Mixed Reaction to Colombo Conference

Reaction in Jerusalem was mixed today to the anti-Israeli resolutions adopted last week by the fifth non-aligned summit conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka. On the one hand, political sources noted that the resolutions demonstrated again the amount of hostility toward Israel by a large num ber of countries. Political observers here noted, however, that the Colombo conference demonstrated that the Third World is divided and that the Arab states will be unable to obtain a sufficient number of votes to take strong measures against Israel, including its expulsion from the General Assembly meeting in September: Foreign Minister Yigal Allon told the Cabinet that the Colombo conference was ineffective because it did not deal with the real issues of the under developed countries.

CONFERENCE DEMANDS ISSUED

The final declaration of the conference released yesterday, 36 hours after the conference ended, called on the conference members to give complete support to the Arab states and the Palestinian people in the “struggle against Israeli aggression.”

The declaration said that “about nine years following its 1967 aggression, Israel continues to occupy Arab territories and violate the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.” It condemned Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and “measures aiming at the alteration of the political, demographic and cultural features and religious character of Jerusalem and other occupied territories.”

The conference denounced what it called the use of the American veto in the UN Security Council to protect Israel and urged the need “to strengthen pressure on Israel in the United Nations and specialist agencies, including the possibilities of eventually depriving it of its membership in these institutions.”

The conference also charged that with full U.S. backing, “Israel persists in its dilatory tactics and efforts to prolong its occupation in a bid to obstruct the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the region.” The declaration called on the conference members to work for a just peace which it said could only be achieved through Israel’s complete withdrawal from occupied land and restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people.

The declaration also noted that it was satisfied by the UN resolutions “which condemn Zionism as a form of racism and racial discrimination.”

URGES OIL EMBARGO

The non-aligned conference called for an oil embargo against Israel and France for planning to sell arms to South Africa., The declaration noted that France is to sell submarines and nuclear reactors and Israel missile-equipped patrol boats to that country.

Israeli sources here noted that none of the countries that participated in the Colombo conference sell oil to Israel, so it would have no effect here. In Paris, Foreign Minister Jean Sauvagnargues said “It is difficult to imagine that oil exporting nations could adopt such an unjustified recommendation.” Sources at the French Foreign Ministry noted that most of France’s oil comes from Iran which is not a member of the non-aligned group.

A report reaching here from Tehran today said that the Iranian Foreign Ministry has announced it will not support the resolutions calling for an oil embargo against France and Israel. A Ministry spokesman said Iran was not a non-aligned state, was not represented in Colombo and is opposed to using oil as a political weapon. Meanwhile, according to a report from Colombo, the Algerian delegation said the resolution calling for the oil embargo was a “warning” and would not be applied yet. Indonesian Foreign Minister Adam Malik said the embargo would not materialize since the non-aligned countries “have no oil and a real decision could only be made by the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) countries.”