Arabs Assail Israel in General Assembly; Israel Calls for Dialogue Not Propaganda

Syrian representative Abdallah F. El-Khani charged yesterday that the United States Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean was “preparing with the criminal forces of Israel to attack my country. Syria.” He charged further that support of Israeli “aggression” by a nation that “puts its imperialist designs above its moral duties” undermines international law and United Nations action. Mr. El-Khani added that the continued Israeli occupation of Arab territories was the world’s biggest post-World War II offense, and that there could be no international peace and security “if this cancer is not cured.” The Syrian spoke as the General Assembly’s First (Political and Security) Committee neared the conclusion of its two-week debate on four draft resolutions and two amendments on the strengthening of international security. The first draft, submitted by the Soviet Union and seven other socialist countries. condemns military occupation and the resisting of “national liberation movements.” Mr. El-Khani called for the rights of self-determination, liberation of occupied areas and UN recognition of struggles for independence. He also sought a strengthening of the Security Council to deal with these issues.

Before the Syrian delivered his remarks. Israeli representative Amiel Najar asserted that international security would be strengthened best by eradicating racial and religious discrimination and encouraging development. He urged that the General Assembly be used as a forum for reconciliation, not for propaganda, and said that attacks on Israel would not help the search for peace. Lebanese Ambassador Edouard Ghorra averred that the UN Charter was adequate for the maintenance of global security, but that the major powers were thwarting its implementation by their tolerance of what he called the destructive nature of the Korean war, the Indochina war and Israeli “aggression” in the Middle East. He again called for total Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab areas. Representative Talib El-Shibib of Iraq said that Mideast security has been “a cruel dream” for too long and threatened to break out into a global war. He charged that the creation of Israel violated the UN Charter because it established what he called an alien and expansionist enclave in the Mideast. Rachid Driss of Tunisia agreed that Israeli withdrawal and Palestinian rights were required for a Mideast peace. He noted that the ceasefire in the Middle East should be encouraged but added that this was not a final solution. The rights of the Palestinian people had to be recognized, Mr. Driss stated, and “they must be associated with any solution.”