NAM Declaration – Letter from Sri Lanka

Letter dated 30 September 1977 from the Permanent

Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations

addressed to the Secretary-General

I have the honour to transmit to you herewith the text of a Declaration adopted today at the extraordinary meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non-Aligned Countries in New York on the situation in the Middle East and the question of Palestine in the light of recent developments.

I should be grateful if you would kindly have the text of this Declaration circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 30 and 31, of the Security Council.

ANNEX

Declaration on the situation in the Middle East and the question

of Palestine in the light of recent developments, adopted by the

Ministers for Foreign Affairs of non-aligned countries at their

extraordinary meeting in New York on 30 September 1977

The Foreign Ministers of non-aligned countries, assembling in an extraordinary meeting in New York on 30 September 1977 to consider the situation in the Middle East and the question of Palestine in the light of recent developments, have adopted unanimously the following Declaration:

1. The Ministers reviewed the seriously deteriorating situation in the Middle East resulting from continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories, the extension of Israeli laws and the establishment of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza in a clear attempt to prepare for their annexation, and the escalation of Israeli violations and oppressive practices in the area. They consider that such measures constitute an obstacle to the endeavours for the achievement of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

2. The Ministers reaffirm that Israel's continued illegal occupation of Arab territories by force constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security.

3. The Ministers also consider that illegal occupation does not authorize the occupying Power to carry out any changes which would affect sovereign and other established rights and that such changes are in contravention of the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. a/

4.  The Ministers condemn Israel for taking these illegal measures in Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories with the objective of changing the geographic, demographic, economic, cultural or historical characteristics of the occupied territories. Such measures are not compatible with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and Israel's obligations under the fourth Geneva Convention. The Ministers consider such measures as null and void and affirm that the measures constitute an obstacle to the endeavours towards the achievement of peace in the Middle East.

5.  The Ministers reject the statements recently made by the Israeli Government describing the occupied Arab territories as "liberated Israeli lands".

6. The Ministers call attention to Israel's persistent violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter as well as its failure to fulfil the fundamental conditions on which it was admitted as a Member of the United Nations under General Assembly resolution 273 (lll) of 11 May 1949 (namely General Assembly resolutions 181 (ll) and 194 (lll)).

7. The Ministers affirm that just and lasting peace cannot be established except through the implementation of the following two principles:

(a) Firstly, the withdrawal of Israel from all Arab territories occupied since 5 June 1967, including the City of Jerusalem;

(b) Secondly, the restoration of all the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right of return, their right to self-determination and their right to establish an independent State in Palestine.

8. In this connexion the Ministers recall that the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries inter alia adopted the following:

"The international community is fully convinced that a just and lasting peace can only be established through an over-all settlement based on Israel's total withdrawal from all the occupied Arab territories and the Palestinian people's recovery and exercise of their inalienable national rights. Such an over-all settlement can only be reached through the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization the representative of the Palestinian people on the basis of General Assembly resolution 3375 (XXX).

"The Conference called upon all countries:

(a) To give all-out support and military, moral and material assistance to the Arab States and the Palestinian people under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in the struggle to end the Israeli aggression.

(b) To desist forthwith from any action which could contribute to Israel's financial, military or human potential or give moral support to its policy.

(c) Not to recognize any alterations made by Israel in the geographic, demographic, economic, cultural or historical characteristics of the occupied territories, and hold it responsible for the exploitation of the wealth and resources of these territories.

(d) To stress the non-aligned countries' support for the preservation of the national, religious and spiritual values of Jerusalem and regard all annexation measures taken by Israel as null and void.

(e) To condemn the racist and hostile collusion between South Africa and Israel which aims at creating a racist and expansionist axis to wage war against peoples and deprive them of their national rights." b/

9. The Ministers call upon the Secretary-General and the organs and agencies of the United Nations to keep under constant review the explosive and serious situation arising from the most recent Israeli actions and to take adequate steps to put an end to the Israeli policies of settler-colonization and annexation.

10. In this respect, the Ministers call upon the Security Council to follow closely the deteriorating situation in the region and to assert its responsibility to maintain international peace and security, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

11. The Ministers call upon all States Members of the United Nations to endeavour to halt emigration of their citizens to Israel, as such emigration will consolidate the occupation and establishment of settlements in occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, resulting in the forced evacuation of the indigenous inhabitants of the occupied territories.

12. The Ministers consider it of prime importance that the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People should continue to pursue its task and keep under close attention the above developments in fulfilment of the Committee's mandate. In this connexion, they invite all delegations to give their active support to the adoption of the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in the forthcoming debates of the Security Council and of the General Assembly on the question of Palestine.

13. The Ministers call upon all States Members of the United Nations to desist from assisting the Israeli authorities to exploit the natural resources of the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories.

l4. The Ministers call upon Western countries, in particular the United States of America, to cease their political, economic and military support to Israel which has, inter alia, enabled Israel to persist in its dilatory tactics and its efforts to prolong its occupation.

—–

a/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973, p. 287.

b/ A/31/197, annex I, paras. 73 and 74.