International Day of Solidarity (1980) – Special bulletin


 

 

 SPECIAL BULLETIN ON THE COMMEMORATION

OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY

WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

1980

  

 

 


CONTENTS

I.  Commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

II. Texts of statements made and messages received on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

A.  Opening statements

COUNTRY/ORGANIZATION – NAME AND TITLE


Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

H.E. Falilou Kane

Chairman

United Nations General Assembly

Thirty-fifth session

H.E. Baron Rüdiger von Wechmar

President

United Nations

Mr. Kurt Waldeim

Secretary-General

Security Council

H.E. Sir Anthony Parsons, President for the month of November 1980

Palestine Liberation Organization

Mr. Yasser Arafat
Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Commander-in-Chief of the Palestinian Revolutionary Forces

B.  MESSAGES OF HEADS OF STATE

AFGHANISTAN

H.E. Mr. Babrak Karmal

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party, President of the Revolutionary Council and Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

BAHRAIN

His Highness Sheikh Isa bin Sulman Khalifa

Emir of the State of Bahrain

BANGLADESH

H.E. Mr. Ziaur Rahman

President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh

BULGARIA

H.E. Mr. Todor Zhivkov

President of the Council of State of the People's Republic of Bulgaria

CHINA

H.E. Mr. Zhao Ziyang

Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

CONGO

H.E. Mr. Denis Sassou Nguessou

President of the People's Republic of the Congo

CYPRUS

H.E. Mr. Spyros Kyprianou

President of the Republic of Cyprus

DEMOCRATIC YEMEN

H.E. Mr. Ali Nasser Mohammad

Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Yemeni Socialist Party and Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Supreme Council of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen

EGYPT

H.E. Mr. Mohammed Anwar El-Sadat

President of Egypt

GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

H.E. Mr. Erich Honecker

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and Chairman of the Council of the German Democratic Republic

GUINEA

H.E. Mr. Ahmed Sekou Toure

President of the People's Revolutionary Republic of Guinea

INDIA

H.E. Mrs. Indira Gandhi

Prime Minister of India

IRAQ

H.E. Mr. Saddam Hussein

President of Iraq

KUWAIT

His Highness the Emir of Kuwait

Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah

LEBANON

H.E. Mr. Elias Sarkis

President of the Republic of Lebanon

MADAGASCAR

H.E. Mr. Didier Ratsiraka

President of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar

MALDIVES

H.E. Mr. Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom

President of the Republic of Maldives

MAURITANIA

H.E. Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla

President of the Military Committee for National Salvation and Head of State and Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania

MONGOLIA

H.E. Mr. Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal

Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Khural of the Mongolian People's Republic

OMAN

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said

Emir of Oman

PAKISTAN

H.E. General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq

President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

PHILIPPINES

H.E. Mr. Ferdinand E. Marcos

the Head of State and Government of the Republic of the Philippines

POLAND

H.E. Mr. Henryk Jablonski

President of the Council of State of the Polish People's Republic and Chairman of the All-Poland Committee of the National Unity Front

QATAR

His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani

The Emir of the State of Qatar

ROMANIA

H.E. Mr. Nicolae Ceausescu

President of the Socialist Republic of Romania

SENEGAL

H.E. Mr. Leopold Senghor

President of the Republic of Senegal

SRI LANKA

H.E. Mr. J. R. Jayewardene

President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

SUDAN

H.E. Mr. Gaafar Mohammed Nimeiri

President of the Democratic Republic of Sudan

SYRIA

H.R. Mr. Hafez Al-Assad

President of the Syrian Arab Republic

TUNISIA

H.E. Mr. Habib Bourguiba

President of Tunisia

UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS

H.E. Mr. Leonid Brezhnev

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

H.E. Sheikh Zahed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan

President of the United Arab Emirates

VIET NAM

H.E. Mr. Pham Van Dong

Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Abdulla Saleh

Head of State of the Yemen Arab Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

YUGOSLAVIA

H.E. Mr. Cvijetin Mijatovic

President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

C.  MESSAGES FROM HEADS OF GOVERNMENT AND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTERS

MALTA

H.E. Mr. Dom Mintoff

Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Malta

NICARAGUA

Mr. Sergio Ramirez Mercado

Mr. Moises Hassan Morales

Mr. Daniel Ortega Saavedra

Mr. Rafael Cordova Rivas

Mr. Arturo J. Cruz

The Board of Government of National Reconstruction of the Republic of Nicaragua

D.  MESSAGES FROM MINISTERS FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

GREECE

H.E. Mr. Mitsotakis

Minister of Foreign Affairs

INDONESIA

H.E. Dr. Mochtar Kusumaatmadja

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia

JAPAN

H.E. Mr. Masayoshi Ito

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan

JORDAN

H.E. Mr. Marwan Kasim

Minister for Foreign Affairs

of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA

H.E. Dr. Al-Treiki
Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

MALAYSIA

H.E. Mr. Tengku Ahmad Riphauddee

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Malaysia  

SAUDI ARABIA

His Royal Highness

Emir Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

TURKEY

H.F. Mr. Ilter Turkem
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey

E.  MESSAGES FROM PERMANENT MISSIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS

HUNGARY

H.E. Mr. Pál Rácz

Permanent Representative of the Hungarian People's Republic to the United Nations

IRAN

Mr. Jamal Shemirani

Deputy Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

MOROCCO

H.E. Mr. Mehdi Mrani Zentar

Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations

SPAIN

Mr. Don José Zifra

Minister Plenipotentiary

Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations

F.  STATEMENTS BY REGIONAL GROUPS OF STATES AT THE UNITED NATIONS

GROUPS OF AFRICAN AND ARAB STATES

H.E. Mr. Massamba Sarré
Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations

GROUP OF ASIAN STATES

H.E. Mr. Maung Maung Gyee
Permanent Representative of Burma to the United Nations

GROUP OF EASTERN EUROPEAN STATES

H.E. Dr. Ilja Hulinský

Permanent Representative of Czechoslovakia to the United Nations

GROUP OF LATIN AMERICAN STATES

H.E. Dr. Indalecio Liévano

Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations

G.  STATEMENTS BY INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

WITH OBSERVER STATUS AT THE UNITED NATIONS

LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES

Mr. Clovis Maksoud

Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations

ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE

H.E. Mr. Habib Chatty

Secretary-General

PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION

Mr. Shawfik El-Hout

Central Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization

SOUTH WEST AFRICA PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATION

Mr. Peter Mueshihange

Secretary for Foreign Affairs

H.  STATEMENTS BY NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS

AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS OF SOUTH AFRICA

Mr. Johnstone Makatini

Chief Representative to the United Nations

PAN AFRICANIST CONGRESS OF AZANIA

Mr. Ike Majole

Representative

I.  STATEMENTS BY UNITED NATIONS ORGANS

Special Committee Against Apartheid

H.E. Mr. B. Akporode Clark

Chairman  

Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories

Mr. T. Balasubramanian

Chairman

United Nations Council for Namibia

H.E. Mr. Paul John Firmino Lusaka

President

J.  STATEMENTS BY INVITED SPEAKERS

AFRO-ASIAN PEOPLE'S SOLIDARITY ORGANIZATION

Mr. Dunbar Ortiz

Representative

COMMITTEE OF SOLIDARITY OF THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

Mr. Kurt Seibt

Chairman

CO-ORDINATING BUREAU OF THE NON-ALIGNED COUNTRIES

Commandant Fidel Castro Ruz

President of the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba

INTERNATIONAL PROGRESS ORGANIZATION

Mr. Hans Koechler

President

UNION OF ARAB JURISTS

Mr. Mansur R. Kikhia

WORLD PEACE COUNCIL

Mr. Romesh Chandra

President

 


III. Observance of the Third International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People by States Members and Observers of the United Nations  


 

I. Commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

In accordance with operative paragraph 1(c) of General Assembly resolution 32/40 B, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was observed in New York and Geneva, as well as in several capitals. Since 29 November, occurred on a Saturday, it was decided to hold the commemoration on Friday, 28 November 1980.

In New York the programme for observance of the Day included an exhibit entitled "Palestine, Home and Mother". This exhibit was personally opened by the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, on Monday, 1 December and was displayed for one week.

Throughout the week the films "Jerusalem: Prophets and Paratroopers", "The Key", "Betrayal of Trust" and "Palestinians Do Have Rights" were screened at the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium.

The main event in the programme of observance of the Day in New York were two special meetings of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, held at the Trusteeship Council Chamber on Friday, 28 November. The Chairman of the Committee, the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council were among those who addressed the meetings. A message from the President of the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly was read out by the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The texts of messages and statements received from heads of State or Government, Foreign Ministers, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and others are reproduced below.

 


II. TEXTS OF STATEMENTS MADE AND MESSAGES RECEIVED ON

THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

A. Opening statements 

 


Statement by the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the

Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, H.E. Mr. Falilou Kane 

I should like to extend an especially warm welcome to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council at this special meeting, which is being convened by virtue of General Assembly resolution 32/40 B. This ceremony continues the tradition of past years. Their presence here demonstrates the importance the international community attaches to the quest for a just settlement of the Palestinian question. It also bears witness to their fervent desire to see the Palestinian people regain its rights and exercise them fully.

In the past two years, the response to the appeal of the General Assembly to the international community to show its support and sympathy for the cause of the Palestinian people has been extremely favourable. We are certain that once again this year, the Day of Solidarity will be commemorated in many capitals throughout the world and on every continent. Indeed, similar ceremonies are being held in Brussels, Geneva, The Hague, Ottawa and in Argentina. This response is eloquent proof of the fact that public opinion is on the side of the Palestinian people in its quest for a solution to this distressing problem.

Although we are holding our commemoration a day ahead of time, the date of 29 November marks a milestone in the consideration of the Palestinian question. It also enables us to review the developments that have occurred over the past twelve months with regard to the question of Palestine. As everyone knows, the question of Palestine, which has been before our Organization since 1947, has been the subject of important resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council. It is also common knowledge that the implementation of those resolutions could solve the problem before us.

Unfortunately, not only have those resolutions not been implemented but, what is more, Israel, which came into being as a result of the adoption of resolution 181 (II), in the wake of three successive wars – 1948, 1956 and 1967 – is occupying a territory larger than that accorded to it. By this territorial aggrandizement and its policy of colonizing occupied Palestinian and Arab territories Israel has created obstacles in the way of a just and lasting settlement of the problem.

Events that have taken place during the course of the last 12 months have marked noteworthy progress in the international community's attitude with regard to acceptance of the basic principles for a peaceful settlement of the Palestine question, on the one hand. On the other hand, the world has witnessed a hardening of Israel's arrogant attitude vis-à-vis international public opinion, international law, and General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. This defiant attitude clearly shows that that country has not the least intention of respecting international law or even of abiding by the obligations it accepted on becoming a Member of this Organization.

The ravages continually perpetrated against the population in the occupied territories – and the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories in document A/35/425 is instructive on this point – the expulsion of the mayors of Halhul and Hebron and the Kadi of Hebron, the military operations launched daily against students peacefully demonstrating in celebration of Palestinian Week and the adoption by the Knesset of that "basic law" proclaiming Jerusalem to be Israel's capital cannot be ignored by the international community. The response of that Committee to those illegal actions is well known and reassures us in our confidence for the future.

That confidence is based on the following positive factors: the censure by the Security Council in the most forceful terms of the adoption of the "basic law" on Jerusalem by its resolution 478 (1980) of 29 August 1980, in which the Security Council declares that action illegal, null and void; the adoption by the Security Council of resolution 465 (1980) commending the report of the three-member Security Council Commission charged with examining the situation relating to settlements in the Arab territories illegally occupied by Israel, including Jerusalem; the Council's demand that the Mayors of Halhul and Hebron should return to their cities to carry out the functions for which they had been elected; and the Security Council's demand that those States which had established diplomatic Missions in Jerusalem should transfer them to Tel Aviv, as well as the positive response by the countries concerned, constitute for us encouraging positive factors.

Another important development was the holding of the emergency special session of the General Assembly last July at the request of Senegal. The fact that more than 30 Ministers for Foreign Affairs and 110 States Members took part in the debate proved the importance attached to that question. It will be recalled that the vast majority of the representatives who spoke unequivocally lent their backing to the cause of the Palestinian people. That was later confirmed by the vote on the resolution: there were only 7 votes against whereas 112 were in favour.

We must also underline the fact that the countries – and they are many – which hitherto had been opposed to resolutions or recommendations emanating from our Committee understood that it was time for them to change their attitude on that occasion. Although the resolution went further than previous resolutions in the sense that operative paragraph 13 mentioned the adoption of effective measures under Chapter VII of the Charter which the Security Council might be prompted to take in the event of Israel's non-compliance with that resolution.

It is true that that change of heart was encouraged by the Declaration adopted on this issue by the European Summit Conference held at Venice in June 1980. That gathering marked a significant watershed and gives much hope that we shall see Europe play an increasingly important role in the quest for an all-encompassing, just and lasting settlement of the conflict with the participation of the principal interested parties, namely, the Palestinians represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), their legitimate spokesman.

Although there has been marked progress so far as media coverage of developments in the Palestinian conflict is concerned, much still remains to be done. We hope that the ostensibly hostile attitude of certain media will change – above all with reference to the question of Palestine. The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has sought tirelessly to contribute to that change. Today growing interest is shown by all sectors of world public opinion in being informed of the facts touching upon the Palestinian question. To that end the Committee has disseminated studies carried out under its aegis. Representatives of the Committee have taken an active part in conferences which have examined the situation of Palestine and have expressed the views and concerns of the Committee.

This year we organized two seminars, the first held at Arusha in July and the second at Vienna in August. Those seminars, the convening of which the General Assembly recommended last year, have had a notable impact on public opinion. Two other seminars will be organized in 1981, one in Asia and the other in Latin America.

However significant that progress might be, we should not lose sight of the fact that there are tremendous problems still ahead of us before the inalienable rights of the Palestinians can be exercised effectively. Although the vast majority of the Members of this Organization are convinced of the steps that must be taken to attain the goal of peace throughout that troubled area, so far no positive steps can be taken owing to obstruction in the Security Council to date. Obviously that situation encourages Israel and enables it to maintain the intransigent posture that led to the current impasse. None the less, the United Nations must play the central role in this issue, with a view to finding a solution acceptable to all the parties concerned and the international community. A temporary impasse must neither disorient nor discourage us, because when justice and freedom are at stake there is no place for indifference.

The lessons of the past and recent experience have shown, on the one hand, that there will be no settlement of the Palestinian problem if the Palestinians themselves are not enabled to take charge of their destiny themselves within the framework of an independent and sovereign State, and, on the other hand, that there will be no solution to the problem of Israel's survival and security if the Israelis do not agree to link their efforts – without any spirit of hegemony – to those of the Palestinian State and all the Arab States in the region.

 I shall conclude by expressing to you, Mr. Secretary-General, on behalf of the Committee, our appreciation for your presence and for the assistance that you and your colleagues have so generously given us during the year now drawing to a close. Despite all the criticisms, malicious remarks, pressure and the obstacles thrown in its path, the Secretariat's Special Unit on Palestinian Rights discharged the tasks entrusted to it by the Committee fully and to our complete satisfaction. For this, please accept our heartfelt thanks.

 


Statement of the President of the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly,

H.E. Baron Rüdiger von Wechmar

The decision of the General Assembly to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People not only is a matter of symbolic significance, but also reflects the international community's deep concern for the problem of Palestine as an essential part of the Middle East conflict There is unanimous agreement among the Members of the United Nations that a just and equitable solution to this problem, affecting not only the parties directly concerned but also the world community as a whole, needs to be found more urgently than ever before. We are all aware of the fact that the situation in the Middle East vitally affects stability in that troubled area of the world and, moreover, carries a potential threat to international peace and security.

Four times in the life of the United Nations, the Middle East has seen major conflicts which have not only affected the lives of millions of human beings in that region, but also seriously and repeatedly have endangered the peace and security of the entire world. In spite of the tremendous efforts that have been made to find a just and lasting solution to the problem, it continues to be one of the most critical, complex and dangerous issues facing the United Nations.

It is overwhelmingly recognized by the international community that a comprehensive settlement covering all aspects of the Middle East dispute cannot be conceived without regard to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. I deeply regret the hardening of the positions, when it is only dialogue and mutual understanding that can prepare the road to peace. Too much emotion, too much suffering, too much hatred have built up in the past.

As I pointed out in my opening speech in the General Assembly, I continue to hope that this thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly will contribute its share towards a just, secure and lasting peace between Israel and her Arab neighbours, including the Palestinians. I am convinced it is an indispensable element to create a climate of confidence and realism. To this end, all parties concerned must recognize the facts as they are. Above all, this implies the recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, on the one hand, and the right of all. States in the region, including Israel, to live within secure, recognized and guaranteed borders, on the other.

In the recent past, several steps have been undertaken in order to contribute to the solution of the problem of Palestine, which is at the very core of the Middle East conflict. Although not unanimously accepted, these initiatives should encourage us even more to continue to strive for a just, secure and lasting peace in the Middle East.

In commemorating this Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People is specifically emphasizing the need to bring about a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East dispute so as to enable the Palestinian people to enjoy their legitimate rights which have been recognized and reiterated by the General Assembly on various occasions.

 


Statement by the Secretary-General,

H.E. Mr. Kurt Waldheim

The effort to find a lust solution to the Palestinian question continues to be one of the main preoccupations of the United Nations. This is natural, since a durable peace in the Middle East can ultimately be achieved only through a comprehensive settlement covering all aspects of the problem, including, in particular, the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

This fundamental point has been firmly established in various United Nations resolutions. The seventh emergency special session of the General Assembly underscored in dramatic fashion the importance that the international community attached to the question of Palestine and the urgency of achieving a just and lasting settlement of the Middle East problem which would give due recognition to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

The principles which must guide the search for such a settlement have been defined in resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council, and there is now general agreement on this subject in the international community. Bearing in mind the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, I have on repeated occasions indicated that any solution of the Middle East problem will have to be based on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination, as well as on withdrawal from occupied territories and the right of all States in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.

Unfortunately, despite a wide measure of agreement on the principles, an overall settlement of the Middle East problem is still proving elusive. Determined efforts must therefore be made to achieve such a settlement through negotiations involving all the parties concerned, including the Palestine Liberation Organization. As I stated in my annual report, we need, without further delay, to create a climate in which the peoples of the region and their leaders recognize and accept each other's existence and each other's right to exist.

In this connexion, I feel that while a firm stand should be taken on the principles, actions must be avoided which would tend to exacerbate tensions or serve as irritants, since these make a comprehensive settlement more difficult to achieve. I am confident that, given the political will to achieve agreement, a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement of the Middle East problem, which would take into account the vital interests of all concerned and which would deal with all aspects of the problem, including in particular the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, is not beyond our grasp.

The annual observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is a reflection of the international community's concern for the Palestinian people, as well as its recognition that a just solution of the Palestinian problem is of overriding importance. It is intended to focus the attention of the international community on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, to give the widest possible exposure to the facts relating to those rights and to impress on the Palestinian people that our Organization will continue to pay special attention to the attainment of those rights.

Mr. Chairman, this Committee, under your able leadership, is to be commended for its continued efforts on behalf of Palestinian rights. Those efforts serve to remind the Palestinian people that they will not be forgotten by the international community.

 


Statement by the President of the Security Council for the

month of November 1980, Sir Anthony Parsons

For reasons which are not difficult to understand, my participation and my brief statement in this special meeting do not necessarily reflect the collective views of all the members of the Security Council on the Palestinian question, and therefore do not bind the Council as such.

The meeting which is being held today serves once again to focus the attention of the international community on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The observance of this day, which is already becoming an established tradition, underlines the international community's concern for the Palestinian people and the increasing recognition that a just solution of the Palestinian problem is of paramount importance for international peace and for the stability of a vitally important region of the globe. For its part, the Security Council has long been closely concerned with the continuing efforts to find a just and lasting solution to the Middle East problem which will bring peace and security to all States in the region.

In the past 30 years or so, developments in the area have made it necessary for the Security Council repeatedly to direct its attention to certain aspects of that problem which had the potential of threatening world peace. While doing so, however, the Council was well aware of the importance of the Palestinian dimension of the problem and of its central role in the search for any lasting solution. As a further manifestation of its interest in the matter, the Security Council has, on several occasions, debated at length the specific question of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The views expressed on those occasions have reflected the growing recognition by many Council members and by other members of the United Nations that the search for a just and lasting settlement in the Middle East must take due account of the Palestinian question not simply in its humanitarian aspects, but as a crucial political issue.

The Security Council has been made aware of the efforts which this Committee has undertaken, and continues to undertake, in the context of the promotion of an equitable solution to one of the most intractable problems before the United Nations. Guided by its responsibilities under the Charter, the Security Council will continue its own efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in the Middle East for the benefit of all concerned including the Palestinian people.

 


PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION

Mr. Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the

Palestine Liberation Organization, Commander-in-Chief

of the Palestinian Revolutionary Forces

In the name of the Palestinian, steadfast in the face of occupation, resisting every type of oppression, terrorism and torture; the Palestinian struggling for the return to his homeland, for self-determination and the establishment of an independent State on his native soil; in the name of the true historic Palestinian land, the land of prophets and martyrs, the land of holiness and peace, the land of a stubborn struggle against racist occupation and Zionist settlement: in the name of the Palestinian farmer, steadfast in his attachment to his own territory, in spite of racist expropriation, destruction and Zionist efforts to steal his waters and wipe out his village by using tractors to transform his fertile land into theatres of destructive military manoeuvres, training and settlements for the increasing number of Zionists who come to his land, bringing disaster and tragedy to our peoples: in the name of thousands of prisoners, those in chains who stand with pride and honour in the face of the whips of the racists, in Israeli cells and caves, and who look forward to a future in which the rights and dignity of man will be respected and in which freedom will prevail over our land; in the name of the Palestinian who lives with his Lebanese brother in the south of Lebanon, under daily Israeli attacks which are carried out by the Israeli military Junta, with the use of the most modern weapons of destruction, including United States weapons, on sea, on land and in the air: the Palestinian, despite all that, standing steadfast and patient, looking forward to the great awakening of the international conscience – in the name of all that, on this historic day, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I should like to address this Committee.

