We are faced at this moment with a grave situation which threatens to play havoc with the prospects of peace in the region. That is why we feel that the attempt by Israel to cover up the crime that was sponsored, planned and facilitated by its occupation of Beirut, brings into focus the various violations by Israel of the rights of the Palestinian people and the rights of Lebanon.

This is the logical conclusion of a long-established plan and process.  However dastardly and shocking this crime, it cannot be perceived or treated in isolation. It is perhaps the genocidal expression of a basically irrational expansionist policy.

Israel seeks to assert and to impress upon us, as shown by the advertisement in The Washington Post a few days ago, that any criticism of its acts, any questioning of its policies, any attempt to inquire into its motives, any linkage between Israel's occupation of Beirut and the carnage that has taken place in Sabra and Shatila, must be considered to be blood libel. Blood libel against whom? Israel claims it is a blood libel against the Jewish community and people. This is an insult to our collective integrity. It is an insult to our moral standards. It is an insult to basic intelligence.

We have seen how the tragedy of Sabra and Shatila has brought to the surface the uneasiness of the conscience of mankind, including the many hundreds of thousands of people of Jewish faith who saw in the activities Of the Begin-Sharon axis a reincarnation of the pogroms against people of the Jewish persuasion and faith. The people of conscience within the Jewish community have been emboldened, the people of conscience, represented by the thousands of demonstrators, who find their consciences suffocated by the acts of their Government in Lebanon, have finally come to grips with the fundamental tragedy that Zionism imposes on Jewish life and Jewish consciousness.

Perhaps the holocaust in Sabra and Shatila will awaken those who, either through wishful thinking or because of internal politics, have sought continuously to put forward excuses for whatever Israel does, whatever suffering Israel inflicts, or argue that there are mitigating circumstances. Perhaps the permissiveness shown regarding the annexation of east Jerusalem, the annexation of the Golan Heights, the proliferation of illegal settlements, the alleged occupation of southern Lebanon for 25 miles only and the subsequent cover-up as the invasion unfolded and reached Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, followed by the permissiveness that allowed Israel to occupy west Beirut – perhaps this whole sequence of events, the level of tolerance and the meekness of criticism, emboldened Israel to play havoc, because it realized that it alone could defy the world community and get away with it.

It could get away with it until the babies of Sabra and Shatila, the women of Sabra and Shatila, the doctors of Sabra and Shatila, the nurses of Sabra and Shatila made people recognize those who have been addicts in their support of Israel, who have at all moments underwritten Israel's invasion, who have tolerated Israel's abrasiveness. All this has culminated in the realization that those who indiscriminately bombed Beirut were able to provide all the facilities, the instruments, the planning and the logistical support for the carnage that took place in Sabra and Shatila.

This permissiveness is beginning to erode, but at a very high price for the people in the Palestinian refugee camps. Yet, if this consciousness developing in the world community and articulated here achieves the results that we deem necessary to deter this political and military monster let loose on mankind, then the deaths of these babies and women and nurses and doctors will not have been in vain. It is the memory of the holocaust that has brought to the forefront a rebellion of the Jewish spirit against the brutalizing process that Israel is seeking to introduce. It is a convergence of the inherent humanism within world Jewry that is setting in motion a very much needed and long awaited corrective process.

Therefore the request is made that the Security Council be given a mandate to conduct its own inquiry to satisfy the collective conscience of mankind, irrespective of Israel's attempts to cover up, to explain, to deflect world opinion, to introduce subjects that are irrelevant. The Security Council is requested to focus, to the satisfaction of the international community, on the matter of who is to blame for this holocaust, because ire have seen how in the 1930s, when the League of Nations failed to inquire and to deter those instruments of the other holocaust, the tragedy that had occurred became sequential and, instead of 1,000, 2,000, 10,000 or a half million Jews, millions of Jews were selected. If there is any level of tolerance today, without leaving an impact on the process of a new genocide taking place with respect to the homeless Palestinian people, this is the moment when the General Assembly must give a mandate to the Security Council to conduct this inquiry.

