The Council of Europe, an assembly representing 21 West Europeans national parliaments, today condemned Israel for its settlement policy, recognized Palestinian “right to self-determination” and called on West European governments to take joint action in order to “complete or replace” United Nations Security Council Resolution 242. The Council of Europe’s resolution, which had been drafted by the Council’s political commission, was approved by 170 votes with no opposition and only 10 abstentions.
The Council was traditionally considered the most pro-Israeli of all international organizations, a bastion of Israel’s friends among West European parliaments. Israeli sources said last night they were surprised both by the resolution itself and by the overwhelming majority which approved it. Israeli observer, Micha Harish, said the resolution “will hurt peace in the Middle East and Western Europe itself.”
ELEMENTS OF THE RESOLUTION
The Council resolution says that “Israel’s refusal to recognize the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and independence is an obstacle to a peaceful settlement.” It adds that the Palestine Liberation Organization refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist is also a stumbling block putting both sides, Israel and the PLO, on the same level.
The resolution condemns the Israel government’s settlement policy, calling it illegal, and calls on Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories. It also calls for a “special status” for Jerusalem without specifying what it should be.
The Council’s political commission drafted the resolution after a study mission visited Israel, Jordan, Syria and Egypt. The Foreign Ministers of the four countries were also invited to address the Council’s plenary assembly. The resolution itself was presented by French Gaullist Deputy Jacques Baumel and was reportedly approved by all of the commission’s members, including its Swiss president.
Apparently, in order to obtain a large consensus, the commission included at the last moment an additional paragraph stressing that the PLO’s recognition “will be contested for as long as this organization fails to recognize Israel and give up the use of violent methods.”
The resolution condemns “all acts of terrorism from wherever they come,” thus implicitly condemning Israel’s military activities in south Lebanon and comparing them to Palestinian terrorist attacks.
SYMBOLIC OF EUROPEAN TREND
Israeli sources in Strasbourg stressed that the resolution’s main concrete point could be the call for joint West European action to change Resolution 242 in order to cancel out the words “Palestinian refugees” and replace them with a reference to Palestinian “self-determination and independence.”
The Council only has an advisory role but has often served in the past as a launching pad for West European political initiatives. Its resolutions are often later tabled in the European Parliament, which represents the nine member states of the European Economic Community, and in the various national assemblies.
Several Council members, known in the past for their pro-Israeli sympathies, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the resolution is “symbolic of the current European trend” and shows dissatisfaction with Israeli current policies.
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