I had the honour of standing before the United Nations in 1974 and addressing the entire world through this international forum on behalf of the struggling Palestinian peoples to present our just cause, with all its historic social, political and human dimensions and background. That was an historic occasion indeed, which gave impetus to our great and just national struggle and opened up before the Palestine Liberation Organization wide horizons in its dealings with the international community, as well as imposing responsibilities upon it. This solidarity with the Palestinian people, which has been shown by all honourable peoples and forces, is a source of pride for us, and we do appreciate it. We consider it to be a positive expression of the support of the international Organization and of those peoples and forces for us, for our Just cause and for our inalienable rights.

We are happy to note that this celebration of this historic day under the aegis of the United Nations and with such great international response truly affirms this great evolution of the attitudes of the peoples and States of the world concerning our inalienable rights, our cause and our legitimate national struggle.

On this occasion I should like, on behalf of the Palestinian people and its leadership, the Palestine Liberation Organization, to present my deep thanks and gratitude to the United Nations, its agencies and its staff for the efforts they have exerted to make this day a success. I address particular thanks to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, for his courage, his valuable initiative and his great efforts to achieve a just peace not only in our area but throughout the world. I should like to pay a tribute also to the great and intensified efforts of the Special Committee to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable and legitimate rights.

In response to a recommendation from this Committee the United Nations General Assembly approved the observance of this historic day and named it a day of international solidarity with our just cause and legitimate struggle to achieve our national objectives, which have been supported by the Organizations and have been the subject of so many historic and important resolutions that it has adopted. It will also be a day of denunciation of the continuous aggression by Zionism, which has constantly rejected the United Nations resolutions, defied the Charter, and persistently carried out its aggressive policies, determined to maintain its occupation and settlements and to annex the occupied territories, including Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine. That action is the embodiment of absolute violation and defiance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all the civilized moral values accepted by the peoples of our contemporary world.

The Palestinians consider that the United Nations umbrella provided by this International Day of Solidarity for their struggle and legitimate resistance against occupation has a special meaning for the just cause of our people. It is a reaffirmation of resolutions that have called for exercise by the Palestinians of their right to return, to self-determination and to an independent State. It is also an embodiment of the international will that supports and stands by the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

This historic day has given our cause and our legitimate struggle valuable opportunities as manifested in the encouragement and support of a greater number of peoples and States and representatives of world public opinion for the Palestine cause and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Our struggling militant people will therefore always feel affection, appreciation and gratitude for all those who have supported their just cause.

The Palestinian people will also continue to adhere to the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which will lead them continuously and increasingly to support the just causes of the world – the causes of liberation, freedom, equality and social progress – and particularly the struggle of the peoples of Namibia and South Africa who, like us, are struggling against fascist, terrorist, racist régimes that deny the rights of those peoples to self-determination on their national soil. We also support all the oppressed and struggling peoples in Asia, in Africa and in Latin America.

The Palestine cause has had important political victories. One of the most significant was the notable progress in its international position as a central cause which truly constitutes one of the decisive factors for war or peace in the world. However, we have in reality, and continuously, faced a large escalation of the plot against the Palestinian peoples and their inalienable rights. That was made extremely clear by the results of the Camp David agreements between the Governments of the United States of America, Egypt and Israel in March 1979. Those agreements have led to a stage in which our area has witnessed greater conflict and greater danger because they are totally removed from the basis of the just and durable peace our Arab nation is looking forward to, which corresponds to the aspirations of the international community. Those agreements have made of our Arab area the core of a three-pronged military-alliance move by the United States of America, with all the dangers that that may hold for the future of the entire area and the aspirations of its peoples to liberation and independence and the direct negative effects it may have on international peace and security.

It was only normal that those ill-fated agreements would have clear effects on our Palestinian people within and outside the occupied territories. The Israeli military junta, in the light of those agreements, completed its announced and long-held plans for the occupied territories. Thus it carried out a very extensive operation of land expropriation and building, increasing settlements on the West Bank and in the sector. Then it adopted its dangerous decision to consider Jerusalem the capital of the Zionist entity and it has also presented a draft decision to the Knesset on the annexation of occupied Golan.

Parallel with that, the Israeli military junta also escalated its organized and official fascist terrorism and oppression against our people in the occupied territories. That reached its peak in the aggressive operations on our national leaders, the attempts to assassinate some of them and to expel others from the homeland and to murder a number of our people who are still in prisons and concentration camps as well as those in schools.

The Israeli military junta was not satisfied with that but increased its military operations against the camps of our people and against the Lebanese cities and villages in southern Lebanon, using in all those operations on land, on sea and in the air military weapons which had been supplied to it by the United States of America. The Israelis dropped tons of bombs and explosives, including those which are internationally prohibited, and turned out camps and the villages of our brothers in southern Lebanon into a theatre of war in which the blood of innocent peoples is mixed with the debris of their huts.

The world hears and the world reads daily statements proudly announcing those criminal actions by major Israeli leaders, in which they announce that their aggressive war against our people will continue and be maintained until one party has been totally eliminated. I do not think that the Committee will disagree with us that one of our basic rights is to continue our legitimate resistance and struggle in order to prevent that military organization's destroying our peoples, killing our children and our women and annihilating the rights and aspirations of our people, and the right to live like all peoples, sovereign on their land and in their homeland.

The rapid development of events in our area and the resulting continuous tension, as well as the escalating danger of explosion and the trend away from stability, are undoubtedly caused by an intransigent American policy in the Middle East. That policy has been based and continues to be based on supporting continual Israeli aggression, an escalating aggression that is provided with every means of support, militarily, politically and economically, so that Israel can become the eager policeman who plays a central and oppressive role against the interests of the people of our area and their legitimate aspirations, for which the Palestinian people have paid and continue to pay with their blood and the blood of their children.

In addition, the United States of America has gone further in its defiant attitude towards our people. It has sent its ships to surround our area and mobilized its enormous military machine led by its rapid deployment force focused on our area, threatening us with its power and counting on terrorizing us in order to subjugate our area under its total domination. All this has taken place since our struggling people successfully took steps forward on the road to their liberation, their dignity and the consolidation of their national independence.

Therefore, in the light of our responsibility to the Palestinian people, the Arab nation and the world, we state and announce that the continued intransigence of American policy, its support of the Israeli aggressor, its solidarity with that aggressor and its mobilization of its military machine in our area will undoubtedly lead to an escalation of the tension and the danger of an explosion in a way in which it would be very difficult to estimate the danger and the effects not only on the security of peoples but on international peace and security as a whole.

The United Nations has adopted a number of resolutions in the interests of the struggle of our people, in recognition of their rights and in condemnation of the continual Zionist acts of aggression against our people: the establishment of settlements, the expropriation of land, the annexation of Jerusalem, the oppression and the expulsions. However, Israel, which since its establishment has always rejected international resolutions and refused to implement them, has not in fact applied any of those resolutions. As a matter of fact Israel has defied them with intransigence and contempt. Needless to say, the resolutions will remain worthless in spite of the issues involved unless the United Nations takes deterrent means to ensure implementation of its resolutions.

The non-compliance with and non-implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations encourage those who wish to carry out aggression, either in Palestine, in South Africa, in Namibia or in any part of the world, to continue their aggression and their oppression and usurpation There is here an attempt by the Israeli military junta to demean the United Nations in the eyes of world public opinion, which has considered the United Nations as a bridge between the years of oppression and subjugation and those of freedom, independence, equality, brotherhood and social progress for mankind as a whole. The implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations is essential as a means of bringing the world closer to peace.

Furthermore, there is no doubt that the international community is fully aware of the means for doing so: by the imposition of economic, political and other sanctions on the Israeli military machine, which refuses to submit to the international will and which defies its resolutions, considering them, in the absence of any deterrent measures, as so much ink on paper.

On this International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, a day that is a source of pride to our entire people and one to which we look forward with confidence and optimism as an effective and positive expression of the support of the peoples of the world for our legitimate rights and national resistance and of our continued struggle for the restoration of those rights, I should like to affirm to you honestly and responsibly that the Palestinian people look forward to the restoration of the just and real peace that has been wrenched away from the land of Palestine, destroyed by ambition, racism, imperialist interests, self-interest and an organized, official terrorism. The Palestinian people – Moslems, Jews and Christians – look forward to a just and real peace, and our full awareness of the meaning of this peace emanates from our belief in and conviction of the natural right of our expelled peoples to return to their land, Palestine, and to achieve the right to self-determination and to build their independent State on their national soil, like all the peoples of the world, in compliance with the clear resolutions of the United Nations that have been supported by the overwhelming majority of the world's peoples and States.

Let us tell you truly that we are true to ourselves when we say that the continued deprivation of our human and national rights from which we suffer, Israel's continued violation of those rights and of the resolutions of the United Nations with the encouragement and support of the United States of America, and the continued manoeuvres and plots against those inalienable rights by means of suspect and rejected formulas that are rejected by all our people – all of these things strengthen our legitimate right to continue our just national struggle and our legitimate resistance in order to free our peoples from occupation and to save our succeeding generations from dispersal, from being deprived of their homeland and their right to live and build their future and that of their children. The aggression practised against them has forced them to open their eyes every morning to racist oppression and the debris of their burned out homes destroyed by the American planes and bombs used by the Israeli forces.

We shall continue our just struggle, steadfast in the pledge I have made to you on behalf of the Palestinian people and our Arab nation that the branch of peace will be held high in our hands, fertile and filled with new life, in spite of every attempt to kill and cut it down. We shall defend it with the guns of justice and with the blood of our sons as they struggle for freedom and for their land, Palestine. I am fully convinced that the day will come when together we can plant this branch of peace in the land of peace, the land of civilization and divine revelations, the land of Palestine, when our genuine, kind and generous peoples have achieved victory and the reign of right and justice, and when human civilization respects human rights.

I am filled with pride and with confidence that this historic International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People will be repeated and will continue to consolidate international support for our just cause and our people, remembering the truth that says that peace is born in Palestine and war breaks out in Palestine. I should like to thank you in the name of Palestine and on behalf of the Palestinian people and the revolutionaries of Palestine.

 


B. MESSAGES FROM HEADS OF STATES

 


AFGHANISTAN

H.E. Mr. Babrak Karmal, General Secretary of the Central Committee

of the People's Democratic Party, President of the Revolutionary Council

and Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

The progressive and peace-loving peoples all over the world are observing 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the heroic Palestinian people. I should like to take the opportunity in reiterating the well-known stand and firm support of the people and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan to the liberation struggle of the heroic Palestinian people under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization for the restoration of their national inalienable rights.

The world-wide support and solidarity extended to the continued struggle of the Palestinian people by peace-loving people and progressive countries and forces confirms the legitimacy of the struggle of the Palestinians.

It is an undeniable fact that no solution can be envisaged in the Middle East until the legitimate right of the Palestinian people is taken fully into account.

The Government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan believes that a just and lasting peace in the Middle East can be achieved only when all Israeli troops are totally, immediately and unconditionally withdrawn from the Arab and Palestinian occupied territories, including Jerusalem.

It is the inalienable, legitimate national right of the Arab people of Palestine to establish their own independent and sovereign State, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and to participate as the sole legitimate representative of the Arab people of Palestine in all negotiations on the problem of the Middle East settlement.

Reaffirming our firm and all-round support to our Palestinian brothers, we are confident that their cause will triumph and soon they will achieve their rightful goals.


 

BAHRAIN

His Highness Sheikh Isan bin Sulman Al-Khalifa,

Emir of the State of Bahrain

Excellencies, Ambassador Falilou Kane, Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:

The question of Palestine, as well as of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, is one of the most serious questions that the international community has to deal with. The persistent tensions in the Middle East have been increasing in gravity from year to year ever since the General Assembly's adoption of the partition resolution on 29 November 1948. Since that date the Middle East region has known no peace. On the contrary, that region, over the last 30 years, has seen wars and other events that have involved the shedding of blood.

Today, more than 30 years have elapsed since the occupation of Palestine and the expulsion of its people; yet the greater portion of that people still remain expelled and are living outside their own homeland. The other part of that nation is living under the yoke of occupation, domination, terrorism and Zionist torture. Israel continues to apply its annexationist and aggressive policy against the Palestinian people, having expelled them from their land and having despoiled them of that land and of their property, aided and abetted by world-wide colonialism and Zionism.

Promulgation of the law on the annexation of Jerusalem – a law which claims that city as the eternal capital of the Zionist entity – is flagrant evidence of the policy of annexation and aggression pursued by Israel, and of Israel's defiance of United Nations resolutions and of the international will as expressed through them.

There is no need to recall that the rights of the Palestinian people are at the very core of the Middle East conflict. Many years have elapsed since the General Assembly's recognition of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people through its resolution 3236 (XXIX) dated 22 November 1974, and subsequent resolutions. In spite of international recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people, which are legitimate and no longer the subject of any controversy or doubt, needing no further demonstration, Israel, in its perpetual defiance of the international will, is denying those rights, in particular the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, their right to return to their homes, their right to independence and to the establishment of their own State on Palestinian soil.

There is no doubt that Israel's defiance of United Nations resolutions and the international will is the cause of the deterioration of events in the Middle East. As long as the international community, represented by this Organization, is unable to put an end to Israeli intransigence and cannot cope with its defiance of United Nations resolutions, the international community's efforts to achieve a lasting peace will not be crowned with success. The State of Bahrain, basing itself on its conviction of the principles of the right of peoples and nations to self-determination pursuant to United Nations resolutions, declares that it stands with all the countries and peoples of the world in the celebration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. We wish to declare our full and undivided solidarity with the just struggle waged by the Palestinian people under the direction of the Palestine Liberation Organization in order to regain their lawful right to self-determination, to return to their homeland and to establish an independent State on their own soil, in the hope that the United Nations, which has a special responsibility towards the Palestinian people, will stretch out its hand to them and help them to assert their legitimate rights as recognized by the international Organization itself on a number of occasions.

 


BANGLADESH

H.E. Mr. Ziaur Rahman, President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh 

Bangladesh joins other nations of the world in observing the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On this solemn occasion, the people of Bangladesh would like to reaffirm once again their total support for the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the need for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. We take this opportunity to repeat that any comprehensive settlement in the area must take into account the question of Palestine which lies at the very heart of the Middle East problem.

It is a blot on the conscience of the civilized world that Israel continues to violate with impunity the various resolutions adopted by the United Nations and in other international forums calling for the restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinians, including their right to have a State of their own. As a member of the Jerusalem Committee and also of the Co-ordination Committee on Jerusalem of the United Nations, Bangladesh's stand regarding complete solidarity with its Arab and Palestinian brethren is well known. Bangladesh believes that peace through justice alone can endure. In the Middle East such a peace has yet to be won. The components of any settlement that could guarantee a just and lasting peace in the Middle East must embrace the following essentials: acceptance of the fact by all parties that the question of Palestine lies at the heart of the Middle East problem: that no solution can be envisaged without the restoration of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland, as well as to self-determination, independence and territorial sovereignty: that the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, on an equal footing with all other parties, is indispensable in all efforts towards a solution that the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force imposes an obligation on Israel, under international law, to withdraw completely and quickly from all the territories it has occupied since 1967, including the Holy City of Jerusalem.

I should also take this opportunity to convey the deep appreciation of the Government and the people of Bangladesh to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for its commendable efforts in projecting the just cause of the Palestinian people.

 


BULGARIA

H. E. Mr. Todor Zhivkov, President of the Council of State

of the People's Republic of Bulgaria and First Secretary of the

Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party

 

On behalf of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Council of State of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and on my own behalf, I wish to convey to you, Mr. Chairman and to Mr. Yasser Arafat, the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well as the valiant Arab people of Palestine, our warmest congratulations on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

On that day, 29 November, in close concert with all progressive and democratic forces in the world, we reaffirm our resolute support for the brave struggle of the Palestinian people in the defence of its inalienable national rights, including its right to self-determination and to establish its own independent State. We categorically condemn those in Israeli ruling circles for their increasing acts of aggression and expansion in the occupied Arab territories, and we declare our firm opposition to the illegitimate annexation of East Jerusalem and to the proclamation of that city as the 'eternal and indivisible' capital of the Israeli State, in flagrant contempt for United Nations resolutions and particularly the decisions taken at the seventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The People's Republic of Bulgaria stands resolutely against the plans of imperialism, Zionism reaction that seek to eliminate Palestinian resistance and to destroy the Arab national liberation movement in order to restore imperialist domination and control over the natural wealth of the countries of the Near and Middle East. Our country fully supports the just struggle to thwart the separist Camp David accords, and the current so-called Palestinian autonomy talks and to eliminate the harmful consequences of the so-called Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement.

The People's Republic of Bulgaria has repeatedly made known its view that a just and lasting solution of the Palestinian problem must be reached within the framework of a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict, on the basis of the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops from all Arab territories occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, and the attainment by the Palestinian people of its inalienable national rights, including its right to self-determination and to establish its own independent State, with the restoration of all Palestinian property, in accordance with United Nations resolutions.

Such a just solution can be achieved only with the participation of all the parties concerned, including the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole legitimate representative of the Arab people of Palestine. 

I should like to emphasize once again that the just and valiant struggle of the heroic Arab people of Palestine against imperialism, Zionism and reaction will always enjoy the full and unreserved support of the People's Republic of Bulgaria.

 


CHINA

H.E. Mr. Chao Ziyang, Premier of the State Council of the

People's Republic of China

On the occasion of the third special meeting to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I wish 

to express, on behalf of the Chinese Government and people, our appreciation to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for the fruitful efforts it has made over the past year and to extend our high respects to the Palestinian people who are fighting for the restoration of their national rights and to their sole legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

More and more countries have come to see the importance and urgency of reaching a just settlement of the Middle East question. The emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the Palestine question, held last July, reaffirmed the Palestinian people's inalienable national rights and demanded Israel's withdrawal from the Arab territories it has occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem. This just demand has won the support of all justice-upholding and peace-loving countries and peoples of the world.

The Chinese Government and people have always sympathized deeply with the Palestinian people and supported the lust struggle of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples. We have attached great importance to the relevant United Nations resolutions and the related proposals advanced by all peace-loving and justice-upholding countries. We sincerely hope that those resolutions and proposals which may help to bring about peace in the Middle East will be implemented at an early date so as to put an end to the miseries and sufferings of the Palestinian people.

I wish to take this opportunity to reiterate that the Chinese Government and people will, as always, support the Palestinian people in their efforts to regain their legitimate national rights, including the rights to return to their homeland, to exercise self-determination and to establish an independent State. We maintain that the PLO should take part in a comprehensive and just settlement of the Middle East question as a party concerned. I am convinced that with the full support of all peace-loving countries and peoples the Palestinian and other Arab peoples will make concerted efforts, surmount difficulties, eliminate the interference and meddling by foreign forces and attain the goal of recovering their lost territories and regaining their national rights.

 


CONGO

H.E. Mr. Denis Sassou Nguessou, President of the People's Republic of the Congo

The Palestinian people is at home in Palestine and the struggle it is waging to recover its occupied homeland deserves our full support because its cause is a just one based on an inalienable right. The international community has the duty to assist in the settlement of the dispute in the Middle East, through the recovery of the occupied Arab territories from the Zionist entity and the restoration of Palestine to the people of that country, without regard to religious faith or denomination. The community of States must now go beyond the stage of generous but ineffectual resolutions to give meaning to the life of the Palestinian people, which is constantly subjected to humiliation, brutality and repression by the Zionist entity of Israel.

Our Organization should in future resist the temptation of the easy solution, illegal agreements which contribute only to infringing the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and which can in no way lead to a settlement of the conflict.

The commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People represents an opportunity to make the international community aware of the urgent need to arrive at a just settlement of this problem, which is jeopardizing relations among States, is maintaining an atmosphere of tension in a part of our world and will ultimately lead us away from the goals the United Nations has set for itself.

 


CYPRUS

H.E. Mr. Andreas Mavrommatis, Permanent Representative of Cyprus

to the United Nations, on behalf of H.E. Mr. Spyros Kyprianou,

President of the Republic of Cyprus

On the occasion of the observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I wish to stress once again the necessity for the application of all relevant United Nations resolutions on Palestine in order to ensure peace and stability in the area and bring an end to the suffering of and the injustice against the Palestinian people. It remains imperative that the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people should be thoroughly respected, including the right to establish their own independent, sovereign State.

Cyprus, together with all other countries dedicated to the ideals of peace, freedom and justice, will continue to offer its co-operation to the United Nations for the solution of the Palestinian problem, which could be achieved through negotiations, with the equal participation of the PLO, the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

I should like to add that Cyprus has been commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in a number of ways and through a number of activities, including the issuance of commemorative stamps for the occasion. We have had celebrations and lectures in all the secondary and elementary schools. Furthermore, there have been speeches on radio and television, and programmes organized by the Cypriot Organization for the United Nations. Also a communiqué from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to be issued tomorrow, expressing the solidarity of the people and Government of Cyprus with the struggling Palestinian people and reiterating the Government's support for the efforts towards a just and peaceful solution of the Palestinian question, in accordance with United Nations principles and resolutions, and, of course, with the participation on an equal footing of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

I would end this brief statement by saying that we have all gathered here today – the members of our Committee as well as representatives of the vast majority of the people of the world – not only to reiterate solidarity with the Palestinian people and its leadership, but also to renew our commitment and our pledge that we shall be with that people all the way in its struggle for vindication.

