SUPR Monthly Bulletin, No. 3 – CEIRPP, SUPR bulletin (March 1979) – SUPR publication

SPECIAL UNIT ON

PALESTINIAN RIGHTS

Office of the Under-Secretary-General

for Political and General Assembly Affairs

Bulletin No. 3

March 1979

Table of Contents

1.  Action taken by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in March 1979

(a) On 2 March 1979 the Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Ambassador Raoul Roa Kouri, of Cuba, the Committee's Vice-Chairman, addressed a letter to the President of the Security Council expressing the Committee's concern over reports of the Government of Israel's policy of systematic repression of Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories and requesting that these practices be considered when the Security Council met as requested by the Permanent Representative of Jordan to consider the erosion of the status of Jerusalem due to the policies of the Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories. The Vice Chairman, 12 members and 7 observers of the Committee participated in the discussion in the security Council. The texts of the Vice-Chairman's statement and of his letter dated 2 March 1979 are reproduced in this issue of the bulletin under item 2.

(b) At its meeting on 13 March 1979 the Committee decided to address a letter to the President of the Security Council drawing his attention to paragraph 8 of General Assembly resolution 33/28 A and paragraph 2 of resolution 33/28 B and urging the need for the Security Council to take some practical measures with a view to implementing the Committee's recommendations. The text of the letter dated 13 March 1979, issued as Security Council document number S/13164, was as follows:

The members of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People have authorized me, as Chairman of that Committee, to call your attention to the spirit and letter of General Assembly resolution 33/28, adopted on 7 December 1978.

In paragraph 8 of its resolution 33/28 A, the General Assembly once again urges the Security Council to consider and take as soon as possible a decision on the recommendations endorsed by the Assembly in its resolutions 31/20, 32/40 and 33/28. Those resolutions have, moreover, received the approval of our Organization as providing the basis for any solution to the problem of Palestine.

In a letter dated 18 January 1978 (S/12531) which I addressed to the President of the Security Council, I informed the members of the Council of the principles which inspired and guided the members of the Committee in formulating those recommendations.  However, for whatever purpose it may serve, I take this opportunity to repeat them:

(a) The question of Palestine is at the heart of the Middle East problem, and, consequently, the Committee stresses its belief that no solution in the Middle East can be envisaged which does not fully take into account the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.

(b) The legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to return to their homes and property and to achieve self-determination, national independence and sovereignty are endorsed by the Committee in the conviction that the full implementation of these rights will contribute decisively to a comprehensive and final settlement of the Middle East crisis.

(c) The participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, on an equal footing with other parties, on the basis of General Assembly resolutions 3236 (XXIX) and 3375 (XXX), is indispensable in all efforts, deliberations and conferences on the Middle East which are held under the auspices of the United Nations.

(d) The Committee recalls the fundamental principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force and stresses the consequent obligation for complete and speedy evacuation of any territory so occupied.

I am convinced that you will spare no effort, as President of the Security Council, to ensure respect for these fundamental principles in any effort aimed at establishing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

I should also like to draw your attention to paragraph 9 of resolution 33/28 A, in which the General Assembly authorizes and requests the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in the event that the Security Council fails to consider or to take a decision on those recommendations by 1 June 1979 to consider that situation and to make the suggestions it deems appropriate.

Furthermore, in paragraph 2 of its resolution 33/28 B, the Assembly requests the Committee to keep the situation relating to the question of Palestine under review and to report and make suggestions to the General Assembly or to the Security Council, as may be appropriate.

The Committee is profoundly convinced that concrete action by the Security Council on the basis of the implementation of the Committee's recommendations would without any doubt lead to the achievement of tangible progress towards a solution to the question of Palestine.  The members of the Committee accordingly believe that the impasse currently prevailing in the region, characterized by the absence of any initiative that might lead to peace, and the prolongation of the illegal occupation of Arab territories are in no way conducive to the avoidance of new confrontations. Moreover, in the Committee's view, that impasse could lead only to an aggravation of the threat to international peace and security.

The Committee is therefore of the view that the need for concrete action by the Security Council is becoming increasingly urgent.  It is especially so in view of the recent illegal measures taken by the Israeli Government for the establishment of Jewish settlements in the occupied Arab territories, measures which are scarcely conducive to a climate favouring the search for a peaceful solution in the region. The Committee notes that the establishment of Jewish settlements in the occupied Arab territories violates the principles of the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.  What is more, such measures by the Israeli Government are in blatant contradiction to the spirit and letter of the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council on Palestine, in which the international, community has not only condemned the illegal nature of such measures but has also drawn attention to the threat to international peace and security posed by the establishment of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.

In the light of all the above considerations, the Committee, in keeping with the spirit and letter of General Assembly resolutions on Palestine, considers it important that the Security Council should take practical measures with a view to implementing the Committee's recommendations.

Please find attached those recommendations, which are contained in the Committee's report to the General Assembly at its thirty-third session.

The Committee is convinced that the members of the Security Council will wish to re-examine those recommendations in accordance with the wish expressed by the General Assembly at its thirty-third session.

I should be grateful if you would have this letter circulated as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed) Medoune FALL

Chairman of the Committee on

the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of

the Palestinian People

(C) At its meeting on 29 March 1979 the Committee reviewed recent developments pertaining to the Middle East and authorized the Chairman to address the following letter to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council. The letter dated 30 March 1979 has been issued as General Assembly document A/34/155 and Security Council document 8/13210 :

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has authorized me, as Chairman of that Committee, to transmit to you its opinions with regard to recent developments concerning the situation in the Middle East.

I take this opportunity to remind you that the Committee has made recommendations on the implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people which were supported by the General Assembly as providing a possible basis for the settlement of the question of Palestine. These recommendations are based on the following principles:

"(a) The question of Palestine is at the heart of the problem of the Middle East and consequently no solution to the Middle East problem could be envisaged without taking into account the rights of the Palestinian people;

"(b) The realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to return to their homes and to self-determination, independence and national sovereignty would contribute to a solution of the crisis in the Middle East;

"(c) The participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, on an equal footing with all other parties on the basis of General Assembly resolutions 3236 (XXIX) and 3375 (XXX) is indispensable in all efforts, deliberations and conferences on the Middle East undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations;

"(d) The inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force and the obligation which devolves on Israel to withdraw completely and quickly from all territory so occupied."

May I also remind you that in resolution 33/28 A, adopted on 7 December 1978, the General Assembly declared that the validity of agreements purporting to solve the problem of Palestine requires that they be within the framework of the United Nations and its Charter and its resolutions on the basis of the full attainment and exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return and the right to national independence and sovereignty in Palestine, and with the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The Committee accordingly notes with regret that these principles, which were supported by the General Assembly, were not taken into consideration in recent negotiations on the question.

If statements by the Prime Minister of Israel to the Israeli Parliament, as reported in the press, to the effect that Israel would never return to the pre-5 June 1967 frontiers and that Jerusalem would for ever be the capital of the Israeli State and that there would never be a Palestinian State on the West Bank of the Jordan and in the Gaza Strip, are to be believed, it can be stated that Israel continues to oppose resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council on the question of Palestine and is carrying out actions that are contrary to the spirit and the letter of those resolutions and to the principles of international law.

The Committee therefore expresses its concern with regard to recent developments the consequences of which seem to it by no means conducive to the implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, as defined by various organs of the United Nations, and which, moreover, do not deal in a sufficiently specific manner with the Palestinian problem, which is recognized as being at the heart of the Middle East conflict.

I should be grateful if you would have this letter distributed as an official document of the General Assembly under item 24 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Medoune FALL

Chairman of the Committee on the

Exercise of the Inalienable Rights

of the Palestinian People

As requested by the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations in his letter of 23 February 1979 the Security Council considered the item "The situation in the occupied Arab Territories" at eight meetings from 9 to 22 March 1979. The Security Council also had before it a letter dated 2 March 1979 addressed to its President by the Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a letter dated 5 March 1979 from the Permanent Mission of Senegal, and a letter dated 7 March from the Permanent Representative of Jordan. These letters, which were issued as documents S/13115. S/13132, S/13145 and S/13149 respectively are reproduced below:

LETTER DATED 23 FEBRUARY 1979 FROM TIE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF JORDAN TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL

I have the honour, upon instructions from my Government, to request you to convene a meeting of the Security Council to consider the most ominous and accelerating erosion of the status of Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Arab territories in consequence of the Israeli occupation authorities' systematic, relentless and deliberate policy and practice of settlements and colonization of those territories which constitute a grave threat to world peace and security.

(Signed) MUSEIBEH

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

This letter was published as Security Council document S/13115.

LETTER DATED 2 MARCH 1979 FROM THE ACTING CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL

I have the honour to convey to you the concern of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People over the systematic and increasingly repressive measures taken "by the Israeli authorities against the Palestinian people in the territories illegally occupied by Israel in 1967, as well as over Israel's implementation of a policy clearly aimed at establishing permanent domination over those territories.

