A verbal duel between an Arab spokesman and Israel today closed the three-week general debate in the UN General Assembly. Ahmed Shukairy, Minister of State for Saudi Arabia, took the floor near the end of this afternoon’s session to reply to Israel’s offer for unconditional peace negotiations with the Arab states made here yesterday by Israel’s delegation chairman Arthur Lourie.
Mr. Shukairy said the Arab states will not accept Israel’s offer to negotiate a peace because Israel and “Zionist gangsters” destroyed the right of self-determination in Pales-tine. He said there is no such thing as a Jewish nation.
Mr. Lourie rose to reply, declaring “whether there is or is not a Jewish people is answered by the fact that 6,000,000 of my people went to their doom only because they were members of the Jewish people.”
One of the final speakers in the general debate was the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, this year’s chairman of the Moscow delegation, V. V. Kuznetsov. He avoided making any reference to the Suez Canal issue or to the Middle East in general. Preceding Russia in the general debate were Spain and Paraguay. Both supported Israel’s general position on the Suez issue, bringing the total count of member states backing Israel to 27.
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