 


DEMOCRATIC YEMEN

H.E. Mr. Ali Nasser Mohammed, Secretary-General of the Central Committee

for the Yemeni Socialist Party and Chairman of the Presidium of the

People's Supreme Council of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen

I am pleased, on behalf of the Central Committee for the Yemeni Socialist Party and on behalf of the Presidium of the People's Supreme Council, the Council of Ministers and the people of the Democratic Republic of Yemen, to convey to you our warm greetings on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People has been organized under the aegis of the United Nations to focus international support for the just cause of the Palestinian people. It confirms the justice of that struggle of the Palestinian people to return to its homeland and to build an independent State of its own, and clearly demonstrates that the Zionist occupation forces do not have the respect of the international community and are indeed isolated.

At a time when peoples throughout the world are expressing their solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle, under the aegis of the United Nations, the parties to the Camp David agreements are pursuing the implementation of their plans, contrary to the will of the Arab people and in the first place of the Palestinian people. The Zionist occupation forces, with the support and encouragement of the United States of America, are pursuing their policy of aggression, annexation and expansion against the Arab peoples.

Democratic Yemen, in paying a tribute to the United Nations for its action in support of the Palestinian people, wishes to reaffirm that the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East can only be achieved through the withdrawal of the Zionist aggressors from occupied Arab territories and the recognition of the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to return, to self-determination and to build an independent State, under the guidance of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

We wish once again to express our full confidence that the cause of the Palestinian people, which enjoys the support of the United Nations, will be crowned with success. That will mean victory in the struggle that the Palestinian people is waging today at the side of its Arab brothers and peoples against imperialism, Zionism and racism.

I extend to the Committee all our good wishes for success in its efforts in support of the Palestinian cause.

 


EGYPT

H.E. Mr. Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat, President of Egypt

The commemoration today by the United Nations of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People once again confirms the commitment of the international community to the noble principles at the basis of the United Nations Charter and reflects the need to lay the foundations of an international order resting on respect for the rights of peoples and human rights as a whole.

Our brothers the Palestinian people have experienced something that no other people in modern history has experienced – that is, the denial of its fundamental political rights. Some have gone so far as to deny the very existence of that people. The injustice done to the Palestinian people has been the cause of the wars and other tragedies which have devastated the Middle East region for more than 30 years, which have taken tens of thousands of lives and have destroyed enormous material resources that could have been used for the development and well-being of the peoples of the region.

The Palestinian cause has been foremost among the concerns of the people and Government of Egypt ever since the Palestinian people was expelled from its homeland and deprived of its legitimate national rights. Egypt has been in the forefront of the Arab struggle to help the Palestinian people regain its inalienable rights, and above all its right to self-determination and to return to its homeland. Egypt has discharged its national responsibilities to the Palestinian people in the political sphere by calling on the international community to support that people's claims to recover its inalienable rights. That must be the basis of the establishment of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East.

Egypt, in conformity with its commitment to the noble principles governing its foreign policy, stood up to Israel militarily in order to put an end to the immobility of the Palestine question – an immobility that seemed acceptable to some. That last military confrontation was the October war, rightly regarded as the true beginning of a movement for the recovery of the Palestinian rights and the establishment of a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. The peace initiative was the confirmation and the continuation of the October war, as well as a reflection of the vanguard role played by Egypt in war and in peace. It was also the expression of the determination of the Egyptian people to continue to shoulder its national and Arab responsibilities for the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, on the basis of Israel's withdrawal from all the occupied Arab territories, including the Arab part of Jerusalem.

Egypt, in its pursuit of peace, always bears in mind the fact that the question of Palestine is the very basis of the Middle East conflict and that no over-all settlement of the conflict can be achieved unless the Palestinian people obtains its legitimate national rights, and above all its right to exercise self-determination freely and without any outside interference.

At Camp David, Egypt succeeded in taking the first step towards the drawing up of a practical framework for the achievement of that objective. The noble and honourable struggle being waged today by Egypt to achieve a just and lasting peace requires that the international community maintain its support for the fundamental principles of law, legitimacy and justice – support it has always given in various organs of the United Nations and within the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of African Unity.

On this occasion I am pleased to express my appreciation for the constructive part played by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, under the chairmanship of the Ambassador of Senegal, in supporting the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people. The Egyptian people will always shoulder its responsibilities, strengthened by its faith in God and in itself, as well as in the correctness of the Arab cause, and determined to work seriously for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace and to do so by deeds and not by empty slogans, by unselfishness and the resolve to make all the efforts necessary to safeguard the legitimate rights of the Arab nation, and in the first place the Palestinian people. We still await the day when that people will be able to enjoy freedom in its homeland, so that it may use its creative capacities to the fullest and contribute constructively, together with the other peoples of the region, to the forward march of mankind towards development, progress, well-being and prosperity.

 


GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

H.E. Mr. Erich Honecker, General Secretary of the Central Committee

of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and Chairman of the

Council of the German Democratic Republic

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the German Democratic Republic reaffirms its close attachment to the Just struggle waged by the Palestinian people and their legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), for the implementation of their inalienable right to self-determination and to establish an independent and sovereign State of their own.

In conformity with the decisions adopted by the United Nations, the German Democratic Republic proceeds from the fact that in the absence of the implementation the rights of the Palestinian people and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all Arab territories occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem, there can be no peace, security or stability in the Middle East.

The further intensification of tensions in the Middle East as a result of the aggravation of the international situation underscores the necessity of seeking a comprehensive peace settlement. As a result of the separate agreements signed, Israel, enjoying the support of imperialist Powers, continues to pursue its policy of aggression and of denying the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, thus completely defying the decisions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.

In the face of that development, the German Democratic Republic accords particular significance to the resolution of the seventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly, which emphatically demands the implementation of the right of the Palestinian people to establish a State of their own as well as the participation, on an equal footing, of the Palestine Liberation Organization in all negotiations dealing with issues that concern the interests of the Palestinian people.

The German Democratic Republic will in the future also stand firmly by the side of the people of Palestine, who have been tried by afflictions, and of their representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

 


GUINEA

H.E. Mr. Ahmed Sekou Toure, President of the

People's Revolutionary Republic of Guinea

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we are pleased to reaffirm on behalf of our people, its State party, the Democratic Party of Guinea, and on my own behalf our militant and active solidarity with the Palestinian people in its legitimate struggle under the guidance of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, to liberate its homeland and recover its inalienable rights.

In this regard, we feel that the international community should spare no effort to recognize and restore to the Palestinian people all its inalienable rights, including the right to a homeland in Palestine, the right to return to that homeland, the right to self-determination, the right to establish in its territory an independent national State under the guidance of the PLO and the right to exercise its sovereignty over that territory without any foreign interference or intervention.

Having condemned the refusal of Israel to recognize those rights, the international community, and the United Nations in particular, should now be able to compel Israel to withdraw from the occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem, and apply the relevant resolutions of our Organization.

 


INDIA

H.E. Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India

On behalf of the people and Government of India, and on my own behalf, I offer our best wishes for the third annual observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has made a commendable contribution towards enlightening public opinion on the Palestinian cause. The resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in July this year is another affirmation of international support for the Palestinian people's just demand for the full restoration of its rights.

As always, India considers the Palestinian question as central to the West Asian situation. Along with other Members of the United Nations, we reiterate our support for the Palestinian cause. We are confident that the continued efforts of the United Nations will further strengthen the indomitable spirit of the Palestinian people to continue their struggle. The fulfilment of their aspirations is only a matter of time.

 


IRAQ

H.E. Mr. Saddam Hussain, President of Iraq

Mr. Chairman, I am happy to greet you and the other members of the Committee on behalf of the Iraqi people and Government and to salute the efforts you are exerting to ensure the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. The establishment of this distinguished Committee was an expression of the growing awareness of the peoples and Governments of the world and their just understanding of the rights of peoples and their cause following upon the weakness of the role of the imperialist countries which exerted every effort to mislead Governments and peoples and to deprive them of sufficient information related to that cause.

Today, the new international attitude characterized by a broad understanding and objectivity with regard to the cause of peoples has led to two situations that have inspired the creation of this Committee. The first was the number of States of the world whose peoples were subjected to direct occupation by the great Powers, who liberated themselves and who now enjoy the right to decide their own policies and attitudes towards various world problems, a situation that did not prevail when Palestine was forcibly usurped and hundreds of thousands of its people were dispersed as a result of the Zionist invasion supported by the main imperialist Powers. The liberation of those States and the fact that they have taken their places in the General Assembly of the United Nations have deepened the legitimacy of the international Organization and allowed it to establish special committees to condemn oppression and racism and the violation of human rights. One of these Committees is the Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which unveils and unmasks the oppression practised against the Palestinian people and ensure their national and historic inalienable rights.

The second condition which encouraged the creation of this Committee is the struggle waged by the Palestinian Arab people with every means which has continued for more than three decades. This struggle has also unmasked the reality of zionism – the fact that it is a racist movement, a racist entity, which achieves its unlawful advantages in Palestine through brute force and with the direct and announced support of great Powers at the expense of the Palestinian people, the majority of which has been dispersed in various countries of the world and rendered homeless and stateless.

Today the world understands that the Zionist entity is not in any way a true entity in the Middle East and that it was not set up as an expression of the presence of a population group already in the area. In affirmation of this historic truth we find that that entity, because it is illegal and alien, depends on force of arms to prevent the genuine and indigenous population from recovering its historical rights.

No one in the world, including the strongest supporters of the Zionist entity, can ignore any longer the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, rights which have been publicized through the sacrifice of thousands of Palestinians who have died as martyrs in defence of their lands and homeland and through the contributions of the other sons of the Arab nation to this long and difficult struggle.

Those who respect human rights understand that the Zionist entity could not have been set up on Arab Palestine lands had it not been for the military, material and political support of the large imperialist Powers. We understand, as do all honourable men in the world, that this imported and alien entity – alien to the people, to its heritage and to the area – could not have continued its expansionist and racist policies at the expense of the Arab peoples but for the unlimited support provided it by the great Powers which established it by force.

How can such a small entity with no resources, which imports everything from food to weapons, carry out successive wars against its Arab neighbours and occupy not only the land of Palestine but also territories of Syria, Egypt and Lebanon? How could such an entity have carried out such crimes and wars without direct support from the great Powers, and particularly the United States of America? How could such an entity have defied and ignored United Nations resolutions concerning respect for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and condemning the occupation of Arab territories outside Palestine if major Powers, and particularly the United States, had not protected it – in particular by using the right of veto to prevent the United Nations from carrying out its responsibilities in respect of the world situation and the rights of oppressed peoples? The unlimited and unconditional support given to the Zionist entity by the United States of America strongly encourages that entity and enables it to continue to practise its policy of expansion and racial discrimination and to defy the United Nations and its institutions.

The international community, desirous of peace and justice, is called upon to continue to exert every effort to urge all States, and particularly the permanent members of the Security Council, to respect the rights of peoples and States and to give the international Organization the opportunity to fulfil its real and well-known role.

We make those observations because we continue to believe that the rejection and ignoring by Zionist entity of hundreds of resolutions adopted by the United Nations and its specialized agencies, and especially its ignoring of this Committee, which supports the rights of the Palestinian people and calls upon the Zionist entity to cease its policy of racial discrimination, oppression and regional expansion, weaken the United Nations and tarnish its role; and, with all due respect, the United States also shows its lack of respect for the international Organization and its insistence on weakening its role.

We hope to see the United Nations strong, with real powers with which it can implement its resolutions relating to support of the right of peoples by various means and in particular by preventing the right of veto from being used for unjust purposes or in the selfish interests of any particular country.

The United States Government, which claims to respect human rights and is proud of the fact that it is a country of democracy and freedom, has become a direct party to and financier and supporter of all the racist, expansionist and aggressive policies carried out by the Zionist entity in the past and at present. In fact, it increased its hostility towards the United Nations when it embraced the policy of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, which is hostile to the peoples of Egypt and the Arab nation and led to the Camp David agreements, whose objective was and remains the elimination of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and to affect adversely the basic interests of the Arab nation. That in itself subjects the world to great dangers and helps to weaken the role of the United Nations.

The Arab States, the non-aligned countries and the United Nations General Assembly have condemned the Camp David agreements on the basis that they are hostile to the aspirations and rights of the Palestinian people. In spite of this international unanimity, the Government of the United States, the Sadat Government in Egypt and the Zionist entity are determined to continue along the path of the Camp David agreements, ignoring Arab and international rejection of them.

While voicing our appreciation for the efforts of this Committee to make the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people known world-wide, and while fully appreciative of your personal efforts in this regard, Mr. Chairman, we also understand that the struggle against zionism – zionism, which has been denounced by the General Assembly as a racist, expansionist movement is a long and arduous one as a result of the enormous support provided by international imperialism to zionism and its entity in occupied Palestine. Therefore, in order to maintain and guarantee the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and to thwart every effort to violate those rights, the Arab nations have been urged to pledge themselves to implement a programme of action, to continue the long struggle and to make sacrifices. We have also co-operated with the countries of the third world, which have been, and still are, subjected to racist or imperialist oppression, and with all honourable peoples in the world in order to guarantee and maintain the rights of the Palestinian people and respect for them, and to support its legitimate struggle.

In conclusion, we wish to point out that in Iraq we are now suffering from a similar problem in which we have been obliged to wage a bitter war with a neighbouring State with which we have historical links that we would have liked to continue and consolidate. But the policies of successive Iranian Governments, particularly in the past two years, which have been characterized by continued aggression against our territory, as well as by various forms of interference in Iraq's international affairs, have led the two countries to a large-scale military confrontation. In defence of the rights of the land of Iraq and its sovereignty and the inalienable rights of the Arab people, we were obliged to wage this war with Iran. We would point out that the United States of America has once again played a role similar to the one it has played in encouraging and supporting the policies of the Zionist aggressive entity: the Washington Government has encouraged the Tehran Government to escalate its hostilities towards Iraq and to violate its borders and territorial waters and has resorted to providing the Government of Tehran with weapons, equipment and spare parts in order to enable it to wage war against us and to continue the war through the assistance of the Zionist entity or of others.

We should like on this occasion to extend our greetings and to pay a tribute to you, Mr. Chairman, and your Committee and to wish you every success in achieving its objectives.

 


KUWAIT

His Highness the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed Al-Sabah

It is a pleasure for me to address these words, with my greetings, to you, Mr. Chairman, and the distinguished gathering participating in the meetings held at United Nations Headquarters to celebrate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Indeed, this issue has not so far received the serious attention it deserves, nor has its nettle been grasped. Wherever we look we can find scarcely any other issue that so vividly demonstrates misfortune, gross injustice, distortion, prejudice and arbitrariness as does this issue connived at while the world conscience is deep in slumber and world public opinion is indifferent. Even so, our contemporary history has perhaps not witnessed any disaster of comparable dimensions and magnitude.

All forces of evil, coercion, trickery, imposture seem to have conspired against these poor victims, to the extent that for years and years they have had to live a life of dispersion and bitterness, meanwhile seeing their homeland, the land of their fathers and forefathers, under the heavy burden of occupation by a people entirely alien to the region, which has robbed them of their own native soil in broad daylight and tried with extreme cruelty to deprive them of all their natural and legitimate rights, with utter contempt for United Nations resolutions.

There is no doubt that to show indulgence to such aggressors by not preventing their transgressions but extending to them actual support and encouragement, condoning their acts of aggression, as do some big Powers, is bound to undermine the prestige of the world body, its Charter, the ideals it espouses and the high hopes and expectations that humanity has of it.

Therefore we call on all peace-loving people, supporters of right, justice and freedom, all conscientious people of noble sentiments and faith in moral values and high principles – we appeal to them all to make serious efforts to upholding the cause of these ill-treated people and to work to find a just solution of this problem, which if it is not solved on a just basis, will certainly constitute a threat to world peace.

These people still cherish the hope that the United Nations, which embodies the will of the world community, will eventually do them justice and restore to them their usurped rights.

How long have they been looking forward impatiently to the dawn of that day on which their national aspiration to regain their land, their freedom and their right to self-determination will be fully realized.

Let us hope that right and justice will triumph and that peace and prosperity will prevail throughout the world.

 


LEBANON

H.E. Mr. Elias Sarkis, President of the Republic_of Lebanon

To the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People: 29 November was chosen by the General Assembly for a re-examination of the injustice and deprivation that have

been the lot of the Palestinian people, with a demonstration of a responsible determination to eliminate them, and for a recognition of that people's inalienable right to self-determination and the establishment of its own State on its own land.

Lebanon has always been committed to standing in solidarity with those defending the rights of oppressed peoples and is so committed because it is convinced of the principles on which the United Nations is based: freedom, justice and equality.

What Lebanon and the Lebanese have given to the Palestinian cause and what they have endured as a result of the injustices committed in connexion with this question go far beyond anything that any other people or State may have given or endured notwithstanding the continued ramifications of this cause, its dangerous repercussions and the direct threat it poses to stability and peace not only in the Middle East but also in the world as a whole.

The Palestinian cause has become a burden upon the universal conscience. The time has come for good intentions to be expressed in the form of practical measures capable of containing the acuity of the emotional turmoil that is shaking the Middle East and Lebanon and halting the whirlpool of violence in which we are living.

Precisely on this day I call for solidarity in supporting the right and in endeavouring to achieve a just and lasting peace.

 


MADAGASCAR

H.E._Mr. Didier Ratsiraka,

President of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar

This International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People gives us the opportunity to express to you, on behalf of our people, the Supreme Council of the Revolution, and the Government of Madagascar, our warmest congratulations on the unstinting and devoted efforts you have always made in support of the inalienable rights of the Palestinians, and particularly their rights to self-determination, national sovereignty and independence and their right to establish an independent Palestinian State.

The active participation of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar in the important work of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People is but the expression of the deep conviction of the Malagasy people that a just and lasting peace cannot be established in the Middle East without the effective participation of the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, its sole and authentic representative, in all the negotiations concerning the Middle East.

We should like also to express to you on this occasion our great appreciation for the way in which you have carried out the noble and very delicate tasks in this field entrusted to you by the international community as a whole.

May the commemoration of this memorable day give new impetus to the recognition of all the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people – the only condition for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

 


MALDIVES

H.E. Mr. Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom,

President of the Republic of Maldives

On this important occasion of the commemoration of the international Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I extend, on behalf of the Government and people of the Maldives, warm and sincere greetings to all the participants in this significant United Nations meeting held to declare support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian People. I take this opportunity to reaffirm our full solidarity with the Arab Palestinian people and our unwavering support for the realization of their legitimate rights, which have been denied them for more than three decades.

As the Moslem world takes the initial steps into a new century of the Islamic calendar, the Maldives, as a small but sincere component of that world, once again expresses its support for the lawful struggle of the Moslem Arab people of Palestine to regain their inalienable rights, including their right to establish a homeland on their national soil, Palestine. The momentum of the international efforts now being exerted to aid and uphold the Palestine cause should be reinforced on all fronts in order to assist this heroic people to achieve its legitimate aspirations to independence and self-determination.

The Maldives strongly condemns the criminal and inhuman acts of murder, torture and mass destruction carried out by the Israeli occupation forces in Arab Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and southern Lebanon. The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from these Arab territories is essential for the establishment of a just and durable peace in the Middle East. We are firmly convinced that the sole and lawful representative of the Palestinian people, the Palestine Liberation Organization, must be allowed to participate fully and in its own right in any effort aimed at securing a lasting peace in this troubled area which has seen four wars in the past three decades.

The people of the Maldives are fully confident that a day will dawn when the Palestinians, with their heroic struggle on the battlefront as well as on the political front, and supported and assisted by the international community, will achieve their lust aspiration to live in their own homeland as an independent and free people.


MAURITANIA

H.E. Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla,

President of the Military Committee for National Salvation and

Head of State and Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, may I first of all express to you personally and to the other members of your Committee our profound gratitude for and our heartfelt congratulations on the remarkable work that you are doing to ensure the victory of justice and truth in the greatly suffering land of Palestine.

On this solemn occasion the Islamic Republic of Mauritania reaffirms the unflagging support of its people and its leaders for the sacred cause of the brother Palestinian people for the liberation of its plundered homeland and the recovery of all its inalienable and incontrovertible national rights. Our total commitment, which is that of our entire Arab nation, on the side of the Palestinian revolution is undoubtedly gaining increasing support every day from the international community.

The last emergency special session of the General Assembly devoted to Palestine made possible the overwhelming reaffirmation of this truth. This session has demonstrated with the same clarity that there can be no solution of the Palestine problem without the full and entire participation of the only authentic representative of its people, namely, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is convinced today, as ever, that under the enlightened and responsible leadership of its liberation organization and thanks to the determination of its gallant people Arab Palestine will be reborn, free and prosperous.

Neither the desperate attempts of the Zionists to defy history by trying to change the Islamic-Christian character of the occupied land, nor its suicidal policy of faits accomplis, which it wishes to be eternal, nor its racist contempt for the values of Arab civilization in Palestine, nor its terrorism set up as a State system and directed particularly against Arab elected officials, nor the astonishing complicity with the Israeli aggressor in consolidating its faits accomplis, can for ever thwart the popular will and the national conscience of Arab Palestine.

 


MONGOLIA

H.E. Mr. Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal, Chairman of the Presidium

of the People's Great Rural of the Mongolian People's Republic

His Excellency the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the United Nations, New York:

On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, may I, on behalf of the Government and people of the Mongolian People's Republic, as well as in my own name, extend cordial and warm greetings, through you, to the Palestinian people and their legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

It is gratifying to note that the just struggle being waged by the Arab people of Palestine for their legitimate rights and for the creation of a nation-State of their own has been gaining strength with the increasing support of the progressive world community, and that the international prestige of the Palestine Liberation Organization has continued to grow.

There is a wide-spread awareness in the world today that the maintenance of a just and durable peace in the Middle East would not be feasible unless the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to a national State of their own, are ensured.

The work of the United Nations General Assembly emergency special session, which discussed the Palestinian issue last July and adopted an important resolution, is a vivid demonstration of the foregoing.

