The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations asked UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim yesterday to give the “strictest possible interpretation” of the “observer status” granted the Palestine Liberation Organization by the General Assembly last year.
A Conference delegation, headed by its chairman, Rabbi Israel Miller, told the Secretary General at a meeting at the UN that the Jewish community was concerned that PLO “observers” might be granted diplomatic immunity by the UN. Rabbi Miller said later that Waldheim had “listened seriously” but made no promise. He also said that Waldheim indicated that he was “fully aware” of the damage done the good name of the UN by the anti-Israel resolutions of UNESCO.
Rabbi Miller, noting that the PLO subscribed to murder and violence and regarded every Jew as an enemy, cited a recent statement by Al Saiqa, the Syrian-sponsored branch of the PLO that the PLO would strike at Israeli targets anywhere in the world, including New York City. He said he had a nightmare vision of PLO representatives walking the streets of New York under diplomatic immunity granted them by the UN.
Rabbi Miller cited a resolution adopted by the UN Conference in Vienna last Friday asking that the PLO “observers mission” at UN headquarters in New York be granted the same diplomatic immunities and privileges accorded the delegates of sovereign nations.
He said he has studied the UN General Assembly’s resolution granting the PLO “observer status” “the way I study a verse from the Bible. We want a narrow interpretation of what ‘observer’ means,” Rabbi Miller said he told Waldheim. He added: “We are going to raise some of these issues with our government. It is important that the issue be raised now, when there is time to consider it.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