We shall be told that in Israel itself there has been a request to the President of the Supreme Court. The President of the Supreme Court, in his judicious approach, has declined because, as far as the court is concerned, it is not only the Army that should be investigated but the whole State system that has permitted such an onslaught on human dignity and human life. Therefore the attempt to cover up, the attempt to defuse world anger and outrage by the statement that within a few weeks some sort of investigation into the circumstances might be initiated in Israel is only one of the methods that

Israel usually introduces in order to buy time so that it can masquerade under the pretence of a blood libel against the Jewish community – as if Begin and Sharon and their henchmen could claim to be the representatives of the world Jewish community. In fact a growing number of the world Jewish community are dissociating themselves from this dehumanizing process that the Israeli Government has introduced. Therefore this debate is shared, perhaps not functionally but by a constituency of conscience, among those whom Israel claims to represent and has usurped.

Therefore at this moment the tragedy that has befallen us all and has shocked mankind must awaken our conscience to bring about not only a unanimous resolution in this General Assembly, excluding the inevitable, but a unanimous Assembly resolution that would, we hope, reflect the growing constituency of conscience within the United States, so that it would share in the international consensus on such an obvious crime. What is important, is no longer a resolution, however crucial that might be, to legalize the mandate of the Security Council. What is even more important is a result – to follow it through.

The PRESIDENT: I call on the representative of the Secretary-General, who has a statement he would like to make.

Mr. BUFFUM (Under-Secretary-General for Political and General Assembly Affairs): My attention has been drawn to the fact that, because of some last-minute changes in the list of speakers, the Israeli delegation was unable to speak in the position in which it had originally been inscribed. In order to clarify the situation, we wish to explain that, because of the late start of the afternoon meeting and several rapid exchanges of position made in the list of speakers by regional groups and others, there was an inadvertent oversight on the part of the Secretariat so that the original sequence of inscriptions was not maintained. This has affected the timing of the speech of the Israeli delegation, and we regret the difficulties that this has caused.

Mr. BLUM (Israel): Permit me at the outset to join all those who have congratulated the newly elected President of the General Assembly and you, Sir, upon your election to the high offices of the presidency and the vice-presidency of the General Assembly. We are confident that Mr. Hollai's outstanding qualities, which all his colleagues here have come to respect over the years, will stand him in good stead in discharging his onerous duties in the coming months.*

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* The President returned to the Chair.

The capital of Hungary, the beautiful city of Budapest, holds a very special place in the modern history of my people, for it was the birthplace of one of the greatest Jewish personalities of modern times, Binyamin Zeev Theodor Herzi, the founder of the modern Zionist movement, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people.

In his address to the General Assembly following his election, the President of the General Assembly quoted from two great countrymen of his, the writer Jokai Mor and the scientist Szentgyorgyi Albert. Permit me to invoke here today the memory of another great Hungarian who deserves to be remembered from the rostrum of the General Assembly. It is only fitting that we do so in this year 1982, for it was exactly 100 years ago, in the year 1882, that Eotvos Karoly, a great Hungarian humanist and fighter for the cause of the oppressed and the downtrodden, rose in indignation to combat the terrible blood libel hurled against the Jewish community of Hungary and against the Jewish people at large in the trial of Tiszaeszlar – one of the countless blood libels to which my people has been subjected throughout history.

Unfortunately, false accusations against my people are not a matter of the past. The past months – and in particular the last days and the discussion here today – bear testimony to the length to which the enemies of the Jewish people are willing to go in their relentless campaign of vilification of my people and of my country.

A terrible crime was perpetrated in Beirut last week. Innocent men, women and children were murdered by evil men who lost the image of God and respect for fellow man. The spiritual and temporal leaders of my country, including the President of the State, the Chief Rabbis and the Cabinet, as well as the people of Israel have all expressed their horror and revulsion at this despicable crime, thus joining in the sentiments of outrage of civilized mankind all over the world. We did so not only because of the universal sense of horror that had gripped the people 'of Israel and the Jewish people, but also because, in contradistinction to our detractors, we are not selective in our respect for human rights and we condemn, their violation irrespective of the identity of the violators and of the victims. The Government of Israel, in its desire to have various aspects of the Beirut tragedy cleared up, today requested the President of the Israel Supreme Court to head a commission to investigate those aspects and to appoint its other members.

