The Soviet Union and its allies continued today to use the General Assembly’s Special Political Committee as the arena for slashing attacks on Israel completely unrelated to the reported of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees which was theoretically the subject for debate.
The ball was carried at today’s session by Nikolai Shapapov of Byelorussian, who accused Israel of being a tool of the “imperialists” in a sinister conspiracy to bring down the Arab governments. He accused Israeli “extremists” of erecting “massive fortifications” in the occupied territories with the aim of holding on to them despite United Nations resolutions. The behavior of the Israelis in the occupied territories, he asserted, was reminiscent of that of the Hitler occupation forces in World War II.
Mr. Shapapov told the committee that assistance provided to the refugees through UNRWA was “like a drop in the ocean” compared to the immense profits Western oil companies were extracting in the Middle East. In 20 years, he said they had taken $12 billion in profits out against an investment of $1.5 billion. It was the oil monopolies, he said, which had “armed Israel and pushed it to aggression,”
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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.
