In a sharply worded letter to Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, Israel pointed out today that “the terrorist PLO boasted” about the latest. atrocity in Nahariya, in which four Israeli civilians were murdered yesterday, and declared that the Israeli government is duty bound “to take all measures necessary to protect the lives and safety of its citizens.”
The letter, from Ambassador Yehuda Blum of Israel, criticized the United Nations for granting the Palestine Liberation Organization “irregular privileges” and said: “The time has surely come for members of the UN to recognize the implications and consequences flowing from any form of cooperation with the terrorist PLO both within and without the framework of the UN.”
Referring to the latest report by Waldheim to the Security Council on the situation in south Lebanon, in which the PLO was “euphemistically called the ‘armed elements,’ “Blum said: “This is the terrorist organization which is directly challenging UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) in the fulfillment of its mandate by continuing to use southern Lebanon as a launching ground for murderous attack against Israel.”
Noting that 1979 was declared by the UN as International Year of the Child, the Israeli envoy charged that the “PLO has chosen its own murderous way to mark this year — with the slaughter and injury of innocent children.” Blum said that since the beginning of this year, 17 children “have been casualties of PLO outrages, in addition to those killed in Nahariya.” Two children were among the four victims of yesterday’s outrage.
In a related reaction to the tragedy in Nahariya; Ivan Novick, president of the Zionist Organization of America, condemned today the PLO’s terrorist attack, calling them “an assault on world morality, and charged nations having any dealings with the PLO with “acquiescence to terrorism.”
Novick said ” PLO representatives sit at the UN, have offices in New York, while the State Department permits them to travel, give speeches and explain their point of view in our country,” Tolerance of the PLO, he added, “encourages terrorism.” The State Department was challenged by Novick to make clear its decision that “once and for all — the PLO is not an acceptable partner in any negotiations,” in the Mideast.
The ZOA leader added that the UN, which has forces in Lebanon, and Syria, which is occupying Lebanon, show responsibility for PLO terrorism. “Their failure to restrain the PLO makes them accessories to these crimes,” he declared.
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