Foreign Minister Gaston Thom of Luxembourg, speaking on behalf of the European Economic Community (EEC), said today that the two basic realities in the Middle East situation are the State of Israel and the rights of the Palestinian people and that these most be reconciled.
Thom spoke on the third day of the General Assembly’s special emergency session to consider the Palestinian problem. His remarks were in sharp contrast to the extreme anti-Israel statements heard in the debates so far. He said that the EEC has followed “with great anxiety” the turn of events in the Middle East and that they believe it is more necessary now than ever before to take on active role in bringing a solution to the Middle East crisis.
Thorn recalled last month’s Venice declaration by the heads of state of the nine EEC member countries. He said that all nations have the right to live within secure borders. He said that the Palestinian problem was not one of refugees and that the Palestinians had a right to self-determination. The nine member states of the EEC, he added are convinced that no peaceful solution can be achieved in the Middle East without Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories.
SAYS DRAFT RESOLUTION WILL NOT HELP PEACE
Thorn said the EEC also believed that any resolution placed before this General Assembly session should refer to Security Council Resolution 242 which–though flowed because it failed to recognized Palestinian rights–was still the basis for a Middle East settlement.
He said, however, that the draft resolution currently under preparation here by the Arab states and their supporters “did not appear to be one that will contribute to a peaceful solution.” He said that the EEC nine would decide how to vote in accordance with the principles he had enunciated. He added that the precondition of peace was a climate of confidence that avoided all forms of extremism.
Diplomats and observers here said they believed the EEC countries will abstain when the resolution is introduced in the General Assembly.
SOVIET UNION ISSUES A WARNING
Addressing the emergency session last night, Soviet Ambassador Oleg Troyonovsky sharply attacked Israel and the United States and warned that as a result of Israel’s “aggressive” policies, the Middle East has become “a tinder box” which could endanger world peace.
He charged that the U.S. “veto.” in the Security Council had prevented the UN from adopting policies that could end the suffering of the Palestinian Arabs. Instead, Troyanovsky said, the U.S. has repeatedly supported Israel in its policy of aggression and territorial expansion.
He accused Israel of plundering the territory of its Arab neighbors for 30 years. Israel’s settlement policy on the West Bank could lead to the increase of the Israeli population there to 150,000 he said, and the Israeli authorities have wrongly intensified the process of “legalizing” Jerusalem as the “undivided” capital of Israel.
The Soviet envoy denounced the Camp David accords. In two years they have failed to decrease tension in the Middle East, he said.
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