Andrew Young, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, told the General Assembly today that in view of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Israel, the Assembly should declare a moratorium “on the extreme rhetoric of the past which breeds hatred and violence.”
Young, speaking in the course of the Middle East debate, said that if a peace is to be achieved in the Middle East, the Assembly cannot afford “to repeat the practice of passing resolutions to score Pyrrhic victories regardless of their ultimate effects.”
Declaring that “psychologically, peace seems closer to our grasp,” the chief U.S. representative stated “if we demonstrate similar courage and readiness to break with the rituals and taboos of the past, we believe the United Nations can make the contribution the world expects of it.” Terming the Sadat visit to Israel “a remarkable event in the political life of the Middle East,” Young said that the United States urges all the parties in the Middle East “to maintain the new momentum towards peace.”
SUBSTANTIVE QUESTIONS AT GENEVA TALKS
Young said that once the Geneva peace conference is convened, “the key substantive questions to be addressed were the nature of peace, Israeli withdrawal, agreement on final borders, and arrangements to make those borders secure; and the Palestinian question, for which representatives of the Palestinian people, as well as the governments concerned must be included in the negotiation process.” He did not mention the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Young noted, however, that procedural problems toward the reconvening of the conference are yet to be resolved.
Diplomats at the UN pointed out that Young did not mention in his speech a Palestinian homeland or the legal rights of the Palestinians, phrases used by the Carter Administration recently and which caused great controversy among Israelis and their supporters in the United States.
MEGUID: ROAD TO PEACE NOW OPEN
Addressing the Assembly last night, Egyptian Ambassador Abdel Meguid declared the road to peace was now open but he added that “all those concerned should make their contribution.” The Egyptian envoy warned, however, that otherwise the Middle East would sink back into the dangers of war and face an explosion far more devastating than had happened so far.
Meguid, during his address, did not mention the attack Tuesday by the Syrian Ambassador on Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem. That attack led to a walkout by the Egyptian delegation, the first such walkout by an Arab delegation during a speech to the Assembly by an Arab diplomat. Meguid, in an apparent reference to the Syrian’s attack, said in his address that Egypt refuses to be instructed by others and rose above slanderous attack.
“What Egypt is seeking,” he said, “is a just peace for the whole Middle East area–not a peace that would be achieved at any price, nor a unilateral peace agreement.” He also said that Sadat’s dramatic trip to Jerusalem was aimed at a settlement that would restore to the Palestinians their rights and to the Arab nations their occupied territory.
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