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1965-09-24

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1969-09-24

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un-general-debate

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1. ““Peoples” and “generations” are two generic, dynamic terms inscribed in the first lines of the Charter that have initiated throughout the history of mankind the greatest movements of history. 62. Let me now tum to some specific items on this agenda. 63. On the subject of colonialism, the process of decolonization has reached stagnation. The Secretary-General has adequately described how the flagrant and massive violation of human rights and fundamental liberties in such regions as southern Africa continues unabated.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

2. “This phenomenon, then, in the Middle East is symptomatic of the youth movement everywhere. In our maturity we would do well to read the world-wide phenomenon carefully and correctly, unflattering as it may be to our pre-occupation with form. In fact, our obligation to heed what youth is saying is dictated by more than any wisdom we may have acquired with years. That obligation comes from the Charter itself. Its first words say that all we do here must be designed “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war...” Therefore, I submit that if we are to meet this highest obligation, this session of the General Assembly had better turn from power-plays to humanity, from wasteful and endless formalities to determining the moral equities at the heart of each of the great problems we are asked to confront.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

3. “Their yearning to be free of wars, poverty, racism and depersonalized lives transcends systems of economics and social structures. Their revulsion challenges presidents and kings, and the challenge is eloquent. I shall have more to say about one Middle East manifestation of this phenomenon later. But for now it may be merely noted that the expanding resistance and liberation forces, whether it be in the Middle East or over the world, are a revolt against the lack of understanding of man. This revolt is in essence one and the same as the revolt, let us say of the American youth, and indeed of the world at large, against the immorality, barbarism and inhuman war in Viet-Nam against a heroic people that has decided to live in independence and dignity. 61.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

4. “From economic development to human environment, from the outer reaches of space to the beds of the ocean, from apartheid to the education of youth in respect for human rights; these offer some examples of the dimensions of the problems we are expected to define, analyse and resolve. We shall fail this constituency of ours — “the peoples” of the world — if we persist in attempting to filter out and reduce these issues to the old and worn, the narrow and stringent formalism and procedural amenities. Time has little patience, and the substance of these agenda items is somewhere in the hearts and minds of men all over the world. 60. There is no more dramatically visible evidence of this impatience of “the peoples” than in the youth of the world today.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

5. “He refuses to learn and persists in the blind pursuits of the law of the jungle. However, the nobility of the Charter, drafted by men, repudiates this pessimism. The second explanation for the disparity is that, in our preoccupation here with the legalisms, the cynicisms and evasions of diplomacy, we have shut our hearts and minds to the world of men we say we represent. 59. There are 104 items on the agenda of this session. All of us, in moments of genuine honesty, confess to our inadequacy in coping with all of them in any satisfactory manner. But despite this feeling of inadequacy, I mention this agenda because, if examined closely, it reads like an inventory of the hopes and fears, of the progress and failures of those we are mandated to serve, “the peoples of the United Nations”.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

6. “Madam President, a recurrent theme in the general debate so far has been, as it was in past years, self-examination and self-criticism and your own opening address [1753rd meeting] eloquently set the tone. Any sensitive observer, viewing the discrepancies between the elevated ideals of the Charter and the tragic state of the world, must welcome this spirit of introspection. For, as the Secretary-General, with understatement, put it in the introduction to his annual report, “the deterioration of the international situation, which I noted ... last year, has continued” [A/7601/Add.1, para. 1]. 58. We are indeed worlds away from the high hopes for a new world of law and international comity as envisaged by the founders and drafters of the Charter. Two possible explanations for the failure come to mind. One is that man is incorrigible.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

7. “55. Madam President, our congratulations upon your election to preside over the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly, necessarily evoke in our mind the rise of the great continent of Africa to independence and dignity, and the renaissance of its role and culture. You symbolize this great emancipation, and you symbolize our hope that the remaining part of Africa still under colonial domination shall be free and sovereign. 56. You succeed a distinguished son of another great continent that is marking our era with its renaissance; Latin America. Mr. Arenales succumbed prematurely, after a strenuous session, to the eventual fate of all human beings. We address to his country, Guatemala, to his Government and to the Latin American continent our deepest and heartfelt condolences. 57.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

8. “I might only add that our struggle, founded on universal human values born in our own lands and given to the world, and inspired by those values, might also result in giving a guilty conscience to the West, in purifying the Western liberal and humanistic tradition of its divisiveness, double standards and schizophrenia. The Arabs have suffered enough from such apathy and conspiracies of silence. But one great lesson of history is that apathy can lead to war — and surely we all hate war. It is only on the basis of understanding and the recognition of the rights of peoples, including the Arab people of Palestine, that an everlasting peace can be achieved.”

