UN Secretariat Item Scan - Barcode - Record Title Page 25 Date 15/05/2006 Time 3:55:03 PM S-0888-0004-03-00001 Expanded Number S-0888-0004-03-00001 ltems-in-Middle East - excerpts from the verbatim records of the 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th Regular Sessions of the General Assembly containing references to the Secretary-General and the situation in the Middle East Date Created 01/01/1969 Record Type Archival Item Container S-0888-0004: United Nations Documents of the Secretary-General: U Thant - Arranged by Subject Print Name of Person Submit Image Signature of Person Submit EXCERPTS PROM THE VERBATIM RECORDS OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH REGULAR SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONTAINING REFERENCES TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND TO THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST Opening Meeting The Temporary President (A/PV.1753 at page 3): "... In the Middle East, notwithstanding the efforts of the General Assembly and the Security Council, nothing has "been achieved "beyond a precarious truce constantly "broken by grave incidents, acts of terrorism and reprisals." General Debate Mr. de Magalhaes Pinto. Brazil (A/PV.1T55 at page 7): "... Then the idea prevails that, in the final analysis, after duly weighing and measuring the realities of power, it might be more advisable, more realistic, to set the matter aside in order to leave it to the discretion of the super-Powers, as if a new world directorate had already been established. This is exactly what has happened in the case of the Middle East, and of other world problems as well, such as disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons." "... In a world continually drawn between the opposing forces of policentrism and bipolarization, the so-called small conflicts tend to insert themselves into the context of larger and more complex ones affecting the whole international community. The Brazilian delegation called the attention of the Security Council to this point when we emphasized some time ago in that forum that the problem of the Middle East, difficult enough to settle on its own terms, could become downright impossible to solve if — 2 — allowed to move in the direction it is even now taking, of "becoming one more chapter in the long history of confrontations between the great Powers." (A/PV.1755 at page 8) "... And, more than once in the debates held in the Security Council on the question of the Middle East, Brazil had the opportunity to stress and emphasize the special responsibilities of the major Powers, to which we have addressed an appeal — which has so far been ignored and unheeded — for a reduction or balance in the supply of armaments and war material to the parties in the dispute." (A/PV.1755 at page 12) "A joint participation in which all voices can make themselves heard is just as necessary in connexion with problems such as that of the Middle East." (A/PV.1755 at page 13) "... As one of the largest Catholic communities in the world, Brazil attaches particular importance to the question of the Holy Places. ¥e continue to maintain the necessity for implementing resolution 267 (1969) of the Security Council, unanimously adopted on 3 July 19&9» and we cannot remain indifferent to the measures, unilaterally adopted, which aim at altering the status of the City of Jerusalem." - 5 - Address by His Excellency Mr. Richard M. Nixon President of the United States of America President Wixon (A/PV.1T55 at page 2J): "Already, as you know, we have had extensive consultations with the Soviet Union as well as with others about the Middle East, where events of the past few days point up anew the urgency of a sta"ble peace. "The United States continues to believe that the United Nations cease-fire resolutions define the minimal conditions that must prevail on the ground if settlement is to be achieved in the Middle East. We believe the Security Council resolution of November 1967 charts the way to that settlement. A peace, to be lasting, must leave no seeds for a future war. It must rest on a settlement which both sides have a vested interest in maintaining. "We seek a settlement based on respect for the sovereign right of each nation in the area to exist within secure and recognized boundaries. We are convinced that peace cannot be achieved on the basis of substantial alterations in the map of the Middle East. We are equally convinced that peace cannot be achieved on the basis of anything less than a binding, irrevocable commitment by the parties to live together in peace. "Failing a settlement, an agreement on the limitation of the shipment of arms to the Middle East might help to stabilize the situation. We have indicated to the Soviet Union, without result, our willingness to enter such discussions. "In addition to our talks on the Middle East, we hope soon to begin talks with the Soviet Union on the limitation of strategic arms. There is no more important task before us. The date we propose for the opening of talks has passed for lack of response. We remain ready to enter negotiations." -5- Mr Nilsson, Sweden (A/PV.1T5T at pages "It is deeply regrettable that it has not yet been possible to carry out the decision on the crisis in the Middle East, which the Security Council took in its resolution of 22 November 196?. The peoples in the area continue to live in a condition of political tension, military actions and counter-actions, entailing the risk of serious repercussions also outside the area. This is possibly the risk which has made the four great Powers conduct negotiations on a method to carry out the decision of the Security Council and in this way to facilitate the task of the special representative of the Secretary-General. The day the four great Powers will reach agreement on such a method, the parties must take it fully into account. The efforts of the four Powers deserve our support." Mr. Mercado Jarrin. Peru (A/PV.175T at page "The situation in the Middle East heads the list of problems submitted for consideration. In this, as in other fields, compliance with the resolutions of the United Nations is indispensable, as are also mutual respect among nations, the cessation of all hostilities, the search for a peaceful settlement, the abandonment of all expansionist aims or religious wars and the duty to adjust national will to the imperatives of human rights without which the just and lasting peace we all desire cannot be obtained." -6- Mr Holyoake, New Zealand (A/PV.1757 at page 62): "And it is true that in any stocktaking of our world we see warfare, violence and bloodshed on a massive scale, in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. (A/PV.1757 at pages 66-67) "The most obvious and tragic example of the powerlessness of the United Nations to keep the peace is the drifting and dangerous Middle East conflict. There is no situation in which United Nations involvement is closer, no situation in which the challenge to the Organization is greater or more immediate. We believe it is imperative that increasing efforts be made to reduce the violence and to find a way towards a peaceful settlement of this conflict. My Government supports wholeheartedly every effort to establish peace and security in that region. "There are two aspects of the present situation in the Middle East which give my Government special concern. Ve think it would be horrifying and intolerable if the dispute between Israel and its Arab neighbours were to spawn calculated terror throughout the world. There is some evidence of this. No reasonable person can accept the hijacking of civilian airliners and the destruction of property, with the ever- present threat of loss of innocent lives of people from countries far distant from the Middle East. ¥e believe that this kind of activity is bound to recoil on the heads of the organizations responsible for it. The other aspect which New Zealand sees as being particularly harmful would be any attempt - by either side - deliberately to arouse or inflame -7- religious feelings as a means of heightening the tensions and hatreds that may exist." Mr. Eban. Israel (A/PV.1T5T at pages J6 and 77): "Since the invasion of Czechslovakia; in South-East Asia by the continued fighting in Viet-Nam; in North-East Asia by ominuous lightning flashes on the Russian-Chinese border; in the Middle East by the formal and effective Egyptian denunciation of the cease-fire; in Africa by the agony of millions in the Biafran region of Nigeria. "Now, the Security Council was able to do nothing about the invasion of Czechslovakia; it has had nothing to say about the war in Viet-Nam; it has not addressed itself to the misery of millions of West Africans caught up in a fate of bloodshed and starvation. It has been silent on the open repudiation by the United Arab Republic of its own cease-fire resolution in the Middle East. It has done nothing yet about the growth of piracy in the air. It has been silent about the macabre gallows on which scores of victims have been publicly throttled in the streets of Baghdad; it has had to listen indulgently to the effort of some Arab States to launch an outrageous campaign of religious incitement, reminiscent of the dark ages, in gleeful exploitation of the deplorable Al Aqza fire. It has been willing, it has been able, as in previous years, to adopt resolutions about the Middle East, and this on two conditions alone: that the texts be acceptable to the Arab States, and -8- that they contain no word of specific criticism about the policies of actions of Arab Governments which have led to the murder of our citizens and an overt threat to assassinate our State.