In my letter dated 22 August 1978 I drew your attention to similar cases of ill treatment and torture of Palestinian prisoners by the Israeli authorities. The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories has continued to hear testimony given by Palestinians, corroborated by their Israeli lawyers, asserting that Palestinians are being systematically subjected by the Israeli authorities to torture and ill treatment.  That Committee has also referred in its reports to a large number of specific cases of violations of human rights in the Occupied Territories. The General Assembly, having considered these reports, has repeatedly condemned these Israeli policies and practices.

Recent press reports based on official documents of the United States Department of State confirm that such cases of torture and inhuman treatment do indeed occur in the Occupied Territories. These reports clearly refute the claims of the Government of Israel that such practices are only isolated incidents.  It would seem that since October 1978 there has been an escalation of systematic repression directed particularly against those Palestinians who expressed support for the Palestine Liberation Organization, which has been recognized by the United Nations as the representative of the Palestinian people. Examples of the wide-ranging campaign of repression launched by the Israeli authorities against the Palestinian people are contained in numerous press reports and other documents, some of which are listed in annex I of this letter. These documents themselves are being made available separately to members of the Security Council (A/AC.183/CRP.2).

Along with this campaign of repression, the Government of Israel not only continues to establish new Israeli settlements in the territories illegally occupied by Israel but also has resorted to the confiscation of vast tracts of Arab lands and taken steps to control all water resources in those territories.

The three maps, including two obtained from Palestinian sources, and other documents annexed to this letter, bear ample testimony to Israel's plans to establish permanent domination over these territories and thereby to deny the Palestinian people their inalienable rights. These actions, as has been repeatedly pointed out, are a violation of the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, a rejection of Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and a serious threat to international peace and security.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, deeply concerned at these developments and the consequences that they could generate, has authorized me to request you to be good enough to take up these matters at the forthcoming meeting of the Security Council requested by Jordan to consider the erosion of the status of Jerusalem and the persistent policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories.

I should be grateful if you would have this letter and its annexes issued as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed) Raul ROA KOURI

Acting Chairman

Committee on the Exercise

of the Inalienable Rights

of the Palestinian People

Annex I

LIST OF DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO  THE LETTER DATED 2 MARCH 1979 FROM THE ACTING CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL

Annex II

ISRAELI DESIGNS TO CONTROL THE WEST BANK

(Explanatory note for maps 1 and 2 obtained from Palestinian sources)

Since 1967 the Israelis have systematically established colonies, using the euphemism "settlement", in the territories captured in the June War. This statement will analyse the strategic objectives and policy implications of the positioning of these colonies on the West Bank, first by the Israeli Labour Government from 1967 to 1977 and subsequently by the Likud Government from 1977 to the present.

I.  Labour Government designs, 1967-1977:

The Israeli Labour Government concentrated on establishing civilian agricultural colonies in the Jordan Rift and high-rise residential colonies around the 105,000 Palestinians in Arab Jerusalem.  In the Jordan Rift, the Israelis set up a series of colonies along the north-south length of the eastern border of the West Bank, taking the form of two belts:

(a.) The first belt presently consists of 15 agricultural colonies located in the Jordan Valley plains and extending from the southern part of the Dead Sea to the West Bank's northern border with Israel.

(b) The second belt presently comprises nine industrial and agricultural colonies located on the highlands of the Jordan Rift, starting on the South at the Jerusalem-Jericho road and connecting with the first belt of settlements at the West Bank's northern border with Israel. A new, so-called "Allon Plan Road;' was constructed to connect the colonies on the highlands with the ones in the Jordan Valley.

Thus during the Labour Government period, the Jewish Agency and the Zionist Organization formulated several plans, one of which was a Twenty Year Plan (1975-1995) to control the Jordan Rift, whose stated objectives were:

(a) to inhabit the area with at least 8,000 Israelis by 1995 and

(b) to exploit the natural resources of the area – mainly land, water and climatic conditions – for the benefit of the Israeli colonies.

These plans are in an advanced stage of implementation as the Israelis are already in control of an estimated 70 per cent of the cultivatable land in the Jordan Valley and have developed an extensive infrastructure involving drilling deep-bore tube wells, extending the network of irrigation water pipelines, electric lines and underground telephone cables to serve and connect the colonies in these two belts.  This is in addition to the permanent houses, vegetable packing plants, hot houses and drip irrigation systems installed for each of these colonies.

The strategic objectives of these two belts are clear:

(a) Cut off the West Bank's populated areas from any physical contact with East Jordan, and

(b) Contain the Palestinian population by surrounding them from the north, west, south and now, from the east, by the two belts of colonies.

Regarding the high-rise residential fortresses that form a ring around the Palestinian population of Jerusalem, the strategic objectives are:

(a) to prevent the physical expansion of the Palestinian population of Jerusalem, and

(b) to create a psychological feeling of living in a ghetto, in order to cause the Palestinians to emigrate and consequently facilitate Israeli control of the city.

The political implications of the Labour Government colonies:

In any peace negotiations, the Labour Government was willing to discuss turning over the administration of the populated areas of the northern West Bank to Jordan, with a corridor through Jericho, but would not consider turning over to Jordan the Jordan Rift, Palestinian Jerusalem, the cluster of colonies in the Beit Ummar area on the road to Hebron, or some areas in the western plains of the West Bank near Tulkarm and Qalqilya. These latter areas were to be permanently incorporated into Israel.

II. Likud designs for control, since their rise to power in May 1977:

The Likud Government considered the colonization policies of the Labour Government not enough to meet the Herut party's ideological and strategic objectives on the West Bank.  Prime Minister Begin candidly proclaimed that the West Bank was liberated territory and part of "Greater Israel".  To attain this objective, the Government embarked on establishing a series of colonies in the form of a third belt extending along the length of the western highlands of the northern part of the West Bank.

The strategic objectives of the third belt of colonies:

(a) Move the Israeli border to the doorstep of the Palestinian populated areas, in order to prevent their physical development to the West.

(b) Divide the populated areas of the northern region of the West Bank into two, smaller areas:  the containment of the Palestinians would be facilitated by enclosing them from all sides by belts of colonies.

To complete this plan of control, three lateral roads were designed to connect Israel-proper with the three belts of colonies.  One in the southern region of the West Bank, which is already open and asphalted halfway to the Dead Sea. The second lateral road, the so-called "Trans-Samarian highway", bisecting the northern part of the West Bank, is presently under construction. The third lateral road, further north, is still in the planning stage.

The Likud Government appropriated on 18 January 1979, some "40 million mainly for expanding the colonies and also for improving the infrastructure by constructing power, water, sewage and telephone lines in the third belt of colonies.

Political implications of the Likud colonization policies:

The Government seeks to cut the West Bank into bits and pieces so that there can be no possibility of any territorial compromise over the West Bank and, at the same time, to complete Israeli containment of the 800,000 Palestinians living in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Conclusion:  In view of the above, as well as of the recent land seizures of private Palestinian property since October 1978, it is an understatement to conclude that the present Israeli intentions and actions on the West Bank are not only incompatible with the concept of a comprehensive peace but also incompatible with Israeli intentions in their present peace negotiations with Egypt.

February 1979

This letter was issued as Security Council Document S/13132.

Letter dated 5 March 1979 from the Charge d'Affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Senegal to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

As Chairman of the Islamic Conference, I have the honour to transmit herewith the Declaration issued following the meeting of Islamic States Members of the United Nations, which was held at United Nations Headquarters on Friday, 2 March 1979.

On behalf of the Islamic States Members of the United Nations, I should be grateful if you would have this Declaration issued as a document of the General Assembly, under item 51 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

For the Ambassador and by order

(Signed) Henri Antoine TURPIN

Charge d'Affaires a.i.

Annex

Declaration issued on 2 March 1979 by the Islamic States Members of the United Nations

1.  The Islamic States Members of the United Nations convened a meeting on 2 March 1979 to deliberate on the most ominous and accelerating erosion of the Islamic and Arab status of Holy Jerusalem, in consequence of the Israeli occupation authorities' systematic and deliberate policy and practice of colonization and despoliation in the Holy Land.

2.  The conferees made an intensive factual review and appraisal of the consequences stemming from the Israeli occupation authorities' ongoing, unabated and heedless policies in Jerusalem and its environs over the past 11 years, designed to alter and eventually to obliterate the religious, historical and national character of the Holy City of Jerusalem.

3.  The review disclosed a situation of alarming proportions, which Member States can only view with the most profound concern and disquiet. The situation is insufferable and totally unacceptable inasmuch as it poses a serious threat to one of their foremost religious and historical legacies. Furthermore, it deprives the 800 million citizens of their respective States, and others in many friendly States, of their inalienable and legitimate rights to perform one of their pivotal religious functions, which they have been exercising for 1,400 years.

