The United Nations Charter was born with the emergence of a new world. Mankind, ravaged by two world wars, was yearning for quiet, for progress and for the development of its energies and all its possibilities. The League of Nations, created at the end of the first of these two wars, had not brought the solution of the problems which threatened the existence of peoples and States. Consequently the many non-aggression pacts concluded at the time did not succeed in preventing the outbreak of the greatest conflict the world had ever known. With a view to correcting the errors of the past, a conference of the United Nations was held at San Francisco. My country had the honour of participating in the proceedings there which led to the drafting of that basic document of our time, the Charter of the United Nations. Since then Syria has not ceased to contribute to the endeavour to restore values and build a better world.
68. It is Syria’s duty as an Arab State to look upon its territory as a component part of the Arab fatherland, with all the greatness and all the responsibilities inherent in that term, the product of twenty centuries of history. The expression “Arab fatherland” is only a translation into human and geographic terms of what is meant by that region of the world which is called the Near East. To the Arab mind, the term “Near East” is indefinite and vague, for it has no real significance, either internationally or in relation to the intimate life of the peoples concerned. The term “Arab fatherland” exactly represents the concept of Arab civilization which has contributed so much to the enrichment of the treasures of the spirit. As an Arab State, Syria’s aim is close co-operation with the other Arab countries with a view to the maintenance of order and justice in the world, and especially in the Arab fatherland. This aim is based on the United Nations Charter, but it cannot be fully achieved without close co-operation between the free Arab States and the sovereign national authorities of all the Arab countries.
69. Need I remind you that the act of the League of Arab States was signed several months before the United Nations Charter and expressed, in advance, most of the objectives of the Charter? It also recalled the aspirations of all the Arab countries towards freedom.
70. If, however, regional agreements appear to be necessary for the maintenance of peace, they must be concluded on a sound basis, among free and happy peoples. From both the individual and the national point of view, freedom will remain the most cherished ideal to be defended in modern civilization. I would even say that freedom was the sole objective of all ideas of defence; any means of defence that are not based on true freedom can easily be transformed into means of aggression.
71. Peace cannot be maintained without a sound interpretation of the United Nations Charter. Concluded among “peoples”, its purpose is to ensure them the right to live, develop and attain the full expression of their legitimate aspirations. In indicating that purpose, the Charter has set the goal towards which mankind should aim at this stage of its development.
72. A perfect and ideal system for regulating international relations and organizing the life of all peoples on principles of justice and equity should, however, provide the individuals of all nations with the fullest advantages, both material and moral. In theory and in practice such a system should be at the basis of all national or international public activities. It should inspire all treaties and all endeavours to improve the welfare of peoples. In international activities, it should occupy the place which natural law occupies in relation to positive law. If that aspiration were not kept in view, the lives of the peoples would remain at the mercy of materialism and the instinct of domination.
73. The Arab nation was one of the first to introduce the rules of human and international morality in its relations with other peoples. In the United Nations, the Arab States are contributing by their moral traditions to the building of a better world.
74. The purpose of the Arab Liberation Movement, recently instituted in Syria, is to propagate and put into practice the principles of an Arab democracy and to guide the movements for national unity towards the goal of freedom, so that Arab nationalism may give the world the example of a liberal, liberating and defensive nationalism.
75. It is obvious that if the number of liberated nations present in our Organization were increased, they would constitute, by their well-balanced views, the surest guarantee of peace and stability throughout the world. Korea seems to us a striking example in that connexion; the two opposing systems are in difficulties over the armistice negotiations, each of them wishing to apply to an extreme degree its own principles of conciliation. But extremism, although sometimes politically right, never leads to a reasonable policy. In circumstances such as these, the young nations can offer their contribution to the solution of the problems.
76. In the few years that have passed since the San Francisco Conference, it has become clear that elements alien to the spirit of the Charter have intervened and prevented the application of the ideals proclaimed in 5.945, The facts nave appeared in a less optimistic light, and peoples who had placed their hopes in a radiant dawn now look at the future with sceptical eyes. In our opinion, this state of affairs is due to a variety of factors, all alien to the spirit of the Charter.