   1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

9. “The problem of Palestine is not only a political problem, a dispute over boundaries, rivers and stolen lands; but beyond that, it is fundamentally a moral problem. If politics will not submit to the rule of law and the aspirations of people and suffocates the moral conscience of mankind, as Zionism has succeeded in doing so far, nothing but catastrophe will result unless and until the right is re-established. 55. That Israel was able, after its blitzkrieg of 5 June 1967, to occupy Arab territories three times its area will not alter by one iota the essence of the Palestine problem.”

   1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

10. “On 13 October 1964 I stated from this rostrum: “The Arab struggle for Palestine is basically a struggle of a people for liberation, a people whose right to self-determination was denied, a people asking for nothing less than the right of self-determination, a people whose lands, territories, homes and farms have been stolen from them, and they are asking them back. In a word, it is a struggle for liberation from a brand of imperialism the like of which has never been known in history. Ideologically, it is a struggle to purify Judaism from the distortions, attritions and criminality of Zionism. History, the final and ultimate tribunal of mankind, will prove that Arab struggle will ultimately save Judaism from the clutches of Zionism.” [1359th meeting, para. 99.] 54.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

11. “From 1921, when the British mandate was imposed upon them, purporting to treat them as “a sacred trust” — which was anything but sacred — up to this very moment, their history has been a continuous, heroic struggle to secure their sacred rights. Secretary-General U Thant spoke truly when he said: “People everywhere, and this certainly applies to the Palestinian refugees...have a natural right to be in their homeland and to have a future.” 53. Intrigues, schemes worked out in the dark, will end in failure.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

12. “Why is it that the United Nations since 1947 and up to the present day, and before it the League of Nations during its whole life, have been continuously seized of the Palestine question and its derivative issues? Why is it that peace in the area has so far been illusive? The answer is to be found in the two principles which I affirmed at the outset of my statement, namely, the legitimate rights and aspirations of peoples and the rule of law to sustain those rights. Once there has been a travesty of right and law, there is no force in the world — no matter how great and crushing it may be — that can overwhelm a people which believes in its rights. One irreducible fact must be reckoned with: there are two and a half million Arab Palestinians who constitute a people and a nation.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

13. “Eban’s three points concerning the refugees amount to a liquidation of the Palestine problem. But there was, there is, and there always will be a Palestine problem. For as long as the right of the Arab people of Palestine to self-determination, as enshrined in the Charter, remains denied to them by international intrigues and brutal force, that problem will persist. The Arabs of Palestine refused and will continue to refuse Israel’s verdict, as well as the verdict of Zionism and its protectors asking them to commit collective suicide. 52. For those who are genuinely interested in world peace and who consider the Middle East to be an explosive area, there is one question that should be asked.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

14. “According to international law authorities, a military occupation does not terminate a legal right. The Legal Department of the United Nations put out a special legal study in October 1961 to secure the implementation of paragraph 11 of resolution 194 (III). 50. Thirdly, Mr. Eban’s three points ignore, with equal cynicism and arrogance, the recent humanitarian resolutions concerning Israel’s obligation to facilitate the return of the Arab inhabitants who have fled the areas since the outbreak of hostilities — on which I have dwelt at length. Consequently, his scheme to widen what he called the uniting of families is only a cheap bluff and would become obsolete if the humanitarian resolutions were implemented by Israel, as requested by the Security Council and the General Assembly. 51. Fourthly, Mr.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

15. “The United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine was created for their implementation and it still exists. Its work has been frustrated by Israel and its protector, the United States. 48. Indeed, on 19 December 1967 the twenty-second session of the General Assembly voted resolution 2341 (XXII), operative paragraph 4 of which states: “Notes with regret that the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine was unable to find a means to achieve progress in the implementation of paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 194 (III), and requests the Commission to exert continued efforts towards the implementation thereof.” 49. Secondly, the Conciliation Commission and a land expert have identified and established Arab property in Palestine, militarily conquered and usurped by Israel and the Zionists.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