The Mongolian People's Republic condemns the United States-Israeli-Egyptian talks on the so-called question of granting the right to self-determination to the Palestinians living on the West Bank of the Jordan River and in the Gaza Strip under the Camp David conspiracy as an attempt to secure the Israeli aggressor's occupation of Arab territories by the use of a new trick. We believe that the world community must strive with might and main to frustrate that design.

I take this opportunity to express once again our firm solidarity with the Arab people of Palestine, who are waging a long and just struggle for their freedom and independence which, from its first days, has been unswervingly supported by the people and Government of the Mongolian People's Republic. I sincerely wish the heroic Palestinian people, the Palestine Liberation Organization and its leaders success in their sacred struggle against imperialist, zionist and Arab reactionary forces for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and for the creation of their national State.

 


OMAN 

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said

On this occasion on which the international community is commemorating its Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we are happy to reaffirm our support and solidarity with our brothers the Palestinian Arab people in their struggle to restore their legitimate rights. This commemoration is taking place in a year that has witnessed a major event, namely, the decision of the Israeli Government to annex Jerusalem and to consider it as the capital of Israel. That decision is another link in the chain of Israeli policies aimed at imposing a fait accompli on the Arab occupied territories, in clear defiance of all international norms and principles and in a spirit of unprecedented intransigence.

In contrast, the Palestine Liberation Organization is carrying out a prominent and humanitarian role at the international level and expressing its true desire to achieve a just and durable peace in the Middle East. The international community today is asked to oppose the illegitimate and illegal practices of Israel that threaten international peace and security and to put pressure on Israel to change its aggressive policies to recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and to put an end to its repeated aggressions against the Arab nation.

The international community is also called upon to intensify its support and assistance to the Palestine Liberation Organization in its struggle to achieve a just peace. The attention given by the United Nations to the Palestinian cause is worthy of appreciation, and its recognition and support of the Palestine Liberation Organization is deserving of our admiration. It is proof that the aspirations of people and their confidence in the Organization is not misplaced.

 


PAKISTAN

H.E. General Mohammad_Zia-Ul-Haq, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Pakistan today joins the international community in observing the international Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People with profound emotion. The denial of the legitimate and inalienable rights of the valiant Palestinian people has led to the creation of an explosive situation constantly imperilling peace not only in the Middle East but in the world as a whole. The international community has a vital stake in ensuring that justice is done to the Palestinian people by enabling them to exercise their inalienable right to establish a sovereign State in their homeland under the leadership of their sole, legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The annual observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People under the aegis of the United Nations is an event of great significance as it symbolizes the ever-increasing recognition by the international community of the justness of the cause of the Palestinian people. This is a triumph which strengthens our belief that despite all the present adversities and odds, the just struggle of the Palestinian people will be crowned with success.

The people of Pakistan are bound to their Palestinian brethren by indissoluble ties of culture, history and religion. Our consistent and resolute support for them is, however, based not on these considerations but on our faith in the principle that force and coercion should not be allowed to trample over the rights and aspirations of peoples and nations and that justice must prevail. The brave people of Palestine continue their quest to regain their homeland and are making countless sacrifices in their struggle to maintain their identity. Moved by a deep conviction of the justness of their cause, Pakistan has always given its full support to the just cause of the brotherly Palestinian people and will continue to do so till their aspirations to a sovereign homeland of their own are realized.

 


PHILIPPINES

H.E. Mr. Ferdinand E. Marcos, the Head of State

and Government of the Republic of Philippines

On this solemn occasion to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I am pleased to convey the warm greetings of the Government and people of the Philippines to your Excellency and to the distinguished members of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

The Government and people of the Philippines remain steadfastly committed to the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting solution of the question of Palestine, based on the recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to the exercise of its inalienable national right to self-determination, including its right to national existence as a State in its homeland and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from occupied Arab territories, as well as the right of all States in the region to exist within secure and recognized boundaries in the terms of Security Council resolutions 212 (1967) and 338 (1973).

My country's consistent support of these principles is fully reflected in our voting record on pertinent resolutions of the General Assembly and, more particularly, of the Security Council, of which we are now an active non-permanent member.

I take this opportunity to commend the valuable and excellent work done by the Committee under your wise and inspired leadership in its untiring efforts to secure the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.

Accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

 


POLAND

H.E. Mr. Henryk Jablonski, President of the Council of State of the

Polish People's Republic and Chairman of the All-Poland Committee

of the National Unity Front

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, on behalf of the supreme authorities of the Polish People's Republic and on my own behalf I wish to extend to you, Mr. Chairman, expressions of sympathy and support for the Arab People of Palestine and its leading force, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Our support for the strivings and aspirations of the Palestinian people stems from the national tradition of the Poles and the fundamental principles of foreign policy pursued by the Polish People's Republic, which always extends its helping hand to nations struggling for dignity and the right to make unrestrained decisions concerning their fate.

The Polish People's Republic insists on the realization of the well-known resolutions on the unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops from all the Arab territories occupied since 1967 and restoration to the Palestinian people of all their inalienable rights, including the right to form their own independent State. We demand too that the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, the brutal violation of the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories, the construction of Jewish settlements in those territories and the unlawful annexation of the Arab land by Israel be put to an end.

Firmly and consistently we maintain that the settlement of the Mid-East conflict should be peaceful and global, in accord with the relevant United Nations resolutions. This can be worked out only if all parties concerned participate, including the Palestine Liberation Organization as one of the factors enjoying the recognition of a majority of States and with the mandate to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people.

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People celebrated under the auspices of the United Nations, is an explicit confirmation of the popular recognition and growing support from the States and nations of the world for the lust demands of the Palestinian people. Seizing this solemn opportunity, once more, I wish the Palestinian people further success in their lust struggle and, at the same time, I reaffirm our confidence that it will bring complete victory.

 


 

QATAR

 

His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani,

The_Emir of the State of Qatar

Thirty-three years after the adoption of the United Nations resolution that flagrantly belied the purposes and principles of the Charter, a resolution by which it is stipulated that Arab Palestine should be divided and the State of Israel created in that beloved part of the Arab homeland, this august Committee meets on the occasion of this International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in order to continue to make its positive contribution in the service of the two principal goals of our Organization, namely, world peace and international justice.

By this contribution, I intend to demonstrate my country's solidarity with the Palestinian people in defence of its legitimate and inalienable rights through the sincere information media – rights which have been violated by Israel and in various barbarous ways contrary to the two goals we have proclaimed, in flagrant violation of all general humanitarian and accepted religious principles as well as of established international legal and moral laws. In praising the valuable efforts and great achievements of this Committee, I feel that it has today become a clearly established fact that Israel's pursuit of Zionist practices that defy all these principles, rules and regulations has at last led the international community to a unanimous conviction of the need to put a stop to Israel's arrogance and defiance of the inter-national will, ideals and values, in particular after Israel's iniquity has reached its apogee with the adoption by the Knesset of a law involving the annexation of the Holy City of Jerusalem and its declaration as Israel's eternal capital. This conviction has appeared more clearly than ever in Security Council resolution 478 (1980) relating to that law by which the occupying and aggressor State has defied the feelings of Moslems and Christians throughout the world and has issued a provocation to all peoples and Governments. That Security Council resolution was supported by all the members of the Council with the exception of the United States, which did not oppose it but abstained in the vote.

That resolution enunciates the invalidity of that unjust law, calls for its abrogation and considers its promulgation, as well as any measures and provisions of a legislative and administrative nature that have resulted under that law and are intended to transform the character and status of the city, as null and void.

The resolution calls for the acceptance of its provisions by United Nations Member States and addresses itself to those States that have established diplomatic representation in Jerusalem to withdraw their envoys from Jerusalem. This has been done by all the 13 States to which the resolution addressed itself.

Among other facts that have also been established is the fact that the international community has become firmly convinced that the establishment of a lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East is determined by a comprehensive and just solution of the question of Palestine, for that question lies at the very heart of the conflict in that region, where the continued disturbance of peace and security threatens international peace and security and will do so as long as this issue remains unresolved.

It is now also generally admitted that the elements for a just and global solution to the question of Palestine are fundamentally the total withdrawal of Israel from the West Bank, including of course the eastern portion of Jerusalem, and from the Gaza Strip and the recovery by the Palestinian people of its inalienable right to independence and sovereignty over the territory of its homeland and its self-determination within that homeland without any outside interference, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, its sole and legitimate representative.

In the light of all of these facts, and in the face of Israel's continued refusal to comply with United Nations resolutions aimed at finding a solution to the Palestinian question on the basis of the elements I have mentioned, and in the interests of safeguarding international legitimacy and international peace and security, it has become more than ever urgent for the United Nations and the world's political leaders and intellectuals to join their efforts with a view to adopting practical means capable of containing the consequences of Israel's pursuit of its aggressive policies against the rights of the Palestinian people in order to compel Israel to accept that just overall solution to be implemented by all available lawful means in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Charter.

I could not better conclude this message than by taking advantage of your Committee's meeting to express, on behalf of the Government and the people of Qatar, our profound admiration of the sacrifices made by the Palestinian people in its heroic struggle both inside and outside its own borders against the Israeli occupation and against various forms of Zionist terrorism in order to maintain its national identity, its homeland and its national patrimony. History is witness to the fact that an overwhelming revolution such as the one now being engaged in by the Palestinian people in striving to gain recognition of its rights, with the support of the inter-national community, is bound to result in the victory of that people, whatever the difficulties it encounters.

I should once again like to salute your Committee and express to it our esteem for its successful efforts in supporting the Palestinian people in its glorious struggle to recover its rights and its total dignity.

 


ROMANIA

H.E. Mr. Nicolae Ceausescu, President of the Socialist Republic of Romania 

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I should like to reaffirm the active support and solidarity of Socialist Romania and the entire Romanian people with regard to the Palestinian people's just struggle to achieve its legitimate right to develop in complete freedom and independence, within the framework of its own national State.

The anniversary of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is being celebrated this year against a background of marked deterioration in international relations in which conflicts, wars and new states of tension have arisen while others are continuing, thus creating grave dangers to the security, peace and independence of all peoples.

Remaining faithful to its consistent position, Romania is working unstintingly for a halt to the exacerbation of international tension and for a resumption and continuation of the policy of détente, independence, peace and co-operation. In this spirit, we feel that at present the most resolute efforts of all States and all peoples should be oriented towards accelerating the settlement by political means of conflicts and possible sources of war, resolving all controversial problems solely by means of negotiations and bringing about the conditions necessary for all peoples to devote their creative capacities to their economic and social development.

Romania is an active and consistent proponent of a comprehensive political settlement of the Middle East situation leading to the establishment of a just and lasting peace based on the withdrawal of Israel from Arab territories occupied after the 1967 war, including Arab Jerusalem and the solution of the problem of the Palestinian people, in conformity with its right to self-determination and the establishment of its own State, with guarantees of independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty for all States of the region.

We feel that at present there is an overriding need to achieve, through broad-based consultations, an initiative which would lead to the creation of a new framework and a new basis for negotiation in the form of an international conference organized under the sponsorship of and with the active participation of the United Nations and the participation of all parties involved in the conflict, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, the Soviet Union and the United States, as well as other States which can make a positive contribution to the process of the peaceful settlement of the Middle East situation.

I should like to stress on this occasion as well that Romania is convinced that the central problem in the Middle East consists in ensuring the necessary conditions in order that the Palestinian people can fulfil as quickly as possible its legitimate aspirations to live in undisturbed peace in its own independent State.

We are of the view that a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict would correspond to the interests of the peoples of that region, have a positive influence on the international climate as a whole and constitute a particularly important contribution to building confidence among States, enhancing the efforts designed to ensure the continuation of the policy of peace and detente and the free and independent development of all nations of the world.

For its part, Romania will continue to do everything in its power to make its contribution to the just and lasting settlement of the problems of the Middle East, the establishment of a comprehensive peace in the region and the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

 

Let me express the conviction that the United Nations can and should play an increasingly active role in the comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict and the solution of all conflicts through political channels, thus responding to the hopes and expectations of all peoples to live in a climate of stability and international security and co-operation.

 


SENEGAL

H.E. Mr. Leopold Senghor, President of the Republic of Senegal

On the occasion of the commemoration by the United Nations of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I should like, on behalf of the people and Government of Senegal and on my own behalf, to extend to you our warmest best wishes. The Government of Senegal attaches great significance to the celebration of this day of solidarity and it will continue to work for the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people: its right to return to its homeland, its right to self-determination and its right to establish an independent State in Palestine.

Similarly, the Senegalese Government wishes to reaffirm its full support for the right of the Palestinian people and its legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization, to participate on an equal footing in all talks and negotiations that seek to find a solution to the question of Palestine.

The Day of Solidarity which is being celebrated today symbolizes the will of the international community to promote the restoration of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinians and to see to it that the United Nations continues to play an active and constructive role in the achievement of that aim. In this regard, I am especially pleased to pay a tribute to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for the remarkable job it has done since its creation. By its sustained action, its dedication to the just cause of the Palestinian people and its faithfulness to the principles and decisions of our Organization, this Committee has helped to enhance the awareness of world public opinion with regard to the Palestinian question.

This is the time to reaffirm the constant support of the Senegalese Government for the recommendations of the Committee with regard to the implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The Government of Senegal and I myself wish to encourage the Committee to persevere in its efforts to continue to fulfil with the same dedication the mandate which the General Assembly has entrusted to it. Its contribution to the implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people strengthens the ideals of justice, peace and solidarity of the United Nations and consolidates its moral authority among all peoples which aspire to see the reign of law replace the reign of force.

 


 

SRI LANKA

H.E. Mr. J. R. Jayawardene, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

I welcome this opportunity to convey a message on behalf of the Government and people of Sri Lanka to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The Palestinian people continue to be denied their inalienable national rights. This day of Solidarity organized by the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People calls attention to this grave injustice. On this day we must consolidate our support for the Palestinian cause.

The Middle East, which has been the cradle of some of the world's great religions, is tragically today a scene of bitter strife, unrest and suffering. The question of Palestine lies at the core of what is called the Middle East problem. The international community must vigorously pursue its efforts to effect a just and lasting settlement of this issue in all its aspects. Failure to do so would have grave repercussions not only on regional peace and stability, but on the peace and stability of the entire world.

The inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland, to self-determination and independence, and their struggle for the realization of these rights, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, have the full support and solidarity of the Government and people of Sri Lanka.

 


SUDAN

H.E. Mr. Gaafar Mohamed Nimeiri, President of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan

The international community is today commemorating, through its representatives in the United Nations, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, pursuant to a resolution of the United Nations adopted in 1977 in recognition of mankind's consciousness of the legitimate, inalienable right of the Palestinian people to return to its homeland, exercise self-determination and establish its own State under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, its sole legitimate representative.

The Sudan, because of its history and civilization, belongs to the Arab nation and, in conformity with its consistent position at the side of the Palestinians in their struggle against the Zionist enemy, calls upon the world and the international community to exercise the necessary pressures to bring about the restoration of justice, which would mean the elimination of aggression and the attainment by the heroic Palestinian people of their legitimate rights.

The Sudan also calls upon the international community to deal with the intransigence of the Zionist entity and the challenge by that entity to our Organization's resolutions designed to bring about the attainment of that objective.

In hailing the heroic Palestinian people on this Day, we wish to express our conviction that that people has the necessary will and the capacity to overcome all attempts to deprive it of all its strength and deny its existence by refusing to recognize its just, legitimate and inalienable rights.

In paying a tribute to the Palestinian people today we are convinced that right and justice will triumph and that that will mean the triumph of Palestine.


 

SYRIA

H.E. Mr. Hafez Al-Assad, President of the Syrian Arab Republic

It is a pleasure for me, on this International Day of Solidarity with the Arab people of Palestine, to extend to you, Mr. Chairman, and to the participants in the commemorative meeting, our sincere greetings on behalf of the people of the Syrian Arab Republic and on may own behalf. I take this opportunity to welcome the efforts made by your Committee, which expresses the will of the international Organization and of the international community.

I think that the choice of this day to hold a meeting of solidarity with the Palestinian people is designed to remind us of the injustice suffered by the Palestinian people on 29 November 1947, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution to partition Palestine. It should also be recalled that the time has come to put an end, once and for all, to this injustice.

The decision taken by the United Nations to devote an international day to solidarity with the Palestinian people reflects the growing awareness of the international Organization of its responsibilities vis-à-vis the question of Palestine and the Palestinian People.

No one can be unaware that injustice has been the fate of the Palestinians since the very first plans that Zionist colonialism made to usurp the land of Palestine. Those plans affected the Arab nation as a whole, for they were developed for the purpose of dividing the Arab world and obstructing Arab unity. That is why the question of Palestine and its consequences – namely, the occupation of the neighbouring lands – are the focal point of the struggle of the Syrian Arab people, who are living through this tragedy every day.

What links our people to the question of Palestine is deeper than mere solidarity: it is our common destiny. For Palestine is a part of our Arab world and its people is a part of the Arab nation.

The Arab people of Palestine has resisted and with it the masses of the Arab people have resisted the Zionist, colonialist plans in the Camp David agreements. The conspiracy of so-called autonomy is the last link in this chain of designs to usurp Palestine and liquidate the Palestinian cause. This resistance will continue and increase until the Palestinian people has fully recovered its rights to return, to self-determination and to build an independent State on its national territory.

In working for the realization of a just peace in our region, we are confident that the international community represented by the United Nations is aware that such a peace can be achieved only on the basis of the restoration and recognition of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people and the unconditional withdrawal by Israel from all occupied Arab territories.

 

We appreciate the support given by the United Nations to the Palestinian cause, and we hope that the United Nations will adopt the correct position, that dictated by its responsibility to the Palestinian people and the tragedy of that people, while also adopting a correct attitude vis-à-vis Israel which continues to refuse to comply with relevant United Nations resolutions and the will of the international community and violates the United Nations Charter and its relevant resolutions, thus bringing about instability of the region and threatening international peace and security.

I wish to reaffirm our warm greetings from the Syrian Arab Republic and to wish you all success.

 


TUNISIA

H.E. Mr. Habib Bourguiba, President of Tunisia

At a time when the international community is commemorating the third anniversary of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I am happy to present to your distinguished Committee our appreciation for the successful efforts it has been making to uphold justice and right and to support the struggle of the Palestinian people to regain its legitimate rights.

For more than 30 years the struggling Palestinian people has been subjected to the worst kind of injustice, oppression and deprivation by a State that has based its policies on occupation, expansion and a denial of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and resolutions of the Organization which established that State in the first place. Israel has carried out its operations of dispersal in order to bring in people alien to the area to displace its indigenous population; at the same time, it has continued to carry out its policies of establishing settlements within the occupied Arab territories and has attempted to alter the sacred religious character of the Holy Places, thus flouting both religious sensitivities and resolutions issued by international organizations, as well as all precepts of morality.

Today Israel is continuing its defiance of all international legal and moral principles and the feelings of the entire world by declaring Jerusalem its eternal capital. It is continuing this defiance and intransigence in spite of the fact that the Security Council has declared Israel's actions null and void.

In spite of Israel's alleged desire for peace, we find that Palestinian camps are subjected daily to air raids and bombardments by land and by sea, to such an extent that southern Lebanon also has become a theatre for Israel's practices of terrorism, destruction

and assassination. Israel's intransigence and stubbornness in carrying out this policy is further proof of its adherence to the policy of hegemony and faits accomplis.

The tension and danger prevailing in the Middle East constitute a constant state of war that threatens international peace and security. This situation that has beset the area after four devastating wars and the destruction, disaster and tragedy resulting therefrom are due to Israel's disregard for the core of the problem and its denial of the most basic human rights.

 

On more than one occasion I have announced Tunisia's attitude towards the Palestinian cause, and I still maintain that a just and comprehensive peace cannot prevail in the area unless we work together and in a spirit of international legitimacy in order to eliminate this greatest injustice of the twentieth century by enabling the Palestinian people, led by the Palestine Liberation Organization, to exercise its inalienable and legitimate rights of return to its homeland and of self-determination.

We hope that a settlement based on justice, stability and security in the area will prevail. We will thus have saved the world from the dangers of war and its resulting tragedy, thereby allowing the world's people to direct their efforts to a better future in which harmony and understanding will reign supreme.

 


UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS

H.E. Mr. Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Central Committee

of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and

Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

The celebration of this day reflects the growing support throughout the whole world for the dauntless struggle of the Arab people of Palestine for the exercise of its legitimate national rights and, first of all, for the right to self-determination and the establishment of its own independent State. Marching in the vanguard of that struggle, the Palestine Liberation Organization has acquired genuine international recognition and respect as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and has become one of the leading mass units of the Arab national liberation movement and an active participant in the Non-Aligned Movement.

True to the Leninist principle of solidarity with Peoples fighting for their freedom, independence and social progress, the Soviet Union unswervingly supports the just cause of the Palestinian people. We shall continue to be on the side of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples in their struggle against Israeli aggression and the machinations of imperialism, to frustrate the anti-Arab policy of separate deals and to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the situation in the Middle East.

We wish the friendly Palestinian people and its political vanguard, the Palestine Liberation Organization, further successes in the struggle

for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and in the struggle to achieve national independence and establish its own State.

 


UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

H.E. Sheikh Zahed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan,

President of the United Arab Emirates

In the name of the people of the United Arab Emirates, we wish to salute you and express our thanks for the laudable efforts you are making in helping and supporting the Palestinian people and doing everything possible to enable that people to enjoy its inalienable rights.

We see in the present celebration and in the choice of the date of 29 November as the Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People a reflection of the awareness of the United Nations of its responsibility towards that people, which has been suffering its present plight since 1947.

We see in that commitment a resolve on the part of the international community to eliminate injustice and to help the Palestinian people in its fight for the recovery of its rights.

