Jerusalem/Land expropriation – Letter from Palestine

UNITED NATIONS

General Assembly

Security Council

 Distr.

GENERAL

A/50/168

S/1995/341

28 April 1995

ORIGINAL:  ENGLISH

GENERAL ASSEMBLY   SECURITY COUNCIL

Fiftieth session   Fiftieth year

Items 42, 44, 84, 85 and 149 of

  the preliminary list*

QUESTION OF PALESTINE

THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS

  AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES

  IN THE NEAR EAST

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO

  INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES

  AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE

  PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER

  ARABS OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

MEASURES TO ELIMINATE INTERNATIONAL

  TERRORISM

              Letter dated 28 April 1995 from the Permanent Observer

              of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the

Secretary-General

I have been instructed to bring the following to your immediate attention.

The Israeli Government has taken a dangerous and destructive step as part of its overall illegal practices and policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem.  Yesterday, the Government declared confiscation orders of 53 hectares of Palestinian land within the area of illegally annexed East Jerusalem.  Thirty-three hectares are near Beit Hanina and the other 20 hectares are located near Beit Safafa.  The Government also declared that the land would be appropriated to build further illegal Israeli settlements.

Such an action flagrantly violates international humanitarian law and relevant Security Council resolutions, as well as the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, signed on 13 September 1993 by the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The General Assembly and the Security Council have repeatedly confirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem.  Both bodies also repeatedly affirmed that Israeli measures and actions which aim to alter the status of Jerusalem are null and void and called upon Israel to rescind all such measures and to refrain from taking any such steps in the future.

In the Declaration of Principles, the two parties agreed that permanent status negotiations on remaining issues, including Jerusalem, would commence as soon as possible, but not later than the beginning of the third year of the interim period.  This recent action taken by the Israeli Government greatly endangers negotiations and represents a clear attempt to prejudge their outcome. This seriously undermines the peace process as a whole and shatters confidence in the commitment made by the Israeli Government.

I must also refer to other equally illegal actions by the Israeli authorities in and around Jerusalem, including the continuing seizure and closure of the city in the face of the Palestinian people.  Israeli digging in the vicinity of Al-Haram Al-Sharif has almost reached Al-Aqsa mosque and threatens its integrity and foundations, as do the repeated attacks and attempts by illegal settlers and religious fanatics to impose their presence on, and overtake, Al-Haram Al-Sharif.

We formally call upon the Security Council to take urgent measures to redress this grave situation and bring an end to the above-mentioned Israeli violations.  We believe that the Council has the duty to order the Israeli authorities to desist from taking any further illegal measures and, specifically, to rescind the declared confiscation orders.

I would be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of the present letter distributed as an official document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 42, 44, 84, 85 and 149 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Dr. Nasser AL-KIDWA      

Permanent Observer of Palestine

to the United Nations     

—–

________________________

* A/50/50.