{"id":178992,"date":"1990-06-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T20:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=178992"},"modified":"2019-03-11T20:46:25","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T20:46:25","slug":"auto-insert-178992","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-178992\/","title":{"rendered":"USA suspension of 1988 dialogue with PLO\/Convening of the International Peace Conference – PLO Executive Committee statement – Letter from Palestine"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Items 23, 35 and 77 of the<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>preliminary list*<\/p><\/div>\n

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QUESTION OF PALESTINE<\/p><\/div>\n

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THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST<\/p><\/div>\n

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REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING<\/p><\/div>\n

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THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN<\/p><\/div>\n

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PEOPLE AND OTHER ARABS OF THE<\/p><\/div>\n

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OCCUPIED TERRITORIES<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Letter dated 22 June 1990 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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I am instructed by the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which has the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government of Palestine, to transmit to Your Excellency the statement issued by the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the wake of the statement by H.E. Mr. George Bush, President of the United States of America, suspending the dialogue between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Government of the United States (see annex).<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of the present letter and its annex circulated as an official document of the General Assembly, under items 23, 35 and 77 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t(Signed<\/u>) Zuhdi Labib TERZI\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\tPermanent Observer of\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\tPalestine to the United Nations\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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* A\/45\/50.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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90-15523 1789d (E)<\/p><\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

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\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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ANNEX<\/p><\/div>\n

