The conference of 82 non-aligned nations ended by urging the Security Council “to take all necessary measures” to force Israel to comply with United Nations resolutions on the Middle East and to withdraw from territory occupied since 1967. But as expected, the conference did not urge the UN. General Assembly to expel or suspend Israel. An Arab move for this action collapsed last week when Egypt, Yugoslavia and some Black African and Latin American countries campaigned against calling for Israel’s ouster.
The statements on Israel was contained in the “Lima Declaration” which dealt with the problems of the underdeveloped world and called for ways to close the gap between industrialized and nonindustrial nations. The declaration was adopted Saturday as the conference closed a day behind schedule because of the maneuvering on the Mideast and the coup in Peru which changed presidents in the host country.
The conference condemned Israel as the aggressor in the Mideast and attacked the United States for aiding Israel. It accused the U.S. “and other imperialist powers” of seeking “to make Israel a base of colonialism and imperialism within the third world.” The non-aligned countries, which earlier had given the Palestine Liberation Organization full membership, also expressed its “satisfaction” that the General Assembly had recognized the PLO “as the sole representative of the Palestine people” and welcomed the observer status given the PLO by the UN.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
