YouSaid · the spoken record

Caid Essebsi

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS CAID ESSEBSI

lines on the record: 148
first: 1981-09-24
most recent: 1984-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“If these many conflicts, and others, are a heavy burden on international relations, there is one particular one which from our own standpoint constitutes the most direct and most serious threat to international peace and security. That is the tragedy of the Palestinian people and of that brazier which is the Middle East. That explosive situation is of the gravest concern to us. Indeed, ever since its foundation Israel has constantly and relentlessly pursued the same policy of permanent and systematic violation of the principles and rules of the Charter. The may be resolutions, decisions and recommendations adopted in the United Nations system have remained dead letters, which is very eloquent testimony to the arrogance and disrespect which Israel has ceaselessly shown to the international community. 227.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We exhort them to bring about peace, peace with honour and dignity, in which there will be no victor and no vanquished. 225. Central America cannot remain outside this interminable list of hotbeds of serious tension throughout the world. We would remind those who are tempted to resort to a show of force and violence that lasting solutions can be brought about only by means of political negotiations between the parties concerned. That is what it will take for this disturbed region of the world to recover peace and stability and for its peoples to consolidate their gains on the way to liberty and independence. 226.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“It is time for the Afghan and the Kampuchean peoples, as for other peoples, to have restored to them the right to speak. 224. In the Gulf region, for three years now we have witnessed the continuance of a fratricidal and unjustifiable war between Iraq and Iran, with an increase in the cruel loss of human life and property and an exacerbation of the danger to stability and equilibrium throughout the region. In Tunisia we are extremely sensitive to the effects of this murderous confrontation between two peoples which are both so close to us. We call on the leaders of those two brother and neighbour countries to have recourse to peaceful means of settling conflicts, as advocated by the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and in the Charter of the United Nations.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“To those who are relentlessly waging a genuine struggle for liberation and civilization, to the people of South Africa and its leaders from the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress, we would like to reaffirm here our active support and solidarity. 222. As I said at the beginning of my statement, in this era of tension and conflict no continent is spared. 223. In South-East and South-West Asia there persist conflicts which are a challenge to the Organization and the principles of its Charter. To this day, foreign troops continue to occupy Afghanistan and Kampuchea. The peoples of those two countries are still being prevented from freely exercising their right to decide on their own system of government.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We expect of those who bear special responsibility for the implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978), and who so far have not been able to keep the promises they have made us, explanations and indications of their intentions. 221. Similarly, we expect explanations of the action undertaken or to be undertaken to put an end to that major aberration of our time, the inhuman practice of apartheid which the Pretoria regime continues to elevate to the status of a system. We believe that this scourge of mankind constitutes a political, economic and social problem, but also and above all a problem of civilization.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“No sign of goodwill should be rejected and no efforts should be spared to achieve this goal. 219. On the African continent there still persists an anachronistic problem which threatens ultimately to become the most resounding failure of this Organization, of the principles it advocates and indeed of international legality itself. This is the question of Namibia, which is still under the yoke of illegal occupation and the worst type of colonialism. 220. After so many concessions by the Namibian people and its sole representative, the South West Africa People's Organization, after proofs of impartiality and balance by the United Nations, no pretext or subterfuge—certainly not one which would make of the sacred struggle of the Namibian people an East-West issue—is any longer acceptable.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“Bearing in mind that war has been ravaging that brother country for nearly two decades, Tunisia can only exhort the people of Chad to try to act so as to spare themselves the horrors of war, desolation and death and not to allow themselves to be deflected from their proper course, which is that of devoting their efforts to the social and economic development which they so sorely need. It is essential that the language of guns and bombs be replaced by the language of dialogue and negotiation between the parties concerned, on the basis in particular of respect for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-intervention in the internal affairs of States. 