Situation in the OPT – Statement by Government of Malaysia – Letter from Malaysia

Letter dated 25 January 1988 from the Permanent Representative of

Malaysia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Upon instructions from my Government, I have the honour to transmit herewith a statement issued by Malaysia in regard to the continuing violence perpetrated by Israel against civilians in the occupied territories.  I have the honour further to request the circulation of the statement as an official document of the General Assembly, under the items entitled “Question of Palestine” and “The situation in the Middle East”, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) YUSOF M. Hitam

Ambassador Extraordinary

and Plenipotentiary

ANNEX

Statement dated 15 January 1988 issued by Malaysia on the

continuing violence in the occupied territories

The Government of Malaysia is appalled by the cruelties being perpetrated by the Tel Aviv régime in pursuit of its ambitions.  In defiance of world opinion and the United Nations resolutions, it continues its relentless policies of brutal repression against innocent and unarmed Palestinians in the occupied territories.  The atrocities and bloodshed being inflicted by Israel have reached a new and more terrible proportion.

The responsibility for the disturbances in Gaza and the West Bank rest squarely with Tel Aviv, which is subjecting Palestinians to systematic political and economic oppression.  It is a measure of the Israeli lack of consideration that almost 40 years after their dislocation the Palestinians have still to live as refugees in their own land.  Malaysia once again strongly and emphatically condemns the Tel Aviv régime for its heinous crimes against the people of the occupied territories, and calls on it to abide immediately by international norms as well as to respect the inalienable rights of the Palestinians to a national homeland.

The Government and people of Malaysia fully sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians, a valiant people dispossessed of their homeland.  As an expression of our support and solidarity, a Special Fund for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories is being set up at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wisma Putra), to which Malaysians are requested to donate generously, to help our Palestinian brothers in their moment of severe trial and hardship.  Donations by cheques can be made payable to “Tabung Rakyat Palestine”.

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