Assembly reiterates call for Middle East peace conference.

The General Assembly has called once again for the convening of an international peace conference on the Middle East, reaffirming its conviction that the question of Palestine is the core of the conflict in the region.

The world body adopted seven resolutions on 4 and 6 December, after separate debates on the situation in the Middle East and on the question of Palestine. It wanted the conference held under UN auspices, with the participation of all parties to the conflict, including the Palestine Liberation organization (PLO), on an equal footing, as well as the five permanent members of the Security Council.

The Security Council was asked to consider guarantees for security measures agreed upon by the conference for all States in the region.

On 16 November, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar reported (A/44/731-S/20968) that "sufficient agreement does not exist, either within the Security Council or among the parties to the conflict, to permit the convening" of that conference.

On 22 November, in another report (A/44/737-S/20971), he told the Assembly that valuable time is passing" in the Middle East and the willingness to negotiate that exists today may be eroded by bitterness resulting from events on the ground". He favoured a well coordinated international effort to help the parties enter into an effective negotiating process towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar also said he was greatly anguished by developments in Lebanon, and reaffirmed UN support for efforts to restore Lebanon's unity, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Peace is indivisible 

In its resolutions, the Assembly declared that peace in the region was indivisible and must be based on a comprehensive, just and lasting solution of the Middle East problem. Such a solution, it stated, would ensure the unconditional withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab territories, and would enable the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the PLO, to exercise its inalienable rights, including the establishment of its independent sovereign state in Palestine.

States were called upon to end the flow to Israel of any military, economic, financial and technological aid.

Israel voted against all seven resolutions. The United States opposed six, abstaining on a text calling invalid and illegal Israel's decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem.

In other action, the Assembly declared that Israel's continued occupation of the Syrian Arab Golan Heights and its decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on it constituted an act of aggression. It asked for a suspension of any military or other assistance to Israel.

The Assembly also asked the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to implement the Programme of Action for Achievement of Palestinian Rights, adopted at the 1983 International Conference on the Question of Palestine.

On 6 December, after sponsors agreed not to insist on a vote, the Assembly deferred consideration of a draft text recommending that the status of Palestine be changed, in the UN, from that of an observer organization to that of an observer state. By the draft, the Assembly would have decided that the "designation Palestine shall be construed, within the United Nations, as the State of Palestine, without prejudice to the acquired rights of the Palestine Liberation Organizaton in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions and practice". In 1988, the General Assembly had acknowledged the proclamation of the State of Palestine by the Palestine National Council and had decided the UN should refer to the PLO, which has observer status, as "Palestine" in future.

Palestinian rights

On 6 October, the Assembly condemned what it termed Israeli "persistent policies and practices" violating the human rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories. The vote was 140 to 2 against (Israel, United States), with 6 abstentions.

In resolution 44/2, entitled "the uprising (intifadah) of the Palestinian people", the Assembly reaffirmed that Israel's occupation of those territories in no way changed their legal status. The world body demanded that Israel abide by the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. The Security Council was asked to urgently consider the situation in the occupied territories with a view to considering measures needed to provide international protection to Palestinian civilians".

Israel called the ritualistic" resolution a flagrant exercise in public relations", making peace more distant. It said international law placed on Israel alone the responsibility to maintain public order and safety in the "administered territories".

The United States said the text presented a one-sided view of the difficult situation in the occupied territories, without regard to the complex political and security environment in the area".

More action

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People reported (A/44/35) that the growing deterioration of the situation in the occupied territories imposed a moral duty on the UN and the international community to bring about a settlement and ensure the safety of the Palestinian people under occupation.

On 8 December, the Assembly adopted seven more resolutions based on the work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories.

Among other things, it called for return of all displaced Arab and Palestinian inhabitants to their homes; condemned actions against students and faculties; and deplored Israel's detention of thousands of Palestinians. It also demanded a stop to deportations of Palestinians from the territories and changes in the legal status, geographical nature or demographic composition of those territories.

A draft resolution strongly deploring Israeli policies and practices "which violate the human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territory" was vetoed on 7 November in the Security Council by the United States. The other 14 members of the Council voted in favour. The text cited in particular the "siege of towns, the ransacking of the homes of inhabitants, as has happened at Beit Sahur, and the illegal and arbitrary confiscation of their property and valuables".

The draft was sponsored by Algeria, Colombia, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Nepal, Senegal and Yugoslavia. Twenty-one speakers participated in debate during three meetings held on 6 and 7 November.

By the draft, the Council would have also called upon Israel to "desist from committing such practices and actions and lift its siege", and urged that Israel return the "illegally and arbitrarily confiscated property to its owners".

The Council would have also reaffirmed that the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War was applicable to the "Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem". Israel would have been called upon to abide "immediately and scrupulously" by that Convention, and to desist forthwith from those policies and practices which were in violation of its provisions.

All High Contracting Parties to the Convention would have been called upon to ensure respect for it, "including the obligation of the occupying Power ... to treat the population of the occupied territory humanely at all times and in all circumstances".

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar would have been asked to report on the situation through on-site monitoring.

'Unbalanced', says Mr. Pickering

Explaining the negative vote, Thomas Pickering of the United States called the text "unbalanced", as it criticized Israeli actions without referring to acts of violence directed by Palestinians against Israelis or by Palestinians against other Palestinians.

Johanan Bein of Israel said that the rate of PLO attacks against Palestinians had increased sharply following the promulgation in April 1989 of what he termed Israel's "peace initiative" the "only realistic, viable and practical endeavour towards a solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict".

Zuhdi Labib Terzi, Observer of Palestine, said it was distressing to see that the Council's overwhelming concern regarding the situation had been "undermined" by a permanent member, preventing the Secretary-General from convening a Council meeting to start a "comprehensive peace process".

Action on Palestinian refugees

On 8 December, the General Assembly extended until 30 June 1993 the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The 40-year-old agency was established on 8 December 1949. Governments were asked to make "generous efforts" to meet the anticipated UNRWA needs.

A 1990 General Fund budget of $208.3 million-an increase of $11.3 million-is expected. Pledges totalling nearly $76 million for 1990 were made on 16 November at a special meeting.

In all, the General Assembly adopted 11 resolutions on 8 December concerning Palestine refugees, including a call for guarantee of their legal and human rights, resettlement and housing, compensation for lost property, education, financing of UNRWA, and restoring the general ration.

Mandate of Golan

Force extended

On 29 November, the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for a six-month period until 31 May 1990. The Council acted unanimously in adopting resolution 645 (1989). The Force was created in 1974 to maintain the cease-fire between Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic in the Golan Heights area. The 1,334-member Force draws troops from Austria, Canada, Finland and Poland.

Blanchard appointed Special Adviser

for occupied territories

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar has appointed Francis Blanchard-former DirectorGeneral of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)-as his Special Adviser on economic development in the occupied Palestinian territories. He will co-ordinate assistance from UN bodies to Palestinians and work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).