218. In this regard, the OAU offers a framework which will make it possible to bring back peace and harmony in this sensitive region of our continent.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“In this context, the OAU—which at the nineteenth session of its Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held at Addis Ababa from 6 to 12 June 1983, proved to the world its ability to pull itself together and overcome its transient difficulties—will find less difficult its work in dealing with the conflict which persists in the north-west region of the continent. Tunisia, for its part, while subscribing to the resolutions of the heads of African States on the question of Western Sahara, which it considers to be important steps in the right direction, will be ready to undertake at any time any action that may be deemed useful. 216. It is in the same spirit and with the same readiness that Tunisia views the other conflicts which have shaken the African continent, and in particular the conflict which is raging in Chad. 217.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“It is in this spirit, in a process of development, aware of the need to lay the foundations of a solid and lasting edifice, open to all our partners in the region, that we view the Treaty of Friendship and Concord between Tunisia and Algeria, signed on 19 March 1983 by President Habib Bourguiba and President Benjedid Chadli. 214. This act, which we believe to be of historic significance, opens to our eyes the path towards a common future. Freely entered into by the various partners in the whole of the Maghreb, this could constitute a precedent for African, Arab or other regions. 215.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“In this world of disorder and ever growing tension we are happy to note that the action undertaken in our Maghreb region for almost a year now is designed to bring about the easing of tension and the narrowing of differences in a spirit of concord, harmony and complementarity. 212. Thanks to the wisdom of the leaders of the Maghreb, we can assert that it is now generally conceded that the relations between our countries can be based only on the principle of interdependence, that conflicts and crises which affect some inexorably have an effect on the interests of others, and that therefore we must show solidarity concerning the way in which we want to mold our own world for ourselves and for future generations. 213.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“Finally, it is our conviction that it is within the framework of the Organization, the objective of which is universality, that the interdependence of our interests, our common destiny, in short, our indispensable solidarity, can find expression and concrete form. 210. This solidarity, which we have always believed to be essential within our own frontiers, is something which we consistently propose beyond our frontiers as the best means of ensuring stability, development and peace, first and foremost in our own region, for our brothers and neighbours in the Arab Maghreb. 211.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“In pleading once again the cause of the strengthening of the United Nations and strict respect for the principles of the Charter, Tunisia is simply acting in accordance with its profound convictions, the first of which is that the United Nations constitutes the sole and ultimate recourse for those of us that are the victims of any violation of the principles which underlie the conduct of international relations. It is also our conviction that it is this Organization that establishes the law and creates international legality, that very legality of which my country has made a watchword and which President Bourguiba—desirous of giving his own thinking and action the necessary legitimacy—has always advocated as a basis for the settlement of conflicts throughout the world.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“They are responsible to all the Members of the Organization and to the international community for the use they make of the powers conferred upon them. 208. It is necessary for the permanent members to accept the fact that improvements in the functioning of the Council are necessary to ensure that its action is effective. It is also necessary that the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization apply itself seriously to its work and at last present us with its recommendations with a view to rationalizing our working methods and enabling the Organization to fulfil its responsibilities properly, particularly with regard to international peace and security. 209.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We must give the widest possible hearing to the appeal of the Secretary-General, who, shouldering his responsibilities with a courage and frankness to which I should like to pay tribute, did not hesitate in his report to this session in calling us to recognize our responsibilities and inviting us to renew our faith in the principles of the Charter and our commitment to the Organization. 206. But over and above this profession of faith to which we have been invited, we must of course give deeper thought to specific measures that could restore to the United Nations its prestige and credibility. 207. It is necessary for the members of the Security Council, particularly the permanent members, to recognize that their responsibility in the matter of international peace and security is as much a collective as an individual responsibility.