Democratic Palestine : 36 (ص 30)
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- Democratic Palestine : 36 (ص 30)
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The Visa Revisited
Among the issues raised prior to the
convening of the General Assembly
was the question of whether or not the
US should grant Yasir Arafat, Presi-
dent of the State of Palestine, a visa in
order to attend the 44th session. In
fact, Arafat hadn’t requested a visa to
the US, but nevertheless, with the tur-
moil which ensued last year over
Shultz’s refusal to grant him a visa, on
the pretext that the PLO is backing
anti-Israeli «terrorism,» and the sub-
sequent transferring of the UN debate
on Palestine to Geneva, it was a topic
uppermost in many minds.
Many pro-Israeli organizations lob-
bied against a visa claiming that, «Mr.
Arafat has not been cooperating with
American Middle East peace efforts»
(Washington Report on Middle East
Affairs, October 1989). This excuse is,
of course, ludicrous since the PLO is
trying to facilitate the peace process. If
the denial of visas is based upon this
criteria, then the majority of Israeli
officials would be denied visas. Shamir
blatantly violates US wishes and inter-
national consensus by continuing to
build Israeli settlements in_ the
occupied territories; he has excluded
residents of East Jerusalem from his
election plan and yet he is cooperating
with the peace process? Another pro-
vocative question is simply that if the
US can hold political talks with the
PLO, then why can’t it grant Arafat a
visa?
Meanwhile, 136 members of Con-
gress (58 members of the House of
Representatives and 68 Senators)
urged US President Bush and Secret-
ary of State James Baker, to deny
Arafat a visa if he should seek one to
address the General Assembly. Claim-
ing that Arafat has not lived up to his
promises of last December to renounce
terrorism and recognize the right of
Israel to exist, they stated, «The PLO
is on a collision course with the peace
process. Arafat and the PLO must
reaffirm and implement in deed and in
word, the statement of just nine
months ago» (AP, September 27).
30
Subsequently, the US State Depart-
ment approved many visa applications
for PLO officials. The play-up of the
visa issue dominated the press due to
US and Zionist efforts to use the con-
cept of terrorism in an attempt to dis-
credit the intifada and the PLO at the
UN; and promote the Shamir plan.
Resolutions
Three resolutions concerning the
Palestinian question were passed in the
recent period. In late August, the Sec-
urity Council adopted a _ resolution
deploring Israel’s expulsion policy,
after the expulsion of five Palestinians
from the occupied territories. The
resolution passed 14-0, with the US
abstaining.
A second resolution was passed by
the General Assembly on October 6th,
condemning «Israel’s escalated brutal
measures against Palestinian civilians»
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The
resolution was passed by a vote of 140-
2 (the US and Israel voting against)
and six abstentions. The resolution
also expressed «profound shock at the
escalated brutal measures taken
against Palestinian civilians, the indis-
criminate killing of unarmed Palesti-
nian civilians and the recent actions of
ransacking the houses of defenseless
citizens in the Palestinian town of Beit
Sahour» (AP, October 9).
The third resolution was passed by
the United Nations Food and Agricul-
ture Organization (FAO), concerning
economic development in the occupied
territories (later in text).
Yet another resolution was taken up
at the UN while the General Assembly
was taking up the annual report of the
credentials committee. This committee
is the one which recommends the sea-
ting of all members of the world body.
Libya raised a point of order, saying
that Israel’s credentials should not be
accepted. This has been brought up
annually since 1982 by different Arab
countries, contending that Israel
should be expelled since it is an inter-
national outlaw defying UN resolutions
that call for withdrawal from all
occupied Arab territories.
But rather than this point of order
being discussed, Denmark submitted a
resolution that there should be no dis-
cussion on this. The vote on the
Danish resolution was 95-37, with 15
abstentions, as reported on October
17th. Last year’s vote was 95-41 with
seven abstentions. Although only the
15-member Security Council has the
authority to expell or admit a new
member, the General Assembly can
bar a nation from participating in the
assembly’s work, as is the case with
South Africa.
Still another resolution was submit-
ted by Kuwait to the UN Security
Council on November 7th concerning
Israeli repression in the occupied ter-
ritories. The resolution called for inter-
national delegations to the occupied
territories to see first-hand the Israeli
practices against the Palestinian resi-
dents. It also stated that Israel’s
actions are in violation of the 1949
Geneva Convention which calls for the
protection of civilians in times of war.
Citing examples of inhumane Israeli
practices, the resolution named the
siege of the West Bank town of Beit
Sahour. The resolution called for Israel
to return the confiscated property. The
vote was 14-1, with the US using its
veto to block the resolution.
The US has historically used its veto
power to protect Israel from interna-
tional isolation, and Israel has used
this backing to totally disregard UN
resolutions. The US has exercised its
veto power 29 times since 1973, to
block condemnations of Israel in the
UN Security Council. The UN General
Assembly has the power to pass resol-
utions, but is powerless to implement
them. Nonetheless, UN resolutions are
of immense importance in terms of
moral support to the Palestinians on
the international level.
UNESCO
Another arena of struggle, alongside
the UN General Assembly’s 44th ses-
sion, was the month-long UNESCO
(United Nations Education, Scientific
and Cultural Organization) conference
Democratic Palestine December 1989 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 36
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