114th Plenary Meeting of General Assembly: 50th Session - Part 2

Israel's aggression should be condemned, in face of Security Council failure, General Assembly told at 114th meeting.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / General Assembly
• Video Length: 01:02:43
• Production Date: 24 April 1996
• Asset Language: Original; English; French; Spanish
• Personal Subject: AHMAD HALLAK; HANS BIORN LIAN; HASAN ABU-NIMAH; HISASHI OWADA; ISMAIL RAZALI; IVAN ZDRAVKO MISIC; JULIO LONDOÑO-PAREDES; MANUEL TELLO; MOHAMMED AL-KHUSSAIBY
• Corporate Name: PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION - PLO
• Subject Topical: AGGRESSION; INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY; MIDDLE EAST SITUATION; NEGOTIATION; PEACE AND SECURITY
• Geographic Subject: LEBANON; MIDDLE EAST
• MAMS Id: 2369060
• Parent Id: 845769

Description

The General Assembly should act resolutely to condemn Israeli aggression in the face of the Security Council's failure to do so, several speakers told the Assembly this morning, in its second day of debate on the situation in the Middle East. The Assembly is meeting to consider Israeli actions in Lebanon, in response to a request by the Non-Aligned Movement. The representative of Egypt, one of 18 speakers this morning, said that the Council had dragged its feet and failed to deal firmly with Israel's actions. That was tantamount to an abdication of its responsibility for international peace and security and set a dangerous precedent. It was time for "the hellish, vicious cycle of violence to end". The strategic use of aggression to achieve short-term goals motivated by electoral interests should also be stopped. Syria's representative said that the Assembly should condemn the aggression and force Israel to withdraw immediately from all Lebanese territory, implement Council resolution 425 (1978) and compensate Lebanon. Such an action would help ensure United Nations' integrity and save it from the charges that it applied double standards in dealing with the Middle East. Among the speakers who stressed that the Middle East peace process be put back on track, Norway's representative pointed to some positive signs, including the decision by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to commence the final status negotiations, as scheduled in May. The representative of the Russian Federation, a co-sponsor of the Madrid peace process, said Lebanon and Israel should negotiate their differences on the basis of Security Council resolution 425 (1978), which called for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and security for Israel.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Indonesia, Tunisia, Kuwait, Algeria, Cuba, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Jordan, Oman, Japan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Malaysia and Mexico.

The Assembly will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue its discussion on the Israeli action in Lebanon.

For further details please see source:
MEETINGS COVERAGE

For further details please see official record:
A/50/PV.114