16. “If that statement is not pregnant with belligerency and does not constitute in fact an ultimatum as regards the annexation of Arab lands and further wars, I leave it entirely to this Assembly to weigh its implications. 47. With regard to Mr. Eban’s three points purporting to solve the refugee problem, they amount to the following. First, a complete, cynical ignorance of all United Nations resolutions affirming the right of refugees to return to their homes as recommended by the Mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte, who was assassinated by Zionist terrorists in Jerusalem, and stating that they should do so at the earliest practicable date in accordance with paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948. This has since seen confirmed by twenty-one solemn resolutions of the General Assembly.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

17. “In fact, if we take into consideration the specific details I have given concerning the expansion of Israel during the period 1947 to 1967, with the Lausanne Protocol including a map of the partition boundaries rejected by Israel, we cannot but draw the logical conclusion, based upon our factual, bitter experience, that the ultimate “secure and agreed upon boundaries” remain fluid and yet to be fulfilled. In fact, Mr. Eban himself has alerted the Arab Governments. He said: “Time and again these Governments have rejected proposals today — and longed for them tomorrow. The fatal pattern is drawn across the whole period since 1947 and before.” [1686th meeting, para. 126.] 46.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

18. “Rivers, mountains, valleys, seas and other such natural physical features used to constitute natural frontiers and boundaries but today, with the advance of science and technique, these concepts have become more or less obsolete. The very basis of international law has been changed. What, therefore, does the Israeli concept of “secure and agreed upon boundaries” boil down to? It boils down to acceptance by the Arabs of another fait accompli and of the diktat of Israel.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

19. “Then there are two other maps which represent the still unfulfilled claims of Israel. The first shows the Israel of the World Zionist Organization presented to the Peace Conference in 1919, which included all Palestine, the southern part of Lebanon up to Sidon, Hauran, which includes the Golan Heights where the Israeli armies now are and goes down to Maan near the Arabian peninsula. The second is a map of the Israel of Menachim Begin, the hero of Deir Yasseen, now a member of the Israeli Cabinet. 45. All these maps show the expansion of Israel and the claims which are still voiced by Israeli and Zionist leaders against the Arab lands and the Arab people.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

20. “The first shows the Israel of the United Nations in 1947 when, on 29 November, in accordance with the partition, the Jews who owned only 5.6 per cent of the area and represented only 30 per cent of the population, were given 55 per cent of the area of the country, as against the Arabs, who owned 95 per cent and constituted 70 per cent of the total population of Palestine. The second is a map of the Israel of 1948 when, after attacking the Arab States, Israel occupied 77 per cent of the area of Palestine. On the same map there are two side maps showing what 77 per cent of the United States and of Great Britain would constitute. The third map shows the Israel of David Ben Gurion of 1956 and the fourth is a map of “Greater Israel", the Israel of Levi Eshkol, Abba Eban and Itzhak Rabin after the 5 June 1967 war.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

21. “When, as far back as 1949, Israel solemnly demanded in an official document of the United Nations that the international boundaries of Palestine within which an Arab majority lived and 95 per cent of which was owned by Arabs should be the boundaries of Israel, did this not legally constitute open belligerency and a declaration of war on the Arabs? One wonders what Israel means by “secure and agreed upon boundaries". 44. To clarify the matter and to save the time of the Assembly, I have annexed four maps to my statement.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

22. “It also asked clearly that the Gaza Strip should be annexed to Israel, and at the same time put aside the objections of the Conciliation Commission to its transferring its capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Paragraph 25 states that: “The Israel delegation proposed that the political frontier between Israel and Egypt and Lebanon respectively should be the same as that which separated the latter countries from Palestine under the British Mandate.” 42. The Arab refugee problem mentioned in the Lausanne Protocol was completely ignored and sidetracked. 43. Now I address myself to jurists in this Assembly.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