It has been obvious from the very beginning, and confirmed by the course and tenor of this debate, that this entire ugly exercise is intended to constitute an integral part of the ongoing onslaught against my country for which the United Nations has become notorious, and this despite the well-known and unchallenged fact that the massacre in Beirut last week was perpetrated not by Israelis but by others. As has been rightly stated today by Mr. Norman Podhoretz in the Washington Post,

But the atmosphere prevailing here is not that of a morally sane climate and facts have long ago ceased to matter for our enemies and their supporters. In fact, truth has become an increasingly precious and rare commodity in this building, certainly in connection with any aspect of the Arab-Israel conflict. To quote again from today's Washington Post, this time from its editorial,

This Organization has not seen fit to institute any inquiries into the genocide of the people of Kampuchea over the years. It has studiously refrained from looking into the torrent of disturbing reports about the large-scale and ruthless massacres perpetrated against the people of Afghanistan by the Soviet invaders. It has never evinced even the slightest interest in the horrible crimes perpetrated by successive Iraqi regimes against the Kurds. It has remained indifferent to the bloodbath carried out last February by the tyrant brothers Assad of Syria against their own people in the city of Hama. It has never expressed the slightest indignation at the terrible crimes of Idi Amin against his own people; instead Idi Amin's regime became a respected member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. And, last but not least, this Assembly has treated with callous indifference the plight and agony of the people of Lebanon through eight long years of PLO and Syrian terror, involving the deaths of 100,000 Lebanese, the wounding of 300,000 and the displacement of more than 1 million.

What we are witnessing in Lebanon these days is the tragic residue and legacy of the international indifference of many years. Anybody who would care to look at the records in recent years of this Assembly would find that we repeatedly drew the Assembly's attention to the root causes of the agony of Lebanon and asked that they be addressed fairly and squarely. We were ignored, studiously ignored, by this Organization, which through its conduct gave the terrorist PLO and the Syrian army of occupation a free hand in Lebanon and the opportunity to brutalize the country and its inhabitants. We are all paying now for the callous indifference of this Organization over all these years to the agony and tragedy of Lebanon. Any honest soul-searching would therefore have to raise the question as to the responsibility of this Organization, of its individual Members and of the international community at large for the agony of Lebanon.

I have had occasion to point out, both in my letters to the Secretary-General and from the rostrum of this Assembly, the impropriety surrounding the seventh emergency special session from its very inception, the resulting illegality of its deliberations and of the resolutions emanating from an intrinsically illegal session. I need therefore not return to this question here tonight.

Let me therefore state that, given this Assembly's dubious record, Israel and decent people everywhere will treat this disgusting orgy of hatred and this hypocritical and cynical exercise to shift the blame for the massacre of Beirut from those who perpetrated it to those who did not, in the only manner appropriate to them, namely, with the contempt which they deserve.

Before concluding I should like to thank the representative of the Secretary-General, Under-Secretary-General Buffum, for his statement and for his apologies. I regret to say that I find it difficult to accept the explanation.

I have to inform this Assembly that I could not take the floor in the order in which I had inscribed my name on the list of speakers because members of the Secretariat entrusted with the preparation of that list deemed it appropriate- for reasons best known to them, to introduce changes in the list by shifting the order of speakers without even consulting those affected by these changes. This is clearly in violation of rule 68 of the rules of procedure of this Assembly, which provides, inter alia,

I call upon the President of the General Assembly and upon our esteemed Secretary-General to ensure that members of the Secretariat are reminded of their duty as international civil servants to act at all times with the impartiality required of their office, to refrain from catering to the whims of all kinds of pressure group's at the expense of elementary fairness, and to ascertain that manipulations of the kind that occurred here today, or manipulations of any kind for that matter, are scrupulously avoided.

The PRESIDENT: We have heard the last speaker in the general debate on the item before us.

We shall now proceed to consider the draft resolution in document A/ES-7/L.8. In this connection I would inform representatives that the following countries have also become sponsors of the draft resolution: Bangladesh, Comoros, Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Indonesia, Kenya, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Nicaragua, -Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, the Syrian Arab Republic Turkey, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, Upper Volta, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

I shall now call upon those representatives who wish to speak in explanation of vote before the voting. May I remind representatives that, in accordance with our rules of procedure, explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes. I would appeal to representatives to bear that in mind.

