CEIRPP meeting – Press release

U N I T E D    N A T I O N S

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(FOR USE OF INFORMATION MEDIA — NOT AN OFFICIAL RECORD)

Committee on Rights of                               Press Release GA/PAL/8

  Palestinian People                                  11 March 1976

6th Meeting (AM)

COMMITTEE ON PALESTINIAN RIGHTS HEARS STATEMENT BY EGYPT

     The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People heard a statement by the representative of Egypt this morning as it continued its general debate.  In addition, the representative of India asked questions of the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) who had spoken earlier in the debate on 9 March (see Press Release GA/PAL/7).

     At this morning's meeting, the Committee set a deadline of Tuesday,

23 March, for the conclusion of the general debate.

     The Chairman, Medoune Fall (Senegal), said that after that time the

Committee would begin the active phase of its work, considering the

recommendations to be made in its report.  Although the deadline for the

report was 1 June, under the General Assembly resolution establishing the Committee (resolution 3376 (XXX) of 10 November 1975), he felt that it should be able to submit the report before that time.

     He said that, after the conclusion of the general debate, work on the

recommendations could be carried out in closed meetings, either by a drafting

group or a committee of the whole.  However, formal meetings could be convened

at any time when needed.

     The Committee also had a further discussion this morning of the question

of summary records for its meetings.  The Chairman noted that the Committee

on Conferences was meeting this afternoon, and he said he hoped the matter

could be resolved at that time.

     The Committee scheduled its next meeting for Monday, 15 March, when

the representative of Syria is to speak in the general debate.

     Statement by Egypt

     AHMED ESMAT ABDEL MEGUID (Egypt), speaking in the debate this morning,

said Egypt had always maintained that a just solution of the Palestinian

question was a prerequisite for solution of the Middle East problem as a whole

and for the creation of the necessary conditions for a just and lasting peace

in the area.

     As President Anwar El Sadat had stated, the Palestinian question was the

heart and core of the entire dispute and, once solved, all other outstanding

issues would follow suit.

     Mr. Meguid said that Egypt's firm belief was that peace could not prevail

in the region unless Israel withdrew from all the occupied territories, including Arab Jerusalem, and unless Israel recognized the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

     The "historic" resolution 3236 (XIX), adopted by the General Assembly

on 22 November 1974, should always be considered as the cornerstone of any

search for a just solution of the question of Palestine, he went on.  By that

resolution, the Assembly had defined and reaffirmed the inalienable rights of

the Palestinian people in Palestine, including the right to self-determination

without external interference; the right to national independence and sovereignty; and the right of the Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced and uprooted.

     The Assembly, in that same resolution, had recognized that the Palestinian people was a principal party to the establishment of a just and durable peace in the Middle East, he said.

     Mr. Meguid remarked that the "historic" 1974 resolution had crowned the

determined political struggle of the PLO over the years on behalf of the

Palestinian people.  Egypt's position had always been one of supporting and

strengthening the PLO by all means.

     The PLO, in its participation in meetings of the General Assembly and

the Security Council, as well as this Committee, he said, had put forward many

constructive ideas and pragmatic proposals in order to implement the inalienable Palestinian rights.  The Committee should give its utmost consideration to these suggestions.

     Mr. Meguid went on to say that, while his delegation had reiterated

Egypt's position on the question of Palestine many times, he wanted to emphasize the following points:

     — Egypt insisted on the necessity of establishing a just and durable

peace in the area, which, in its view, could not be achieved except through

the liberation of all the occupied Arab territories and restoration of the

inalienable rights of the Palestinian people;

     — Egypt equally called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian entity, through the implementation of the inalienable right of the

Palestinian people to self-determination, in accordance with the Charter and

United Nations resolutions;

     — Egypt considered that the PLO, the sole representative of the

Palestinian people, should participate in all peace efforts as a principal

party;

     — Inasmuch as the situation could not be "allowed to stagnate once more", and "further procrastination" in the efforts for a just settlement could not be accepted, Egypt called for the reconvening of the Geneva Peace Conference on the Middle East, with the participation of all parties concerned, including the PLO, on an equal footing; and

     — Egypt affirmed the urgent need for effective action on the part of the

United Nations to find means of guaranteeing the restoration of full rights

to the Palestinian people.

     Mr. Meguid concluded by saying that his delegation would be looking forward to the report and recommendations which the Committee would eventually submit to the Security Council.  The Council should be urged to "take appropriate action that could give further impetus to the Palestinian question within the United Nations".

     Egypt, which is not a member of the 20-nation Committee, had been invited

by the Committee to state its views as one of the countries directly connected

with the Middle East problem.

     Questions by India

     RIKHI JAIPAL (India) said he had some questions to ask of the PLO representative, Zehdi Labib Terzi, who had spoken at the last meeting. However, he did not expect replies today.

     First, he referred to the suggestion of the PLO representative that the

Committee in its initial report, might recommend that "the first phase of the

implementation of the right of return should consist of the return of the

Palestinians displaced from territories occupied since June 1967".

     Mr. Terzi had said that the Committee "could recommend that the Security

Council demand that the Palestinians displaced in 1967 should be permitted

immediately and without delay to return to the territories occupied since 1967". Their return, he had stated, should not await any political or territorial arrangements, such as the Security Council might be considering at the same time, including arrangements for withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967 or future sovereignty over those territories.

     Mr. Jaipal asked whether it would be realistic to expect the Palestinian

people to return voluntarily while those territories remained occupied. Should not the territories be vacated first by Israel? he asked.

     His second question related to Mr. Terzi's suggestion that advisory opinions might be requested from the International Court of Justice on certain legal questions if Israel did not co-operate.  He asked if the PLO representative could give a precise formulation of such legal questions.

     Mr. TERZI, the PLO representative, said he would provide replies to the

questions later.

     Mr. Terzi's statement of 9 March has been circulated as a document of the

Committee (document A/AC.183/2).

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