23. “The fourth paragraph of resolution 273 (III) accepting Israel as a Member State says: “Noting... the declaration by the State of Israel that it ‘unreservedly accepts the obligations of the United Nations Charter and undertakes to honour them from the day when it becomes a Member of the United Nations’.” 40. A few days later, according to paragraph 33 of the Third Progress Report, the exact words of which I will quote: “...the attitude of the Israel delegation is that it could not accept a certain proportionate distribution of territory agreed upon in 1947 as a criterion for a territorial settlement in present circumstances.” 41. By then — that is, between 1947 and 1948 — Israel had conquered 77 per cent of Palestine: that is to say, 25 per cent more than it was given by partition.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

24. “The Protocol is as follows: “The United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, anxious to achieve as quickly as possible the objectives of the General Assembly resolution of 11 December 1948 regarding refugees, the respect for their rights and the preservation of their property, as well as territorial and other questions, has proposed to the delegations of the Arab States and to the delegation of Israel that the working document attached hereto be taken as a basis for discussions with the Commission." 39. To this document was annexed a map, as required by Mr. Eban, indicating the boundaries defined in General Assembly resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947 concerning partition. One day before the signing of this Protocol Israel was accepted into the membership of the United Nations.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

25. “Now I urge all Members of the United Nations genuinely concerned with the Middle East crisis and the Palestine problem to read this Protocol in its entirety. Both Israeli and Arab representatives signed it, under the auspices of the United Nations Conciliation Commission. For the sake of the membership of the United Nations, which has more than doubled since 1949 and to whom this Protocol may be unknown, I shall read it because of its brevity and its relevance to the issues of borders and refugees.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

26. “The terms “secure and recognized boundaries", “boundary settled”, “agreed territorial boundaries”, “permanent boundaries", and so forth, occurred in his speech at least ten times. Emphasis was laid by him on precise conditions, and in his words, “including an agreed map of the secure and recognized boundaries” [ibid.]. 38. Here again I shall be very specific. I want to take one single page of the tragic history of Palestine to show the pattern of Israel expansionism, arrogance and cynicism. I refer to the Protocol of Lausanne of 12 May 1949, contained in the third progress report of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, dated 21 June 1949 and I must add that I am not the first Arab speaker to refer to this Protocol.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

27. “Could there be more withering contempt for the will of this world Organization? But the best comment on Israel’s utter disregard of all laws of civilized nations came from Mr. Eban himself when he stated in Jerusalem: “...if the General Assembly were to vote by 121 to 1 in favour of Israel returning to the armistice lines tomorrow, Israel would refuse to comply with that decision”. 37. The statement by Mr. Eban just quoted is a very fitting introduction to what Mr. Eban described as “the nine principles by which peace [with the Arabs] can be achieved” [1686th meeting, para. 109]. These nine principles resolve themselves into two main problems: (1) secure and recognized boundaries, and (2) the Arab refugee problem. I shall address myself to the first.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

28. ““It is sad to note that these texts which were specifically formulated in order to prevent the recurrence of crimes of which the Jews were the unhappy victims during the Second World War, are transgressed by these very same people. “By a bitter irony of fate, the victims of today have no links with the perpetrators of yesterday’s crimes. And it is to the prejudice of these innocent victims that the sons of yesterday’s victims today commit some of those crimes which vengeance in itself could not excuse.” 36. Fifthly, what about the resolutions voted by this Assembly and the Security Council asking Israel to rescind all the measures it has already taken vis-à-vis Jerusalem? The Israeli Government stated that Jerusalem is non-negotiable and that its decision is irrevocable.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

29. “The same Commission on Human Rights on 8 March cabled a strong protest to the Israeli Government against its violations of Arab human rights and fundamental freedoms. Yet, up to this hour Israel continues its Nazi-like policy against the Arabs and in occupied Arab territories. This it does in complete violation of Articles 31, 32, 33 and 53 of the Geneva Conventions, of which it is a signatory. "The razing to the ground of the installations of refugee camps... in the Gaza Strip... and the systematic destruction of houses as reprisals against acts of resistance, are violations of these conventions. The perpetrators of these acts could be prosecuted ...”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