Mr. URBINA (Costa Rica)(interpretation from Spanish): Costa Rica learned with anguish of the destruction of peace and fraternity in Lebanon, a country which has embodied values that have inspired most of the world. It was with further anguish that we recently learned of the massacre of men, women and children, whose status as refugees has compounded the crime. We are convinced that this horrendous crime should not remain without punishment.

We have expressed our grief, and we share in the feelings of horror that have been voiced here. We believe that the United Nations has the duty of safeguarding peace and international security. All of this horror and grief must generate renewed will on the part of the United Nations to avoid the new international anarchy referred to by the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar.

As has been stated by other representatives, the massacre demonstrates the urgency of a definitive solution to the Middle East problem. The Government and people of Costa Rica are convinced that there will be no definitive solution as lone as the Palestinian people does not have a State in which it can develop and live in peace without any threats to its integrity.

For those reasons we shall vote in favor of the draft resolution before us.

Mr. FRANCIS (New Zealand): All New Zealanders were horrified by the massacre of Palestinian civilians in Beirut last week. My delegation joins in supporting the draft resolution before the Assembly, which expresses the revulsion and concern of the world community at these killings.

New Zealand gives its full support to the resolutions concerning the situation in Lebanon adopted by the Security Council. The New Zealand Government calls for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces and the restoration of the authority and control of the Lebanese Government. We also support the decision by the Security Council to increase the deployment of United Nations observers in the Beirut area.

The tragic events of last week graphically point up the need for all the parties directly concerned with the situation in the Middle East to pursue efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement with urgency and determination. My delegation believes that the rights of the Palestinian refugees, which are reaffirmed in operative paragraph 6 of the draft resolution, can most effectively be addressed within the framework of such a comprehensive peace settlement.

Mr. CHARLES (Haiti) (interpretation from French): The draft resolution now before the Assembly is characterized by the emphasis it places on the most recent tragedy in Lebanon, which has cost the lives of more than 2,000 persons, whose bloody and tragic fate is another episode in the martyrdom of Lebanon. This event, which deserves to be placed among the darkest pages of human history, has shocked the conscience of the whole world – regardless of ideological, political or other considerations.

In view of what I have just said, my delegation has decided to support the draft resolution in document A/ES-7/L.8, while entering reservations on certain operative paragraphs.

The Haitian Government has always agreed with the idea that refuge be found for the Palestinians on the basis of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) which remains the most appropriate reference in the quest for a settlement to the Middle East conflict, of which the Palestinian problem is the central issue.

Furthermore, my delegation does not at all agree with the idea that there be a photographic exhibit of the recent massacre which took place in Lebanon. We really do not see the reason for such a step, because it would not contribute in the least to the cause of peace in the Middle East and may very well further aggravate the parties and inflame existing antagonisms.

So, while we support the initiative to replace rival foreign forces with a multinational force, my delegation will vote in favor of the draft resolution in document A/ES-7/L.8.

Mr. BERNAL (Bolivia) (interpretation from Spanish): The delegation of Bolivia, profoundly indignant and moved by the recent massacres committed in Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, wishes to express its condemnation of these barbarous actions which have moved the conscience of all civilized countries. The delegation of Bolivia will therefore vote in favor of the draft resolution before us, but we should like to express the view that, before we consider and apply any kind of sanctions, it is necessary to determine quite clearly, through an impartial body of inquiry, the true scope of the responsibility for these acts which denigrate the human condition itself.

The delegation of Bolivia has serious objections also to the idea of photographic or other exhibits, which should not be conducted in an organization devoted to the preservation of peace and the promotion of culture.

Mr. KERGIN (Canada): The events in Lebanon which have occasioned this meeting surely must be among the saddest in the history of this Organization whose purpose has been to promote peace among peoples and prevent human suffering.

Coming after the savage assassination of Lebanon's President-elect, the brutal killing of men, women and children in West Beirut has left Canadians with a sense of shock, outrage and revulsion. On behalf of the people of Canada, my Government has already condemned the massacre in the strongest terms possible. The perpetrators stand denounced by all civilized people. The cycle of violence that we have witnessed in Lebanon must be broken.

My delegation supports the draft resolution before us today, as we believe it represents a contribution to the efforts to return to peace and security in Lebanon.