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Statement issued by the Executive Committee of the Palestine<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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Liberation Organization<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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After one and a half years of the United States-Palestinian dialogue marking time and failing to address substantive matters because of a lack of seriousness in the United States position, President Bush has seen fit to break off the dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The United States decision to suspend the dialogue is incompatible with the responsible attitude that it might be presumed a great Power on the scale of the United States of America would adopt towards the peace process in the Middle East and world peace in general. This decision, moreover, strikes a blow against the entire peace process and against the credibility of the United States Administration.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The Palestinian leadership has adopted a clear and responsible position on the beach-landing operation advanced by the United States Administration as a pretext for the suspension of the dialogue with the PLO. The PLO has declared that neither it nor any of its organizations or forces were responsible for that operation. It has affirmed that it is the Palestine National Council (PNC), as the supreme authority over the members of the Executive Committee, which scrutinizes and ascertains the extent to which they adhere to and are bound by its resolutions at the national and international levels. The Palestinian leadership has further reaffirmed its commitment to the resolutions of the PNC and to the declaration of the President of the State of Palestine and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Mr. Yasser Arafat, on the condemnation of terrorism in all its forms.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Despite that fact, the United States Administration has proceeded to take the step of suspending the dialogue. It thereby reveals the true nature of the objective that it sought to attain by exploiting the beach-landing operation in order to conduct a policy hostile to the Palestinian people and to its leadership, the PLO, a policy which denies the inalienable, legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, in the forefront of which is its right to self-determination. That policy emerged clearly in the course of the dialogue itself, where the United States side continued to adopt as its major premise the non-recognition of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and the non-recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and continued to impede the implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions, including those relating to the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The decision of the United States Administration was, most unfortunately, taken in deference to AIPAC and the Israeli Government, and it is a clear indication that Israel, with its accretions within the United States Administration, continues to control United States policy-making on the Middle East, just as the veto in the Security Council has been used at the official and public request of Israel.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The United States decision comes as the culmination of a series of United States positions that are partial to and supportive of Israel. In past years, the United States has opposed all attempts to mobilize international censure of Israel and has prevented the adoption of any resolutions by the Security Council condemning its crimes against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories or calling for their investigation. During the past year alone, it has used its power of veto in the Security Council seven times for this purpose. It has also brought diverse pressures to bear on a number of international organizations in order to protect Israel and its nefarious policies.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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It has at all times continued to be the policy of the United States Administration to oppose and reject all serious initiatives for a start to the peace process, including the Palestinian peace initiative and United Nations and other international initiatives.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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While the United States Administration reacts to an operation that cannot by any means be proved to have been directed against civilians and as a result of which not a single civilian was harmed, we have seen no such reaction on the part of the United States Administration to the crimes of Israel against Palestinian civilians or against Tunisians at Hammam Plage, to the assassination of the hero and martyr Abu Jihad surrounded by his children, to the massacre of Palestinian workers at Uyun Qarah ("Rishon Lezion") or other massacres in Gaza and the West Bank, or to the use by Israel of prohibited gases in confronting Palestinian children and causing Palestinian women to miscarry. We have not seen a single United States position adopted against the raids carried out by Israel on a daily basis for eight successive years by land, sea and air against the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples in southern Lebanon, and it continues to commit such acts of aggression against Palestinian villages and camps in Lebanon.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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At a time when the crimes of Israel's rulers, their intransigent attitude and their role in bringing about the failure of peace efforts and initiatives in the Middle East are being exposed to the entire international community, the United States decision against the PLO and the Palestinian people comes as an act of defiance to the will of the international community, protects Israel and its aggression and covers up Israel's responsibility for causing the failure of peace efforts.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The United States decision against the PLO also comes at a time when the Israeli crimes of repression against the Palestinian people with a view to crushing the intifadah <\/u>are escalating, as are threats of war by the new Israeli Government against the neighbouring Arab countries, and the decision thus provides support and encouragement to the policy of war and aggression pursued by that Government. This runs counter to the trend in the international community towards increased reconciliation and détente and the extinction of hotbeds of tension in the world.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The decision taken by President Bush will prompt the rulers of Israel to persist in their aggressive policies, their crimes against the Palestinian people and their massacres within the occupied territory, and it will stimulate their appetite to continue to expand on Arab land, particularly in the light of the influx of waves of Jewish immigrants into the occupied Palestinian territory. Thus the United States Administration cannot evade responsibility for encouraging Israel to persist in these hostile, criminal and expansionist policies.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The dialogue that the United States Administration has seen fit to break off was a step on the road to peace that had been prescribed by the will of the international community and by the Palestinian people and the enormous sacrifices which have affirmed its existence as a people and its rights against the usurpers. It was also enjoined by the enhanced standing of the PLO, the increased respect that it enjoys and its worthiness to participate in peace-making. It was required by the proclamation of the national political programme adopted by the PLO at the PNC meeting at Algiers in November 1988, by the Palestinian peace initiative that emerged from it and was announced by President Arafat at Geneva in December 1988, by the high sense of responsibility with which the PLO has addressed and will continue to address all international initiatives and efforts for peace and by the policy that has been the practice of the PLO and the masses of the Palestinian people of not being drawn into reacting to the terroristic and criminal actions being committed by the Israeli occupation authorities to which thousands have fallen victim, killed, wounded or incarcerated, and which have led to encroachment on Christian and Islamic Holy Places in Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The United States decision thus does not infringe upon the peace-making role of the PLO nor the international standing that it has worthily and deservedly acquired through the sacrifices of its people and of its freedom-fighters. It only diminishes and detracts from the role in the peace process of the United States of America itself when it breaks off contact with the major party without which peace cannot be achieved in the Middle East.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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If, by means of this decision, the United States Administration was trying to repeat its previous attempts to assist the rulers of Israel to create alternatives to the PLO, it is in error. Together with the Israeli Government, it will discover that it can never find anyone among the Palestinian people to listen to it or to speak to it and that our people will cease all contact with Israeli and United States officials.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The decision taken by the United States Administration reflects the failure of the policy that it has been pursuing in addressing the peace issue in the Middle East. It is a policy based, on the one hand, on complete partiality towards Israel, the adoption of the Israeli viewpoint and the defence of Israel and its crimes and aggression and, on the other, on isolation and the alienation of other international parties and the organizations of the United Nations system.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The PLO, in revealing the character and dimensions of the United States decision, views it as a challenge to the recent Arab Summit Conference held at Baghdad and the resolutions it adopted and as a test of the will to resist and to reject United States blackmail that is reflected in those resolutions.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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As has been its constant practice, the PLO has remained faithful to those resolutions and loyal to its commitment to them and to the concepts of steadfastness and national advancement that they embody. It has refused to submit to all the attempts at incitement and intimidation made by the United States Administration against the PLO and to attempts to render it amenable to schemes against the Palestinian people and the Arab nation.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The PLO and our heroic people with it have remained steadfast in all the defiant battles that they have waged and, after such a long hisotry of heroic struggle, there is no one who can make us bow down and surrender. Just as our people has remained steadfast in all of its previous battles, we will stand up to the challenge that the United States Administration seeks to impose upon us. Our people will be able to protect its valiant intifadah<\/u>, to persist in it, to bring it to victory and to defend the PLO, its sole legitimate representative, until such time as our Palestinian flag is raised over Jerusalem, the capital of our independent Palestinian State.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The PLO, in calling for opposition to the United States decision and for its repercussions to be addressed, relies on the capacities of the Palestinian masses and their fighting ability and on the capability and determination of the Arab masses, their national and pan-Arab forces and their great heritage of struggle.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Continuing and increasing Israeli aggression, protected by the encouragement of the United States, requires that our Arab nation should face the challenge with the summoning of the determination required and the adoption of a responsible pan-Arab position. It further requires that our Arab masses and their popular organizations should take the necessary measures to ensure that the Arab response is commensurate with the Zionist-American challenge.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The Arab States that adopted the Baghdad Summit resolutions are today further called upon to translate those resolutions into a confrontation of these challenges and to elaborate plans to give effect to Arab resolve and to make its presence felt and respected by the international community.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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In precise terms, what is required by the United States decision, goes beyond the bounds of condemnation and censure. By its decision, the United States Administration has suspended its dealings with a member of the League of Arab States.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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The PLO calls upon all international forces that cherish peace and justice to adopt a responsible attitude towards a United States decision that brings about a deterioration of the situation in the Middle East region, removes all chances for peace, protects and encourages the hostile and terroristic objectives of the new Shamir Government and thus impels the region into a new war and wide-scale eruption.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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It further calls upon all international forces to work assiduously for the convening of the International Peace Conference as the framework that can ensure the achievement of a just and comprehensive solution.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Items 23, 35 and 77 of the preliminary list* QUESTION OF PALESTINE THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER ARABS OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES Letter dated 22 June 1990 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[2553],"document-category":[2841,1338],"document-source":[1365,1362],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[6156,1813,2181,1749,2577,1905],"entity":[1985,1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-178992","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-united-states-of-america","document-category-letter","document-category-statement","document-source-general-assembly","document-source-security-council","document-subject-agenda-item","document-subject-middle-east-situation","document-subject-negotiations-and-agreements","document-subject-palestine-question","document-subject-peace-conference","document-subject-peace-proposals-and-efforts","entity-state","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/178992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/178992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=178992"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=178992"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=178992"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=178992"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=178992"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=178992"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=178992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}