30. “In it the following is stated: “Those who became refugees for a second time (about 175,000), together with most of the 350,000 or more other persons newly displaced from the occupied areas of southern Syria, the West Bank of Jordan, Gaza and Sinai, were in need of the very essentials of physical survival — food, water, shelter, blankets, clothing, and health care and, scarcely less important, the education of their children. For many, these needs could be met only in tented camps, where winter cold and storms brought additional suffering.” [A/7213, para. 1.] 35. Fourthly, the Economic and Social Council on 31 May, the Teheran International Conference on Human Rights on 7 May, the Commission on Human Rights on 27 February all confirmed the humanitarian resolutions.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

31. “It will be understood, I am sure, that it is not within the discretion of the Secretary-General to modify the requirements of a Security Council resolution or to concur in a course of action less than or different from what is called for in that resolution.” 34. Thirdly, on 15 October the Commissioner-General of UNRWA released his report on the work of the Agency to this the twenty-third session of the General Assembly.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

32. “From his answer to the Israeli representative dated 7 October I quote the following: “The unavoidable conclusion to be drawn from your letter, as I interpret it, is that my approach has been met with only a conditional and therefore inadequate response. In this regard, may I repeat that my letter of 28 September was written in pursuance of Security Council resolution 259. You will note particularly that operative paragraph 2 of the resolution makes a request of the Government of Israel which envisages implementation without conditions. Further, please note that operative paragraph 1 of the resolution in question refers exclusively to '...the Arab territories under military occupation by Israel ...'.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

33. “Eban consider that this vote, reflecting the will of the overwhelming majority of the United Nations representatives and world public opinion, was merely a “mathematical accident...rather than a balanced verdict” [1686th meeting, para. 78]. And did Israel respect the call of the United Nations to facilitate the return of the now over half a million newly displaced Arabs, in addition to the old refugees? Did Israel permit the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to go to the area in implementation of three solemn humanitarian resolutions? 33. Secondly, I said that the answer to Mr. Eban would be forthcoming from the United Nations itself. In fact, on 14 October the Secretary-General, U Thant, issued his third report on the implementation of the humanitarian resolutions.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

34. “The humanitarian resolution which became resolution 237 (1967) of 15 June 1967 — was submitted by Argentina, Brazil and Ethiopia and adopted unanimously by the Security Council. Its operative paragraph 1 specifically: “Calls upon the Government of Israel to ensure the safety, welfare and security of the inhabitants of the areas where military operations have taken place and to facilitate the return to those inhabitants who have fled the areas since the outbreak of hostilities.” 32. It was later confirmed in the General Assembly by resolution 2252 (ES-V), adopted on 4 July 1967 by 116 votes with none against. Both were recently confirmed by resolution 259 (1968) adopted by the Security Council on 27 September 1968 by the affirmative vote of twelve members with none voting against. I now put the question: Does Mr.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

35. “Bulldozers, the eviction of Arab populations and atrocities against Arab civilians have become the distinguishing traits of Israeli mastery. 30. This leads me to the humanitarian aspect of the Palestine tragedy. In the same statement Mr. Eban said, in criticism of United Nations procedure, that: “Resolutions are often adopted in a rhetorical spirit irrespective of their equity or prospect of fulfilment....The Security Council has dealt often with the Middle East, but when more than one third of its Members are States whose diplomatic relations or ethnic or sentimental predilections are entirely on one side, the majority vote loses its moral and political worth.” [Ibid., para. 78.] 31. First, this necessitates “detailed and organized comment”, as Mr. Eban himself demands.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

36. “Eshkol and Itzhak Rabin is also attached to my text. But with respect to Mr. Eshkol’s statement, special attention should be paid to the remark related to “the historical rights of the people of Israel to the land of Israel” because, according to them, the land of Israel has not been completely “liberated” from the Arabs, to use Zionist terminology. What Mr. Eban said boils down to the fact that Israel will never return to the 4 June 1967 armistice lines. (4) On 10 October, that is two days after Mr. Eban’s speech [1686th meeting], with its routine refrain about peace, Israeli demolition teams bulldozed the Syrian village of Ahmediye in the occupied Syrian territory, as witnessed by the United Nations Military Observers, and erased all remnants and traces of Arab life.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