My main comment on the draft resolution concerns operative paragraph 6. Canada strongly supports the need for a just settlement of the refugee problem, as called for in Security Council resolution 242 (1967). We should not, however, prejudge the nature of this settlement, which should be determined in the eventual negotiations on all aspects of the dispute.

Concerning the preambular reference to the Palestine Liberation Organization, Canada's position is well known and has been explained on previous occasions.

Mr. RAJAIE-KHORASSANI (Iran): Surah 5, verse 32 of the Koran reads:

"We therefore decreed for the children of Israel that whoever kills human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind; and whosoever saves the life of one man, it shall be as if he has saved the life of all mankind. Our messengers came unto them of old with clear proofs from Allah, indicating Allah's sovereignty, but afterwards, lo, many of them became prodigals in the earth."

Although my delegation will vote in favor of the draft resolution, it is very necessary to point out some very important points – probably points that are missing in the draft resolution. The tragic situation is very grave indeed. My Government of course strongly condemns the massacre and also the Zionist régime for its involvement in it. As a matter of fact, its very existence is to be condemned.

My delegation attributes no less gravity to this tragic event than any of the strongest and most committed supporters of Palestine. My Government has already announced a national day of mourning, but it would not be doing justice to the issue if I concentrated only on the emotional side of the matter.

The Zionist State is not a political entity. It is a forgery which came into being when this international forum was totally under imperialist domination. Many third world representatives were not present here in those days. The presence of this political forgery merely makes a mockery of the Charter and of the whole Organization. It is unfortunate that some words of encouragement have been addressed in the present debate to the people of Palestine, advising them to recognize Israel and come to terms with an illegitimate child. The draft resolution, too, seems to be very reticent in this matter, while my delegation expected a very strong and explicit statement, signifying that the Zionist base of imperialism must be destroyed. It is our expectation, simply because it must be destroyed.

Ours is not a matter of war or peace, it is a matter of justice. Therefore the struggle must continue until justice is implemented, the forgery demolished and the sovereign State of Palestine established.

We believe that the Camp David conspiracy and all the other versions of it are unacceptable to the Moslem world. There is at present another great annual Moslem conference, far greater than this international body, taking place in Mecca. In that conference representatives from all Moslem nations are participating. Any resolution about Palestine or about any other issue concerning the world of Islam must meet with their agreement and satisfy them, otherwise it will remain null and void in practice simply because Palestine is not a national matter only but also a religious matter which is of great concern to all Moslems. It is very unfortunate and indeed sad that very often that fact is not recognized.

My delegation is also displeased to see that the main part of the matter is often sacrificed for consequential aspects of it. We all remember that in one of his interviews Mr. Brzezinski, with some other United States officials, openly declared that in order to preserve American interests in the Middle East it was necessary to prevent the unity of the Palestinian revolution with the Islamic revolution. He then said that the problem of Palestine Must be handled very soon and quickly, and what we are suffering now and what our Palestinian brothers and sisters are suffering now is the consequence of the way in which American foreign policy is handling the Middle East problem, and the first part of it from their point of view is the problem of Palestine.

We do not have a problem called "the problem of Palestine". Palestine is not a problem. The Zionist regime is. Those who want to seek a solution to the problem should recognize the problem first and follow the right approach. The Moslem world has no problem with Palestine. It is the Zionist base of imperialism which is the core of the problem, which must be solved and resolved totally.

For that reason I must end my statement by again condemning the presence of this base of imperialism in our area and reiterate our reservation on the draft resolution, although we are strongly in favor of it and shall vote for it, simply because it has elements which are in support of the Palestinian people.

Mr. LICHENSTEIN (United States of America): President Donald Reagan spoke for all Americans last Monday night when he expressed his horror and revulsion over the killing of Palestinian civilians in west Beirut.  Regarding the heartrending scenes of slaughter which were witnessed by the whole world he said, "There is little that words can add, but there are actions we can and must take to bring that nightmare to an end."

The Government of the United States has demonstrated by word and deed its total commitment to the Goals enunciated by the President: to restore peace to Beirut; to help a stable Government emerge in Lebanon that can secure the withdrawal of all foreign forces from its territory and restore peace and independence to that long-suffering country; and to bring about a just and lasting resolution of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors that satisfies the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, who are all too often the victims of this conflict.