4.  The occupied Holy City of Jerusalem has been reduced, since 1967, to little more than a tiny enclave, if not a ghetto. It has been expanded 15-fold through Israeli colonization and expansion and has been encircled from all sides, stretching from the doorsteps of Bethlehem in the south to the doorsteps of the town of Ramallah in the north, a distance of 40 kilometres. To the west, Jerusalem has been encircled by a series of Israeli settlements in the hilly ranges of the occupied West Bank, and to the east by a newly constructed industrial town at Khan ul-Ahmar.

5.  Even more alarming, in strictly religious and historical terms, is the demolition of sacred historical sites in the old city of Jerusalem and, in particular, the unceasing deep diggings below the foundations of the Aqsa Mosque and adjacent to the historical mosques and centuries-old centres of religious learning in this sacred area. The 1,400-year-old Holy Ibrahimi sanctuary in Hebron has almost been transformed into a synagogue.

6.  It is the considered opinion and firm conviction-of the Islamic States Members of the United Nations participating in this meeting that, if the current Israeli policies and practices persist in the City of Jerusalem and its environs, then the whole Islamic and Arab legacy in Jerusalem will, in the near future, be almost totally erased, and the indigenous Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem -both Muslim and Christian Arabs, who are the constituency, sentinel and living embodiment of both Islam and Christianity – will be squeezed out by a process of calculated attrition, leaving behind empty mosques and churches to serve the Israeli aggressors penchant for tourist attractions.

7.  The Islamic States Members of the United Nations find themselves impelled to give a solemn warning that under no circumstances will the 800 million adherents of the Islamic faith tolerate such a flagrant aggression and travesty against one of their holiest cities and historical legacies.

8.   In the light of the aforementioned considerations:

First, Islamic Member States view with the most profound concern the current ongoing process of emasculation and colonization by the Israel occupation authorities in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Second, the Islamic Member States regard all such measures which have been taken so far, and which might be taken in the future, illegal and in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, a/ as well as of the principles and precepts of international law and United Nations resolutions. Such being the case, all these measures are null and void and should be rescinded immediately.

Third, the Islamic Member States express their countries' determination to exert their utmost and to restore, by all means, the Islamic and Arab status of Jerusalem and to undo the despoliation which the Israeli occupation has carried out in the Holy City.

Fourth, in expressing their resolve to redeem occupied Jerusalem, the Islamic Member States wish to emphasize that, by conviction, they are averse to any form of religious or racial intolerance and staunchly believe in the equality of all peoples, regardless of religious affiliation. But the Islamic States and peoples are equally vehemently opposed to being discriminated against, or being denied their inalienable religious and historical rights and entitlements in Jerusalem, in consequence of Israeli claims to exclusivity and dominance.

Fifth, the Islamic Member States are unanimous in their firm belief that the redemption of Jerusalem can only be achieved through Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian and Arab lands and the restoration of the inalienable and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, in accordance with all relevant United Nations resolutions.

Sixth, the 42 Islamic States Members of the United Nations resolve to keep the situation and developments pertaining to Jerusalem under constant and close scrutiny with a view to deciding what further steps should be taken to restore legitimacy and normalcy to Holy Jerusalem, whose alienation would pose a serious threat to world peace and security.

Seventh, the Islamic Member States strongly support the request of the Government of Jordan and other Arab States to convene an urgent meeting of the Security Council to consider the continually deteriorating situation in the Holy Land.

Eighth, this Declaration shall be circulated to all Members of the United Nations and, in particular, to the Security Council, in the earnest hope that it will take prompt and effective action, including the application of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, to ensure compliance with its own Charter and resolutions on this most crucial subject.

This document was issued as Security Council document S/13145 and General Assembly document A/34/108.

Letter dated 7 March 1979 from the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Upon instructions from my Government, I have the honour to enclose herewith the following documents, which I kindly request Your Excellency to circulate as a document of the General Assembly, under item 25 of the preliminary list and of the Security Council:

1.  Map showing the Israeli settlements on the West Bank as at 31 December 1978 (annex I);

2.  Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank of Jordan, 1967-1979 (annex II);

3.  Letter dated 12 December 1978 from the Chairman of the Islamic Commission in Jerusalem to the Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan concerning the Mosque of Hebron (Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi Ash-Sharif) (annex III);

4.  Letter from Mr. Mustafa I. Elayan of Decatur, Alabama, to His Excellency Mr. Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of America (annex IV).

(Signed) Hazem NUSEIBEH

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

This letter was issued as Security Council document S/13149 and General Assembly document A/34/110.

ANNEX I

 Israeli settlements on the West Bank as at 31 December 1978

(map)

LEGEND

Area of Jerusalem and environs

1.       Atrot

2.      Neve Ya'acov

3.       Ramot-Neve Samu'el

4 (a).   Ramat Eshkol

4 (b).   Nahalat Devna

4 (c).  Sanhedria

5 (d).  Givat Hamivtar

5 (a).  French Hill

5 (b). Hebrev University

6 (a). Gilo Sharafat

6 (b). Ear Gilo

7. East Talpiot

8. Jewish Quarter

9. Hevo Horon Dalet

10. Kfar Ruth

11. Tel Anatot

Area of Ramallah and El-Beireh

12. Nevo Shiloh

13. Kochav Hashanar

l4. Ofra

15. Hevo Horon

16. Canada Park

17. Ramonim

18. Beit El

19. Giv'on

20. Shayelet

21. Neve Zuv (Nabi Saleh)

22. Shiloh

23. Beit Horon

Area of Al-Khalil (Hebron), Bethlehem and Jericho

24. Qiryat Arba

25. Kfar Etzion

26. Miami

21. Rosh Tzurim

28. Alon Shvot

29. Miqdal Oz

30. Efrat

31. Elazar

32. Tekoah

33. Ma'ale Adomin (Al-Sahl El-Ahmar)

34. Al Dhahiriya-Zohar

35. Mtzpe Jericho

Area of Nablus, Txilkarm and Jenin

36. Shomron

37. Mekhora

38. Gitit

39. Malki Shua

40. Haris

4l. Qadduin-Elon Moreh

42. Mes'ha Pe'erim

43. Tapuah

44. Dot an-Sanur

45. Qarnev Shomron

46. Reihan

47. Sal'it-Kufr Sur

48. Natal Ma'ale (Silat El Dhahr)

49. Tsur Nathan Bet

Jordan Valley area

50. Mehola

51. Dak'ot

52. Hamra

53. Ma'ale Ephraim

54. Phatza'el

55. Tomer

56. Gilgal

57. Netiv Hagdud

58. Efrat

59. Yitav

60. Almog

61. Kalia

62. Mitzpe Shalera

63. Argaman

6h. Massuam

65. New Massuam

66. Nahal Ro'I

67. Mivsom

68. Phatza'el B

ANNEX II

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank of Jordan,

1967-1979

A.  Jerusalem area

1.  Atrot was established in 1970 near Jerusalem Airport.  Ten thousand dunums of land, owned by the Arab residents of Beit Hanina Village near a pre-1948 Jewish settlement, were confiscated.

2.  Neve Ya'akov (Nabi Ya'akob) was founded in 1973 north-east of Jerusalem. Ten thousand dunums of land were confiscated from the Arab residents of Beit Hanina, near a pre-1948 Jewish settlement.

3.  Ramot was founded in 1973 north-west of Jerusalem, near Nabi Samwil. Thirty thousand dunums of land were confiscated from the Arab residents of Beit Iksa village and 100 Arab homes were demolished.

4.  Ramat Eskhkol was founded in 1968 north of Jerusalem. Six hundred dunums of Arab land were entirely expropriated.

5.  French Hill was founded in 1969 on the northern side of Jerusalem along the Jerusalem-Ramallah road. Fifteen thousand dunums of Palestinian Arab land were expropriated. Some of the land was owned by a Catholic convent and a small number of Jews, who owned a few dunums before 1948.

6.  Hahalat Defna was founded to the north of Jerusalem. Two hundred and seventy dunums of land, owned by a number of Arab families, including Waqf of Amineh Al-Khaledi and Aref el-Aref, were expropriated.

7.  Gilo Sharafat (Gilo) was founded in 1973 south of Jerusalem. Four thousand dunums of land, owned by Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, Beit Jala, Beit Safafa and Sharafat, were expropriated.

8.  East Talpiot (Talpiot) was founded in 1973 on the east side of Jerusalem, south of Jabal Al-Mukabber, where the United Nations headquarters was situated. Twenty thousand dunums of Arab land, owned by residents of Jerusalem, Sur Bahir, Sheikh Sa'd and including the United Nations enclave, were expropriated.