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We are even impelled to consider whether the world has not finally entered a stage when the levers of command are pulled at the dictates of circumstance rather than as the result of deliberate policy. This is a frightening thing in the nuclear age. 205. The time has come for the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, to which all of us here have subscribed, to be brought back into force and scrupulously observed. The time has come to accept that the United Nations is the sole instrument which can save us from chaos, anarchy and war.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“It is for all the world as if the powerful protagonists in this world have adjusted themselves to the prevailing anarchy on the international scene, exploiting it to strengthen their own positions, to consolidate their gains, to expand their zones of operation, interest or influence, to organize anarchy to their own advantage, to arm themselves and over-arm themselves, invoking various pretexts or theories, each one less convincing than the last, disregarding the coming holocaust, giving precedence to selfish national concerns and immediate interests over any consideration of ethics or respect for the unanimously acknowledged principles of law. During this period, when confidence has disappeared from international relations, this is what seems to determine the attitudes and conduct of the most powerful. 204.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We note that within this context and within this kind of logic, arms become the expression and the means of a policy becomes a so-called imperative necessity, while at the same time hunger, disease and poverty are stalking throughout the world and the economic crisis, with its particularly disastrous consequences for developing countries, is assuming global dimensions. 203.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We know that force cannot provide a lasting solution of any dispute, and that in any case it has never provided a solution for deep-rooted problems which remain complete and intact. 201. We know that there is a people still condemned to wandering, that another is still groaning under the yoke of colonialism and segregationist, and that in various places on all the continents the rights of States, peoples and individuals are being violated, that insecurity reigns everywhere, even on board civilian aircraft of regular airlines. 202.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We see absolutely none of the changes we had hoped for in the attitudes and conduct which in fact originally led to the state of disorder and anarchy which we are living through today. On the contrary, we note a decline in the world situation and an exacerbation of the dangers threatening mankind as a whole. We see that there is an upsurge of violence in all its forms, in terms of a systematic recourse to force on the pretext of security, ideology, retaliation, pre-emption or plain intimidation; a recrudescence of localized conflicts, declared or latent, gravely threatening regional equilibrium; and the undertaking of military operations which are as dangerous as they are futile. 200.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We were very appreciative of that, and we should like today to pay him the sincere tribute due him. 197. In undertaking last year an evaluation of the situation in the world, all of us agreed with the Secretary- General that the world was "perilously close to international anarchy". 198. More than six months ago the heads of State and Government of the non-aligned countries, at their seventh Conference, solemnly reconfirmed the details of that view. What we called the "New Delhi Message" contained an urgent appeal for a general heightening of awareness. It advocated at the same time concerted action to restore peace and security and to promote development in harmony. 199. We see today that although the diagnosis was confirmed, it has not been followed by any concerted action.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“195. Tunisia is particularly happy to see such an eminent statesman as Mr. Illueca presiding over the work of the thirty-eighth session of the General Assembly. He represents Panama, a friendly country and a member of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries which has distinguished itself by its active support for just causes throughout the world. In conveying to him the warm congratulations of the Tunisian delegation, which in the past has had occasion to appreciate his distinguished personal qualities, we find it a pleasure to be working under him again. We assure him of our wholehearted support and co-operation. 196. His predecessor as President, Mr. Imre Hollai of Hungary, discharged his important functions with an acute sense of responsibility and objectivity, allied with great competence and unfailing courtesy.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We must take fully into account our com¬plementarity and our interdependence in order to prepare at last a new international order suited to our time. We must ensure strict respect for the principles embodied in the Charter and make this forum the primary place for agreement and negotiation, which alone can enable us to find comprehensive and generally acceptable solutions to our problems. 171. By adopting that course of action we defend the aims and objectives of the Organization and disprove the forecasts of its critics by strengthening its effectiveness, its prestige and its credibility. This is the course that Tunisia intends resolutely to pursue.