We do not regard the draft resolution now before us, taken as a whole, as a means to those ends. It All prolong aid embitter conflict rather than assist in its resolution. However, the United States is ready to join with other members of the Security Council in support of any inquiry into these tragic events which the Government of Lebanon and the members of the Council find constructive. For this reason we have requested a separate vote on operative paragraph 2, and we shall vote in favor of that paragraph. Because of unacceptable language in several other paragraphs we shall vote- against the draft resolution itself. While so doing we would like to emphasize our firm intention to work with others, in other contexts, towards the positive ends stated by President Reagan, in a manner that will serve the ultimate Goal of peace.

Mr. DELPREE CRESPO (Guatemala) (interpretation from Spanish): The Government and people of Guatemala are dismayed by the massacre of civilians carried out in Beirut on 17 September of this year. This international Organization cannot remain inactive in the face of such a bloodthirsty and cruel event. The draft resolution urges the Security Council to investigate the circumstances and extent of the massacre of Palestinian and other civilians in Beirut.

Our delegation feels that a thorough investigation carried out by a completely impartial commission is necessary in order to determine where the responsibility lies. We feel that there can be no judgement before there has been full information and a report from the commission of inquiry.

We shall vote in favor of this draft resolution for the humanitarian reasons which underlie it and because we believe that every assistance possible should be given to the victims of the massacre. None the less, my delegation has some reservations about more paragraphs of the draft resolution, in particular operative paragraphs 7 and 9, because in paragraph 7 what is urged is within the competence of the Security Council alone to our mind.

Mr. SAGNIYYAN (Lebanon): Mr. President, as you and delegations may know, the Lebanese Government has already started proceedings to investigate the heinous crimes committed in the Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut.  Investigations will proceed and in due course the outcome will be made public. Accordingly, the Lebanese authorities which alone have the exclusive, lawful and sovereign right to conduct the on-site investigation, are determined to spare no effort to uncover all the facts possible.

The draft resolution before us has many positive aspects. My delegation feels Gratified that the sponsors have decided to include operative paragraph in the draft resolution which we hope will be heeded and implemented. We shall therefore Vote in favor of this draft resolution.

The PRESIDENT: We have heard the last speaker in explanation of vote before the vote.

I have to announce that Egypt and Jordan have become co-sponsors of draft resolution A/ES-7/L.8.

It will be recalled that a separate vote on operative paragraph 2 has been requested by the representative of the United States of America and on operative paragraph 4 by another delegation. As I hear no objection I take it that the General Assembly agrees to a separate vote on those paragraphs.

The Assembly will vote first on operative paragraph 2. A recorded vote has been requested.

A recorded vote was taken.

In favor: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Burundi, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Democratic Kampuchea, Democratic Yemen, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, German Democratic Republic, Germany, Federal Republic of, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Upper Volta, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against: None

Operative paragraph 2 was adopted by 146 votes to none.

The PRESIDENT: The Assembly will now proceed to a vote on the operative paragraph 4. A recorded vote has been requested.

A recorded vote was taken.

In favor: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Burundi, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Democratic Kampuchea, Democratic Yemen, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, German Democratic Republic, Germany, Federal Republic of, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria,

Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Upper Volta, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Against: None

Operative paragraph 4 was adopted by 149 votes to none.

The PRESIDENT: The General Assembly will now vote on the draft resolution as a whole. A recorded vote has been requested.

A recorded vote was taken.

In favor:  Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Burundi, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Democratic Kampuchea, Democratic Yemen, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, German Democratic Republic, Germany, Federal Republic of, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia,Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Tanzania, Upper Volta, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Against:  Israel, United States of America

Draft resolution A/ES-7/L.8 as a whole was adopted by 147 votes to 2 (resolution ES-7/9).

The PRESIDENT: I shall now call on those delegations that wish to explain their vote after the vote.

Mr. GONZALEZ (Chile) (interpretation from Spanish): In voting in favor of the draft resolution, Chile, as on previous occasions in similar instances, wishes to enter an express reservation on operative paragraph 7 because we feel that this infringes the prerogatives which lie solely with the Security Council.

Mr. VRAALSEN (Norway): The Norwegian Government and people have reacted strongly with shock and revulsion against the report of the ruthless massacre of defenseless and innocent Palestinian civilians, men, women and children in refugee camps in Beirut.