9.  Jewish Quarter (Old City Jerusalem), is located between the Western Wall of the Aqsa Mosque and the Latin Convent.  Construction began in 1967, when l60 Arab houses were demolished and 600 Arab homes were expropriated. By 1977, 6,500 Arab residents were evacuated and Islamic and private Arab Awqaf , private Arab and Jewish land was expropriated.

10. Hebrew University is located on the north side of Jerusalem.  Construction began in 1969 on lit. Scopus, including expansion of the pre-1948 old university campus and hospital, but additional land was also expropriated.

11. Sanhedria Extension is located on the north-east side of Jerusalem. A former demilitarized zone, it was entirely expropriated and expansion began in 1973.

B.    Settlements in the area of Ramallah and El Beireh

12.  Shilon, located east of the Nablus-Ramallah road, was founded in 1976 on 15,000 dunums of expropriated Arab land.  An additional 80 to 90 dunums were closed off, almond trees were cut down and Arab villagers were denied their water wells.  It adjoins Turmus Ayya, Qaryut , Abu-Elfalah and El-Maghireh.

13.  Kochav Hashahar was founded in 1975 on land owned by Arab residents of Deir Jarir and Kufur Malik.  Four thousand dunums were expropriated.  Water is supplied from Ain Samia, Ramallah's sole water source.

l4.  Ofra (Ba'Al Hatzor) was founded in 1975 east of Ramallah on the road to Jericho. One hundred dunums were expropriated from Arab residents of Ain Yabrud and 250 dunums from Silwad.

15.  Mevo Horon was founded in 1969 in the Latrun area.  Sixteen thousand dunums were expropriated, including land from Yalu, Imwas and Beit ITuva, villages destroyed by the Israeli army after the June 1967 war.

16. Beit Horon, founded in December 1977, is mid-way on the Ramallah-Latrun road, near Tira. The initial takeover was 150 dunums of Arab land.

17.   Mevo Horon Dalet (Matatyahu) was founded in September 1977 in the La-urun area, three kilometres from the armistice line. It covers an area of the demilitarized zone, where the Arab village of Midya was located prior to 1948.

18.   Kfar Ruth (Mevo Horon Gimmel or Be'er Tal) was founded in September 1977 in the Latrun area, one kilometre south-east of Shayelet settlement in the demilitarized zone, the site of Midya village, where there are several thousands of dunums of irrigated lands.

19.   Givat Hamivtar was founded on the north side of Jerusalem. All 350 housing units were completed in mid-1975 and occupied. The land area was entirely expropriated.

20.   Canad Park officially opened in 1976 in the Latrun area on the Latrun Ramallah road. It comprises 4,200 dunums of Arab land, including 1,500 dunums from the three destroyed villages.

21.   Ramonim was founded in 1977 north-east of Taybeh and Rammun villages and north of the Ramallah-Jericho road. Three hundred dunums of land were expropriated from Taybeh village residents.

22.   Beit El was founded in 1977 north of Ramallah on the road to Nablus. It is on 35 dunums of land, but eventually will be expanded to over 250 dunums of expropriated Arab land, for which preparations began in June 1978.

23.   Giv'on was founded in December 1977 north-west of Jerusalem near el-Jib village, an ex-Jordanian military base. Some land was purchased by Jews, but most of the 5,000 dunums needed will be expropriated from el-Jib village.

24.   Shayelet (Mevo Hori'im) was founded in September 1977 in the Latrun area, a partly demilitarized zone (1948-1967), where the Arab village of Midya was located before

25. Neve Zuf (Nabi Saleh) was founded in November 1977 north-west of Ramallah near Beir Nidham. Four hundred dunums were closed off, including 100 dunums of wheat fields and almond trees of Tabi Saleh villagers.

C.   Settlements in the Jordan Valley and other areas

26.   Mehola was founded in February 1963 as the first Israeli settlement in the valley at the north end of the West Bank.  Three thousand dunums of land were expropriated from Bardala and Ain el-Beida villages. The water supply of the villages was depleted by wells of the Mehola settlement.

27. Argaman, founded in November 1968 near the end of the Damya-Nablus road, covers 5,000 dunums of expropriated Arab agricultural land, including 1,000 dunums from Marj al-Na'ja and five water wells from absentee Arab owners.

28.   Massuah was founded in 1970 on 3,000 dunums of expropriated Arab land owned by Al-Ajajra and Jiftlik residents. It is supplied with water from the wells of the Arab village of Bal-Waqab near Damya Bridge.

29.  New Massuah, founded in 1976 just south of the Nablus-Damya road, covers 800 dunums of expropriated Arab land from Al-Ajajra and Jiftlik villages.

30.  Phatza'El B (Hotzorim or Yegith), founded in 1977 just south of the settlement of Massuah, covers 1,500 dunums of expropriated Arab land.

31. Phatza'El, founded in 1970 at the end of the south-west road from Aqraba, covers 3,000 dunums of land from the Arab village of Fasayil. Three water wells were dug, which pump 600 cubic metres per hour.

32.  Tomer was founded in 1976 just south of the Phatza'El settlement. The amount of Arab land expropriated is still unknown, since construction is still going on.

33.  Gilgal, founded in January 1970 just south of Tomer settlement, covers 3,300 dunums of Arab land. The plan is to pump water from the Jordan River.

31.   Hetiv Hagdud was founded in 1976-1977 south of Gilgal. The amount of Arab land seized is unknown, since it is still under construction.

35.   Mivsom (Na'aran) was founded in 1977 near the Arab village of Awja.  The area of land expropriated is unknown, but it was seized from the village residents of Awja.

36.   Yitav, founded in December 1970 west of Al-Awja village, covers 2,000 dunums of Arab land from Al-Awja, including that of absentee owners. It is supplied by water from Ain Al-Awja and from two wells near Ain Al-Awja.

37.   Almog was founded in January 1977 north-west of the Dead Sea. The amount of land seized is unknown, but the settlement's water supply is drawn by a 12-inch pipeline from a well near Aqbat Jaber, a refugee camp in Jericho.

38. Kalia was founded in February 1968 north-west of the Dead Sea near site of a pre-1948 Jewish settlement and Jordan army camp. The water supply is from Wadi Kelt west of Jericho.

39.  Mitzpe Shalem was founded in December 1970 on the west shore of the Dead Sea. The land seized is over 50 dunums.

D.   Israeli settlements on the hills overlooking Jordan Valley

40.   Malki Shua, founded in January 1976 at the north end of the West Bank is a military settlement with an access road leading to the city of Baisan in Israel proper.

41.    Ro'I, founded in 1974 and inhabited in March 1976 is south of Mehola settlement. It covers 2,500 dunums of land seized from the Arab residents of Tubas, who cultivated it with wheat.

42.   Beqa'Ot, founded in July 1972 south of Ro'I settlement, covers 5,000 dunums of Tamun village. The land was closed off.

43.   Hamra, founded in May 1971 on the Nablus-Damya road in lush valley farm land, covers land seized from Bal al-Wagab village. Valley land near Damya Bridge includes 450 dunums of absentee owners' groves.

44.    Hekhora, founded in March 1973 south of Hamra settlement, covers 4,000 dunums of land seized from Bal al-Nagab, Beit Dajan and Beit Furik villages. The water supply includes one well and two reservoirs.

45.  Gitit, founded in August 1972 south of Hekhora and near the East-West Aqraba valley road, covers 5,000 dunums of land, which was sprayed with defoliants in early 1972. The land was closed off and seized from Aqraba village.

46.   Ma'ale Ephraim, founded in July 1972 on the east-west Aqraba valley road, covers 200 dunums of Arab land.

47.   Nevo Shiloh (Givat Aduma), founded in November 1976 south of Ha'ale Ephraim settlement, covers 1,300 dunums seized from the residents of Turmus Ayya, Abu-Fallah and Al-Mughayyir villages.  Five cisterns were closed to Palestinian shepherds.

48. Mishor Adomin (Ma1ale Adomin), founded in November 1974, dominates the Jericho-Jerusalem road. In October 1972, the Israeli army closed off 70,000 dunums. In addition, 700 dunums were taken from the Arab villages of Abu dis, Umaryya and Issawyya, 10,000 dunums from Silwan, and 300 dunums from Silwad and Anota.

49.   Mizpeh Jericho, founded in early 1978 east of the settlement Hishor Adomin overlooking Jericho, covers land expropriated from the previously mentioned villages.

50.   Reinan (Nei'ami Bet) was founded in 1977 north-west of Jenin, three kilometres across the armistice line. The public land seized is unknowns but plans are under way to transform it into an Israeli Kibbutz by 1970-1979.

51.   Potan (Sanur), founded in October 1977 along the Nablus-Jenin road in the Sanur valley, covers lands of a pre-1967 Jordanian police station near Sanur village.

52.   Natal Ma'ale, founded in January 1978 east of the Nablus-Jenin road, covers 550 dunums of land confiscated from the village of Silat Al-Dhahar, including 25 olive trees.

