Question of Palestine – Note verbale from Zimbabwe

Note verbale dated 10 December 1986 from the Permanent Mission of

Zimbabwe to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

The Permanent Mission of Zimbabwe to the United Nations presents its compliments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and has the honor to forward herewith a communiqué issued by the plenary meeting of Non-Aligned Countries held on 8 December 1986, with the request that it be circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under the item entitled "Question of Palestine", and of the Security Council.

ANNEX

Communiqué issued by the plenary meeting of Non-Aligned

Countries held on 8 December 1986

1. An urgent meeting of Non-Aligned Countries was held in New York on Monday, 8 December 1986, to consider the current tragic developments in the Israeli occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, including Jerusalem, and the serious situation in and around the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

2. The meeting heard a statement by the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in this regard, with specific reference to the recent Zionist atrocities at Ramallah and at Bir Zeit University, which have also since been perpetrated all over the occupied territories.

3. The meeting condemned Zionist Israel for its cold-blooded murder of innocent and defenseless students at Bir Zeit University and for its acts of brutality against the civilian population in and around Ramallah and Bir Zeit and other occupied territories. It further condemned Zionist Israel for its repeated aggression against the Palestinian refugee camps in southern Lebanon. The meeting noted that these acts of state terrorism constituted one aspect of the "iron fist" policy that the occupying Power, Israel, is already implementing in occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories.

4. The meeting held Israel responsible for the acts of aggression committed by the settlers against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, such as the burning of houses and attacking defenseless people. In this context the meeting reaffirmed the decisions of the Harare Summit Conference and the General Assembly and Security Council resolutions concerning Jerusalem.

5. The meeting reiterated the Non-Aligned Movement's call upon the United Nations urgently to take effective steps, including the imposition of the sanctions stipulated in Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, against Israel with the view to enforcing immediate and total withdrawal and ending the Israeli occupation of all the Palestinian territory as well as other Arab territories, including the city of Al Quds (Jerusalem), occupied by Israel since 1967.

6. The meeting expressed grave concern and profound anguish at the escalation of fighting, which had resulted in heavy casualties and destruction in and around the Palestinian refugee camps of Shatilla and Burj-Al-Brajneh, as well as camps in southern Lebanon, which has brought untold sufferings to the civilian population The continued fighting and destruction have added to the sufferings of the Palestinians as well as of the Lebanese people.

7. The meeting reiterated the call for an immediate cease-fire and appealed to all concerned and to influential parties to exercise the utmost restraint and to make all efforts to bring to an end the present violence. The meeting urged all concerned to facilitate the provision of prompt medical care and attention to the sick and wounded.

8. The meeting reiterated its grave concern at the situation in the Palestinian refugee camps in the areas of armed conflict resulting from the Israeli invasion and occupation of Lebanese territories. The meeting further reiterated the need to provide guarantees to protect the safety of the Palestinian refugees and called upon the Secretary-General to provide guarantees for such protection in implementation of Security Council resolution 518 (1982) and in compliance with responsibilities of the United Nations.

9. The meeting stressed that the conflict and the violence in the region will continue as long as the Palestinian people are prevented from exercising their inalienable rights in their independent homeland. The meeting called for a just, lasting and comprehensive solution of the problem of the Middle East, the core of which is the Palestinian problem. The meeting urged the early establishment of the preparatory committee for the International Peace Conference on the Middle East under the auspices of the United Nations in conformity with relevant resolutions of the United Nations and stressed the primary responsibility of the Security Council in this regard. It called on all parties concerned to co-operate in the search peaceful solution.

10. The meeting reiterated its solidarity with and its firm support for the Palestinian people led by their sole and legitimate representative, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), in their struggle against Zionist occupation, and appealed to all members of the Non-Aligned Movement as well as the international community to give additional support for this legitimate struggle.

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