77. First among these is the attitude of certain States regarding decisions taken by the various organs of the United Nations. Confining myself to the Palestine problem, I wish to state that the various resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council nave been treated with the greatest contempt by the Israel authorities. Since 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been living far from their own country. At each session, the General Assembly has decided, explicitly or implicitly, to repatriate them to their country of origin, The aggressive Israel authorities continue to turn a deaf ear. Their defiance goes still farther; they have consistently refused to admit the principle of compensation. The property abandoned by Palestinian refugees has been seized by the Israel authorities and confiscated without any regard for international law, General Assembly resolutions or human rights. No Palestine Arab has been able to obtain a single penny in compensation for even the smallest part of the property wilfully seized from him.
78. It should also be noted that the Israel authorities, which were admitted as a State Member of the United Nations, have shown themselves incapable of forming a State able to maintain normal relations with the international community. Any civilized country legally capable of governing itself should have been able to settle the problem of the Palestine refugees, even without the intervention of the United Nations; Israel has not done so. On the other hand, it has not failed to engage in negotiations with the Government of the German Federal Republic, with a view to arranging for payment by the latter of compensation claimed to be due to Jews who were persecuted before the end of the Second World War. These negotiations, unless they serve to provide a practical solution of the question of the compensation of Arab refugees for their property in Palestine, are contrary to all the admitted rules of public and private law. That is proof of the disorderly and turbulent spirit of this community which has set itself up as a State.
79. I cannot speak of these facts without some bitterness. They are ample proof that the United Nations has served to create in Palestine and elsewhere a situation which has dangerous consequences. If law cannot be upheld, the institution responsible for preserving it loses its moral force and becomes a soulless instrument. It therefore behoves us to enhance the prestige of our Organization by turning it away from any such course. While such events are going on, peace is not likely to be furthered, nor can it gain from a division of the world into two rival parts perpetually at odds with each other. Different economic and social systems were in effect in the States which took part in the San Francisco Conference; yet harmony prevailed among them and with this harmony the Conference culminated in the signing of the Charter. Therefore it is possible for the two systems to coexist.
80. Since the conditions essential to trust among peoples and to the development of States and nations are lacking, the policy of excessive armament is still being parried on. This policy may lead to disastrous results in the not too distant future. Yet rearmament and excessive armament merely add to the expenses of States at the cost expense of the interests of the masses and the aspirations of the individual.
81. When we think of human happiness, we must perforce think of the liberation of peoples and the raising of the standards of the masses and of the individual, which can be achieved only in a system of national freedom. These legitimate aspirations have received confirmation in the provisions of Article I, paragraph 2, of the Charter, which stresses respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples. If the peoples have the right to self-determination, it is only right and fair that, within specified time limits and subject to stipulated conditions, foreign political control should cease to be exercised over any of the territories of the former colonial empires.
82. Note should be taken of a new tendency which appears to be developing in some quarters to justify, if not to legitimize, the colonial system. Whatever the arguments along those lines, one thing is certain: in this respect theory is quite out of touch with practice. Peoples no longer agree to have their hands tied; they yearn for full freedom. Despite the mirage of rapid advancement which is proffered them, they mean this advancement to be the result of their own efforts.
83. Colonialism is no longer consistent with the juridical and economic data of modern civilization, which are based on the principle of equal rights for peoples and of freedom for the individual. This civilization, should follow its normal course if it is to achieve its aims. Any colonial system, under whatever label it might parade, is bound to hamper the endeavour towards progress and to prevent peoples from following the normal path which will lead them to a better world. Colonialism is not only harmful to the peoples subjected to it, but also, owing to its consequences, ultimately hurts those who apply it, because it gives them a wholly artificial national and individual superiority, based on a misconception.
84. Colonialism has never permitted the development of the national genius of the peoples placed Under its yoke. The world has been unable to profit from many an intellectual; artistic and scientific quality which has been stifled. In this way, spiritual values and the normal development of mankind have suffered a blow. The example of America will always provide the most convincing proof against any attempt to legitimize colonial Systems and practices. Without the collapse of the colonial system which dominated the American continent, mankind would have been deprived of the great intellectual and technical accomplishments for which it is indebted to the new world, particularly to that great democracy, the United States. Had that system, by some misfortune, remained in effect, the advocates of the colonial system would not have failed to argue in the same fashion as they are now doing in defence of a type of relationship between peoples and nations dating back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There is more to the problem than merely the colonial system as applied to primitive countries rich in raw materials,
85. Unhappily, many territories which historically, enjoyed and organized and acknowledged sovereignty, such as Morocco, Tunisia and other Arab principalities, continue to be dependent countries. The peoples of those territories are fighting for their emancipation and it is the responsibility of the Powers administering or controlling them to see to it that the struggle does not end in bloodshed. If the States in question have concluded treaties with foreign Powers granting them certain specified privileges, such clauses must not involve any diminution of their sovereignty and independence. It is for the peoples themselves to decide their future and they should do so only after they have properly established their independence and freely chosen their constitutional standards and organs. Any attempt to persuade them to alter their international status in a way inconsistent with these conditions would be contrary to the Charter.
