Lebanon

The General Assembly of the United Nations is now convened at a moment of crisis in world history. The leaders of nations, both great and small, have come together, to debate the crucial issues of our time, and to seek solutions for the main problems facing the United Nations. I have come to represent Lebanon in this historic debate and to present the views of my Government on what we consider to be the most important questions confronting our region and the world at large. 81. Lebanon is a small country. Its economic and military strength is negligible compared to that of the big countries, not to mention the giant nuclear Powers. But I take pride in speaking for little Lebanon, which, together with other small nations, has an important role to play in the Organization. We, the small and uncommitted nations, can perhaps take a more objective view of the world situation. We are disinterested in our attitude towards conflicts among the great Powers, and in this respect, we have no particular axe to grind. We can judge international issues with comparatively greater detachment and impartiality. In a sense the small and uncommitted nations can be said to represent the unbiased conscience of humanity. 82. The old world balance of power is gone. As a result of the nuclear stalemate between the great Powers today, there is a new balance in the world. This new balance requires the great Powers, in spite of their military and economic might, to give fall consideration to world public opinion. There is no better representation of this world public opinion than the voice of the small and uncommitted nations present in this Assembly. In the new equilibrium of power, the small and uncommitted nations occupy a potentially decisive position. This lays a great responsibility on them, a responsibility to stand by what is right, and to promote freedom, justice and peace in the world, 83. I take this opportunity to welcome whole-heartedly the sixteen new small nations which have just been admitted to the Organization. I extend to them my Warmest congratulations. They have attained the position of equality with other States Members of the United Nations to which they are entitled. They have an important part to play in furthering United Nations efforts to promote economic and social progress and to preserve international peace. In order to enable, them to play their full part, however, they, together with other nations of Asia and Africa, should be given adequate representation on both the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. It is imperative in our view, that the membership of these two Councils be increased in order to allow the nations of Asia and Africa to participate fully in the political, economic and social activities of the Organization. 84. But the new Member States have not only acquired certain rights and opportunities. They have, like the other small nations, also assumed important responsibilities. Their foremost responsibility, which is shared by all the small nations and which fully corresponds with their desire, is to respect and uphold the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations as set forth in the Charter. 85. For my part, I wish to reaffirm, in the most emphatic terms, Lebanon’s loyalty to the principles of the United Nations. We give our firm support for all action by the United Nations directed towards the maintenance of international peace, based on justice, and the promotion of social and economic progress. 86. The small nations need the United Nations just as the United Nations needs the small nations. In its eagerness for development and progress, Lebanon needs peace and stability in the world The United Nations is our hope for world peace. We will cooperate with other Member States in strengthening its authority and prestige. We will persist in our efforts to make it a more effective instrument for international harmony and world development. We will continue to act through the United Nations, seeking to reduce international tensions, to end the cold war and to banish the spectre of nuclear war. Our faith in the United Nations remains as complete as our dedication to the principles of liberty and justice embodied in the Charter. We do not despair of the United Nations. We cannot afford to. 87. We have supported United Nations action in the Congo (Leopoldville), undertaken with a view to restoring law and order and assisting the Republic of the Congo in safeguarding its independence, unity and territorial integrity, Lebanon was a sponsor of the resolution [1474 (ES-IV)] proposed by seventeen African and Asian States and adopted by the fourth emergency special session of the General Assembly. Whatever the difficulties encountered in the past, we believe we should give support to the Secretary-General in his efforts to implement the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council. We hope that the leaders of the sovereign Congolese Republic will resolve their internal conflicts and will co-operate with the United Nations, whose task is to help them establish normal conditions for peaceful development. 