37. “The crux of this division within the Israel coalition Government is not what territories to return to the Arabs, but how much to hold. Thus, everybody knows by now that there is the Menachim Begin plan — of which a map is annexed to my text — which aims at annexing all the occupied territory, plus the east side of the Jordan. There are also the “Dayan Plan, the Allon Plan and, last but not least, the “greater Israel plan” of Mr. Eshkol himself, who on 22 June 1968 declared over Quol Yisrael that “Israel would insist that the River Jordan remain the country’s security border.” He said that Israel distinguished between political borders, cease-fire lines and security borders, and that the historical rights of the people of Israel to the land of Israel would have to be taken into account. A map of the greater Israel of Mr.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

38. “(1) On 9 October Defence Minister General Moshe Dayan said, after Mr. Eban had delivered his statement, that “the Sinai Peninsula is as vital to Israel’s security as are the Golan Heights of Syria.” (2) On 16 October Mr. Samuel Tamir, an opposition member of the Israeli Parliament, speaking here in New York at a press conference, maintained that “Israel must hold permanently the territory she occupied in the six-day war with the Arab States in 1967.” Mr. Tamir is a member of the party funded by Menachim Begin, the Irgun Zvi Leumi, the HERUT Party, whose slogan is “Israel on both sides of the Jordan.” (3) Against the background of sharp divisions inside the coalition Government of Israel, Mr. Eban, while giving the impression of being specific in detail, was indeed only too general.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

39. “Bearing in mind this tragedy, which has continued to be the source of wars upsetting the area and is still threatening it with explosion, we approach the grave Palestine problem with the utmost responsibility a problem of such great magnitude it deserves. 28. On 8 October this year the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr. Eban, gave this Assembly a very detailed statement lasting exactly one hour and fifteen minutes, embodying his so-called plan for peace. In it he criticized the Arab speakers who had preceded him for “the lack of detailed and organized comment on concrete issues” [1686th meeting, para. 87]. 29. If my delegation has waited so long to offer its comments, it is because we were sure that the answers to refute Mr. Eban would be forthcoming from three sources — Israel itself, the United Nations documents and Mr. Eban himself.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

40. “But to add fuel to the fire, it has been playing a predominant role in the perpetration of this human tragedy. It has systematically fought every effort in the United Nations to safeguard Arab property rights in Palestine, thus preventing the Arab refugees from receiving the benefits of their still legally owned properties in Palestine and forcing them to continue living in inhuman conditions, utter misery and despair. This it did while it played a predominant role in securing from West Germany reparations to world Zionist organizations and Israel collectively and individually — not to speak of the vicious arming of Israel through West Germany and its connivers. 27.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

41. “In an address given in Washington on 4 October 1968 he pointed to the fact “that Israel was established in part by an international enactment in which the United States and the former imperial Powers of Western Europe played a leading role”. Continuing in the same vein, Eugene Black said of the Arab refugees: “Those millions of cases of individual tragedy and personal suffering, whose plight is like a dagger in the heart of humanity.” 26. Fifthly, the United States Government has been a culprit in the creation of this tragedy as proved by officially published documents of the State Department which show that the United States Government knew as early as 1943 that the Israeli terrorist underground had “plans fully made” to drive the Arab majority out of Palestine by provoking them into war.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

42. “The Jewish Agency, American section, operates freely inside the United States as an integral part of the Israel Government. The like of this exists nowhere in the world. American capital and tax-free help amounting to billions of dollars is being permitted by the United States Government, in the words of the Jewish Agency, to “colonize, settle and exploit the conquered lands of Member States of the United Nations”. I need not elaborate on the legal aspects of this problem, but I leave it to the considered judgment of the great many jurists in this Assembly to ponder its grave implications. 25. The bitterness which the Arabs feel towards that American policy has been recognized very recently by a great American international figure, the Honourable Mr. Eugene Black, former Director of the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

43. “The plan envisaged 15 thousand head of cattle on 600 thousand dunams of natural pasture in the occupied Golan of Syria. That Jewish Agency “represents in the United States the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, which is recognized by the State of Israel as the authorized agency to work in Israel for development and colonization and the absorption and settlement of immigrants", according to the 1967 American Jewish Yearbook. Similar colonization and the settlement of Nahal colonies are taking place in occupied Arab territories. Sc far they number forty-eight, and maps of those territories were distributed to the Second Immigration World Zionist Conference which was held in Jerusalem. 24. A grave international legal problem is involved here; and it is no accident that I mention this fact.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