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“The agenda of the thirty-seventh session, on only a few items of which I have touched, clearly demonstrates the seriousness of our responsibilities and the importance of the task before us, an enormous and most exhilarating task if we are truly to find solu¬tions to the problems of our day and prepare a better future for ourselves and our children. We must, first and foremost, rid ourselves of the specter of war and the threat of a nuclear holocaust, for which some with thoughtless equanimity are preparing. 169. It is urgently necessary to put an end to so-called localized wars and other regional conflicts which, like the one in the Middle East, spread and grow sharper day by day, bearing the constant danger of an overall conflagration. 170.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“It could destroy the rare achievements of multilateral co-operation, the results of so many years of effort. 167. We for our part will continue to believe in the virtues of dialogue and agreement, a democratic, com¬prehensive, global dialogue for the consideration of questions and for decision-making. In this respect, we are pleased that the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea has arrived at a convention which, despite the dissatisfaction that it may have provoked in certain quarters, none the less constitutes the embodiment of the law. We strongly hope that the results of 10 years of painstaking efforts and intense negotiations will soon be formally adopted by the entire international community. 168.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“Such deterioration may not only hinder the implementation of those countries^ projects and pro¬grammes but even endanger the very principle of multilateral co-operation, which is urgently necessary for the international community, and in particular for developing countries. 165. It is essential, bearing in mind how far we are from attaining the objectives that we have set through our agreements, to redouble our efforts to give UNDP the financial means that it needs to enable it to sup¬port and aid the developing countries on a foreseeable, secure and continuing basis in their economic and social development efforts. 166. This attitude of rejection and obstruction on the part of certain developed countries is undeniably harmful to both the credibility and the ideals of the United Nations.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“Paradoxically, however, we are witnessing an erosion of the spirit of international co-operation. In recent years the developing countries have faced the rejection of dialogue by their industrialized partners from the north. 164. Our disappointment and our frustrations are increasing. Never before has international co-operation met so many obstacles, so often been deadlocked. We are even witnessing a calling into question of mutually accepted commitments to increase con¬siderably the financial resources of UNDP. The deterioration of the financial situation of UNDP is a source of concern and anxiety for all the developing countries.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“Instead of seizing the opportunity to engage in genuine, constructive and comprehensive negotia¬tions, our partners from the developed countries seem more concerned to safeguard and protect the excessive advantages inherited from an unjust economic order. 162. We are very disturbed at the lack of the sincere political will to launch the global negotiations on international economic co-operation for develop¬ment. We believe it is high time for the international community to reach agreement in this respect. 163. It is encouraging to see in the communique issued after the Versailles Economic Summit in June that the growth of the developing countries and the strengthening of constructive relations with them are vital to the political and economic prosperity of the world.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“The steady deterioration of the economic conditions of the developing countries does not seem to be of much concern to the industrialized countries, which, claiming domestic economic difficulties, obstruct change and oppose reform. 161. Urgent change is none the less greatly needed in order to restructure international economic relations on the basis of justice, equity and sovereign equality, in accordance with the objectives of the new interna¬tional economic order. To that end the members of the Group of 77 have proposed a new approach in a suitable framework. They are prepared to undertake, through global negotiations, an egalitarian, universal and dynamic dialogue, in order to study in a democratic forum, that of the General Assembly, the major problems in the way of international economic co¬operation.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“Furthermore, the excessive indebtedness of the majority of developing countries has passed the critical threshold, and may at any time plunge many of these countries into bankruptcy. In addition, the proliferation and strengthening of protectionist measures in the developed countries may stifle, if they have not already done so, the emerging industries of the developing countries. 160. In brief, in their economic and social develop¬ment efforts the developing countries are facing serious obstacles: a deficit in the balance of payments, deterioration in the terms of trade, a decrease in the volume of their exports, higher debt-servicing costs, over-indebtedness and galloping imported inflation.