88. Lebanon follows a policy of neutrality between the two great Power blocs. This policy was proclaimed as a national policy at the very outset of our independence in 1943. It was an integral part of our national Constitution, and was formulated upon the proclamation of the independence of Lebanon. We believe that our policy of neutrality can best serve the interests of international peace and justice. We do not wish to get involved in the power struggle between world military blocs. Nor do we wish to suffer from the chills of the cold war. Our neutrality stems from a genuine and sincere desire to maintain relations of friendship with all peace-loving nations. Apart from our membership in the League of Arab States and the United Nations, we have no other commitments. 89. In 1945 Lebanon signed the Pact of the League of Arab States. By this covenant, Lebanon is pledged to the maintenance of close and brotherly ties with the neighbouring Arab States. Our solidarity with our Arab brethren serves the interests of regional peace and contributes to the social and economic development of the Arab world. 90. Two years ago, Lebanon passed through a severe crisis, which was brought before the United Nations. While appreciative of the help rendered by the Organization, I wish to affirm most emphatically that the independence of Lebanon and its territorial integrity were, and still are, first and foremost, preserved and safeguarded by the united will of its own people. The independence and integrity of Lebanon are also guaranteed by both the Pact of the Arab League and the Charter of the United Nations. Furthermore, I am confident that, if ever the security or integrity of Lebanon were threatened, Lebanon could always count on the solidarity and help of the other Arab countries, in conformity with the Arab mutual defence treaty. 91. In our support of the United Nations, we should never forget that the Organization cannot succeed in ensuring peace and stability without justice. We are constantly reminded, in this regard, of the great injustice committed by the United Nations in its 1947 resolution [181 (II)] partitioning Palestine against the expressed wishes of the majority of its people. The grave consequences of that decision are still with us today and will certainly remain until justice is done. The peace and stability of the Middle East have been impaired, and great suffering has been inflicted on a million Arab refugees who have been forced to leave their country, homes and belongings. Conscious, ho doubt, of the injustice done to the Arabs, the United Nations Assembly, by its resolution of 11 December 1948 [194 (III)], decided that the Palestine refugees should be allowed to return to their homes. This decision was subsequently reaffirmed in repeated resolutions. But twelve years after that decision was taken, and in spite of its repeated reaffirmations by the United Nations, the refugees are still living in misery, away from their homeland, because Israel continues to defy this resolution, as well as other resolutions relating to the Palestine question. 92. Many of these refugees, we must remember, live across the border, at a stone’s throw from their own homes and fields. They can see, with anguish and alarm, Zionist immigrants recruited from the four corners of the earth occupying their homes and cultivating their ancestral fields. 93. Let me make it unmistakably clear that the Arab countries distinguish between Judaism and Zionism. For the former we have the deep reverence and respect with which we regard all the religions of the world, but the latter we consider not only as an enemy of the Arab peoples but as a constant threat to regional stability and as a danger to world peace. 94. The face which Zionism presents to the Arab world is very different from that which is seen by the rest of the world. The basic attitude of Zionism to the Arabs as human beings, the long history of Zionist political and military opportunism, the tenets of Zionist ideology — all these do not augur well for the future. Perhaps the most explosive aspect of Zionist ideology is the policy of unlimited Zionist immigration into Palestine. Everyone familiar with the sad and tragic story of the Palestine problem since the First World War knows the disruptive impact of unlimited Zionist immigration. 95. The declared policy of the World Zionist Organization is that of the "in-gathering of the exiles", I use their words. That is to say, it aims at emptying the Jews of the so-called Diaspora of "Dispersion" into Israel. In other words, it aims at the artificial uprooting of established Jewish communities in every part of the world in order to swell the ranks of the Israel population in Palestine. This, to say the least, is a patently mischievous policy to follow. The primary motivation is politico-strategic, rather than humanitarian. It can only end in disaster. We must realize that every single emigrant added to the population of an already congested country is a new explosive element that threatens the security and stability of the whole area. 96. The United Nations is called upon to help in this problem. The hapless Jewish emigrants are not pawns in the hands of the World Zionist Organization, to by cynically used for the furtherance of the territorial ambitions of Israel and the accentuation of world tension. They are entitled to a quiet and happy existence in countries large enough, prosperous enough, and secure enough to afford them the opportunities of normal and peaceful livelihood. 