53.   Shomron was founded in October 1977 on the Nablus-Jenin road.  There were 100 dunums of Arab land.

54.   Sal'it (Tsur Nathan Bet) was founded in August 1977 south-east of Tulkarm.  One thousand dunums of land were confiscated from the Kufr Sur village; half of the land was privately owned (cultivated) and half was common land for grazing.

55.   Elon Moreh (Qaddum) was founded in December 1975 near the Nablus-Qalqilya road. Three hundred dunums were taken from the Arabs of Kufr Qaddum village.

56. Qarney-Shomron, founded in October 1977 on the south side of the Nablus-Qalqilya road, near Jinsafut village, covers 150 dunums taken from the villages of Jinsafut, Hajja and Kufr Laqif.

57.   El Qana (Mes'ha, Pe'erim) was founded in April 1977 south-east of Qalqilya.  Ten dunums formed the site of a former Jordan police station, and 300 dunums were taken from Mes'ha village.

58.   Tapuah (Barepet) was founded in January 1978 along the Nablus-Ramallah road 13 kilometres south of Nablus.  One hundred and fifty dunums were taken from Arab villagers of Yasuf.

59.   Haris was founded in February 1978 two kilometres west of the Nablus-Ramallah road, near the Junction with Salfit. Three hundred dunums were expropriated for the military camp and 500 dunums of pasturage were closed off from the villages of Kufr Haris, Harda and Salfit.

60.   Har Gilo, founded in 1976 in the village area of Beit Jala, covers 1400 dunums of grapevines and fruit trees expropriated from Beit Jala residents in June 1976. Further expropriation was threatened in 1978.

61.   Efrat, founded in 1978 on the road south of Bethlehem, covers 7,000 dunums of expropriated land, most of which was cultivated.

62. Takoah, founded in June 1975 south-east of Bethlehem near Hebron, covers 3,000 dunums expropriated from Rafidya village.

63. Elazar, founded in October 1975 south of Bethlehem, covers 350 dunums of vineyards expropriated from Hadar village in 1973.

64. Rosh Tzurim founded in July 1949, covers an area of 3,000 dunums, including the site of a pre-1948 settlement (Bir Tzurim) plus expropriated land from the village of Nahalin.

65.  Alon Shvot, founded in July 1969, covers 1,200 dunums expropriated in 1969.

66. Kfar Etzion, founded in September 1967 was the first settlement on the West Bank. It was the site, from 1943 to 1948, of a Jewish settlement and cultivated land (vineyards).

67. Miqdal Oz, founded in 1977 to the west of Hebron, covers the site of 1,000 to 2,000 dunums taken from residents of Beit Umar village. It was closed as a military area, and 600 plum and almond trees were uprooted in December 1977.

68.   Qiryat Arba, founded in 1970, covers 4,250 dunums, of which 1,500 were expropriated from Hebron and Halhul.

69.   Yattir, Plans are under way to build part of the establishment of a string of Israeli settlements in the foothills areas to the south of Hebrou.

70. Zohar – unknown.

71.   Sailat Dhahr, founded in 1978, covers 550 dunums of land expropriated from Arab village residents of Sailat Dhahr on the Nablus-Jenin road.

72.   Anatot, founded late in 1978, covers 3,000 dunums of land expropriated from residents of Anata village around Jerusalem.

73.   Ya'afu Horom was founded in 1978 near the Arab village of Yatta west of Hebron.

74.   Tretseh, plans are under way to establish it on the Nablus-Damya road. The Government approved it at the end of 1978.

75.   Jericho, plans are under way to establish it in the Jericho area.  The Government approved it at the end of 1978.

76.   Zif, founded in 1978 south of Hebron, is still under construction.

77.   Nuweimeh was founded early in 1979 near Jericho.

78. New Kfar Etzion, on the road between Bethlehem and Hebron, was founded in 1979.

79.   Huwara, a few miles to the east of Nablus, was founded in 1979. Six hundred settlers already live there.

ANNEX III

Letter dated 12 December 1978 from the Chairman of the Islamic Commission in Jerusalem to the Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan concerning: the Mosque of Hebron (Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi Ash-Sharif)

The subject is Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi.  This Mosque is considered one of the most sacred sites of the Islamic world.  In its history of l4 centuries as an Islamic Mosque it was never for one day a Jewish synagogue, nor were the Jews allowed entrance to it during all these centuries.

What has become of it now is the result of Israeli practices since the occupation in 1967.  In spite of protestation and complaints, Al-Haram Ash-Sharif had been transformed into a synagogue by all means.  Every day the settlers of Qiryat Arba in Hebron, and with them large numbers of Israelis, commit new aggression and foul practices in all parts of the Mosque.  They molest people coming to pray and pronounce foul language at the recitations of the Qura'an and at the teachers during classes.  They molest the guards and prevent them from performing their duties.  They deny us Al-Azan (the call for prayer) with no consideration in regard to the feelings of Muslims in their prayers. The – storm the gates and the walls of Al-Haram day and night.  All this takes place with the encouragement and protection of the occupation forces and their superiors.

After every incident of aggression, a meeting of protestation is held with the Military Governor of Hebron by the Sharia Judge and with him the Mayor of Hebron, the Director of Awqaf and the guardian of Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi.  Also the Council of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Jerusalem filed numerous protestations and complaints with the Military Governor.  The Islamic Commission issued many statements explaining to public opinion, inside and outside, the new sad situation of the transformation of Al-Haram Ash-Sharif by the authorities into a Jewish synagogue by all means.

Following the violent events in Al-Haram Ash-Sherif in October 1976, along with the desecration of the Holy Qura'ans, the institution of curfews in the City of Hebron, the prevention of Muslims from entering Al-Haram Ash-Sharif, which fell into the hands of the authorities and the settlers, it was discovered, after the siege had been lifted, that the Israelis had desecrated the contents of the Mosque and burned the office of its guardian. A Committee to carry out an inventory of the contents was formed, headed by the Sharia Justice of Hebron and the membership of the Director of Awqaf in Hebron, representing the municipality of the city and other Awqaf officials.

The Committee began its work under the supervision of the Chairman of the Awqaf Council and Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Hilmi Al-Muhtaseb, and the Director-General of Awqaf in Jerusalem, Mr. Hassan Tahboub. It started the inventory on 3 January and ended on 8 March 1977, It discovered that priceless articles had disappeared sometime after the Muslims were denied entrance to Al-Haram Ash-Sharif and during the curfew, which lasted 17 days.

The Committee reported to the Chairman of the Awqaf Council concerning the missing articles, who in turn wrote to the Military Governor on 28 June 1977 with a list of the missing articles. The Chairman requested that the articles be returned, but the Military Governor never replied. Again, the Chairman wrote on 24 September 1977 to the Military Governor and, despite the frequent requests for an answer concerning the persons responsible for the missing articles, no reply was forthcoming from the Governor, except unfulfilled promises that the matter was still under investigation. This indicates an attempt on the part of the authorities to relieve itself of any responsibility and to bring the case to an end without results.

Over a period of two months, an intensified campaign was begun by the Israeli settlers, under the protection of the occupation troops in Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi, to create a situation by which they would complete transformation of the Sacred Mosque into a synagogue and prevent the Muslims even from praying on time, especially on Saturdays. They brought chairs,.tables and articles of worship into the main court of the Mosque (in addition, they brought and set up in all parts of the Mosque, including the sanctuary of Ibrahim, Ya'qub and Yusof and the main court, the Jewish prayer books and Torah Cabinets). This, in addition to the desecration of the building itself and the removal of some of the centuries-old marble decorating the pillars, thus removing its Islamic character. Add to this the firing of bullets by the soldiers in an attempt to terrorize the Muslim guards and servants of the Mosque, one of whom was wounded in the foot.

The leaders of the Islamic Awqaf in Hebron repeatedly protested to the Military Governor, who hinted to them that every time these Israelis take some action in Al-Haram Ash-Sharif, they are creating a new fact. This, in fact, is a robbery of rights and an attempt to change the situation, by which the Mosque would be transformed into a synagogue.

The Chairman of the Council of Awqaf sent a letter to the Minister of Defence explaining the latest desecration of the Mosque and requesting an end to it. This was on 22 October 1978. The desecration did not stop, but in fact increased. Again the Chairman of the Council wrote to the Minister of Defence on 19 November 1978 explaining to him the worsening of the situation day after day. A copy of the letter was sent to the Military Governor-General of the West Bank. Also the Mayor of Hebron wrote a similar complaint to the Minister of Defence deploring the events taking -place in Al-Haram, reaffirming the complaints by the Chairman of the Awqaf Council and demanding an end to these practices and provocations.