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“If nothing is done to remedy this situation their numbers will increase in absolute figures by approximately 30 per cent and will reach the figure of 1 billion by the year 2000. 158. In a world economy characterized by uncer¬tainty and instability and affected by destabilizing and disturbing phenomena which seriously obstruct its growth rate in the short and medium term, the prospects for the developing world are grim indeed. 159. The sacrifices and efforts made by the devel¬oping countries, moreover, no longer receive the back¬up and support that are needed from a developed world which is becoming increasingly egocentric. In fact, official development assistance from member countries of the Organization for Economic Co¬operation and Development decreased by 6 per cent in 1981.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“We venture to hope that at this session those who in the past were not ready will have decided to make the necessary efforts to join their will to that of the great majority expressed here, especially through the non-aligned countries, and thus make it possible to prevent a nuclear disaster, achieve general and complete disarmament and focus exclusively on economic and social development in peace and security. 156. The international economic situation continues to stagnate in crisis and is cause for the most serious concern. Year after year we witness a worsening of the already very precarious conditions of two thirds of mankind. The facts are there, shameful, distressing. 157. In 1980 nearly 800 million human beings had an annual per capita income of less than $150 and they continue to live in miserable conditions of absolute poverty.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“It had hoped that the international com¬munity would take appropriate measures to prevent war and to arrive at an agreement which would prohibit for ever the use or the threat of use of nuclear weapons, an agreement on which the fate of all mankind depends. 154. Our disappointment and our frustration were great when our efforts failed. The necessary political will for such an agreement was lacking, particularly on the part of those with the largest arsenals of weapons of destruction. Could it have been otherwise, when the biggest Powers seek only to ensure their own security without much concern for international peace and security? 155.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“We appeal to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Argentina, two friends of Tunisia, to resume, on the basis of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, the dialogue which was interrupted, using once again the good offices of the Secretary- General, whose commendable efforts in that matter, had they not been hindered, would have spared many lives and thus enhanced the role of the United Nations. , 153. In this general context of disorder, tension and confrontation the second special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament was held from 7 June to 10 July last. My country had hoped that that session would bring about a general awareness of the danger of widespread conflagration which haunts the world.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“It is through dialogue and negotiation that just and lasting solutions can be found. This will always be our preferred course of action. We support this same course of action for the settlement of disputes that have lasted some time now, as well as for those that have emerged more recently, such as the conflict that broke out in the South Atlantic over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and which, because it grew out of all proportion, seriously disturbed the world. 152.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“The particularly sensitive Gulf region, because of the unjustified persistence of the war between Iraq and Iran, two fraternal neighbouring countries which should enjoy understanding and co-operation, con¬tinues to constitute a source of major concern to us and to all who desire stability and equilibrium in that region. We have noted with great interest the con¬structive attitude taken by one of the parties and we ask that international legality be respected, here as elsewhere, and that Security Council resolutions 479 (1980) and 514 (1982) be fully implemented. 151. The use of force, regardless of its immediate results, can never bring about peace and security. It is through the peaceful settlement of disputes that the objective of genuine peace can be achieved.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“As regards the situation in Asia, in Afghanistan and in Kampuchea, no notable progress has been recorded in the past year towards the solutions advocated by the General Assembly. Foreign forces are still occupying the territories of those two coun¬tries. The Afghan and Kampuchean peoples are still being prevented from exercising their right freely to decide on their own system of government. Interna¬tional legality and the principles of the Charter con¬tinue to be disregarded. It is time that the peoples of those two countries, like other peoples, at last had the right to speak. 150.