97. One must regretfully admit that the United Nations has failed to ensure peace with justice in Palestine. The responsibility of the United Nations in this respect is all the greater because it was in the teeth of opposition by the majority of the inhabitants of Palestine that the United Nations saw fit to pass the partition resolution, establishing Israel on the territory of the Arab State of Palestine. Yet even this resolution, involving as it did grievous wrong to the Arabs of Palestine, the United Nations was unable to implement. This failure of the United Nations is directly attributable to Israel’s defiance of the resolutions of the General Assembly on the Palestine question and the regrettable acquiescence of the United Nations in this defiance. We cannot hope to preserve, as we sincerely wish, the prestige, and to strengthen the authority, of the United Nations, as long as these basic resolutions are not put into execution. The Palestine problem cries out for a just solution. Without such a solution there can be no hope for permanent peace and stability in the Middle East. 98. The Algerian problem likewise awaits a just solution, in accordance with the principles set forth in the United Nations Charter. For the past six years a tragic war has been going on in Algeria with no sign of early settlement. It is causing untold suffering and great losses to both sides. The Algerian people are making immense sacrifices in their heroic struggle for national liberation. Hundreds of thousands of Algerians have given their lives in this struggle. Furthermore, over a million and a half Algerian men, women and children have been forcibly removed from their homes and villages and regrouped in new areas where they suffer great hardships. There are, finally, more than 300,000 Algerian refugees in neighbouring Tunisia and Morocco. 99. This is a senseless war, that should now be stopped, especially after both parties have accepted the basis of a solution to the Algerian problem. In his declaration of 16 September 1959, General de Gaulle recognized the principle of self-determination as the only basis for a just and lasting solution. In spite of its previous insistence on independence, the provisional government of the Algerian Republic responded by agreeing to this principle. The provisional government represents the national aspirations of the Algerian people and is leading its heroic struggle for liberation. It is the only authority capable of ordering the cessation of hostilities in Algeria. It has expressed its willingness to negotiate on the conditions of application of the principle of self-determination, and the terms of a cease-fire. 100. The provisional government of the Algerian Republic has been unjustly accused of desiring to negotiate on the future of Algeria. The truth is, however, that the provisional government is willing to leave that future to be decided by the Algerian people itself. All it insists on is, that the people’s decision should be completely free. It therefore asks that before the cease-fire is ordered, there should be agreement on the conditions under which a free vote would be held. It frankly has no confidence in the impartiality of the authorities who will conduct the vote. After six years of terrible war and enormous sacrifices, the Algerian patriots will not lay down their arms before they make sure that the Algerian people will be able to choose their political future by a free vote. It is to ensure such freedom that the provisional government of the Algerian Republic is asking for negotiations on the guarantees necessary for the true application of the principle of self-determination. Surely no one will seriously suggest that the French authorities will organize a free vote in Algeria. 101. As the French Government has been unwilling to negotiate on the conditions of a free vote to implement the right of self-determination, the provisional government of the Republic of Algeria has lately requested that the United Nations should organize and supervise the voting by the Algerian people. Indeed, this is a reasonable request. The United Nations should be charged with the responsibility of ensuring the freedom of the Algerian referendum. For it is to the interest of France, of Algeria, and of the whole world, that there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind as to the true choice of the people of Algeria. France has no reason to doubt the impartiality of the United Nations. Nor does any Member State, France included, have any reason to reject the assistance of the United Nations in bringing to an end the only war in the world today. 102. France has been justly praised for its wisdom in agreeing to the right of self-determination, and therefore to the independence of many new African nations that were admitted to membership of the United Nations on the first day of this session of the Assembly. Algeria, which is certainly no less qualified for independence, is the only African country remaining under French colonial rule. How can France persist in the colossal error of maintaining its rule in Algeria by force against the wishes of its people? There are some Frenchmen who claim that the majority of Algerians desire association with France. They should honourably accept the challenge to submit the question of determining the freely-expressed wishes of the Algerian people to the impartiality of tile United Nations. The General Assembly is called upon, at this session, to take a clear and firm decision on the Algerian question, so as to enable the people of Algeria to exercise their right to self-determination and bring peace to that strife-torn land, 103, Algeria, no less than the other colonial countries of Africa, will win its struggle for independence. It is in vain to try and arrest, at the borders of Algeria, the rising tide of African freedom. The whole of Africa will be free and we shall soon welcome an independent Algeria as a Member of the United Nations. 