The situation in Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi, this great Islamic Mosque, is becoming unbearable. We have not spared any possible means available to us to stop the desecration. Therefore we put this matter into your hands to take what measures

Your Excellency sees fit to present it to the highest of international forums, the Security Council and the Commission on Human Rights. We beg you to give the situation its deserved attention and publicity by news media and other means as you see fit. He assure you that Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi is on its way to being lost and transformed into a synagogue before the eyes and ears of the world.

The Lord be our Witness as we have informed.

Chairman of the Islamic Commission

ANNEX IV

Letter dated 21 February 1979 from Mr. Mustafa I. Elayan of Decatur, Alabama, to the President of the United States of America

We the undersigned find ourselves directly appealing to your good sense of judgement and "belief in human rights after all our appeals to the office of the Secretary of State for almost a year Have been met with practically no action.  In summary our case is as follows:

We have a dwelling Beit Safafa, Jerusalem, Israel, which is surrounded by a small piece of land no bigger than four to five acres. Our mother, in her seventies, and a brother with his five young children and wife reside in it. It belongs to all of us. Now the Israeli authorities are in the process of confiscating a part of it and, later on, all of it to make a playground for Jewish kids, even though other vacant land stands empty near by. We have explained our case in detail with letters as well as maps, including copies of letter from our lawyers in J'Lem, to Mr. Jock Covey, United States Department of State, room 6247, who contacted us months ago, but so far has neither answered nor acknowledged our existence. Our plea for help in the plight of our family and the threat to their existence seems to fall on deaf ears. It is quite evident that all this gospel-like talk about human rights is actually hollow and empty. Yet, when a Russian Jew squeaks, all members of Congress, all the mass media, all the TV networks and their affiliates join hands and practically trip over one another to take up the cause. Amazing indeed! However, when United States citizens like us, who happen to be of Palestinian origin, call attention to Israeli injustice and persecution as well as threats to our mother and brother in Israel, we are told the United States Government cannot interfere in the internal affairs of Israel. What about confiscated land? What about our kin? Are they of no account in your sense of justice because they are Arab?

Mr. President, we are sorry, even if we had millions to contribute in the campaign of the select few in the Congress or Senate, we will not do so because we are God-fearing. We know without a shred of doubt that there is going to be a day of judgement and every soul shall account for what it does and says. All we ask for is that you help us with justice because you are our leader. You and you alone carry this unique platform of human rights. Its execution rests with you and your staff. There shouldn't be any fear of its execution when it is based on the principles of justice and righteousness.

Throughout history, the Almighty came to the aid of the oppressed. The history of the Jewish people is a good example. We have no doubt that the Palestinian people will have their day, God willing.

The reason Israel continues to flout the laws of humanity, confiscate the land, and oppress the Arab people is mainly because the United States offers it billions of dollars in aid each year.  Instead of gratitude, Israel, for reasons of its own, shows arrogance almost always.  It is quite clear the Jewish lobby has so much influence in Washington that to speak up against Israeli policies becomes tantamount to the fear of God.  In fact, Israel is feared more than God, so it would seem.

Mr. President, we appeal with all our hearts to that which is within your heart – love and compassion to fellow human beings, to help our mother and brother in Beit Safafa, Jerusalem, in the hope that your action might in the future build the hope of the oppressed for a better tomorrow.

(Signed) Mustafa I. ELAYAN

On 9 March 1979 Ambassador Raoul Roa Kouri, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, addressed the Security Council on behalf of the Committee. The text of the statement was as follows:

I have the honour to participate in the present meeting of the Security Council as Vice-Chairman and spokesman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. I am grateful to you, Mr. President, and to the other members of the Council, for allowing me to speak at this time, which is fraught with peril and threat for the Arab peoples of the territories illegally occupied by Israel, including Palestine and the city of Jerusalem, whose international status is being gravely diminished brutally and deliberately by the authorities of the Zionist State.

As is borne out by the countless complaints of Arab and Palestinian citizens living in the usurped territories, the Israeli authorities have adopted increasingly repressive measures against the Palestinian inhabitants since 1967 in accord with their declared intent to establish permanent domination over those territories.

Our Committee, like the General Assembly and the Security Council, has received repeated complaints of ill-treatment, torture and other forms of persecution inflicted upon Palestinian detainees in the occupied zones. The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories has heard the testimony of victims of these vicious acts, which have been confirmed by Israeli lawyers, and there have been numerous reports.of concrete cases of violations of human rights in the occupied Arab territories.

In the letter I addressed to you, Mr. President, on 2 March of this year, I referred to the recent press releases based on official documents of the State Department of the United States which confirm those cases of torture and ill-treatment in the territories illegally occupied by Israel. The reports clearly refute the assertions of the Israeli Government that such practices represent isolated incidents.

This is not the first time in history that such procedures have been resorted to in an attempt to impose the yoke of foreign domination upon peoples. The recent past bears witness to the indescribable monstrosities committed by Nazi fascists in their insane desire to subject the world to their oppressive and inhuman yoke, using the crude pretext of Lebensraum, Aryan supremacy and the necessity for a new order.

The Zionist State, which since it came into being has trampled underfoot the rights of the Palestinian people in their own country, expropriating their goods, homes and lands and expelling them from them, is now trying to annex, per saecula saeculorum, the territories occupied illegally, manu militari in 1967. In this respect the interview granted to the reporter Dov Goldstein of the Hebrew newspaper Ma'ariv on 26 January of this year by the Minister of Agriculture of Israel, Mr. Ariel Sharon, is revealing. It reads:

"Question: What decisions must the Government adopt before it can sign the peace agreement?

"Answer: It must decide upon the establishment of belts of settlements in Judea and Samaria. I am speaking of three belts of settlements. We visited one today. Israel has no strategic depth at all on the coastal strip. Twenty kilometres to the east of the green line we must establish cities and settlements: Haris, a city of 150,000 inhabitants; Kaddoun, a city of 50,000 inhabitants; Karnei Shemorn, a city of 30,000 inhabitants; live and flourishing settlements in Reihan, Sanour, Ma'aleh Nahal, Haris, Elkana, Tapuah, Nabbi Saleh, and others. And not settlements alone. Also, roads and highways that will ensure territorial continuity between the cities and the settlements. And not highways alone, but an extensive infrastructure, military barracks, firing ranges, and areas for combat exercises. A second belt, deployed against the eastern front, Israel established a series of settlements in the Jordan Rift. The Jews are too few, far too few to be able to survive. We must add many settlements and send many people to them. The settlements must likewise be interconnected and connected with the first belt.

"A third belt. Jerusalem will not be the capital of Israel unless it has a Jewish majority. The answer is to build satellite cities around Jerusalem – in Gush Etzion, Tkooah, Ma'aleh Adumin, Rimenin, Kohav Hashahar, Beth-El, Givon. In the course of 20 or 30 years we must be in such a position that metropolitan Jerusalem and the towns in its environs will have a population of a million Jews.

"This decision must be taken now. It is not a matter for idle speculations, nor even of the sites I should like. I am referring to questions that are vital for the survival and security of Israel.

There must be a decision to take the lands that are needed to implement this plan without any delay whatsoever."

Those intentions were stated as early as 1948, when Yigael Alon, the Palmach leader, revealed the strategic importance of the settlements. At that time he said:

"The strategic considerations which had underlain the plan of Zionist settlement decided, in large measure, the fact of many regions of the country, including areas largely or entirely settled by Arabs, such as Tiberias, Tsemah, Beit Shi'an, Acre, Haifa, and Jaffa, all of which were surrounded by Jewish villages.

"Those areas of Jewish settlement further inland, in the heart of Arab-controlled territory, constituted forward bases whose main function was to hold out at all costs until the advance of the main body of troops could extricate them."

The Palmach leader went on to cite, as the second-stage aim of maintaining isolated outposts in enemy territory, the mounting of an offensive to connect the settlements. The Israeli military historian Colonel Lorch also described the outlying settlements as "defensive barriers and potential offensive bases of the state which was about to be established". As lawyers might say, "Confession makes proof unnecessary".

Members of the Security Council have before them three maps and other documents annexed to the letter that I sent to the President in my capacity as acting Chairman of the Committee, which give full testimony of Israel's plans to establish its permanent dominion over the occupied territories, thus denying the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. As reported in that communication, such actions are a violation of the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 relative to the protection of civilians in time of war and in violation of resolutions of the Security Council and General Assembly, and thus represent a grave threat to international peace and security.

On the other hand, the Zionist State continues to undermine the legal status of Jerusalem – as we have said. This situation, which has been repeatedly denounced before world public opinion and in this lofty forum, has been the subject of a special condemnation by the orthodox inhabitants of Jerusalem. In a letter addressed to the Secretary-General of our Organization, Dr. Kurt Waldheim, on 26 February last, Rabbi Uri Blau, Naturei Karta of Jerusalem, made the following dramatic appeal:

"As citizens of Jerusalem, who have never accepted the annexation of the Holy City into the Zionist State, we implore Your Excellency to call upon the Zionist authorities to cease immediately the construction of this stadium and the highway, which can irrevocably change the innate character of Jerusalem, which is a holy city to all mankind; to deter the Zionist regime from its campaign of terror and intimidation against the religious community; and to enable them to enjoy the elementary human rights which they have had for hundreds of years, and which certainly antedate the establishment of the Zionist State in the Holy Land."

