STATEMENT OF COMMITTEE ON PALESTINIAN RIGHTS ON FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY

OF SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 242 (1967) ADOPTION

 

The following statement was adopted today by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People meeting in New York:

This week marks the fortieth anniversary of the adoption by the Security Council on 22 November 1967 of resolution 242.  “Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war”, the Council called in this resolution for “the withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied” in the conflict.  The Council further affirmed the necessity for achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem.  Although the message of the resolution is clear, four decades later, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem remain under Israeli military occupation.  Until this day, the Palestinian people has been denied the right to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty in its own land.  It is for this reason that the political significance of resolution 242 needs restating today.

Since 1967, the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People have repeatedly called upon Israel to live up to its obligations as the occupying Power under international humanitarian law.  The Palestinian civilian population, who was to be protected under the Fourth Geneva Convention, has suffered exceedingly long subjected to daily violence, subjugation and humiliation.  Moreover, the occupying Power has continued to create illegal facts on the ground by confiscating vast areas of Palestinian land, constructing and expanding settlements, establishing settler outposts, moving its own population to the Occupied Territory.  The separation wall being constructed in the Occupied West Bank and around East Jerusalem has substantially worsened the conditions of occupation through taking additional land from the Palestinians, separating Palestinians from Palestinians, and further complicating their movement.  In light of this, the Committee strongly urges the world community, especially the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to take appropriate and urgent action in accordance with its Article 1 to ensure respect for the Convention.

The Committee reiterates that the occupation is the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the core of which is the question of Palestine.  Israel must withdraw from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Syrian Golan in keeping with resolution 242 and as further reinforced in resolution 338 (1973) and numerous subsequent Security Council resolutions.  Resolution 242 has been at the centre of all attempts to resolve the present conflict.  Also, the principle of land for peace has been recognized as the basis for any peace negotiations by the parties and constitutes the foundation of all current initiatives, including the Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative.

The Committee calls on the Security Council to act decisively in implementation of its own resolutions with respect to the question of Palestine, in particular resolutions 242 and 338.  The Committee is also hopeful that, as the principal United Nations organ responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, the Council will live up to its obligations under the United Nations Charter.  The Committee for its part will continue to fulfil its General Assembly mandate aimed at helping the Palestinian people realize its inalienable rights with a view to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting solution of the question of Palestine.

Text of Resolution

The full text of Security Council resolution 242 (1967), adopted unanimously at the 1382^nd meeting, reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

Expressing its continuing concern with the grave situation in the Middle East,

“Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security,

“Emphasizing further that all Member States in their acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations have undertaken a commitment to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter,

“1. Affirms that the fulfilment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:

(i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;

(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force;

“2. Affirms further the necessity

(a)For guaranteeing freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area;

(b)For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem;

(c)For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political independence of every State in the area, through measures including the establishment of demilitarized zones;

“3. Requests the Secretary-General to designate a Special Representative to proceed to the Middle East to establish and maintain contacts with the States concerned in order to promote agreement and assist efforts to achieve a peaceful and accepted settlement in accordance with the provisions and principles in this resolution;

“4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the progress of the efforts of the Special Representative as soon as possible.”

* *** *

For information media • not an official record