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“The conflict in Western Sahara that still disturbs the northern part of the continent, the conflict in the horn of Africa, the problems of refugees, and displaced persons, the problems of drought and hunger, make it necessary for the Africans themselves to redouble their efforts and draw on their traditional wisdom to find settlement procedures that are acceptable to all and thus to strengthen the ranks of the Organization of African Unity, which has throughout its history played a particularly positive and indeed irreplaceable role. 148. The OAU, to which nearly one third of the Mem¬bers of the United Nations belong and which is pursuing at the regional level the same objectives as the United Nations has demonstrated that it is able to contribute substantially to the work of the Organization, which is universal in its calling. 149.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“We appeal to the conscience of the international community so that without further delay that aberra¬tion of our time may be ended, as mankind approaches the end of the twentieth century. It is a political, economic and social problem, but it is also and above all as we see it a problem of civilization. To the people of South Africa, to its leaders, represented by the African National Congress, who are steadfastly struggling for the sake of civilization, we reaffirm our esteem and our active solidarity. 147. Other equally grave hotbeds of tension continue to disturb the African continent.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“It is this legality which we wish to see respected in Namibia and elsewhere. It is the illegal occupation of Namibia that we have always denounced with all our strength. It is recognition of the legitimate rights of the fraternal Namibian people, represented by SWAPO that we demand. It is the rapid and definitive solution of the anachronistic problem of Namibia in application of the relevant United Nations resolutions that is our deepest aspiration. It is our desire to see with us as soon as possible here in the United Nations a free and independent Namibia that we are expressing today, at a time when hope of a solution is dawning. 145. It is in that same spirit that we denounce most forcefully once again today the inhuman practice of apartheid, which the segregationist and racist Pretoria regime has made into a system. 146.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“It is the duty of the Organization and of the Security Council in the first instance to assume their responsibilities, to end this infernal cycle of brute force which can only exacerbate passions, feed the extremists, creates radical attitudes and deals a fatal blow to the hopes for peace of the peoples of that region. 142. It is comforting to see the action taken by the advocates of peace in the Middle East, including Israel itself, growing continuously. Everything must be done to ensure that the Fez message of peace does not become one more lost opportunity. 143. If we are appealing today more than ever for respect for international legality, it is because in this period of disturbance and disorder in which we live legality is the only way for us to speak a common language. It constitutes for us all the law which each must respect. 144.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“However, whereas the peace efforts of the Arab countries arouse interest and even support among many countries, the Tel Aviv authorities, by the use of arrogance and defiance as an overriding weapon, remain hidebound in their complete and total refusal: no to the Fez Arab peace plans; no to the self-determination of the Pal¬estinian people and the creation of their State; no to the existence of the PLO, although it is recognized by 117 States; no to the Venice Declaration; no to the Franco-Egyptian plan; no to the Brezhnev plan; and no to the Reagan plan of September. The entire world is in the wrong; Israel alone is in the right. 141. At the Fez Summit Conference an historic turning point was reached by Arab countries, opening up new prospects towards a lasting peace.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“It also involves the right of all the peoples of the region to live in peace under the guarantee of the Security Council; which has that role in accordance with the Charter. 139. That plan, which has the merit of international legality and takes into account all the recent public peace initiatives—in particular that by President Reagan in which we noted with satisfaction a more correct appreciation of the realities of our region—for the first time presents a specific means of implementing a lasting world solution. 140.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“One reality emerges clearly from all those events: that of an imperative need to end the tragedy of the Middle East. Any further delay would risk jeopardizing forever peace and security in that region and in the world. To that end, the Palestinian people and the other Arab peoples, with a single voice —through their leaders who met at the Twelfth Arab Summit Conference at Fez—have shown their deter¬mination to achieve a just, overall and lasting solution of the problems. 138. Two basic principles were clearly defined: first, the withdrawal by the Israelis from all Arab terri¬tories, including Jerusalem, and then the recognition of the absolute right of the Palestinians to self- determination and to the establishment of their own State under the leadership of the PLO.