I hardly believe I need go on quoting facts and violations perpetrated by the Israeli Zionists against the inhabitants of the occupied Arab territories and the legal status of Jerusalem. What I have already reported is sufficiently eloquent and it all comes from unimpeachable sources. Furthermore, the Council has a vast inventory of the illegal acts committed by the Zionist occupiers since 1967 to date.

Yet I believe it essential to recall that, despite several resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and despite the overwhelming support given by the international community to the cause of the Palestinian people, no Just solution of the Palestinian problem has been found, a problem which continues to seriously affect the situation in the Middle East of which it is the central element and thereby aggravates the threat that looms over international peace and security.

Our Committee sees it as obvious that it is not possible to establish a just and lasting peace in that region unless, among other things, there is a Just solution of the problem of Palestine on the basis of the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to return and the right to independence and national sovereignty in Palestine, in accordance with the United Nations Charter.

We likewise consider that every effort and all deliberations and conferences on the Middle East held under United Nations auspices to resolve the existing conflict must have the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which is the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, on a footing of equality with the other participants.

Accordingly, any agreements that might claim to resolve the problem of Palestine must be within the framework of the United Nations and of its Charter and resolutions, on the basis of the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, in the manner and conditions that I have mentioned.

Had the recommendations of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People been applied, included as they are in various resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories which have been illegally occupied by Israel since 1967, the situation that we are now considering, which is characterized by a dangerous deterioration that includes, furthermore, the erosion of the legal status of Jerusalem, would never have reached such levels of abuse and arbitrariness.

Unfortunately, any action by the Security Council has been paralysed by the veto of one of its permanent members, the United States of America, and it has not adopted the measures that the General Assembly has urged it to take on the matter.

At the present time, and considering the particularly objectionable and alarming aspects of Israeli actions in the occupied Arab territories against the Palestinian people and against the international status of the city of Jerusalem, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People entertains the sincere hope that Council members will implement the recommendations and measures contained in resolutions 31/20 and 32/40 A of the General Assembly, in the aspects that concern it.

The United Nations cannot remain impassive before a situation that vitally affects an entire people whose inalienable rights we have Justly recognized and which constitutes an affront to human dignity and to everything the United Nations represents. It is up to the Security Council to prevent a repetition of such vicious acts by the Israeli rulers and to see to it that the inherent rights of the Palestinian people are restored.

At the end of the discussion, the Security Council adopted the following resolution by a vote of 12 in favour, 0 against and 3 abstentions:

RESOLUTION 446 (1979)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 213th meeting,

on 22 March 1979

The Security Council,

Having heard the statement of the Permanent Representative of Jordan and other statements made before the Council,

Stressing the urgent need to achieve a comprehensive, Just and lasting peace in the Middle East,

Affirming once more that the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 is applicable to the Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem,

1. Determines that the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;

2. Strongly deplores the failure of Israel to abide by Security Council resolutions 237 (1967) of 14 June 1967, 252 (1968) of 21 May 1968 and 298 (1971) of 25 September 1971 and the consensus statement by the President of the Security Council on 11 November 1976 and General Assembly resolutions 2253 (ES-V) and 2251 (ES-V) of 4 and 14 July 1967, 32/5 of 28 October 1977 and 33/113 of 18 December 1978;

3. Calls once more upon Israel, as the occupying Power, to abide scrupulously by the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, to rescind its previous measures and to desist from taking any action which would result in changing the legal status and geographical nature and materially affecting the demographic composition of the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and, in particular, not to transfer parts of its own civilian population into the occupied Arab territories:

4. Establishes a Commission consisting of three members of the Security Council, to be appointed by the President of the Council after consultation with the members of the Council, to examine the situation relating to settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem;

5. Requests the Commission to submit its report to the Security Council by 1 July 1979;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Commission with the necessary facilities to enable it to carry out its mission;

7. Decides to keep the situation in the occupied territories under, constant and close scrutiny and to reconvene in July 1979 to review the situation in the light of the findings of the Commission.

3. Action relating to Palestinian Rights taken by the United Nations

Commission on Human Rights

The texts of a telegram sent to the Government of Israel by the Commission on Human Rights and three resolutions directly related to the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people adopted at its session in February 1979 are as follows:

(a) Telegram to the Government of Israel

"The Commission on Human Rights, at its 35th session, expresses once more its deep concern about the systematic torture practised by Israel against Palestinian detainees, as reflected once again in recent international reports. The Commission expresses also its grave concern about the policies of repression and collective punishment pursued by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people in Palestine and in the occupied Arab territories, and in particular the bulldozing and blowing up of houses or such recent methods as the bricking up of these houses so as to render them uninhabitable, thus aggravating the sufferings of the Palestinian people. The Commission calls on the Israeli Government to cease forthwith the above practices which are in violation of the Geneva Convention of 1949 and to inform the Commission urgently on this matter."

(b) Resolution on the question of the violation of human rights in the Occupied Arab Territories, including Palestine

Part A

The Commission on Human Rights.

Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations as well as the principles and provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Bearing in mind the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 19^9 and of other relevant conventions and regulations,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 32/5, 32/l4, 32/20, 32/40, 32/42 32/90, 32/91, 32/122, 32/161, 32/171 and 33/113,

Taking into account that the General Assembly has, in resolution 31/20, recalled its resolution 3376 (XXX), in which it expressed grave concern that no progress has been achieved towards:

(a) The exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights in Palestine, including the right to self-determination without external interference and the right to national independence and sovereignty;

(b) The exercise by Palestinians of their inalienable right to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted;

Taking into consideration that the General Assembly has adopted resolution 3314 (XXIX), which defined as an act of aggression the invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof;

Recalling the statement by the Security Council at its 1969th meeting, on 11 November 1976, by which the Council, inter alia, expressed its grave anxiety and concern over the serious situation in the occupied Arab territories as a result of continued Israeli occupation,

Taking note of the reports of the United Nations organs, specialized agencies and in particular the reports of UNESCO, ILO and WHO, and international humanitarian organizations on the situation of the occupied Arab territories and their inhabitants,

Taking into account the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, which contained, inter alia, public statements made by leaders of the Government of Israel, indicating Israel's determination to pursue and consolidate its expansionist and annexationist policies,

Noting with deep concern the conclusion arrived at by the Special Committee that "The Government of Israel consciously follows a policy which is in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, in particular, article 47 which prohibits annexation of territories under military occupation of the occupying power and article 49 which prohibits the transfer of citizens of the occupying power into the occupied territories",

Greatly concerned by the continuation of the violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by Israel in the occupied Arab territories, particularly the measures aiming at annexation, as well as the continuing establishment of settlers' colonies, mass destruction of homes, torture and ill-treatment of detainees, expropriation of properties and imposition of economic and fiscal measures aims at the dispossession and exploitation of the population of the occupied territories,

Expressing its grave anxiety and concern over the deteriorating serious situation in the occupied Arab territories as a result of continued Israeli occupation and aggression, in particular:

(a) The intensification of the establishment of settlers' colonies;

(b) The continued and increasing use of arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment and cruel treatment of Arab detainees and prisoners;

(c) Collective punishment, in particular the blowing up of Arab houses;

1. Calls upon Israel to take immediate steps for the return of the Palestinians and the other displaced inhabitants of the occupied Arab territories to their homes and property.

2. Declares. that Israel's grave breaches of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 are war crimes and an affront against humanity.

