Jerusalem/Settlements – LAS resolution – Letter from Kuwait

Letter dated 4 April 1997 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i.

of the Permanent Mission of Kuwait to the United Nations

addressed to the Secretary-General

In my capacity as Chairman of the Arab Group for the month of April 1997 and on behalf of the States members of the League of Arab States, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith a copy of resolution 107/5628, entitled "Question of Jerusalem", which was adopted by the Council of the League of Arab States at its one hundred and seventh regular session on 31 March 1997.

I should be grateful if you would have this letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 33, 35 and 85, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Ali Sulaiman R. AL-SAEID

Chargé d'affaires a.i.

ANNEX

Resolution adopted by the Council of the League of Arab States

at its one hundred and seventh session on 31 March 1997

QUESTION OF JERUSALEM

The Council of the League of Arab States,

Having considered:

Affirming the importance of the status of the City of Jerusalem as the core of the Palestine issue,

Recalling the resolutions of the United Nations and its specialized agencies relating to the status of the Holy City,

Bearing in mind that the provisions of the present resolution will serve as a programme of action for the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States and for the presidency of the Council,

DECIDES:

1. To affirm the Arab character of Jerusalem; to uphold the presence of the existing national institutions there and the right of representatives of States to visit Orient House; and to urge the reopening of the institutions closed by the occupation authorities;

2. To urge the States that are the co-sponsors of the peace process to bring pressure to bear on Israel to comply with the relevant United Nations resolutions and primarily Security Council resolutions 252 (1968) and 476 (1980), in which the Council considers the measures taken by Israel in the City of Jerusalem to be invalid;

3. To take action to have a session of the General Assembly convened to consider the issue of settlement activity in Jerusalem on the basis of the "Uniting for peace" formula; and to request the United Nations and the relevant international bodies to bring pressure to bear on Israel to lift the siege on the City, to allow Palestinian citizens, Muslims and Christians, to perform their religious rites and to halt the excavations that threaten the Al-Aqsa Mosque;

4. To safeguard the Arab presence in the City of Jerusalem; and to provide support of every kind to Arab citizens in Jerusalem and its Arab environs by establishing productive enterprises, implementing housing programmes and promoting Arab construction activities in the City in order to achieve an Arab majority there;

5. To condemn the Israeli Government in the strongest terms for its decision to begin construction on Jewish settlements in the heart of Jerusalem (in Ras al-Amud and at Jabal Abu Ghneim); and to regard that action as a violation of the agreements concluded in the framework of the peace process and as constituting open defiance of international legitimacy and a breach of all the relevant United Nations resolutions;

6. To urge the Arab States that had begun to establish relations with Israel to take all possible countermeasures, including the closure of offices and missions, until such time as Israel complies with the agreements concluded between it and the Palestine Liberation Organization and abides by the United Nations resolutions relating to the question of Palestine and, in particular, the question of Jerusalem;

7. To condemn such practices of the Israeli forces as the demolition of the homes and shelters of the Jahalin Bedouin, the seizure of their lands and their eviction for the expansion of the Maaleh Adumim settlement established on their property;

8. To welcome the statement issued by the European Union condemning the decision of the Israeli Government to approve the plans for construction at Jabal Abu Ghneim; and to consider Jerusalem as being subject to the principles set forth in Security Council resolution 242 (1967) and, in particular, to the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force;

9. To support the recommendation of the Al-Quds Committee, under the chairmanship of His Majesty King Hassan II, that the assets of the Al-Quds Fund and Waqf should immediately be placed at the disposal of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian National Authority in view of the present conditions in the City of Jerusalem and in order to counter the conspiracy for the Judaization of the City and the settlement campaign;

10. To adopt 28 June, the day Israel proclaimed the annexation of Jerusalem, as an annual day to express rejection of that decision by every means, and primarily by a five-minute Arab general strike and by an extensive media campaign to counter the Israeli policy of depriving Palestinian citizens of their right to reside on their land and in their City by using all manner of illegal means and measures;

11. To take appropriate measures to thwart any Israeli scheme relating to Jerusalem in the Congress of Historic Cities, both through contacts with the Governing Council of the Organization of Historic Cities in Kyoto, Japan, and through contacts with officials in Poland, where the next session of the Congress is to be held;

12. To urge all Arab and Islamic States that have historic cities to apply for membership of the Organization of Historic Cities with a view to safeguarding Arab rights in Jerusalem;

13. To continue to coordinate action by the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference relating to the situation of the City of Jerusalem and measures for its Judaization; and to take joint action to convene a seminar on Jerusalem, as decided by the Council at its previous session in its resolution 5581 C of 15 September 1996;

14. To request the Secretary-General to establish the necessary contacts with international and regional organizations and the specialized agencies of the United Nations in order to consider appropriate means of preserving the cultural and religious heritage of the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Resolution 107/5628

One hundred and seventh regular session

3rd meeting

31 March 1997

—–