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“What is involved is an attempt to establish its own order in Lebanon, which is an independent and sovereign country. It is a question of stripping an entire people, the Palestinians, of its rights to self-determination and to a State, and of discrediting its unique and sole representative, the PLO. 136. That is what really lies behind the notion of security invoked each time by Israel; it is nothing but a code name to camouflage dark designs. Do we have to emphasize that security is the constant concern of all peoples in the region? It is also a condition neces¬sary to their development. Security cannot be con¬ceived of as being the supremacy of one State over others, implying a right to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries, nor could security be con¬sidered as a means of legitimizing the subjugation of- peoples. 137.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“By subjecting an entire country to fire and bloodshed, by massacring savagely and indiscrimi¬nately thousands and thousands of innocent people, by depriving blockaded populations of any sanitary or humanitarian aid, by creating finally even more victims, including victims among their own ranks, which has never happened before in the confronta¬tions in that region, was Israel really, in those con¬ditions, responding to its need for security, or did it use its military power to ensure its supremacy? 135. If we are to believe Time magazine of 20 Sep¬tember 1982, Israel is the fourth largest military power in the world. In those conditions, how can they use vulnerability and insecurity as pretexts when what is involved is the appeasement of dominating and expansionist instincts?”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“For 60 years, the Palestinian people, faced with Zionist designs on their country, have never ceased to fight. In spite of the ups and downs of an unequal struggle and the fact that on three occasions since 1948 the Palestinians have been dispersed, Palestinian nationalism has emerged strengthened from each test, because never in the long history of colonialism Las brute force succeeded in overcoming the determina¬tion of peoples who fight for liberation. The Pal¬estinian people, driven from their homeland and pursued with hatred and tenacity in exile, have paid heavily for their recognition of their inalienable right to self-determination and the establishment of their own State. 134.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“In the past, the Tel Aviv authorities tried in vain to establish a tame new administration to carry out in Israeli-style autonomy in the occupied terri¬tories on the West Bank and in Gaza, once the democratically elected municipal councils had been dissolved and replaced by village leagues which are armed groups that bring about Israeli order in the expectation that a quisling will emerge to serve as a likely negotiator. 13z. Neither the systematic repression of the occupied territories, nor the use of sophisticated military arsenals, including phosphorous and frag¬mentation bombs as well as implosion bombs, or the terrible bombardment of west Beirut, has succeeded in overcoming the determination of the Palestinians to fight to defend their legitimate cause, as President Reagan himself recognized in his statement on 1 September. 133.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“In fact since that time, the Israeli Army, with considerable manpower and material of a very sophisticated kind, has invaded more than half of Lebanon, causing immense destruction and partic¬ularly heavy human losses among the Lebanese and Palestinian populations, estimated by UNICEF to be 30,000 dead and wounded in Beirut alone. 130. Under the false pretext of ensuring the security of its northern frontiers, where a ceasefire has been in force since July 1981, Israel has put into operation the final phase —in accordance with its strategy—of its plan to annihilate the Palestinian resistance centered on the PLO, leading to the elimina¬tion of the Palestinian presence in Lebanon, by terrorization and the destruction of their shelters. 131.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“This tragedy, unprecedented in the recent history of mankind, is the logical consequence of the paranoia characteristic of those in power in Israel, who consider each Pal¬estinian a potential terrorist and, as such, an absolute evil which must be rooted out and exterminated. Is not a former Prime Minister of Israel alleged to have admitted to that sense of fear at the birth of each Palestinian child? 129. What can only be called the hasty retreat of the multinational forces of separation in leaving the refugee camps without protection, despite the fears expressed in the first place by the Palestinian leaders, was evidence of that criminal design. This appalling slaughter, among the victims of which were thousands of women, children and the elderly, is the result of this diabolical war launched by the Israeli Government on 6 June.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“The General Assembly is beginning its work at a time when the entire world has just witnessed a frightful massacre carried out in cold blood in Pal¬estinian refugee camps by armed bands trained and financed by Tel Aviv, in the presence and with the complicity of the Israeli occupation forces which had encircled the Sabra and Shatila camps. The wave of Shock at this hateful crime has led to consternation, horror and outrage throughout the world. There is not the slightest doubt that by moving into west Beirut, in violation of the agreements reached through the intermediary of the Habib mission, the Israeli leaders bear the whole responsibility for this crime against humanity. Under the pretext of protecting the civilian population of Beirut, they in fact allowed their legion of mercenaries to do the dirty work.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)