Moreover, we note with satisfaction the increase in the support of the international community for the struggle of that people, which is fighting to recover its rights and which is rejecting any agreements which do not take into account its inalienable rights or which will not enable the Palestinian people, represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization, to be recognized as the principal party in all efforts made to find a solution to the Palestinian problem. The Palestinian people have suffered all too long, and is still waiting for the restoration of its rights.

We wish to urge the international community to increase its support of the Palestinian people by taking effective measures to punish the aggressor and restore the rights of the people to those to whom they belong.

Once again, Mr. Chairman, I should like to emphasize that we shall spare no effort in the support we give to this fighting people in its struggle to recover its rights.

 


 

VIET NAM

H.E. Mr. Pham Van Dong, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, 29 November 1980, I should like, on behalf of the people and Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and on my own behalf, to convey to you, Sirs, and through you to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, my warm greetings.

Together with the progressive people of the world, the Vietnamese people warmly welcome the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, who, having undergone tremendous sufferings, have persistently and indomitably resisted the yoke of occupation by Zionist Israeli aggressors. The Vietnamese people and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam reaffirm once again their militant solidarity with the Palestinian people and their resolute support for its just struggle, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, for the recovery of its sacred and inalienable national rights, including the right to establish an independent and sovereign State of Palestine.

We severely condemn the Camp David agreements, the separate Egypt-Israel treaty and the policy of repression and expulsion of the Palestinian people pursued by Zionist Israeli aggressors, supported by the United States, in an attempt to achieve their expansionist ambition of invasion of Palestinian and Arab territory.

We believe that any solution genuinely aimed at bringing a just and lasting peace to the Middle East must ensure Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories, respect for the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people and the indispensable participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the only authentic representative of the Palestinian people.

 


YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Abdulla Saleh, Head of State of the Yemen Arab Republic

and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

I am happy on this occasion, when the United Nations is celebrating the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, to pay a tribute to your constant and sincere efforts in attempting to enable the Palestinian people to exercise its legitimate national rights to self-determination and national sovereignty over Palestinian territory.

The people and Government of the Yemen Arab Republic follow with keen interest and great appreciation all the activity related to the cause of the Palestinian Arab people and particularly the work of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. We consider the commemoration by the United Nations of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People a recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to exercise its rights over its territory and to elf-determination, by the United Nations in general and the Committee in particular.

We also consider this commemoration an expression of international support for the struggle of the Palestinian Arab people, led by the PLO, against Zionist occupation and for the restoration of its right to return to its land, to self-determination and to set up its independent State on its national soil in the land of Palestine.

  


YUGOSLAVIA

H.E. Mr. Cvijetin Mijatovic, President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the peoples and nationalities of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia pledge their full support for the heroic Palestinian people in its just struggle for the realization of its inalienable rights. We wish to reiterate, on this occasion also, our solidarity and our conviction that the Palestinians will achieve their freedom and independence, a heritage enjoyed by the other peoples of the world.

In a situation characterized by ever more frequent recourse to the use of force, intervention and interference in the internal affairs of other States, when the danger of wider armed conflicts is increasingly hanging over the world, the international community, and the United Nations in particular, is duty bound to take resolute steps with a view to solving existing crises and preventing the emergence of new ones. In that respect, special attention should be devoted to the settlement of the Middle East problem and its fundamental issue, the realization of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.

I wish to emphasize the firm belief of the Presidency and of the Government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia that there can be no just and lasting peace in the Middle East as long as the question of Palestine is not solved in a comprehensive manner. That means that the Palestinian people should be enabled to achieve its basic national and human rights: the right to return to its homeland and to the land from which it was expelled and the right to self-determination including the right to establish its own State.

The peoples of Yugoslavia have always resolutely opposed the illegal occupation by Israel of Palestinian and other Arab territories. The withdrawal of Israel from the territories occupied in the 167 war is a basic pre-condition of the establishment of peace in the Middle East. At the same time, it is imperative that the inalienable national rights of the Palestinians should be fully achieved and that conditions should be created for the security and development of all the States and peoples in the region. All the parties to the conflict should take part in the search for such a solution, including the Palestine Liberation Organization as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. We are glad to note that that framework, advocated by the non-aligned countries, has recently been accepted by almost the entire international community, and in that we see a confirmation of the correctness of such a path.

The Palestinian people has passed through great suffering and tribulations but it has remained inflexible, unflinching and firmly resolved to persevere in its just struggle. Led by the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinian people is constantly asserting itself, not only in the fight for the liberation of its country but also as a prominent participant in many aspects of the activities of the international community. The Palestinian stands and their concrete action within the context of the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement illustrate in the best possible manner the important and responsible role played by the Palestinian people in the life of the international community, even in conditions in which it is prevented by force and aggression from enjoying national freedom and independence.

We are convinced that the Palestinian people will pursue its struggle relentlessly and that there is nothing that can arrest its progress along this path as well as along the road of building peace and promoting peaceful co-operation among the peoples of the world. In this struggle, the Palestinian people can safely count on the support and assistance of the peoples and nationalities of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and other peace-loving forces in the world, which are aware that their own freedom and independence cannot be either lasting or secure unless all other peoples too enjoy these highest national values.

 


C. MESSAGES FROM HEADS OF GOVERNMENT AND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTERS

 


MALTA

H.E. Mr. Dom Mintoff, Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta

On the occasion of the international Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the Government of the Republic of Malta notes with great satisfaction the increasing international awareness of the just struggle of the Palestinian people to attain its inalienable rights to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty.

It is earnestly hoped that the momentum achieved so far will be further advanced until the long-overdue solution of the Palestinian problem is achieved, thereby enhancing the prospects of peaceful co-operation in the Middle East and in the Mediterranean.

The Socialist Government of Malta reiterates its determination to advance the Palestinian cause as it has consistently done in the past and declares its strong conviction that the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, should participate fully in the search for a lasting solution of the Palestinian question.

 


NICARAGUA

The Board of Government of National Reconstruction of the Republic of Nicaragua,

Sergio Ramirez Mercado, Moises Hassan Morales, Daniel Ortega Saavedra,

Rafael Cordova Rivas and Arturo J. Cruz 

The Board of Government of National Reconstruction of the Republic of Nicaragua greets the heroic people of Palestine on this day.

The struggle for the liberation of the Palestinian people against foreign occupation and for its inalienable rights to self-determination and in=dependence is a struggle of historic scope and impact: it has marked and epitomized this century as a century of stubborn struggle against colonialism and racism and for independence.

The inalienable rights of the Palestinian people certainly call for the establishment of a functioning Palestinian State and its universal acceptance as the tangible political embodiment of a nation now enslaved and tormented but full of hope and determined to fight.

Through us, the revolutionary people of Nicaragua sends to the heroic people of Palestine its revolutionary greetings and solidarity.

 


 

D. MESSAGES FROM MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

 


GREECE

H.E. Mr. Mitsotakis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece

Mr. Chairman, I take the occasion of the Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People to assure you of Greece's continued commitment to the recognition of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to establish their own State. The principle of self-determination is enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and constitutes one of its foundations. Since the end of the last war it has lighted the way to independence for many peoples. It is unthinkable that the noble people of Palestine, who for centuries have lived in that ancient land, should be deprived of the opportunity to determine their future and that of their children. The international community should spare no effort to enable the Palestinians to fulfil their destiny.

Greece, for its part, will continue to support all such efforts, because it believes that the just settlement of the problem of Palestine is an essential prerequisite for a lasting peace in the Middle East which will benefit all the peoples of the area.

Let me conclude, Mr. Chairman, by congratulating you and your Committee on your valuable, untiring and constructive work.

 


INDONESIA

H.E. Mr. Mochtar Kusumaatmadja,

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia

On the occasion of the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the Government and people of Indonesia join the other members of the international community in extending their unfaltering support for the determined effort of the Palestinians to achieve their noble aims and aspirations. Coming as it does at this crucial juncture in their struggle for the achievement of their inalienable rights, which were reaffirmed by the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the question of Palestine, this act of solidarity on the part of the international community can go a long way towards transforming their aspirations, for which they have struggled so long and hard, into a reality.

Indonesia has always maintained that the question of Palestine is at the heart of the Middle East conflict. Pursuant to that policy, Indonesia has always been consistent in its support for the cause of the Palestinians and has pointed out that the solution of the Middle East conflict cannot be separated from the elimination of the injustices and humiliation inflicted upon the Palestinians. Furthermore, such injustices and humiliation cannot be redressed as long as the territories belonging to the rightful owners are under continued occupation by force of arms. Indonesia has therefore unwaveringly supported the struggle of the Palestinian people to regain their inalienable right to self-determination and for the right to decide their own future, including the establishment of their own State.

I am pleased today to reaffirm our support for the people of Palestine and to express the belief that their efforts will inevitably result in the attainment of their sacred goals., On behalf of the Indonesian Government and people, as well as on my own behalf, I reiterate our historic commitment to the cause of freedom and justice. Indonesia's solidarity with the Palestinian people in the struggle for the restitution of their legitimate rights and the restoration of freedom and justice in the Middle East is a matter of pride to us. On this occasion of solidarity with the Palestinian people, it is my earnest hope that the day when all Palestinians will enjoy freedom and liberty and take their place in the comity of nations is not far away.

 


JAPAN

H.E. Mr. Masayoshi Ito, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan

On the occasion of the third International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I should like to express my sincere felicitations and best wishes on behalf of the Government of Japan.

As Your Excellency, is well aware, Japan, realizing the importance of the Palestine question, has consistently maintained a position of recognizing and respecting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. I wish at this time to confirm the basic position of the Government of Japan for the solution of the above question.

First, peace achieved in the Middle East should be just, lasting and comprehensive.

Second, such a peace should be achieved through the early and complete implementation of Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and through the recognition of and respect for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of self-determination, under the United Nations Charter.

Third, each and every path toward the realization of such a peace must be explored, with careful consideration being given to the legitimate security requirements of the countries in the region and to the aspirations of all the peoples in the region, including the Palestinian people.

In accordance with these fundamental principles, Japan is firmly convinced that it is essential, first and foremost, that Israel withdraw from all the territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem. Moreover, the result of exercising the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people must be decided by themselves. Japan holds the view that the right of establishing an independent State is included in the concept of the right of self-determination.

Thus, Japan supports the principles contained in, and the spirit of, General Assembly resolution 3236 of 1974 and resolution ES-7/2 of the emergency special session of the General Assembly held last July, which recognize the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people. In order to ensure that these General Assembly resolutions will effectively constitute a firm basis for achieving a just peace in the Middle East, Japan believes that it is necessary to incorporate into them an important principle, that is, respect for and acknowledgement of the right of every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries.

Japan considers that the Palestine Liberation Organization represents the Palestinian people, and believes it essential that Israel and the PLO recognize each other's position, and that the PLO participate in the peace process in the future.

In accordance with Japan's basic position as I have just outlined it, and with the hope that a comprehensive peace will be achieved in the Middle East as soon as possible, the Government of Japan is prepared to co-operate in efforts toward this common goal. It is our sincere wish that these efforts will steadily bear fruit.

 


JORDAN

H.E. Mr. Marwan Kasim, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

I have the honour to welcome the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 28 November 1980. Jordan, which considers the cause of Palestine its first cause, as it is the cause of the Arab world in its entirety, is taking this opportunity to express its absolute solidarity with the people of Palestine in its struggle to regain all its usurped rights. Jordan also joins with the Palestinian people and with all peace-loving States to stop the aggression against the people of Palestine, inspired by our faith in the natural right of the Palestinian people.

I wish to take this opportunity to express our conviction that the rights of the Palestinian people will be restored, thanks to the solidarity of all the peoples of the world that love peace and justice.

Lastly, I should like to express to you, Mr. Chairman, and to the other members of the Committee on this occasion our appreciation of your efforts to make it possible for the Palestinian people to exercise its inalienable rights in its homeland.

 


LIBYA

Dr. Al-Treiki, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People which is being commemorated today at the United Nations and throughout the world and is so celebrated on 29 November each year in conformity with General Assembly resolution 32/40 B, I should like to take this opportunity to remind Your Excellency of the suffering of the Palestinian people for three decades now and the racial practices from which it has suffered at the hands of the Zionists, in addition to the plots directed against it by zionism and its allies. The latest of these are the so-called Camp David agreements, which deny the rights of the Palestinian people and aim to liquidate the Palestinian cause and condemn the Palestinians to live for ever as refugees.

The celebration by peace-loving and freedom-loving peoples throughout the world of the International Day of Solidarity is the best evidence of the international community's recognition of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. This universal solidarity with the Palestinian people bears witness against those outside the United Nations who are plotting against the Palestinian people. They are mere plotters in an issue of right and peace, and this Day of Solidarity is unmasking their inhuman attitude.

The dedication of 29 November to solidarity with the Palestinian people, after the international community represented by the United Nations has recognized the inalienable rights of that people and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as its sole legitimate representative, is a confirmation of the will of the International community as represented by the United Nations to eliminate the injustice to which the Palestinian people continues to be exposed by racist zionism, supported by the United States and its allies. This solidarity also confirms the determination of peace-loving and justice-loving peoples to support the Palestinian people in its legitimate struggle to recover its usurped rights.

The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya reaffirms its support for the heroic struggle being waged by the Palestinian people to recover its rights and its usurped homeland.

I salute you and hail the sincere efforts that you are exerting. to establish right, peace and justice. I wish you all success in your noble mission.

 


MALAYSIA

H.E. Tengku Ahmad Riphauddee, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia 

On the auspicious occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I should like, on behalf of Malaysia, to extend special greetings to our Palestinian brothers and to congratulate them on their indefatigable and courageous efforts to secure their inalienable rights. I also wish to congratulate the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for the excellent work it has done to promote greater understanding of the Palestinian cause.

The struggle of the Palestinian people to achieve self-determination and independence and to redress the iniquities perpetrated on the Palestinian people is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Despite the negative and belligerent attitudes of the Israeli authorities, the Palestinian cause has gained cumulative momentum and recognition. There has been deeper understanding, appreciation and support for the issues concerned.

Malaysia continues to give the highest priority to supporting the just struggle of the Palestinian people. It recognizes the intrinsic role of the Palestine Liberation Organization which spearheads the struggle. The world has recognized that durable peace and stability in the Middle East demands a lust solution of the Palestine question.

I wish to pledge once again Malaysia's full support to the Palestine Liberation Organization in its struggle for such a solution as a result of which the people of Palestine could exercise their inalienable rights. I am confident that the indomitable spirit of the Palestinian people will prevail, ensuring for them their rightful place in the community of nations.

 


SAUDI ARABIA

His Royal Highness, Emir Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz,

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

I am pleased, on the occasion of the celebration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, to pay a tribute to the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and express our appreciation of the work done by your Committee for the benefit of the Palestinian people to enable it to exercise its inalienable rights.

I should also like to take this opportunity to reaffirm the position of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is steadfast position. We support the Palestinian people in its attempt to recover and exercise its legitimate rights, including the right to return to its homeland and the right to self-determination, in freedom, in its national homeland. We should like to thank all States that have always supported law and justice and shown respect for the principles of international law, and that supported Security Council resolution 178 (1980), which calls upon those States that have established diplomatic Missions in Jerusalem to withdraw such Missions from the Holy City, and declares illegitimate and unlawful the Israeli decision to annex Jerusalem and convert it into its reunited capital. This act and this conduct clearly show the intransigence of Israel in persisting in its expansionist plans, in defiance of United Nations resolutions and of international instruments which declare the annexation of territories by force and actions such as those of Israel in attempting to eliminate the Arab characteristics of cities in the occupied Arab territories to be illegal.

I should like to appeal to all friendly States to counteract the Zionist plots against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories and outside, which constitute a serious threat not only to the stability of the Middle East region but also to international peace and security. That is why Saudi Arabia is fully convinced that a lust and lasting peace in the Near East can be achieved only through the total withdrawal by Israel of its forces in all occupied Arab territories and, in the first place, Arab Jerusalem, and through recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, independence and national sovereignty.

Saudi Arabia is firmly convinced that this question is properly understood by all friendly States and all peoples that love peace and justice. The people of Palestine, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is thus receiving ever greater support. This International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people is the proper occasion for peace-loving States and peoples to show their solidarity in desiring all people under foreign domination to be able to exercise their right to self-determination, independence and freedom, in conformity with the United Nations Charter.

 


TURKEY

H.E. Mr. Ilter Turkmen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey

On the occasion of the third anniversary of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I should like to convey, on behalf of the Turkish nation and Government, as well as on my own behalf, my sincere wishes for the rapid success of the brotherly Palestinian people in the pursuit of their rightful cause.

Turkey, having fought an exemplary war of independence, has always sided with nations striving for the recognition of their legitimate rights and will continue to do so in the future.

It is on that understanding that Turkey has actively participated in the work of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, while contributing to the drawing up in the United Nations of the resolution concerning the recognition of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination without external interference, the achievement of national independence and sovereignty and the establishment of their own State; Turkey has also defended these rights in other international forums as well as in its bilateral contacts.

Turkey, believing that the Palestinian problem constitutes the centre of gravity of the Middle East conflict and that the solution of this problem is a fundamental condition for the achievement of a just, comprehensive and durable peace in the region, has devoted its efforts to the attainment of that aim. Turkey's efforts to that end are well known to world public opinion.

I avail myself of this opportunity to reiterate my sincere wishes for the cessation of the sufferings endured for 30 years by the Palestinian people and for the success of their legitimate cause.

 


E. MESSAGES FROM PERMANENT MISSIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS

 


HUNGARY

H.E. Mr. Pál Rácz, Permanent Representative of the

Hungarian People's Republic to the United Nations

The annual observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People clearly indicates the ever-increasing interest, sympathy and solidarity of the world community in connexion with the long-suffering people of Palestine. This increase can be easily understood for two reasons. On the one hand, it is the expression of the sympathy the progressive peoples of the world feel in respect to this people with their long tradition who have been displaced and uprooted from their own motherland and deprived of all fundamental human rights. On the other hand, this increased solidarity is a reflection of the perception that the question of Palestine is one of the basic factors in the Middle East crisis and that the elimination of this hotbed of tension that has so long threatened world peace and international security is impossible unless the Palestinian issue is settled.

The Hungarian Government has repeatedly stated, on various occasions, that respect for and the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination, the right to return, the right to national independence and sovereignty and the right to establish a State of its own, are among the essential preconditions of the comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Middle East problem.

It is our firm conviction that the fate of the Palestinian people can be decided only with the direct participation of its sole, legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

I should like to inform you, Mr. Chairman, and the representatives present here that several Hungarian organizations and societies, including the National Council of the Patriotic People's Front, the National Council for Peace and the Hungarian Committee for Solidarity, have issued statements on the occasion of the international Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. All those statements clearly express and manifest the thought that was the main idea of the message of the Presidential Council of the Hungarian People's Republic on this occasion:

"The Hungarian people pledges solidarity with and support for the Palestinian Arab people in their struggle for their inalienable rights and for the establishment of their independent, sovereign State. We are confident that their just struggle will soon be crowned by success.”

That message was signed by Mr. Pal Losonczi, President of the Presidential Council of the Hungarian People's Republic.

 


 

IRAN

Mr. Jamal Shemirani, Deputy Permanent Representative

of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

I should like to express our deep appreciation to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Kane, for its valuable contribution and untiring efforts to mobilize the political and moral support of the international community for the noble cause of the people of Palestine.

On the occasion of the third anniversary of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People I should like to take this opportunity to renew the firm commitment of the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue support for the struggle of the Palestinian people for the realization of its legitimate rights to self-determination and independence under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Our support of the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people has found concrete expression since the victory of the Iranian revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we will continue to be committed to the full and complete achievement of the inalienable right to self-determination and justice of the oppressed yet courageous people of Palestine in the form of the creation of an independent and sovereign State.

The Palestinian issue lies at the very heart of the Middle East conflict. There can be no hope of arriving at a just and lasting peace in the Middle East without the Palestinian issue being successfully resolved.

The Camp David agreements constitute yet another onslaught upon Palestine and the Moslem world. The struggle to free the Palestinian people should be waged by the whole Moslem community, and one united Moslem front should be formed to challenge the Israeli usurpers. It is only in this fashion that our struggle will transcend national and racial boundaries and thereby become worthy of this great cause, the Palestinian cause.

At a time when we meet to express and renew our solidarity with the Palestinian people in their noble cause, it is indeed ironic that a Head of State who has done more than anybody else to harm Islamic solidarity by launching a blatant war of aggression against Iran – which is an Islamic country and a staunch defender of the legitimate struggle and rights of the people of Palestine – should abuse this auspicious occasion to attack my country, using arguments whose fallacy has already been made abundantly clear to the whole international community by Iran on various occasions.

Respectful of the solemnity of this occasion which is designed to strengthen international solidarity with the Palestinian people in their cause, and following your appeal, Mr. Chairman, I will refrain from engaging in polemics and making a statement to refute the baseless allegations contained in the message which was read out today in the meeting.

 


MOROCCO

H.E. Mr. Mehdi Mrani Zentar, Permanent Representative

of the Kingdom of_Morocco to the United Nations

The General Assembly resolution declaring 29 November of each year an International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is the most eloquent proof of the growing and deepening awareness within our Organization of its historical responsibility to a people that has suffered the greatest injustice in history, a people taken from its land and dispersed throughout the world. The decision made by this Organization to hold this commemoration on 29 November reflects the will of the United Nations that has become increasingly apparent since 1974 fully to carry through its role to enable this valorous people to enjoy its inalienable rights, and in particular the right to return to its homeland, the right to self-determination and the right to sovereignty, national independence and the building of its State in its national homeland on its own territory.

 

On this occasion, I should like to pay a tribute to the effective contribution made by this Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which, under the Chairmanship of our brother from Senegal has since its creation constantly given its support. I wish to reaffirm the will of the people, the Government and the King of Morocco to continue to support the Palestinian people under the guidance of its sole legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and to exert every effort to achieve the objectives set forth in the seventh emergency special session of the General Assembly devoted to the question of Palestine last July.

