Situation in the OPT – Letter from Acting CEIRPP Chairman

Letter dated 26 March 1984 from the Acting Chairman of the

 Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the

 Palestinian People to the Secretary-General

As Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, I should like to refer to a previous letter (A/39/70-S/16261) in which, on behalf of the Committee, the Chairman expressed the concern of our members that the Government of Israel was persisting in its process of annexing the occupied territories and discriminating against the Palestinian people who still live in those territories.

Such concern is further borne out by news items in the Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz of 6 March 1984, where it is reported that yet another new settlement, named Eruvin, was established on 4 March 1984 in the Gush Etzion region to the north of the Arab town of Hebron.

It is reported that the Government of Israel, through its agencies, approved a budget for the establishment of the new settlement. Although the Chairman of the Gush Etzion regional council has said that only "state land" has been used, Arabs dwelling on the Hebron-Jerusalem road have said that some of their land has been expropriated in order that the road which leads to the new settlement might be built. According to the Jerusalem Post, members of an Arab family whose house straddles the beginning of the road to the settlement have expressed deep concern that their property will be expropriated.

It has also been brought to my attention that the newspaper Maariv disclosed on 15 March 1984 that two plans had been prepared confidentially by the Ministry of Housing and the Settlements Division of the Jewish agency with the object of developing what has been termed "greater Jerusalem". This, in effect, would result in three new centres being established around Jerusalem. Maariv reports that these plans will be submitted shortly to the Government of Israel for approval.

On a related matter, I wish to refer to a news item in Ha'aretz of 8 March 1984 in which it is reported that an Israeli Minister, Haim Kurpu, suggested to the Ministerial Committee on Jerusalem that the municipal limit of the city be expanded to the north-east areas of the West Bank so as to provide land for the city's industrial growth. The Minister is reported as having said that in order to annex the required land an order by the Minister of the Interior would suffice and, in consequence, there was no need for a decision to be made on the matter by the Government of Israel itself.

As on previous occasions, this information is being communicated to you in order that you may be kept aware of the intensification of activities taken against the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and to express the concern of the Committee regarding constant violation of Palestinian rights, United Nations resolutions and the Geneva Convention of 1949.

Accordingly, I should be grateful if you would be so good as to have the text of this letter circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under item 33 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

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* A/39/50.

84-07774 1131q (E)