104, There are other areas in the Arab world which are still under some form or other-of colonial domination. I wish to mention Oman and other territories in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, where Arabs are prevented by force from exercising their right to self-determination. I am sure their struggle for freedom will soon be rewarded, and colonialism will be banished for ever from the Arab world — indeed, from the whole world, 105, With the end of colonialism already in sight, the; next aim of human progress should be the ending of mass poverty, deprivation and misery in the world. The great majority of the inhabitants of the earth suffer from hunger, ignorance and disease. They lack even the barest necessities of life. But they will not continue to accept their sufferings for long. They already know that their misery is not immutable; with the help of modern science and technology they can and will improve their conditions of life. They will strive to overcome their poverty by all the means at their disposal. They will even fight in order to achieve freedom from want. 106, But the means available to the under-developed countries, and particularly the newly-emerging nations of Africa and Asia, are limited indeed. As they emerge from long centuries of economic and social stagnation and colonial exploitation, they find that they lack the resources in capital and technology necessary to attain a reasonably rapid rate of economic development. Without such rapid economic growth, their increased production will hardly keep pace with their increasing population. In order to be able to raise the living standard of their peoples within a reasonable time, they need substantial technical and financial aid from the wealthier and more advanced nations. 107, This world problem of development is a great challenge to the United Nations. Its solution is essential to the long-term maintenance of international peace and stability. The rich industrial nations cannot afford to ignore their responsibility for helping the lefts advanced nations which are striving to raise their living standards. 108, The inequality in wealth and productive power between different nations is very great indeed. The wide gap which separates the developed from the underdeveloped countries is growing wider all the time. The rich are rapidly getting richer, while the poor are hardly able to reduce their poverty. This situation cannot last long. Unless it is remedied, the whole World will be in perpetual danger of revolutionary and eruptive explosions. It is to the interest of all nations, co-operating through the United Nations, to prevent; such explosions, with their incalculable consequences for world peace and stability. The advanced nations who are devoting vast resources to armaments can surely afford to give greater aid for the economic and social development of the under-developed countries. 109. A future historian may one day look back and comment on the double folly of the arms race in our time. There is, on the one hand, the folly of two competing military blocs piling up enormous quantities of terribly destructive weapons without either bloc increasing its relative security. No one can pretend that either of the two Power blocs, with all the hydrogen bombs and rockets they have accumulated, feels more secure today than it felt five or ten years ago. There is, on the other hand, the folly of wasting immense resources on arms when so much is needed for improving the living conditions of humanity. It can scarcely be considered rational for man to spend so many times more for war, destruction and death than for peace, construction and life. 110. The arms race is not only foolish, but dangerous. If it continues, the chances of the outbreak of a nuclear war of annihilation will greatly increase. The great Powers must, in the interests of self-preservation and the preservation of mankind, agree among themselves on a programme of controlled and complete disarmament. 111. We, the small nations, have little influence in bringing the arms race to an end and bringing about controlled general disarmament. We can only urge the great Powers to persevere in their efforts to that end. We beseech them to negotiate an agreement on disarmament before it is too late. In so doing, we are simply giving expression to the fears and hopes of all men throughout the world. 112. This fifteenth session of the General Assembly has a wonderful opportunity for taking a firm step forward on the road to disarmament. The great leaders of nations gathered in this Assembly cannot, and should not, disappoint the hopes of men everywhere that the danger of war be banished and the opportunities of peaceful development be enjoyed by all peoples. 113. At this historic moment of decision, may the great leaders here assembled rise to the occasion and realize the full measure of their responsibility to their .own nations, as well as to all mankind,