The United States today reiterated in unequivocal terms its position in favor of Resolution 242 as the basis for a settlement of the Middle East conflict. Ambassador John Scali told the Security Council this afternoon that Resolution 242 is the only basis “on which both sides agree on substance and procedure.”
The U.S. delegate reaffirmed the United States acceptance of the five principles entailed in the Resolution: the non-admissibility of the acquisition of territory by conquests; the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territories in the context of the termination of all states of belligerency and the recognition of the sovereignty of all states involved; freedom of navigation; a just settlement of the refugee problem; agreement between the parties involved in the conflict.
Calling the present situation in the Middle East “neither natural nor permanent.” Scali expressed the U.S. desire that Arabs and Israelis live in secure and recognized boundaries, but maintained that outside parties could not make the peace – they could only set the right climate for it.
Scali said no peace settlement will be achieved without “an ongoing dialogue” between the parties involved. He repeated the U.S. suggestion that “some Israeli withdrawal in the Sinai” coupled with the opening of the Suez Canal and a cease-fire could be the first step towards a peace settlement.
CHINESE STATEMENTS
The Chinese delegate used the Security Council debate to launch a massive attack against Israel, the United States and the Soviet Union. Chinese Ambassador Huang Hua said the entire Middle East question “is a struggle between aggression and anti-aggression,” whose settlement has been thwarted by superpowers’ domination. Though China views the Mideast as part of a wider international struggle, the Peking delegate refrained from promising any kind of material help.
He added that China “is not against the Jewish people but only against Israeli Zionists” whom he accused of following Hitler’s Lebensraum policy of expansion.
The Indian delegate. Samar Sen, called for “mutual concessions” saying that Israel must withdraw from the occupied territories while the Arabs should recognize its right to exist.
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