unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/12/89)
UN ASSEMBLY SESSION -- TAKE 11
Posting Date: 10/09/89 Copyright UNITEX Communications, 1989
UNITEX Network, USA ISSN: 1043-7932
Continuing, Mr. BEIN (Israel) quoted the Syrian Defense Minister
and the President of Libya as calling for war with, and the
destruction, of Israel. And three days ago, he said, the Arab
Group decided to once again challenge the credentials of the
delegation of Israel when the report of the Credentials
Committee came up for approval. Ironically, the membership of
Israel in a body dedicated to peace and coexistence, was being
challenged by the very forces most opposed to peaceful
coexistence.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) radio station broadcasts
had called for acts of arson inside Israel, he said. Two weeks
preceding a recent blaze, they called on Palestinians to burn
forests and fields, he added. "The war conducted by the PLO is
against the land itself, and is nothing but wild destruction for
its own sake", he said.
PLO terrorism waged against Israel continued, he said. Israel
had withstood a wave of infiltration attempts by PLO squads and
rocket attacks aimed at civilian communities, some of which were
instigated by Syria. Also, "Arafat's agents have dumped the
mutilated bodies of over 130 local Palestinians in the streets,
mosques and schools in Judea, Samaria and Gaza." The draft
resolution before the Assembly called for international
protection for the Palestinian civilians, but Palestinians were
being slain by PLO operatives. The majority of violent assaults
in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, were committed by the PLO against
the Palestinians.
International law placed the responsibility to maintain public
order and safety in the administered territories on Israel
alone, he said. That ignored the reality. Conspicuously absent
was any condemnation whatsoever of the resort to violence by
Palestinian extremists. Despite the political warfare which
obstructed the peace process, Israel remained committed to the
pursuit of peace, he said. Israel's peace initiative called
for: a common Israeli-Egyptian effort to build on the
foundations of the Camp David Accords; the 20 Arab States in a
state of war with Israel to cease their hostility; an
international effort to rehabilitate the Palestinian refugee
camps in Judea, Samaria and Gaza; and the Palestinians in the
territories to cease the violence, and enter a process of free
dematic elections to choose representatives to negotiate with
Israel.
Israeli-Egyptian efforts were already being acted upon, he said.
Refugee rehabilitation was widely recognized as crucial, and
democratic elections were strongly endorsed in the territories.
Only the participation of the Arab States had remained out of
reach.
"This resolution with all its vitriolic rhetoric has absolutely
nothing to contribute to the pursuit of peace in our region", he
concluded.
The Assembly then adopted the draft resolution by a recorded vote
of 140 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States), with 6
abstentions (Antigua and Barbuda, El Salvador, Grenada, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay and Zaire). (For details of
the vote, see Annex.)
As revised, the resolution in a final operative paragraph
requested the Secretary-General to examine the situation in the
Palestinian territory by all means available and "to submit
periodic reports thereon, the first such report as soon as
possible". The original draft requested the Secretary-General
to send a "special representative" to the territories and to
submit the first of the periodic reports no later than 15
November 1989.
(END OF TAKE 11)
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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