The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was celebrated here today with statements and speeches, special meetings, a screening of a pro-PLO documentary and a demonstration in front of the United Nations by more than 100 people waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.
Today marked the 32nd anniversary (Nov. 29, 1947) of the recommendation of the General Assembly to partition Palestine, paving the way for the establishment of the State of Israel.
Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, in a statement before a special meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, said the observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was not only a measure of the international community’s deep concern on the matter, but recognized that a just solution of the Palestinian problem was of “overriding importance.” Waldheim warned that the situation. in the Mideast affected not only the stability in that area but carried a potential threat to peace and security in the entire world.
The President of the General Assembly, Salim Salim of Tanzania, also issued a statement warning that unless the Palestine question is resolved there will be no peace in the Mideast.
TWO RESOLUTIONS PENDING
The General Assembly is expected to endorse this evening two resolutions affirming the rights of the Palestinians to a homeland and to return to their homes. A vote on two other resolutions along the same line is scheduled for tomorrow While the resolutions before the Assembly reiterate the same points and requests as that of last year’s resolutions, one of the current four resolutions requests Waldheim “to direct the United Nations Postal Administration to issue a series of United Nations commemorative postage stamps to publicize as widely as possible the grave situation” of the Palestinian people.
The resolution also requests UN member states to issue special stamps on Palestine Day and requests Waldheim to direct the UN Department of Public Information to set up a permanent photographic display on the Palestinians at “public areas” in the UN building.
Early this afternoon about 100 Palestinians and their supporters demonstrated across the street from the UN headquarters, chanting “Down with Israel, Long Live Palestine, Long Live the PLO.”
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