The Kingdom of Morocco is firmly convinced that the Palestinian people's enjoyment of its inalienable rights will open the way to the establishment of a lust, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East region which, in turn, will enable that region to devote all its energies to the good and the well-being of the peoples of that region.

The best way for me to conclude this brief statement is to quote a paragraph from the message sent by His Majesty the King of Morocco on the occasion of the first commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On that occasion, His Majesty said;

"The Kingdom of Morocco considers the cause of the Palestinian people a sacred cause. It has supplied and will continue to supply every possible means of support to the Palestinian people in its heroic struggle to recover its legitimate rights, to return to its homeland and to build its independent State in its territory. The Kingdom of Morocco reaffirms its conviction that the question of Palestine is at the heart of the Middle East problem and that the establishment of peace in that region can be achieved only by enabling the Palestinian people to exercise its legitimate national rights and to participate in every effort made to seek a just and lasting peace under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization."

 


 

SPAIN

 

Mr. Don José Xifra, Minister Plenipotentiary,

Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations

  

Spain has always supported the Palestinian cause firmly and unequivocally, with its arguments in the debates, with its votes when decisions were taken, with contributions to the agency responsible for its refugees, and on other occasions such as today with its moral support through its presence at this commemoration.

As the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain stated in his speech before the General Assembly at its thirty-fifth session, we must seek a just and comprehensive peace which will provide a definitive solution to the historical, tragedy of the Palestinian people by recognizing and implementing its legitimate national rights, including the right to a homeland.

 


F. STATEMENTS BY REGIONAL GROUPS OF STATES AT THE UNITED NATIONS

 


 

Group of African States

H.E. Mr. Massamba Sarré,

Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations

For more than three decades now, the Palestinian people has been deprived of its fundamental human rights. This situation has prompted the international community to demand that an urgent, just and equitable and lasting solution be found to this problem in the interests of inter-national peace and security.

The United Nations, which found itself involved early on in the settlement of the tragedy of the Palestinian people, has since then been making praiseworthy efforts to promote the exercise by the Palestinian people of its fundamental rights of return to its homeland, to self-determination and to national sovereignty.

It is in this context that we would do well to recall the relevant United Nations resolutions, particularly resolutions 181 (II) and 194 (III).

 

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which we commemorate today, comes within the context of the continuing efforts of our Organization for the triumph of right and justice. The Organization of African Unity, one of whose main objectives is the eradication of colonialism, could not remain aloof on a problem which fundamentally is a question of self-determination. Indeed, our Organization from its earliest days supported the recovery by the Palestinian people of its inalienable right to return to its homeland, to self-determination and to national independence.

At its seventeenth regular session, the Conference of Heads of State or Government of the Organization of African Unity reaffirmed, in resolution 787, that a lasting and just peace can be brought about only if the Palestinian people is able to exercise its inalienable rights, in particular its right to return to its homeland, to regain its national sovereignty and its right to self-determination, free from any foreign interference and, above all, to establish an independent State in Palestine.

The Heads of State or Government of the Organization of African Unity, on the same occasion, addressed an appeal to the international community to intensify its pressure on Israel, in all fields, so as to compel it to abide by the United Nations Charter and their resolutions adopted on the Palestinian question, which continue to remain relevant.

The Organization of African Unity also reaffirmed that Israel must put an end to its occupation of Arab and Palestinian territory, and it condemned Israeli measures of annexation and legislation affecting the Holy City of Jerusalem. All this shows how much our organization is devoted to a just settlement of the problem of Palestine.

In this connexion, it is of interest to recall that the Organization of African Unity, from the time of its thirteenth session, approved the recommendations of this Committee concerning a solution of the Palestine problem.

During 1980, an African country, namely, Tanzania, had the honour of being host to the first United Nations seminar on the rights of the Palestinian people.

 

These are a few examples to illustrate the interest in and support of the Palestinian cause which the members of the Organization of African Unity have displayed and continue to display. The African group within the United Nations, faithful to the resolutions of the seventeenth summit conference of the OAU will spare no effort towards having the Security Council take effective measures so as to allow the Palestinian people to exercise its inalienable national rights which have been recognized by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

 

Mr. Chairman, I avail myself of this opportunity, on behalf of the African Group and on my own behalf, to convey to you our warmest congratulations for the extremely praiseworthy efforts that you have tirelessly exerted to promote the rights of the Palestinian people.

 

 


 

Group of Asian States 

 

H.E. Mr. Maung Maung Gvee,

Permanent Representative of Burma to the United Nations

Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the Group of Asian States, of which my country is Chairman for this month, I am honoured and privileged to address this special meeting in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. I should also like to join other speakers before me in thanking you for giving me the opportunity to participate in this solemn occasion.

Since the inception of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People five years ago and under the Committee's inspiration, the Palestinian question has fast acquired the proportions of a national Palestinian movement for the restoration

of the rights of the Palestinian people. Clearly, the Committee can well take pride that its dedicated efforts have awakened interest in the international community and given rise to a greater degree of awareness. Without such acknowledgement and a recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, especially their right to self-determination, there can be no lasting peace in the Middle East.

The annual observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People provides us with the opportunity to assure the Palestinian people of our support for their just cause and to reaffirm our commitment to the various related resolutions adopted by the United Nations system. The guidelines and a sound basis for a lust and lasting settlement have already been set forth in those resolutions.

As we are all aware, the Middle East problem, with all its political, military and economic complexities, concerns not only the peoples of the region but of the entire world. The instability of the region has been a cause for concern to the international community for many years and an urgent and genuine solution to the crisis is long overdue. The entire course of events in the Middle East points to the fact that the fate of the Palestinian people lies at the heart of the problem. As we see it, the imperative is for all countries and political factors which can have an influence in the Middle East region to make a concerted effort to help resolve the Palestinian question on the basis of the attainment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. It is only logical that in any peace process and comprehensive settlement in the Middle East involving their future, the Palestinians should be represented with all other parties.

Today's observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People marks a further step of the progress in the continuing perseverance of the Palestinian people for the fulfilment of their national aspirations. We, the Group of Asian States, are confident that the Palestinian people will promote peace and stability of the region and the entire world.


 

Group of Eastern European States

H.E. Dr. Ilja Hulinský,

Permanent Representative of Czechoslovakia to the United Nations

  

Mr. Chairman, first I should like to express my gratitude to you for inviting me to address this special meeting which is held annually to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. At the same time, on behalf of the delegations of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and Czechoslovakia I should like to express our satisfaction at the substantial and useful work being done by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

The socialist countries take note that the heroic struggle of the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty, led by the Palestine Liberation Organization, is gaining growing support from the international community. The overwhelming majority of the Members of our Organization have in United Nations resolutions repeatedly emphasized the urgent need for a speedy solution to the Palestinian problem, which is the linchpin of the establishment of a lasting and just peace in the Middle East. Against a background of Israeli expansionist policy, the international community is becoming increasingly aware that as long as there is not full restoration of historical justice to the 4 million Palestinian people the situation of conflict in the Middle East will continue. The attempts to "solve" the Palestinian problem Camp David style are quite pointless. Continuation of separate talks under the cover of so-called autonomy in disregard of the national rights of the Arab people of Palestine and its sole legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization, goes against the irreversible tide of history. Israel's disregard of important United Nations decisions and its policy concerning occupied Arab territories, the situation in Southern Lebanon, the annexation of Eastern Jerusalem, and Israel's attempts to annex other areas all provide striking proof of that.

The position of the socialist countries on behalf of which I am speaking on the issue of Palestine and settlement of the Middle East problem was once again repeated in May of this year in the joint declaration of States parties to the Warsaw Pact, which states:

"A lasting peace in the Middle East could have been established long ago. The road to such peace is well known, and the States represented at the meeting have also indicated it on many occasions – an all-embracing Middle Eastern political settlement with the direct participation of all the parties concerned including the Palestinian Arab people as embodied by its representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization, on the basis of respect for the legitimate interests of all States and peoples of the Middle East, including Israel.
"Such a settlement requires the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all Arab territories occupied in 1967, the restoration of the right of the Arab people of Palestine to self-determination, including the establishment of its own independent State, and the safeguarding of the sovereignty and security of all States of the region." (A/35/237, annex II, pp. 10 and 11)

 

In conclusion I should like once again to assure the Committee that the socialist countries will continue to take an active part in its work to promote realization of its decisions and recommendations.

 


Group of Latin American States 

 

H.E. Dr. Indalecio Lievano, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations

  

We are pleased to take part in a ceremony such as this on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. In this Committee we are hearing voiced the fervent desire of the international community not to see ignored or held in low regard the aspirations of a people which, for well known historical reasons, has been condemned to leading a precarious life as human jetsam and flotsam, cherishing as its sole support in adversity the hope of one day having a homeland that will offer a warm hearth to its citizens.

I am not unaware of the problems that will have to be overcome in order to fulfil that hope, such as full implementation of historic Security Council resolution 212 (1967) and 338 (1973). These are problems inherent in the difficulties of an area that has for centuries, for Western and Eastern peoples alike, proved to be an irresistible magnet.

Whereas in the past foreign Powers carved out enclaves over which they held sway – enclaves in a land that had, over the generations, been invaded and conquered because of its strategic importance as a crossroads for global communications, its spiritual value as the centre of universal religions, and the fact that neighbouring countries were located in geographic areas where there were natural resources indispensable to civilization – we trust that countries having a major responsibility for what goes on in the area will, without further delay, demonstrate their political readiness fully to implement Security Council resolutions, and that, in the context of the solutions that must be reached, the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people will not be ignored. It would be a tragic mistake were indifference or apathy deemed to be an adequate response to the clamour of a people that has been suffering, and is suffering, the doleful consequences of situations created with neither its participation nor its consent.

In a day and age such as ours, when so many injustices have been corrected, one can hardly accept the existence of communities of human beings condemned to being scattered and pushed beyond the brink of what is properly fit for human beings, with second-class citizens and men and women deprived of enjoyment of their human rights.

Across the centuries Palestinians have shown that they can live in fellowship with other peoples and respect their deity and their credo. It shall not be we who recommend that they change their approach or praise them if such a change comes to pass, but we can hardly forget that as time goes by problems grow worse, wounds are deepened, and abuses occur such as the unilateral modification of the status of the Holy City of Jerusalem. Frustration invites acts of desperation, and the prospects for sensible solutions grow dim.

Patience is a good counsellor, always provided one does not use it as an alibi for not coming to grips in timely fashion with problems that could threaten international peace.

May I, as a Latin American, express in this forum the most sincere hope that the international community will redouble its efforts to find an early solution of the Middle East problem as well as of the tragic human dimensions it entails. Without running roughshod over the rights of every State to security and to recognized borders, that solution must also do right by the Palestinian Arab people.

In conclusion, I should like to express to Ambassador Kane of Senegal, our wholehearted congratulations on his achievements as Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People as well as on his effective attempts to bring about the attainment of the objectives envisaged in General Assembly resolution 32/40 B.

 


G. STATEMENTS BY INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS WITH OBSERVER STATUS AT THE UNITED NATIONS

 


LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES

Mr. Clovis Maksoud,

Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations

I should like to take this opportunity at the international level to extend to you, Sir, our deep gratitude for the way in which you have guided the work of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

At the same time I should like to express our thanks to all the countries whose representatives have spoken today on behalf of their Governments or their Heads of State and have demonstrated their support and assistance for the struggle of the Palestinian people for the restoration and exercise of its right to self-determination and to establish an independent State in its homeland. The League of Arab States, which considers Palestine part of our nation and the Palestinians part of our peoples, believes that it bears an organic responsibility with regard to those rights. It also considers that the solidarity of peoples with the Palestinian people in their struggle has historical significance for the future.

Solidarity with the Palestinian people is the common denominator of the commitment of the international conscience not only to the struggle of the Palestinian people but also to the values embodied in that struggle, namely, freedom, justice, equality, the dignity of the human being and his ability to determine his future. This International Day of. Solidarity with the Palestinian People also shows the growing conviction regarding the aggressive, racist and fascist character of the Zionist entity. It is also an affirmation that the United Nations and all mankind intend to stop the violation of the rights of the Palestinian people and to prevent the continuance of the actions of that aggressive entity.

Solidarity with the Palestinian People acts as a deterrent to the intellectual terrorism practised by Israel and by the Zionist movement which are seeking today to persuade public opinion, particularly in the Western countries, that support for Palestine and the Palestine Liberation Organization will encourage the growth of anti-Semitism.

This devious manoeuvre of Israeli and Zionist propaganda is the severest blow aimed at depriving People of the power of understanding that anti-Semitism and zionism are similar because they proceed from the same philosophy, the awareness of the fact that the Jew is incapable of integration.

For this reason this third anniversary of the Day of International Solidarity confirms the unity of commitment and the growing conviction of the world's nations and peoples that the struggle of the Palestinian people is a rightful struggle; a struggle that liberates the Jews from the possibility of Zionist domination and hegemony through the imposition of irrational and racist tendencies. In this connexion we should like to affirm that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), an important member of the League of Arab States, is not only the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people but also the framework for the national unity of that people. It represents furthermore the state of mind of the whole Palestinian people and the entire Arab nation. Our commitment to the PLO is an affirmation not merely of its capacity to represent the Palestinian people but also of the fact that it is part and parcel of Arab convictions and desires.

In this connexion we wish to affirm that the commitment of the League of Arab States to all the resolutions that uphold the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination is both legal and national, related to the destiny of a people, because the people of Palestine is an Arab people whose rights have been usurped by Israeli settler colonialism and racism and because it is the right of the entire Arab nation to see Palestine an independent State.

Therefore we consider this international solidarity as proof of a rapprochement of nations and the transcending of their disagreements. It confirms the unity of their commitment to this cause of destiny which is an instrument of and a key to a comprehensive and just peace in our part of the world.

 


ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE 

H.E. Mr. Habib Chatty, Secretary-General of the Islamic Conference

It is a moving experience for me to address this honourable assembly on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People because, 33 years ago, this very chamber witnessed the greatest injustice ever committed against a people, its homeland and its identity, in a period when the international situation precluded a large proportion of mankind, itself subjected to all sorts of trials, from appreciating the true implications of the event.

It was to require more than one war, thousands of deaths and casualties and a series of violent upheavals undergone by the Palestinian people to secure recognition of its inalienable rights; it was to take three decades for the international community to recognize the Zionist danger, its expansionist policy and its continuous violations of human rights in Palestine.

The observance of this Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People signifies, above all, that there is now an awareness of the true nature of the Palestinian cause, despite Israel's daily defiance of international law, its threats to world peace and the refusal in some quarters to accept the facts of the Palestinian situation.

This day also supports the historic struggle being waged by the Palestinian people against zionism, racism and expansionism, its fierce resistance to conspiracies that threaten its identity and its just and unremitting struggle against Judaization and the confiscation of its land and property.

My purpose here is to join you in honouring this stubborn and militant people on the advent of justice and peace and the acknowledgement of its rights; I feel bound also to congratulate its sole legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization, on the assurances of sympathy and support it has received and on its continual triumphs in the international arena.

This Day of Solidarity is, after all, in the nature of a plebiscite and of a commitment from all countries that love peace and justice to provide the Palestinian people with all moral and material support to help it to recover its inalienable national rights, in other words, its right to self-determination, its right to return to Palestine and its right to found an independent State on the soil of its homeland.

It is constantly asserted that there can be no just peace in the Middle East until international law is applied, until the Security Council has shouldered its historic responsibilities and until Israel and its allies cease to ignore the decisions of the United Nations. Because, Sir, it is difficult to accept that the United Nations, by signing Israel's birth certificate on 29 November 1947, could deny the Palestinian State its right to exist.

It is equally difficult to accept that a country that assumes major responsibilities for the maintenance of international peace and security could at the same time act as unconditional ally to one of the parties concerned at the expense of the other.

Is it not dangerous for the credibility of an organization to see its resolutions constantly flouted by a member which owes its existence to it?

 

But I feel bound in this Assembly to express the deep gratitude of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to those countries that have never grudged their total support from the Palestinian cause, and its appreciation for the understanding shown by the countries of the European Community of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

I shall take this opportunity to reiterate my urgent appeal to the Government of the United States of America to reconsider its policy with regard to this serious problem.

Finally, I must remind you that the settlement of the Palestinian problem necessarily involves the restoration of Jerusalem to Arab sovereignty. That has been the unchanging position of the Organization of the Islamic Conference since its establishment over 11 years ago.

It is high time, now that mankind is aware of the obvious dangers, to end this tragedy which has continued for 33 years and to deal justly with the Palestinian people. The time has come for a better understanding of the gravity of the situation and for a firm stand on the restoration of law and justice.

It is our conviction that the restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people, repeatedly acknowledged and reaffirmed by the international community, is a collective responsibility shared by all countries of the world.

Accordingly, one last effort must be made to put an end to Israel's policy of fait accompli, which it is still practising in occupied Palestine, including Jerusalem.

After all, the legitimate struggle being waged by the people of Palestine, with which we are today proclaiming our solidarity, is a struggle for law, justice and the safeguarding of peace.

 


ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE 

H. E. Mr. Youssouf Sylla, Permanent Observer of the Organization

of the Islamic Conference to the United Nations

 

I wish to make the following statement on behalf of the Islamic Conference.

 

If we look at resolution 273 (III) of 11 May 1948, we see that the General Assembly linked the admission of Israel to two essential conditions: the commitment by Israel to respecting the Charter and the obligations contained therein and acceptance of resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947, which sanctions the lawful existence of the Arab Palestinian State.

Through a bitter irony of fate, we have learnt over the past 30 years what price Israel attaches to that solemn commitment. Of Arab Palestine, whose existence in 1947 the United Nations had just decided on simultaneously with that of the Hebrew State, we see now only the dislocated and divided territories which are occupied by Israel. During this long period, the Palestinians have suffered oppression in the occupied territories, an oppression practised in disregard for the international conventions on the protection of civilians during times of war. In addition to this oppression, they have suffered the plunder of their lands, looting of their properties and expatriation.

Zionism has thus been applying a policy whose foundation it defined many years ago. Even before the establishment of the State of Israel, Ben Gurion did not hesitate to state:

"We can accept the establishment of a Jewish State on part of Palestine in an initial phase so as later to establish the Great Israeli Nation. We shall later occupy the entire region, which will represent our aspirations to the land of Israel. The land of Israel includes all of the West Bank, and north of the Jarmuk river to the Litani river in the south of Lebanon."

We know that more than 20,000 people have been evicted during a single year, Furthermore, we are daily witness to the establishment of new Jewish settlements in the occupied territories and the very heart of Jerusalem. Thus, the number of Jews in Jerusalem, which amounted to 10,000 in 1018, reached 290,000 in 1967 and 390,000 in 1976, and the Israeli authorities estimate the figure to be 500,000 this year. And thus, by the progressive establishment of Jewish colonies in adjacent areas they have ensured the growth of a geopolitical framework which they would use to justify seeking a new frontier.

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which the international community is celebrating together with us today, 28 November 1980, has thus become the day of law and justice, of the affirmation of law over force, and the prevalence of justice and law.

In this connexion, the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has admirably analysed the decisive phases leading to the establishment in the Middle East of a sound peace based on respect for the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The Committee recommends that "…the United Nations in co-operation with the States directly involved, and the Palestine Liberation Organization as the interim representative of the Palestinian entity, should proceed to make the necessary arrangements to enable Palestinians displaced between 1948 and 1967 to exercise their right to return to their homes and property, in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions, particularly General Assembly resolution 194 (III)." (A/31/35, para. 69 (i))

The Committee continues:

…upon the return of the Palestinians to their homes and property and with the establishment of an independent Palestinian entity, the Palestinian people will be able to exercise its rights to self-determination and to decide its form of government without external interference." ( ibid., para. 70)

In brief, it is a matter once more, and once and for all, of granting to the Palestinian people their inalienable national rights to return to Palestine and, above all, to self-determination, and national independence and sovereignty. These are the principles which have always guided the Islamic Conference, from the first summit meeting at Rabat in 1969 to the tenth Conference which was held at Fez from 12 to 19 May 1970. They have already been affirmed with equal force at all the sessions of the Committee on Jerusalem of the Islamic Conference.

The use of brutal force for the last 30 years against the Arab peoples of the region, and particularly against the Palestinian people, will never blot out the traces of a long Moslem and Arab history, with which Arab Palestine and El Ouds will always be identified.

The desperate headlong rush of the Zionist authorities in their policy concerning the Palestinians cannot lead to a constructive solution of the problems of Jerusalem, Palestine and the occupied territories, much less conceal the 30-year-long tragedy of the Palestinian people. It cannot overcome the resistance of a people conscious of its rights and its identity. It cannot alter the faith of a people fighting for its survival.

In celebrating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we celebrate also the common destiny of the Governments of the member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a common destiny which binds all peoples and men that love peace and justice. For the Islamic peoples and communities throughout the world the Palestinian question is the crux of the problem of the Middle East. For the Governments of the Islamic States, as for the international community, failure to recognize that fact jeopardizes the peace and security of the Middle East region. Jerusalem and the Palestinian question have always constituted, in the eyes of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the fundamental problems to be faced. Any concession as regards these problems would be an inexcusable contradiction of the principles and purposes on which the Organization of the Islamic Conference is based.

For us, the commemoration of the International Pay of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is the reaffirmation, with the calm assurance that inspires all just causes, that in every case in which an entire people is engaged in a struggle for national liberation it prevails over domination based on violence and force. That is the case today as regards Arab Palestine and the Palestine Liberation Organization. It is also the message which the Organization of the Islamic Conference addresses to the Palestine Liberation Organization, to occupied Palestine, on this International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the entire Palestinian people.