The reaction of my delegation and our feelings have this evening been expressed through our positive vote on the draft resolution just adopted. I have, however, to state for the record that ray delegation has certain reservations concerning the second preambular paragraph and operative paragraphs 6 and 9.

Mrs. GUELMAN (Uruguay) (interpretation from Spanish): The delegation of Uruguay voted in favor of the draft resolution submitted to the General Assembly, in accordance with the humanitarian tradition of our country.

First of all, this is an expression of our strong condemnation of this atrocity. It also expresses our full support for the operation of the international machinery, in accordance with the Charter, as a means of strengthening our Organization, with a view to the proper fulfillment of its legal and political responsibilities.

I simply wish to enter a reservation on the seventh preambular paragraph and operative paragraph 7, which touch upon matters which are the prerogative of the Security Council. My country hopes that the grave problems relating, to that part of the world, including the fate of the people of Palestine, will find a peaceful solution in accordance with the law, bearing in mind resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) of the Security Council.

My delegation reaffirms its resolute support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon.

Mr. HELSKOV (Denmark): The Danish delegation voted in favor of the draft resolution, but has a certain number of reservations on the text. In particular, as regards the second preambular paragraph, my delegation's position remains unchanged and as set out in the Venice Declaration of 13 June 1980.

With regard to operative paragraph 6, my delegation considers that a solution of the refugee question will have to be found in the context of a comprehensive peace settlement.

Other points on which my delegation has reservations include operative paragraph 9, concerning the preparation of a photographic exhibit at the United Nations Headquarters building.

The following delegations have asked to be associated with this explanation of vote: Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Mr. AL-ALFI (Democratic Yemen) (interpretation from Arabic): My delegation voted in favor of the draft resolution A/ES-7/L.8. We would have liked the resolution to contain a clear condemnation of Israel, which occupies Lebanese territory, for having committed the barbarous massacre of Palestinian and other civilians in Beirut, and a condemnation of the United States, which bears equal responsibility for that criminal massacre.

Democratic Yemen would also like to state its view that the equitable solution to the Palestinian problem lies in the recovery by the Arab Palestinian people of its legitimate and inalienable national rights, including its right to return to its homeland, to self-determination and to create its own independent state on the soil of Palestine under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole authentic representative of the Palestinian people. Accordingly, the delegation of my country could not support the third paragraph to the preamble or operative paragraph 7.

Mr. ADDABASHI (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (interpretation from Arabic): My delegation voted in favor of the draft resolution that has just been adopted. Nevertheless, that does not mean that we are convinced that the content of that resolution represents the appropriate action in response to the massacre of which the Palestinian people have been the victims. The resolution does not measure up to the tragedy which caused so many thousands of Palestinian victims – old people, women and children. This resolution does not give names, it does indicate those directly responsible for the massacre which occurred in Beirut, that is, the Zionist racist entity and the United States of America.

We believe that the resolution is not an appropriate response to the crimes committed by the Zionist entity, which has already so often violated the Charter of this Organization and disregarded its resolutions. If the Organization wishes to deal with these matters appropriately and maintain its prestige as the representative of international public opinion it must condemn the Zionist entity, impose comprehensive sanctions against it and expel it, in order to enable the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, to return to their territory and create their own independent State.

Mr. KELLEHER (Ireland): Ireland voted in favor of draft resolution A/ES-7/L.8. We welcome its adoption by the General Assembly.

Our views on the terrible events of recent days and on the underlying issues involved have been set out on a number of occasions in the Security Council, of which Ireland is a member. We subscribe too to the statement made in the debate earlier today by the Ambassador of Denmark, speaking on behalf of the 10 member States of the European Community.

In the context of our clear support for this draft resolution, and since a particular importance is sometimes attached to the exact formulation of texts dealing with these matters, I simply wish to say that our present vote does not imply a change in Ireland's known positions on the issues evoked by the second preambular paragraph and operative paragraph 6 of the draft resolution. Our view remains that the problem of the Palestine refugees should be resolved in the context of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace settlement in the Middle East which would take account of all aspects of the problems, a settlement the need for which is now more urgent and pressing than ever. In. our view also the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) must be associated with negotiations to that end.