3. Condemns the following Israeli policies and practices:

(a) The annexation of parts of the occupied territories;

(b) The establishment of Israeli settlements therein and the transfer of an alien population thereto;

(c) The evacuation, deportation, expulsion, displacement and transfer of Arab inhabitants of the occupied territories, and the denial of their right to return;

(d) The confiscation and expropriation of Arab property in the occupied territories and all other transactions for the acquisition of land involving Israeli authorities, institutions or nationals on the one hand, and inhabitants or institutions of the occupied territories on the other;

(e) The destruction and demolition of Arab houses;

(f) Mass arrests, administrative detention and ill-treatment of the Arab population;

(g) The ill-treatment and torture of persons under detention;

(h) The pillaging of archaeological and cultural property;

(i) The interference with religious freedoms and practices as well as family rights and customs;

(j) The continuous interference with and obstruction of the educational and scholastic activities and the brutal suppression of all forms of students' opinion, expression and manifestations;

(k) Further condemns administrative and legislative measures by the Israeli authorities to encourage, promote and expand the establishment of settlers' colonies in the occupied territories, which further demonstrate Israel's determination to annex those territories ;

5. Reaffirms that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the occupied territories, or any part thereof, including Jerusalem, are null and void, and that Israel's policy of settling parts of its population and new settlers in the occupied territories constitutes a flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and of the relevant United Nations resolutions;

6. Demands that Israel desist forthwith from the policies and practices referred to in paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 above;

7.  Demands that Israel cease forthwith all acts of torture and ill-of Arab detainees and prisoners;

6. Calls upon Israel to release all Arabs detained or imprisoned as a result of their struggle for self-determination and the liberation of their territories, and to accord to them, pending their release, the protection envisaged in the relevant provisions of the international instruments concerning the treatment of prisoners of war;

9. Renews its request to the Secretary-General to collect all relevant information concerning detainees, such as their number, identity, place and duration of detention, and to make this information available to the Commission at its thirty-sixth session;

10. Condemns once more the massive deliberate destruction of Quneitra perpetrated during Israeli occupation and prior to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from that city in 1971, and considers this act a grave breach of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War;

11. Reiterates its call upon all States, in particular the States parties to the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, in accordance with article k of that Convention, and upon international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any changes carried out by Israel in the occupied territories and to avoid taking any action or extending any aid which might be used by Israel in its pursuit of the policies of annexation and colonization or any of the other policies and practices referred to in the present resolution;

12. Calls upon Israel to report, through the Secretary-General, to the Commission at its thirty-sixth session on the implementation of paragraphs 2, 7, 8 and 9 above;

13. Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all Governments, the competent United Nations organs, the specialized agencies, and in particular ILO, UNESCO and WHO, the regional intergovernmental organizations and the international humanitarian organizations and to give it the widest possible publicity, and to report to the Commission on Human Rights at its thirty-sixth session;

14. Decides to place on the provisional agenda of the thirty-sixth session, as a matter of high priority, the item entitled "Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine", and requests the Secretary-General to bring to the attention of the Commission all United Nations reports appearing between sessions of the Commission that deal with the situation of the civilians of those territories.

Part B

The Commission on Human Rights,

Recalling its resolution 1 B (XXXIV) and General Assembly resolutions 3092 A (XXVIII), 32/91 A, and 33/113 A,

Bearing in mind that the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 must be fully applied in all circumstances to all persons who are protected by those instruments, without any adverse distinction based on the nature or origin of the armed conflict or on the causes espoused by or attributed to the conflict,

Recalling resolution 10, on the application of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 19^9 in the occupied territories in the Middle East, of the Twenty-third International Conference of the Red Cross held in Bucharest in October 1977,

Taking into account that States parties of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 undertake, in accordance with article 1 thereof, not only to respect but also to ensure respect for the Conventions in all circumstances,

1.  Expresses its deep concern at the consequences of Israel's refusal to apply fully and effectively the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War in all its provisions to all the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem,

2. Reaffirms that the Geneva Convention .relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War is applicable to all the Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem;

3. Strongly deplores the failure of Israel to acknowledge the applicability of that Convention to the territories it has occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem;

4. Calls upon Israel to abide by and respect the obligation arising from the Charter of the United Nations and other instruments and rules of international law, in particular the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, in all the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem;

5. Urges once more all States parties of that Convention to exert all efforts in order to ensure respect for and compliance with the provisions thereof in all the Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all Governments, the competent United Nations organs, the specialized agencies, the regional intergovernmental organizations, the international humanitarian organizations and non-governmental organizations.

(c) The right of peoples to self determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation

The Commission on Human Rights,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 1511 (XV), 3236 (XXIX), 3375 (XXX), 3376 (XXX), 32/14, 32/20, 32/4O, 32/42 and 33/28,

Recognizing that the Palestinian people are entitled to self-determination in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other relevant United Rations resolutions,

Recalling further Economic and Social Council resolutions 1865 (LVI) and 1866 (LVI),

Reaffirming its resolutions 3 (XXXI), 6 (XXXI), 2 (XXXIV), and 3 (XXXIV),

Bearing in mind the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (A/32/35),

Bearing in mind further General Assembly resolution GA 32/40 B on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People,

Expressing its grave concern that the Palestinian people have been prevented by force from enjoying their inalienable rights, in particular their right to self-determination,

1. Affirms the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination without external interference and the establishment of a fully independent and sovereign State in Palestine;

2. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted, and calls for their return in the exercise of their right to self-determination;

3. Recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to regain their rights by all means in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations;

4. Urges all States and international organizations to extend their support to the Palestinian people through their representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization, in its struggle to restore its rights in accordance with the Charter;

5. Requests the Secretary-General to make available to the Commission on Human Rights and to the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities the reports, studies and publications prepared by the Special Unit on Palestinian Rights, which was established by General Assembly resolution 32/40 B.

(d) The right of peoples to self-determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation

The Commission on Human Rights

Recalling General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, concerning the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, and the importance of its implementation,

Recalling also its resolutions 3 (XXXI) of 11 February 1975, 9 (XXXII) of 5 March 1976 and 3 (XXXIV) of 14 February 1978,

Taking into account General Assembly Resolution 33/24, of 29 November 1978,

Recalling the Declaration made by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Non-Aligned Countries in Belgrade, 1978, as well as the Declaration of the Non-Aligned Co-ordination Bureau, Maputo, 1979,

Stressing the importance of the effective realization of the right of peoples to self-determination, national sovereignty and territorial integrity and of the speedy granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples as imperatives for the enjoyment of human rights,

Reiterating its profound indignation at the continued and serious violations of human rights of the peoples still under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation, the continuation of the illegal occupation of Namibia and South Africa's attempts to disregard the United Nations resolutions on this problem and its solution, the perpetuation of the racist minority regimes in Zimbabwe and South Africa and the denial of the Palestinian people of their inalienable rights.

1. Calls upon all States to implement fully and faithfully the resolutions of the United Nations regarding the exercise of the right to self-determination by peoples under colonial and alien domination,

2.  Reaffirms the legitimacy for the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, and particularly armed struggle;

3.  Reaffirms the inalienable right of the peoples of Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the People of Palestine and of all peoples under alien and colonial domination, to self-determination, national independence, territorial integrity, national unity and sovereignty without external interference;

4.  Condemns the practices of using mercenaries against national liberation movements and sovereign States as a criminal act and the mercenaries themselves as criminals, and calls upon the Governments of all countries to enact legislation declaring the recruitment, financing and training of mercenaries in their territory and their transit through it to be punishable offences and prohibiting their nationals from serving as mercenaries, and to inform the Commission of the legislation enacted to that effect;

5.  Condemns in particular the policy of those States which, in disregard of the United Nations resolutions, continue to maintain political, economic, military and other relations with the racist regimes in Southern Africa and elsewhere thus supporting, protecting and encouraging them to persist in their suppression of the aspirations of peoples for self-determination and independence;

6.  Strongly condemns the ever-increasing massacres of innocent and defenseless people, including women and children, by the racist minority regimes of Southern Africa in their desperate attempt to thwart the legitimate demands of the people;

7.  Demands the immediate release of all persons detained or imprisoned as a result of their struggle for self-determination and independence, full respect for their fundamental individual rights and the observance of article 5 of.the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, under which no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

8.  Condemns also the policies of those Governments which do not recognize the right to self-determination and independence of all peoples still under colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation, notably the peoples of Southern Africa and the People of Palestine, and draws the attention to the grave responsibility incurred by the makers and promoters of such policies in the eyes of the community of nations and world public opinion;

9.  Rejects completely the attempts of certain States to provide a semblance of legality to the illegal, such as the one in Southern Rhodesia, regimes and Ian Smith in particular;

10. Expresses its appreciation for the material and other forms of assistance which the peoples under colonial, alien domination, foreign occupation and receive from Governments in their struggle to achieve their right to self-determination and independence;

11. Decides to continue to give the question "The right of peoples to self-determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation" priority consideration at its thirty-sixth session.

4.  Co-ordinating Bureau of Non-Aligned Countries reiterates its position on the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East

The following is an extract from a communique issued on 7 March 1979 "by the Co-ordinating Bureau of Non-Aligned Countries (document A/34/111, S/1315D.

"The Bureau reiterated the belief of their Foreign Ministers expressed in Belgrade that the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East definitely requires Israel's withdrawal from all the territories it occupies and the recognition of the national and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as affirmed by General Assembly resolution 3236 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974. The Bureau reiterated the conviction that any solution which does not take into account these two basic conditions cannot serve peace, but, on the contrary, will only serve to pave the way to attempts by the United States of America to liquidate the Palestinian cause, help Israel in achieving its objectives and maintain the existing situation resulting from occupation, thus enabling Israel to carry out its colonialist, imperialist and racist function in the region."

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