 


ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE 

Mr. Shamshad Ahmad, Counsellor, Deputy Permanent

Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations

As we meet today to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I have the privilege to express, on behalf of the members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, our total and unstinted solidarity with the Palestinian people in its struggle for its inalienable national rights, including its right to self-determination and to have a sovereign State of its own in Palestine. The Moslem world joins the international community in reiterating its commitment to the just cause of the Palestinian people who, for more than three decades, have been suffering from the pain of exile and oppression inflicted upon them by the Zionist entity.

Ever since the infamous Balfour Declaration, which revealed the conspiracy between imperialism and zionism to implant an alien population in Palestine and dispossess the Palestinian people of their ancient homeland, the tragedy of Palestine has stirred deep emotions and anguish among the Islamic nations. The enormous sufferings of the Palestinian people and their continuing exile have constantly distressed the Moslem world, which has remained unswervingly committed to the valiant struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination and to the liberation of the Palestinian homeland as well as the Holy City of Jerusalem.

This determination and the deep indignation of the Islamic world over Israel's defiance of the verdict of the international community on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people has been consistently manifested in the declarations and resolutions of the Islamic Conference. Successive Islamic Conferences have demanded the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the occupied Arab and Palestinian territories, including the Holy City of Jerusalem; the restoration to the people of Palestine of their inalienable national rights, including the right to establish an independent and sovereign State of their own in their homeland under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the dismantling of all Jewish settlements in the occupied Arab and Palestinian territories.

Until these just demands are met in full, the prospects of a genuine and lasting peace in the Middle East will elude us, and the world community will continue to be haunted by the spectre of a wider conflict in which the interests of those who protect and sustain Israel will suffer most.

Categorically rejecting the aggressive policies and measures persistently applied by Israel against the Palestinian people and the occupied Arab and Palestinian territories including the Holy City of Jerusalem, the Islamic Foreign Ministers, meeting in an extraordinary session of the Islamic Conference in Amman in July of this year, expressed their conviction that it had now become necessary to apply the measures under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations against Israel. At the initiative of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the United Nations Security Council met several times this year to consider the grave situation arising from Israel's illegal policies and actions in the occupied territories.

In total defiance of all norms of international law and morality, Israel has persisted in its policy of changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and status of the Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories, including the Holy City of Jerusalem. Israeli authorities revived with increased vigour the obsessive Zionist scheme to Judaize the Holy City of Jerusalem by systematically mutilating its historic personality and turning it into the capital of Israel. Responding to this explosive situation, the international community condemned and rejected these measures as illegal, as is evident from the resolutions adopted this year by the Security Council and the emergency special session of the General Assembly.

It is heartening to see that over the past decade, the Palestinian cause has received consistent recognition and strong affirmation from the predominant majority of the States Members of the United Nations. It is encouraging to see that the world at large has become increasingly aware of the existence of the Palestinians as a people legitimately entitled to the exercise of their inalienable national and political rights. There is now a universal, consensus that any search for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which ignores the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is doomed to failure.

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People symbolizes the recognition by the world community of the justness of the Palestinian cause. The Islamic countries have indissoluble cultural and religious links with their Palestinian brethren and will continue to extend to them their steadfast support for the realization of their legitimate aspirations. In this connexion, the United Nations, to which Israel owes its existence, has inescapable obligations to ensure that justice prevails and that the long and arduous struggle of the Palestinian people reaches its culmination by restoring to them their inalienable national and human rights.

 


PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION

Mr. Shawfik El-Hout, Central Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization

  

It has been an honour for me today to celebrate for the third time at this high international level the Day of International Solidarity with our peoples, the people of Palestine. I should like to thank all here for their participation, demonstrating as it does the most magnificent form of solidarity of the world's peoples and States with the legitimate struggle to uphold justice and peace.

This period of the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly also coincides with the sixth anniversary of the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly with regard to the Palestinian cause, which we consider, to be of historic importance due to their great significance to our Arab Palestinian peoples and their sole, legitimate leadership, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Through those resolutions the General. Assembly recognized the right of our people to self-determination without any external interference, our right to sovereignty and national independence and our legitimate right to return to our homelands and to our properties which were usurped by the Israeli invaders. At the same time, the Palestine Liberation Organization was granted Permanent Observer status at the United Nations, with the right to participate in the work of the General Assembly and all conferences held within the United Nations system. This meant that our people, after having suffered for over half a century, were able to achieve international recognition of the legitimacy and justice of their cause.

The legal recognition by the United Nations of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian peoples has put an end forever to this illegitimate domination of our people and has made it known that whoever wishes to deal with the Palestinian cause must do so through the Palestine Liberation Organization alone and that any other path leads to a dead end.

With the completion of the sixth year since those historic resolutions were adopted, we have also completed the total unmasking of the Zionist enemy. The Committee's constant condemnation of Zionists as settlers imbued with imperialist beliefs, as practitioners of expansionistic imperialism, and as an occupation force which usurps both land and rights has been very clear. This has embarrassed the enemy in its isolation from the entire world. Had it not been for the well-known and continued support by imperialist America and those who speak of the need to respect human rights, Israel's isolation would have been total, and it would have had to submit to the international logic which all of us defend today and celebrate on this Day of International. Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

I do not wish to take a great deal of the time of this meeting. I prefer to listen rather than speak on this Solidarity Day. But I should like to affirm that our people is deeply appreciative of the efforts, attitudes and positions of this Committee. As they wage its battles within and beyond the occupied homeland and in spite of all the bitterness from which they suffer as a result of the failure to implement the resolutions of the General Assembly, our peoples announce their determination to stand fast in the trenches of progressive forces and refuse to fall into the trap of bias and racism, until we achieve our rights and our just goals.

Before concluding, I should like to make an observation. In compliance with the guidelines of this Committee, and in order to maintain this atmosphere of solidarity, I chose not to answer the representative of the Egyptian Government. On the contrary, I should like to seize this opportunity to express to him through you, Mr. Chairman, that the feeling of love, brotherhood and appreciation that our Arab Palestinian peoples have for our Arab brothers, the people of Egypt, will not be shaken by temporary and transitory attitudes. Our peoples in their liberation struggle are still motivated by the revolution of 23 July which was started by the great, heroic Egyptian army. As a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization, I would be the happiest of men to find that what we said about military alliances is not true and that what we heard from the responsible authorities in Egypt and what we have seen through the mass media in Egypt with regard to joint manoeuvres is a long American film, or just merely an illusion.

As regards the war between Arabs and Moslems, the representative of Egypt knows the attitude of the Palestine Liberation Organization towards that war and the efforts of its leader to put an end to the war and to prevent bloodshed. He also knows who it was that expressed regret that the United States did not seize the opportunity of this war to impose its force and domination on the area.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I should like to repeat to you our gratitude for your participation with us on this day, and we should also like to extend our thanks to all those who have expressed their solidarity with us: representatives of States, liberation movements and international organizations who have read out messages from leaders, Presidents, and so on. I should also like to thank you personally for the efforts you have made, Mr. Chairman, and the wisdom you have shown in order to make this a successful day. We pledge to all that we shall continue our struggle until victory is achieved.

 


 

SOUTH WEST AFRICA PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATION

Mr. Peter Mueshihange, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, SWAPO

Mr. Chairman, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) is gratified to see you preside over this solemn meeting.

I have pleasure, on behalf of the Central Committee of SWAPO and in the name of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), in addressing the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

SWAPO identifies itself fully with the legitimate aspirations and just demands of the people of occupied Palestine, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for self-determination, political emancipation and national independence.

The tragic history of Palestine and the prolonged struggle of its people against racism and colonialism are in many ways very similar to our own. Like that of Namibia, the question of Palestine is one of decolonization and self-determination.

On this International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and the PLO, their sole and authentic representative, I bring revolutionary greetings and comradely felicitations from all the Namibian people, who are waging a war of national liberation, under the leadership of SWAPO, their sole and authentic representative.

I pledge once again in their name and in memory of all our fallen heroes and martyrs, our unswerving support for and complete solidarity with our comrades of the PLO, whose struggle for the full restoration of their national rights by the Palestinian people is our own cause, because Zionist Israel and apartheid South Africa are bound together against them and us in multifarious ways to maintain the status quo and hegemonism in their respective regions. Both those fascist States base their policies and practices on the ideology of racial superiority as far as the Palestinian Arabs or the indigenous Africans are concerned. It must, however, be pointed out that Zionist Israel and apartheid South Africa are able to sustain themselves and to perpetuate suppression of the human and political rights of the peoples of colonized and occupied Palestine, Namibia and South Africa because of, the generous assistance and co-operation which they receive on a permanent basis from the major imperialist Powers.

We in SWAPO are not unmindful of the critical geo-political interests and the high economic and strategic stakes involved in the conflicts in the Middle East and in southern Africa. In this context we know that the struggling peoples in those regions will be forced to endure even more suffering and sacrifice than past generations have already endured.

But we also know that they will persevere and intensify resistance against colonial domination and foreign occupation until the final victory.

These are difficult times for the national liberation movements. The primary enemies and their allies have launched new campaigns on a world-wide scale of aggression and intimidation against those who denounce, condemn and reject injustice, repression and inequality, which racism, imperialism and oppression breed. But, strangely, there is vacillation even among some of our friends on the critical issues of freedom, human rights, self-determination and liberation. Enemy propaganda is making a major breakthrough within the ranks of our traditional friends. This creeping appeasement of the enemy must be exposed and rejected. The situation calls for renewed vigilance.

SWAPO joins the PLO in denouncing and rejecting the so-called Camp David accords and the bogus self-rule plan. We hail the decision of the General Assembly to declare those fraudulent agreements invalid and to condemn them on that basis the accords and the so-called framework for peace nullify the national rights of the Palestinian people and consequently nullify the basis for peace in the Middle East. SWAPO supports the PLO's commitment to a democratic, secular and peaceful. State in Palestine for all its citizens.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I thank you and the Committee for inviting SWAPO to speak on this Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and the vanguard of their revolution, the PLO.

Long live the PLO, the sole and authentic representative of the Palestinian people. SWAPO reaffirms its steadfast solidarity with and support for not only the PLO but also the other fraternal national liberation movements, which authentic representatives are a spearhead, a vanguard, in the struggles of their countries and peoples: the African National Congress of South Africa, the POLISARIO Front of Western Sahara and FRETILIN of East Timor.

The struggle continues: victory is certain.

 


H. STATEMENTS BY NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS

  


AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS OF SOUTH AFRICA

Mr. Johnstone Makatini, Chief Representative to the United Nations 

We thank you, Sir, for inviting us to speak on this important and historic occasion. In the name of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, a vanguard movement that spearheads the struggle for the total eradication of apartheid and the establishment of a democratic State in South Africa, we warmly salute the valiant brotherly people of occupied Palestine, whose heroic struggle under the leadership of their sole authentic representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), continues to gather global momentum despite endless manoeuvres by the Zionist régime and some of its collaborators.

In so doing, we reaffirm our active solidarity with our comrades in arms, the PLO, headed by Chairman Arafat. The solidarity between our two peoples stems from the universally acknowledged fact that just struggles, from time immemorial, have always been mutually supportive. The ANC hails every active support given to the Palestinian people. It considers every victory registered by this brotherly people as a direct contribution and advancement of the irresistible march by our two peoples to final victory.

This normal state of affairs is further made necessary by the striking similarities in the historical, political and racial character of the problems resulting from the existence of Zionist and apartheid police and fascist States that have, thanks to imperialist political, economic, military and nuclear collaboration, usurped the inalienable rights of our two peoples. In expressing our sincere appreciation of your indefatigable efforts as the head of this Committee, Mr. Chairman, and in putting on record our appreciation of all the messages of solidarity, emanating from various Heads of State and Government as well as from non-governmental organizations, we wish to add the voice of the African National Congress to the position recently taken by the international community, namely, that agreements concluded without the active participation on an equal footing of the PLO must be condemned and rejected as null and void, until the unconditional withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories and the restoration of the Palestinians' inalienable rights, including their right to the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, are achieved.

Finally, we of the ANC pledge to remain in the same trench with the PLO at all times, and to intensify the armed struggle for the overthrow of the apartheid régime, for the seizure of power by the people and for the establishment of a democratic State in South Africa on the basis of the South African Freedom Charter, whose principles, ideals and purposes are in strict conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 


PAN AFRICANIST CONGRESS OF AZANIA

Mr. Ike Mafole, Representative of the Pan African Congress of Azania 

The Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania wishes to express its gratitude to the Committee on the Exercise of the inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for having invited us here on this occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, whose situation does not differ from that of the Azanian people, the victims of apartheid colonialism, the twin sister and ally of Zionism.

The Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania, the genuine liberation movement of the dispossessed, oppressed and exploited people of Azania suffering from racial discrimination has from its very inception firmly adhered to the fundamental principle that it is the inalienable right of all colonized and subject peoples fully to exercise their right of self-determination. In view of the PAC, anything short of the full exercise of that fundamental right constitutes a blatant and flagrant violation of that sacred and inalienable right and principle.

Hence, the participation of the PAC of Azania in this International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People stems from our strong and unshakable adherence to that universal principle.

Moreover, the common colonial fate suffered by the Azanian and Palestinian peoples makes it all the more imperative that the two struggling and revolutionary peoples not only show but also extend full solidarity in each other's struggle. Apartheid and Zionism are two faces of the same coin. But the racist rulers of South Africa and the Zionists claim that the respective territories they now occupy are the so-called Biblical Promised hand, that they are both the so-called chosen people of God, and that the indigenous people of the two territories have been eternally condemned to be "the hewers of wood and drawers of water". While the South African racists plan to herd the indigenous population, which makes up four fifths of the total population into so-called bantustans, the Zionists have driven the indigenous Arabs of Palestine into the Middle East's equivalent of the Bantustan, namely the United Nations Relief and Works Agency refugee camps.

To God have been attributed many qualities, but never that of a real-estate agent dishing out "promised lands" here on earth to a supposedly chosen few. And this is attested to by the fact that God had nothing to do with the British Parliament's passing in 1910 the so-called South Africa Act which handed the territory of Azania to the colonial settlers, with the total exclusion of the indigenous people of Azania. Similarly, it was the same British Government that in 1917 issued the now infamous Balfour Declaration that gave mandated Palestine to international Zionism as a homeland for Jews. Palestine, historians will recall, was mandated to Britain after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the first World War, just as Namibia came under South African Mandate.

Britain, under the mandate, had the obligation to prepare the people of the Territory for independence but, instead, the British Government, in pursuance of its imperial policies, worked out a deal with international zionism to establish a permanent Western outpost in that strategic part of the world. Thus, in both South Africa and mandated Palestine the British put imperial interests first and deliberately chose to ignore totally the inalienable rights of the indigenous peoples of those two Territories.

On the question of Palestine, the Nazi persecution of Jews is too often cited to "justify" the establishment of a "Jewish homeland" in Palestine. The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, we should like to stress here, is vehemently opposed to any form of oppression, exploitation and persecution, and consequently stands firmly opposed to nazism. We have also condemned Nazi persecution of people who profess to be followers of Moses.

However, what we find most revealing is that rulers of Israel, the "State" supposedly created for Jews seeking refuge from Nazi persecution have the most intimate relations with the South African racists, who were open allies of Hitler's fascism during the Second World War. Many of the present leaders in apartheid South Africa – in particular, the former Prime Minister, John Vorster – were imprisoned during the war years for open pro-Nazi activities. This open collaboration between the South African racists and Zionists, in the military, political, economic and other fields, gives a clear indication that nazism and zionism are bedmates today.

The collaboration between the apartheid rulers of South Africa and the Zionist occupiers of Palestine poses a grave threat not only to the peoples of those two occupied Territories, but to the whole world. In this respect we should like to draw the attention of this gathering to the joint military ventures undertaken by these two racist-colonial régimes.

Last year, it will be recalled, an explosion was recorded by orbiting satellites somewhere in the South Atlantic. At first it was believed that the South Africans had carried, out a nuclear test in the area, but since no nuclear fallout was registered, some doubt was subsequently expressed. However, facts are now gradually coming out that indicate that in fact the recorded blast was a neutron bomb being tested jointly by Israel and South Africa. The testing and subsequent possession of this dangerous, indeed lethal, weapon pose, needless to say, a grave threat to world peace and security, and of course to the peace and security of the region – all the more because this dangerous weapon is now in the hands of racists who regard themselves as "chosen people".

 

The international community must act immediately if the world is not to face another international holocaust: and the only effective way of acting is to give all possible material, political, economic and other aid to the peoples of Azania and Palestine to liberate their respective countries from the clutches of apartheid and zionism. Only when the people of Azania and Palestine exercise their right to self-determination will the international community be saved from the impending disasters planned by those two racist and colonialist régimes.

In conclusion, we should like to place it on record that the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania has consistently supported the just struggle

of the people of Palestine and will continue to do so until that people, under the leadership of its genuine vanguard of struggle – the Palestine Liberation Organization – wins final victory, until a Palestine National State is established, within which the Palestinian people will be able to exercise its inalienable rights to self-determination, independence and international sovereignty.

 


I. STATEMENTS BY UNITED NATIONS ORGANS

 


SPECIAL COMMITTEE AGAINST APARTHEID

 

H.E. Mr. B. Akporode Clark, Chairman of the Special Committee Against Apartheid

  

Let me from the outset express how happy and gratified my Committee is at seeing you, a close personal friend and brother, presiding over this important meeting. Your own personal services to the cause of the Palestinian people and your great country's – Senegal's – record in that field is a matter of public acclaim and recognition.

As we meet today to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we are once again reminded of the agonizing plight of a people uprooted and rendered homeless for over a generation. For us at the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, the tragedy of the Palestinian people amounts to the denial of the right to self-determination enshrined in the Charter for all peoples under colonial or alien domination. It is indeed a fateful reminder of the stark reality that peace in the Middle East continues to rest perilously on a razor's edge.

Israel continues to pursue with reckless abandon its policy of expansionism on the West Bank, Gaza and other areas seized during the war of June 1967. It has defiantly ignored all repeated calls by the General. Assembly and the Security Council to terminate its brutal measures of annexation of Arab lands.

As in the past year, there is now a provocative development in the Arab territories raising a frightful spectre of a major conflict between the Israeli occupiers and their Palestinian victims. Israeli fanatics are stepping up the establishment of new settlements on Palestinian lands: at the same time they are spearheading a campaign of terror against Palestinian villages and civilians in their midst. But the frightening development is that Israeli security forces are no longer content with their attitude of inaction; now their collaboration is both open and shameless.

The past year saw other ominous developments in the region. In spite of the specific resolutions and injunctions of the General Assembly at its emergency special session held earlier this year, last August the Israeli Knesset purported to adopt a bill to the effect that Jerusalem is now the so-called eternal and united capital of Israel. Owing to its serious implications, the Security Council took prompt action on the matter. We hope that similar action will be taken if Israel persists in its threat to annex the Golan Heights of Syria. But that would not be sufficient; the Security Council should be ready to take appropriate action in accordance with the provisions laid down in the Charter if Israel persists in its continued defiance of the Council's decisions.

Israel and South Africa must be made to acquire a sense of belonging and responsibility if they wish to continue to be regarded as members of the international community.

The Special Committee against Apartheid has followed with keen interest the important work being done under the able leadership of its Chairman by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The Committee has undoubtedly contributed immeasurably to the concerted international effort of keeping in correct perspective the tragedy that has befallen the Palestinian people. The commemoration of this International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People should therefore serve as a welcome opportunity, particularly at this time, for a solemn reaffirmation of our determination to continue to support this Committee in the all-important task of fulfilling its mandate as set out by the General Assembly.

The Special Committee against Apartheid, deeply conscious of the increasingly pernicious axis of Israel and South Africa, in addition to pursuing a crusade of its own for ending the inhuman system of apartheid in South Africa, is always anxious and ready to lend a helping hand to the Palestine Committee until Israel withdraws totally from the occupied Arab lands, leading to the establishment of a sovereign, independent Palestinian State in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.

 


SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING

THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE POPULATION OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Mr. T. Balasubramanian, Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate

Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories

Twelve years ago the United Nations established the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories. This was the first important step taken by the General Assembly to ensure the application of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Year after year the Special Committee has faithfully reported to the General Assembly the violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people committed by the Israeli authorities.

A few days ago I had the privilege of submitting the latest report of the Special Committee at a meeting of the Special Political Committee. That report, like the previous ones, contains a list of specific instances in which the basic rights of the Palestinian people had been infringed. Those infringements are a clear repudiation of the obligations under international law of the occupying Power.

It is unfortunate that the Israeli authorities have so far denied the Special Committee access to the occupied territories. In the circumstances, the Special Committee had to depend on other sources, which have not been contradicted and are generally accepted as reliable by the occupying Power.

In its assessment of the facts the Special Committee has repeatedly warned the international community of the dangers inherent in treating the situation with indifference. It is indeed an unfortunate reality that the situation in the occupied territories continues to deteriorate. On the one hand, the Government of Israel continues to follow a policy of annexation of the occupied territories, and, on the other hand, the people of the occupied territories continue to resist such measures. The shooting of school children only a couple of weeks ago by the occupying Power is yet another dramatic illustration of the kind of repression that the Israeli authorities exercise against the Palestinian people.

The current report of the Special Committee lists a number of conclusions, among which are that, first, the situation prevailing in the occupied territories is a serious threat to peace; secondly, the military occupation is the main cause of the violation of human rights in the occupied territories; and, thirdly, a systematic effort to change the status of the occupied territories is being made in pursuance of the homeland policy of the Israeli Government.

These conclusions cannot be ignored by the international community, and this International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is an appropriate occasion for the international community to reaffirm its commitment to support the just struggle of the Palestinian people and to resolve to redouble its efforts to protect the population of the occupied territories from the continued violation of their fundamental human rights.