Mr. MURRAY (Trinidad and Tobago): Trinidad and Tobago voted in favor of the resolution because it supports the general thrust of its intent. We believe that the fundamental principles expressed in the resolution, including the need for compliance with previous United Nations decisions and resolutions, form a sufficient basis for a positive vote. However, there are elements contained in the resolution which present certain difficulties for us. My delegation cannot help but express its reservations on operative paragraph 9, which it considers to be inappropriate to the occasion.

Mr. AL-QAYSI (Iraq): Iraq's position regarding the settlement of the Palestinian question is well known. Our vote in favor of the draft resolution that has just been adopted should not be construed as being in anyway a change in that position.

The PRESIDENT: I call on the Observer of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, who has asked to speak, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 3237 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974.

Mr. TERZI (Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)): We are more than grateful for the almost unanimous agreement of the international community that the gateway to peace is on the road of the return of the Palestinian people to their homes and their property. The world cannot expect peace as long as at least 2 million Palestinian people are denied the right to their own homes and their own property in Palestine.

I reiterate my gratitude to all of those who voted in favor of this resolution. I am also very satisfied and gratified that there was unanimous agreement that the Security Council should investigate the circumstances and extent of the massacre of Palestinian and other civilians in Beirut on 17 September 1982. That unanimity makes it imperative that the Council immediately look into this matter and take action. It should perhaps entrust a commission with investigating, whether on site or on the basis of the available documentation, the massacre of Palestinian and other civilians in Beirut on 17 September 1982 and make public its report.

We trust that the holocaust will be stopped by this investigation and by the collective action that will be taken by the Security Council.

However, we have again seen the two red lights. A kind of red zone that is developing in this body and preventing the smooth flow of traffic and the smooth passage to peace.

I have read document A/ES-7/L.8 and I am wondering what made the United States press that red button. Is it against condemning "the criminal massacre of Palestinian and other civilians in Beirut on 17 September 1982", as stipulated in operative paragraph 1? Or is it somehow involved in that massacre? I refuse to accept that it is involved in that massacre directly, but perhaps indirectly it is in a way nursing a guilty conscience with regard to its involvement. Or is it involved because it does not want the General Assembly to support

Security Council resolutions 508 (1982) and 509 (1982), which were both adopted unanimously? Or is it opposed to the fundamental principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force? We thought that the United States had always supported that principle.

What really worries me is that perhaps the United States is really set against the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes. Does the United States want the Palestinian refugees not to be enabled to return to their homes in conformity with General Assembly resolution 194 (III) and subsequent relevant resolutions? I repeat that the return to their homes is the gateway to peace in the Middle East, because without it there will be no peace.

I cannot believe that the United States voted against this draft resolution because it urges "the Security Council, in the event of continued failure by Israel to comply with the demands contained in resolutions 508 (1982) and 509 (1982), to meet in order to consider" – and I stress "to consider" – "practical ways and means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations".

After all, the United States is a permanent member of the Security Council and those resolutions were adopted unanimously, so why vote against that?

Perhaps the United States also wanted the humanitarian aid called for in operative paragraph 8 to be stopped.

I really do not understand why the United States Government should have voted against such a draft resolution. But perhaps the answer lies in the second preambular paragraph, which reads as follows:

"Having heard the statement of the Palestine Liberation Organization…". The Government of the United States has developed a psychosis. The mention of "PLO" is taboo, despite the fact that the Palestine Liberation Organization has been recognized in this Assembly as the representative of the Palestinian people. But, with all due respect to the General Assembly, what is much more significant is that the Palestine Liberation Organization has been accepted unanimously by the Palestinian people – all the Palestinian people in all their places of abode, whether under occupation or otherwise. Everywhere in the world the Palestinian people have by acclamation considered the Palestine Liberation Organization their sole representative.

Consequently, I really do not see any sense or any rationale in such a policy of the Government of the United States. Of course, I cannot influence the policy of the United States, but in the light of such a policy I do not see how the United States can be the broker for peace in the Middle East. It has proved to be the breaker of peace in the Middle East.

TEMPORARY ADJOURNMENT OF THE SEVENTH EMERGENCY SPECIAL SESSION

The PRESIDENT: In accordance with the terms of paragraph 10 of the resolution adopted at the present meeting, the seventh emergency special session of the General Assembly is now adjourned.

The meeting rose at 9.25 p.m.