44. “Eschkol himself, when he stated on 22 June of this year, over a radio station called “Israel": "As for the Security Council resolution of last November, only after the United States had made it clear that it concerned new fixed borders, different from the 4 June lines, to be determined by agreement between Israel and its neighbours, could we co-operate with the United Nations envoy.” 22. That a great Power should abuse its power to that extent, leading the Middle East to the brink of another war, is a blunder which will be harshly judged by the living conscience of mankind and by history. 23. Fourthly, Israel plainly declared its annexation of occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan Heights. The Jewish Agency’s American section announced, on 15 July 1968, plans to exploit those Heights.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

45. “The United States Government must recognize its utter inconsistency before and after the 5 June Israeli war against the Arabs, for in May its representative in the Security Council, while we were sitting there, urged the restoration of the status quo ante between the Arabs and Israel. After the Israeli victory the same representative of the United States stated that the restoration of the status quo ante would constitute, in his own words, a “prescription for war”, and not a “prelude to peace". 21. If further proof is needed, it comes from Mr.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

46. “But Israel, by the economic standards of the United Nations — and, in fact, by all economic standards — is considered to be among the developed, not the underdeveloped, peoples. Israel boasts of its technical assistance programmes to underdeveloped countries. As to its military power and capabilities, suffice it to mention that on 4 October 1968 Mr. Eshkol stated that Israel had the know-how to make atomic bombs. Should we not be surprised, then, when Israel is converted by American legislation into an “underdeveloped” country to enable it to procure free, supersonic jets, missiles and the like for use in pressuring, devastating, conquering and killing the Arabs? 20. Thirdly, the stand of the United States Government on supporting the continued Israeli occupation of Arab lands is flagrant.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

47. “To the Arabs, giving Israel such offensive arms while it occupies Arab territories three times its area is exactly as though the Nazis had been given arms by the United States after their blitzkrieg of Europe in 1941. The ultimate Objectives have been to put pressure on the Arabs to accept the diktat of Israel. 19. Secondly, a more ominous measure is the amendment to the 1967 Foreign Assistance and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill, which took effect on 2 January 1968, directing the President to “subtract from United States aid to all but seven underdeveloped nations the equivalent of what each country spends for such modern arms as jet aircraft and missile systems". Among the seven exempted nations is Israel.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

48. “The Arab peoples, heirs to one of the greatest and most universal cultures of mankind's still living legacy, have been striving to liberate themselves from centuries of alien domination to build a better and fuller life. In this their legitimate struggle for liberation, they have been confronted with the radically anti-democratic and destructive United States policy. To achieve these ends Israel is but one of the means the United States has been using. It would take long to retail our bill of complaints, but I shall confine myself to the following. 18. First, the negotiations initiated by the United States Government to give fifty Phantom jets to Israel comes as no surprise to us, knowing the unblushing support that this Government has given Israel for the last twenty-five years.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

49. “Israel, its aggression and its continued occupation of Arab land. In the words of a distinguished Jewish historian, J. L. Talman, “the establishment of Israel confronted the Arabs with the injury and shame of having an alien race injected by imperialism into the nerve centres of the Arab homeland". The United States itself, born from one of the greatest revolutions of modern history, which has influenced the progress of mankind, has, unfortunately, through the retrogressive policies of its Government inherited Western colonial domination and consequently become the staunch enemy of every revolution in the world. Such was and still is its policy towards the Arabs.”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)

50. “Any other approach would lead to nothing but palliatives, especially in the absence of the people directly concerned — I mean the Arab people of Palestine. The Israeli war of 5 June against the Arabs is the culmination — though not yet the climax — of the Western colonial economic onslaught on the Arabs for oil and strategy which started in the last century. The total profits of oil companies operating in Arab countries are of the magnitude of $3,000 million a year. The total United States official bilateral assistance to the whole African continent for 1969 will be less than one quarter of the profits that American oil companies derive from operating only in one Arab oil-producing country. These figures are startling - but they are there. 17. What reward did the Arabs get from the United States Government?”

    1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)