 


UNITED NATIONS COUNCIL FOR NAMIBIA

H.E. Mr. Paul John Firmino Lusaka, President,

United Nations Council for Namibia

 

It is an honour for me as President of the Council for Namibia to have been invited to address the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People during this observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Since it was established by the General Assembly, your Committee has dutifully and stalwartly carried out its mandate to promote and protect the rights of the Palestinian people, a people that have been so unjustly dispossessed of their rights by Israeli Zionism.

The Council for Namibia is grateful to share a common cause and responsibility for the protection and defence of the right and dignity of peoples in solidarity with the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The people of Palestine, like any other people, are entitled to the attainment of self-determination under the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. In this connexion, the Council for Namibia believes that any everlasting solution to the question of the Middle East is inextricably bound to the question of the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine to independence and their return to their homeland. No solution could be acceptable to the international community when the people of Palestine continue to be the subject of brutal exploitation, oppression and forceful removal from their land and to the expropriation of property which is rightly theirs. The Israeli authorities must realize that as long as there is continued oppression of peoples in usurped Palestine there will always be resistance by those who are oppressed. Oppression and colonialism are twin concepts of government that are revulsive and repulsive to an orderly conduct of any human society. The Palestinian people have suffered the brutal occupation of their territory, massive removal from their homes, the confiscation of their property and the denial of their human rights. The only course left to them for the redress of this gross injustice is the continued prosecution of their legitimate struggle until genuine independence has been achieved.

On the other hand, the international community must continue to uphold the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant resolutions of our Organization on the question of Palestine. The Organization should continue to be the guiding force in any solution with respect to the Palestinian Question. It is the Palestine Liberation Organization which is the vanguard in the struggle for the independence of the Palestinian people, and consequently the Palestine Liberation Organization should be the principal party to be consulted in any meaningful solution to the question of Palestine.

 


J. STATEMENTS BY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND INVITED SPEAKERS

 


AFRO-ASIAN PEOPLE'S SOLIDARITY ORGANIZATION

Mrs. Dunbar Ortiz, Representative of the Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization

The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization takes this opportunity to congratulate the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on its work and to express solidarity and support for the Palestinian people and the Palestine Liberation Organization, on the occasion of the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization, which includes within its ranks national committees, movements and organizations from over 70 countries in Africa and Asia, some of which are still under the yoke of imperialism and colonialism and undergoing racist discrimination in various forms, has firmly and consistently defended and promoted the cause of human rights and has always committed itself to support the struggle of peoples for freedom, national independence and the right to self-determination.

For many years the Middle East has been the scene of gross violations of human rights. That is strikingly manifested in the continued Israeli aggression and occupation of Palestine and of vast Arab territories.

In defiance of the resolutions of all international organs, especially those of the United Nations. Israel has continued its aggressive policy based on depriving the Arab Palestinian people of its rights and denying it its rights to self-determination and the setting up of its independent State in its own homeland. Israel has continued its expansionist and annexationist policies against Arab countries and has been rejecting world-wide demands to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories.

Israel, furthermore, has intensified its efforts to build up new Zionist settlements in the occupied territories and has been persecuting and oppressing Arab people. It has arrested and gaoled, over the last years alone, thousands of Arab and Palestinian citizens as punitive measures against their legitimate demands for Palestinian rights.

It is a widely noted and condemned fact that the Zionist occupation authorities have destroyed homes of Arab inhabitants in the West Bank and other parts of occupied Arab and Palestinian lands, acts which in themselves constitute flagrant violations of human rights.

The policy of aggression, occupation and racial discrimination pursued by Israel and backed by imperialism not only violates the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations but creates a dangerous hotbed of tension and threat of war which are endangering peace and security in the region and in the world as a whole.

The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization therefore strongly condemns the Israeli policy of aggression, occupation and racial discrimination and stands firmly for the heroic struggle of the Palestinian and Arab people for their legitimate right to liberate their homeland and to liquidate the Zionist occupation.

The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization, basing itself on anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist principles, has always called for a just and lasting settlement of the Middle East problem, which would provide for: first, the total withdrawal of all aggressive Israeli troops from the occupied Arab territories; secondly, enabling and ensuring the exercise by the Palestinian Arab people of its national rights, particularly its right to self-determination and the setting up of its own national and independent State on its homeland.

Taking into account those genuine objectives and having in mind the recently increasing plots and dangers against the just Arab and Palestinian cause, the Presidium of the Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization, at its seventh session, rejected and condemned the Camp David accords on the Middle East problem, which contradict the basic interests of the Palestinian and Arab peoples.

As in the past, the Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization will continue to support the courageous struggle of the Palestinian and Arab people for their noble and just cause and will do its best to widen and strengthen the world-wide campaign against flagrant violations of human rights in that region.

The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization calls upon and urges the United Nations to take the actions required to put an end to the tragic course of events in the occupied Arab territories and Palestine, caused by the Israeli occupation, and to promote and safeguard Palestinian rights in the area.

 


COMMITTEE OF SOLIDARITY OF THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

Mr. Kurt Seibt, Chairman of the Committee of Solidarity

of the German Democratic Republic

I should like first to express my sincere thanks to you, Mr. Chairman, and to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for having made it possible for the Committee of Solidarity of the German Democratic Republic and for me, as Chairman of that Committee, to commemorate with you the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. At the very time that we are gathered here, and for the very same reason, a ceremony is taking place in our Republic in one of the recently constructed industrial facilities, inaugurating a week of solidarity of the German Democratic Republic with the Palestinian people.

We are well aware of the great activity that the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has demonstrated since its establishment in defence of the just cause and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. It was undoubtedly not an accident but, rather, the result of the Committee's activities, as well as the solidarity of the peaceful forces throughout the world, that the emergency special session held by the United Nations General Assembly in July this year adopted by an impressive majority a resolution calling for the achievement by the Palestinian people of their legitimate right to national self-determination and the creation of its own Palestinian State. We the people of the German Democratic Republic and our Government fully support the demands of that resolution.

I would venture to recall that the German Democratic Republic has always advocated the view that the Middle East question, of which the Palestine problem is the essential point, must have an over-all solution. That solution must include the withdrawal of all Israeli military units from the territories occupied in 1967; the guaranteeing of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including its right to establish its own independent State, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization: and the safeguarding of the security of all the States and peoples of the region.

The President of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic, Erich Honecker, sent a message of greetings to the Palestine National Council when it met in Damascus in 1979. In that message he said, among other things:

"An over-all and just solution of the Middle East conflict can be achieved only on condition that there is participation, on an equal footing, of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Arab people of Palestine."

The message of greetings sent here today by the President of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic repeats that assurance and emphasizes that the German Democratic Republic will in future also stand resolutely at the side of the Palestinian people.

At this very time, events are taking Place in that region which jeopardize world peace. The Camp David agreement, which its authors have misleadingly called a "peace agreement", is in fact the expression of the aspiration of aggressive elements who are endangering peace. The agreement is meant to serve to split the Arab peoples' front, in order to support Israel's expansionist policy, with the adventurous goal of creating Greater Israel. Finally, the agreement is meant to serve the purpose of establishing for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) a new military base to threaten the entire world. We have noted especially in recent times the extent to which the encouragement of reactionary forces is egging on the leading circles of Israel in carrying out their abusive policy towards the Arab people and world peace. The whole world remembers the illegal declaration by which Jerusalem was designated the capital of Israel – action against international law and all the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.

At the same time we note large-scale war manoeuvres by United States "rapid deployment forces" in the Middle East region. These rapid deployment forces, made up of 100,000 men, are to guarantee the vital interests of the United States, that is to say, they are an instrument of intervention in affairs of other peoples. No people wedded to peace can take this without very great concern.

The socialist German Democratic Republic, together with other socialist States and progressive forces the world over, is among the most faithful allies of the Arab people of Palestine and has always supported the harsh sacrifice-ridden struggle of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Seven years ago an official delegation of the PLO began its activities in the capital of the German Democratic Republic. Contacts with leading Palestinian political circles are part of our daily activities. A cultural agreement has been signed. These deep-rooted relations have been expressed by, among other things, an exhibition of Palestinian painting and graphic art recently shown in Berlin and well attended by the population of our capital.

Every year the Solidarity Committee of the German Democratic Republic organizes a solidarity week for the struggle of Arab peoples, especially the Palestinian people. High-level delegations of the PLO have always participated in them. Thus, on such an occasion, we received the President of the Executive Committee of the PLO, Yasser Arafat.

This year, we took pleasure in welcoming for our Solidarity Week the Vice-President of the Committee to the United Nations, our friend Mohamed Farid Zarif.

The solidarity of the people of the German Democratic Republic is expressed in the broad political and material support that has been extended to the Palestinian people for many years now. In the United Nations and its specialized agencies, other international committees and through contacts with representatives of other countries, the German Democratic Republic has always supported the just cause and national rights of the Palestinian people.

We can give material assistance and support thanks to the large contributions made by the people of the German Democratic Republic, assistance which has brought medicines, food, clothing, tents, bedding and other equipment especially designed for Palestinians expelled by the Israelis.

Hundreds of Palestinian children coming from refugee camps every year take vacations in Solidarity Committee camps in the German Democratic Republic and many wounded PLO fighters have received treatment and recovered in hospitals of our country. Many representatives of the Arab people of Palestine are pursuing specialized studies in higher schools and colleges of the German Democratic Republic. Our Republic gradually offers assistance to the Palestinian people as it fights for its rights and it will always be in solidarity with a people fighting for its freedom. That is because in our country anti-imperialism and international solidarity have and will always be the policy of the Party and State and will remain a cause dear to the heart of all our citizens.

 


CO-ORDINATING BUREAU OF THE NON-ALIGNED STATES

Commandant Fidel Castro,

President of the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba

  

On the occasion of the commemoration, on 29 November, of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and reflecting the oft-expressed feeling of the Non-Aligned Movement as endorsed in the accords reached at its Sixth Conference of Heads of State or Government, held in Havana in September 1979, we should like to reaffirm our unswerving militant solidarity with the heroic and long-suffering people of Palestine.

This year the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People takes on special meaning for all of us, being held as it is at a time when it has become more necessary than ever for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole, legitimate representative of that people, to be supported by all the forces in the world that cherish peace, justice and progress.

Over the last few months the international community has witnessed with indignation the stepping up of the colonialist policy of the Zionist authorities in the occupied territories, including the proclamation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; the upsurge in their criminal repressive measures against the defenceless people of Palestine and the introduction of new terrorist methods such as those used against various personages in the occupied territories; the intensification of their genocidal acts against the civilian population and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon; and Israel's persistent defiance of the will of the international community by its systematic rejection of United Nations decisions including the resolution of the seventh special emergency session of the General Assembly on the question of Palestine and that of the Security Council on Jerusalem

It becomes obvious that Israel's persistence in this policy can be explained only by the sustained and unconditional backing it receives from the United States in the military, economic, political and diplomatic fields.

These facts show that justice of the forceful condemnation expressed at their Sixth Summit Conference by the Heads of State or Government of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries of the policy of partial agreements promoted by imperialism in the Middle East, including the Camp David agreements and the separate treaty between Egypt and Israel, and at the same time confirm the validity of the principles laid down and oft-reiterated by the Non-Aligned Movement, to the effect that the Palestinian question is the crux of the Middle East conflict, and that the attainment of a just and lasting peace in the area is impossible without the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and unconditional respect for the inalienable national rights of that people, including its right of return to, and of independence and national sovereignty in, Palestine.

We are convinced that the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and enjoying the support and solidarity of the international community, will succeed in thwarting the designs of imperialism and zionism and will finally triumph in its just and heroic struggle for national independence and sovereignty.

I take this occasion, Excellency, to express to you once again my most profound esteem.

 


INTERNATIONAL PROGRESS ORGANIZATION

Mr. Hans Koechler, President of the International Progress Organization 

The International Progress Organization (IPO) has devoted its activities to the promotion of peaceful co-existence and international understanding through broadening the horizons of national self-comprehension. The realization of human rights constitutes, therefore, one of the main points of concern of the IPO.

We try to contribute to a self-critical and rational dialogue between the various political systems and ideologies, insofar as each system respects the freedom to independent existence of the other. Therefore, the negation of tolerance will not be accepted by us. This would mean self-negation of the democratic principle of dialogue. And that, we think, applies also to the entire Middle East question.

For several years we have been working for a more lust and better balanced evaluation of the whole Middle East question on the part of international public opinion, especially in the Western world. We believe that a legal and scientific approach may be helpful for an objective, non-partisan judgement of this complicated problem. This was the reason why the IPO recently convened an international conference of experts in international law and human rights on the legal aspects of the Palestine problem, with special regard to the question of Jerusalem.

As a consultative organization of the United Nations and of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), we want to emphasize that a solution of the Palestine problem may only be achieved within the framework of United Nations resolutions, recognition of the PLO as the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people being one of the fundamental conditions for a realistic solution. According to the principles of international law, current bilateral… agreements have no significance because one of the parties concerned – the Palestinian people – did not take part in the negotiations.

The IPO respects and appreciates the endeavours of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for a peaceful – that is, comprehensive – solution of the conflict. We think that the rule of law has to be restored over the whole territory of Palestine. The international community can never accept the right of the conqueror. Armed forces can never be the instrument of creating claims of sovereignty. The rules of international law – which, according to United Nations declarations, have to be in conformity with the fundamental principles of human rights – must never be neglected by referring to certain religious traditions. Zionism, understood in this sense – meaning that Zionism, which considers its territorial claims as being above or as being more fundamental than individual human rights – will always be rejected by peace-loving people.

It should be made very clear: it is not the community of people believing in the Jewish religion we criticize; it is only this amalgam of religious, historical and political claims that is in contradiction to the rules of conduct of the international community, insofar as it leads to the negation of the individual human rights of the people living in the area.

The IPO considers it a sign of real hope that so many prominent Jewish personalities inside and outside Israel are ready to recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and to accept Palestinians as partners on an equal level. Our recently-held international conference has strengthened this hope: prominent Israeli participants were discussing a possible solution with experts and representatives of Arab countries and of the PLO. As one of our lecturers – Ramsey Clark, from the United States – has said we must never give up working for the realization of human rights, and we cannot discriminate in that field. It means we cannot exclude a certain people from our human rights considerations. This was also stated in the message which participants in our conference have sent to President-elect Ronald Reagan, warning him of the dangerous consequences of his one-sided anti-PLO declarations which are, frankly speaking, a negation of the basic human rights of the Palestinian people.

We hope to present our message to the political leaders and to public opinion, especially in the Western world, where one-sided judgement still prevails. Initiatives taken by Western leaders, such as that of Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, are most promising, in our view. We also hope that the sense of justice and fairness displayed by the Austrian Chancellor will have its impact on the Governments of the United States of America and Europe.

The IPO will continue to strive for the realization of human rights in all regions of the world, without any discrimination. Palestine will therefore have a prominent place in our activities. We are glad to render the limited services we can offer to the United Nations and its Palestine Committee.

Let me express the hope that the Palestine Liberation Organization will gain final victory in building a sovereign, democratic and secular State on Palestinian soil. This, in our view, does not mean destruction, as the enemies of a peaceful solution declare; it just means restoration of a state of peace and respect for the individual human rights of all citizens living in the area.

Only the United Nations, with its multilateral structure – and not any kind of bilateral agreement – can be the framework for these legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people and its sole, legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

 


UNION OF ARAB JURISTS

Mr. Mansur R. Kikhia, Representative of the Union of Arab Jurists 

I have the honour of participating, on behalf of the Union of Arab Jurists, in the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which represents jurists in 22 Arab States, including occupied Palestine. The Union is a non-governmental organization having consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. Among its main objectives are the protection of human rights in the Arab nation, the provision of legal guarantees to Arab individuals and active participation in the struggle for and defence of human rights and the rights of peoples, in conformity with the rights embodied in the Charter of the United Nations and its noble purposes and principles.

On behalf of the association and its Secretary-General, Mr. Shahib Lazem Al-Maaleki, I should like to salute and commend the activities of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The activities of the Committee are among the most positive steps in increasing public awareness of the tragedy of the Palestinian people and in unmasking the Israeli régime, which the General Assembly considered to be a racist régime, which has violated the most basic human rights.

The continual brutal, racist, imperialist and Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people is a stigma in the history of mankind in the twentieth century and a threat to peace and an impediment to progress in the area and throughout the world. To remain silent in the face of this aggression or to leave the Palestinians to be sacrificed as victims to this aggression by the Zionists and their anti-humanist allies threatens the rights of all peoples and the citizens of Jewish faith of other countries, as well as the interests of the American people, whose leaders and leading organizations constantly without cause or reason, and support the Zionist aggression against the Palestinian peoples.

In the words of Martin Luther King, himself, a victim of racism: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".

It has become obvious to all that there is no hope for attaining peace in the area or resolving what is called the Middle East question without the following: recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to exercise the right to self-determination, and implementing that right; recognition of their right to establish the Palestinian State and to liberate themselves from Zionist occupation; recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian peoples; and the declaration as null and void of any agreements or plans to solve the Palestinian problem without the effective participation of the Palestinian people and its acceptance of them as represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization.

In conclusion, let me once again extend to you, Sir, the greetings of the Union of Arab Jurists and express our admiration for the effective role that you play and the role of the sister African country in support of the Palestinian cause. I should also like to affirm the solidarity of the Arab jurists with the forces of progress, justice and peace in their decisive struggle against the forces of imperialism, colonialism, injustice, zionism and racism, from our belief that our just struggle will continue and grow until we achieve victory.

 


WORLD PEACE COUNCIL

Mr. Romesh Chandra, President of the World Peace Council

The World Peace Council welcomes the opportunity to express once again its unconditional and unremitting support for the heroic and long-suffering Palestinian people on this International Day of Solidarity.

We recently concluded the World Parliament of Peoples for Peace, organized by the World Peace Council and held in Sofia, Bulgaria, 23 to 27 September. It was a massive gathering of some 2,260 elected 'deputies' from 137 countries, 330 political parties from a vast array of trade unions, churches, mass organizations, international organizations – a rich tapestry of diverse philosophical, political and religious beliefs truly reflecting the will of hundreds of millions of people.

The Parliament was profoundly privileged and honoured to be addressed by Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and to be guided in its deliberations by his inspiring words; as well as by the outstanding statement that you, Mr. Chairman, delivered to that World Parliament on behalf of the Special Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian people.

From that World Parliament an urgent call was issued for a world-wide campaign to achieve the immediate implementation of resolution ES-7/2 of the seventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly as “vital for the attainment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and for a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East". The call went out to all “who cherish peace and justice and freedom to intercede with their Governments to put pressure for the immediate implementation of that resolution of the seventh emergency special session on the question of Palestine".

The World Parliament clearly delineated the conditions for a comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East which are in line with, and fully supportive of, United Nations resolutions:

"Complete and unconditional withdrawal of Israel from all Palestinian territory and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem.
"Achievement of a just solution of the problem of Palestine based on the attainment of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to return to their homeland self-determination and establishment of their own independent and sovereign State in Palestine, without any outside interference.
"Recognition of the PLO as the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by all Governments which have not accorded such recognition and granting of full diplomatic recognition without delay.
"Acceptance of the fact that the Palestinian people inside and outside the occupied territories are one and indivisible."

The World Peace Council is deeply concerned that the Middle East continues to be the most dangerous hotbed of tension, posing a grave threat to international peace and security. We assert that there can be no peace without Palestine. There can be no peace without the unconditional withdrawal of Israel from occupied Arab territories. There can be no peace without the establishment of an independent Palestinian State. There can be no peace without the PLO. Any so-called peace plan, be it the Camp David agreements, the Washington accords, autonomy plans or any initiative purporting to solve the Palestinian question, which merely puts a new disguise on those rejected and discredited schemes, must be measured first and foremost against the key word "peace".

Those initiatives clearly are not for peace. They are clearly not in the interest of justice and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Rather their ultimate objective is to perpetuate the plundering of the national resources of the countries of the Arab region, the Middle East and the Gulf area. Entrenched exploitation by the transnational corporations safeguards the imperialist oil interests and ensures the continuous cycling of the petro-dollar to the Western banks.

The World Peace Council stands with the overwhelming majority of the peoples of the world and the overwhelming majority of the Governments of the world. We stand with the United Nations itself to achieve peace and justice in the Middle East. We stand with and offer our great admiration and congratulations to the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and to you, personally, Mr. Chairman, on the outstanding work which is being done.

The World Parliament of the Peoples for Peace resolutely called for the broadest world-wide observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and for the convening, on the most far-reaching scale possible, of an international conference in solidarity with the Palestinian people as a culminating event of a series of national and regional activities in support of United Nations resolutions on Palestine. It pledged all-out support for the International Committee of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, in which the World Peace Council plays an active part.

The World Peace Council regards the heroic Palestinian people, under the leadership of their sole legitimate representative, the PLO, as being in the very front line of a common struggle of peoples everywhere against the dangerous new arms build-up and other imperialist machinations, against colonialism and neo-colonialism, racism, apartheid, fascism, and zionism, and for national liberation, for social and economic progress to overcome hunger and deprivation, and to achieve a new international economic order.

On this auspicious occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the World Peace Council reaffirms its continuing unconditional and active support for the Palestinian people and for the Palestine Liberation Organization. The great cause of the Palestinian people is a cause of the World Peace Council. We are confident that they shall soon achieve victory – a victory that will mean a giant advance for all of humankind.

 


III. OBSERVANCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE

PALESTINIAN PEOPLE BY STATES MEMBERS OF THE UNITED NATIONS

The Secretariat has to date received reports from States Members of the United Nations on the programmes in their countries, both of Governmental involvement and other institutions, including NGOs and support groups on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. In all instances, the United Nations Information Centres played a central role in both the organization of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and the dissemination of information concerning the plight of the Palestinian people.

In addition a special commemorative programme was held at Geneva.

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2019-03-12T18:00:06-04:00

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