86. From the purely legal point of view, it will be seen that the treaties concluded between Tunisia and Morocco on the one hand and France on the other conferred upon the latter a contractual function comparable to that of agency in private law. This function was conferred at a time when no international organization existed. Times have changed. Now that the Charter has been signed, the General Assembly must examine the terms of this contract of agency.
87. We claim that, by granting Tunisia and Morocco their full independence, France would be taking a worthy step, consistent with its liberal traditions, Syria is an interesting case in point. Since becoming master of its own destiny, it has achieved substantial reforms along the road to progress. At the same time, it has developed its cultural relations with France, whose thinkers it esteems for their ideas. No foreign authority has taken France’s place, because the will of the freedom-loving Arab peoples provides an adequate safeguard that such a substitution will not take place.
88. Needless to say, the maintenance of peace is bound up with the liberation of peoples. Cupidity among the Powers competing for the raw materials of subjugated territories will continue so long as those territories are not recognized to be independent and masters of their own fate.
89. Sovereign and independent countries, Members of the United Nations, are tied to foreign Powers by treaties which stand in the way of their complete liberation and free development. The peoples of those countries are determined to rid themselves of those ties which they accepted in exceptional circumstances. The foreign Powers want to continue to enjoy the benefit of treaties signed under regimes which the Charter meant to abolish. This is a new source of unrest endangering peace and conflicting with the purposes of the Charter. To comply with the desires of these peoples would be to clear the air and to spread a sense of optimism throughout the world.
90. Most of the smaller sovereign States are today under-developed countries, for reasons which are not inherent in their history. Had it not been for the imperialism of the European countries, they would have made more rapid strides and they would not be as poor as they are. The masses in those countries have to be raised to a level at which the individual can become aware of his rights and his freedoms. It is sometimes difficult for the authorities in those countries to do that themselves.
91. Technical assistance satisfies a major need, and the countries which are providing it are doing noble and useful work. Yet they should remember that when dealing with smaller countries, they should treat them as equals. The principle of sovereign equality for all Member States is recognized in the Charter. Since economic co-operation is one of the purposes of the United Nations, the great Powers, by placing their experience and technology at the disposal of the small countries, are in fact merely honouring the commitments into which they entered as Members of the United Nations.
92. Large undertakings organized as companies are exploiting the raw materials and wealth of many small countries. These companies are unfortunately still using antiquated methods. It is intolerable that these companies, in dealing with countries whose wealth and potential they are exploiting, should avail themselves of provisions, conditions and tax privileges which they could not claim in their own countries; this is reminiscent of the obsolete system of capitulations, which has long been abolished. These methods merely impoverish the peoples which are held to need aid and technical assistance. Surely they are not being presumptuous in asking for justice first. Accordingly the provisions and conditions of the contracts from which these companies benefit should likewise be revised, so as to give due weight to the need to improve the conditions of the masses in the under-developed countries. I must here emphasize the harmful effect of any political or economic system which disregards respect for the will of a nation. Any agreement concluded or signed otherwise than pursuant to the freely given consent of one of the parties is doomed to failure.
93. Having dealt with the international situation, I wish only to add that Syria is a country which intends to co-operate in achieving the ideals of the Charter. Now that it is free, Syria’s Only wish is to strengthen an independence won at the cost of the sacrifices of its people and the solidarity of its friends. It wants this independence to be employed in giving effect to a reform plan leading to the rehabilitation of the masses and to a higher standard of living for the individual. That is why the Syrian Government is now carrying out a land reform under which the peasant will become the owner of his land. A number of other reforms are being undertaken in education, hygiene and public health and in most economic sectors.
94. By proceeding along these lines, Syria is merely supporting the principles of the Charter. The purpose of its action is to consolidate the present and to build for the future. To bring this about, Syria will co-operate with every nation in peace and in freedom.