Mr. President, permit me first to congratulate you on your election to the Presidency of the General Assembly. Your country has shown deep understanding of our problems and aspirations, and on many occasions it has lent us support in those issues which affected us most. It is therefore an honour for me to stand in this Assembly to pay tribute to you and to the country which nurtured a first-rate diplomat and statesman like yourself.
2. On this very day, 26 September, we Eire celebrating the first anniversary of the Revolution. I am deeply honoured to be speaking on this day to you and to the world of the past suffering, the present joy and the future aspirations of our people. It is appropriately the year of hope and light for us.
3. On this particular day, last year, our people succeeded in putting an end to a backward, totalitarian and autocratic system of government. That system, for many generations, deprived our people of hope in the future and of light to seek that hope. Yemen was very much like a dark cell, many thousands of square miles in area, inhabited by several million prisoners. The deposed rulers were enemies of life and civilization.
4. The declaration of the Republican regime crowns a struggle of a quarter of a century: it is the fruit of sacrifices made by thousands who spent most of their lives in prisons and in exile, and of hundreds of others who sacrificed their lives so that their countrymen might live free from oppression, utter poverty and ignorance.
5. The free Yemenis began their struggle against the tyranny of the Imamate at the beginning of the Second World War. It was then that they realized that the independence for which thousands of Yemenis died became, by Draconic calculation, an independence in stagnation, in perpetual poverty, in illiteracy, in disease and in isolation from all that is meaningful in the civilization and progress of man. Yemen, for too long —far too long— was a stage in which scenes of tyranny and atrocities took place.
6. Hundreds of Yemenis were put in dark and terrible prisons where they spent their lives without being heard of by anyone. Anyone opposing the Imam's policy or rule was branded an atheist and without due process of law imprisoned or beheaded. Nevertheless, and in spite of all these oppressive measures, the progressive elements of the people confronted the tyrannical government with tenacity and sacrificial courage. Antigovernment leaflets were distributed, and secret organizations —around which the people and even some members of the royal family gathered— were formed. The free Yemenis launched the 1948 revolution. It was the first of its kind in the Arab nation. This revolution shattered the regime of Imam Yahya and declared a popular government, the first in Yemen, which established a National Assembly. The people declared their adherence and respect for the sacred national covenant, the country's provisional Constitution.
7. The 1948 Revolution and all the noble ends it represented failed, due to foreign intervention. The neighbouring hostile and reactionary forces moved and advocated war against the new régime. The revolutionary government sent a delegation to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to hold a meeting with those who opposed the new regime. While meeting its opponents, the Yemeni delegation could only pose one significant question: Why are you so determined in your opposition to us? And to that question a significant note was added:
"Our revolution has removed the stain of shame which embarrassed all, and set free an Arab People which was rendered powerless and unable to cooperate sensibly with the rest of the Arab Nation in quest for progress. Our revolution is directed against none."
But the enemies of the 1948 Revolution were in no mood to come to terms with the revolutionary situation in Yemen. They could not bear to see the people of Yemen successfully directing a decisive blow to the most entrenched reactionary throne in the area. They saw in its success a threat to their power and vested interests and, consequently, sought its destruction. Then there ensued a flood of money and arms into Yemen and some border tribes were incited. Sana'a was exposed to looting and destruction. Deceived, surrounded by enemies in the North and imperialistic hostilities in the East and South, the revolutionary government fell and so did Sana'a The country lost its ablest men and many a family lost its property and honour. Ever since the 1948 Revolution, the country remained under a tyrannical regime that sought no improvement, but the people were determined to effect the improvements it wanted.
8. There was a coup d'état in 1955. It failed because of the hesitation of the Prince, who joined it, and of the King, who just resigned as a consequence of it. In 1958 the Imam's Government sought to deceive the people by joining with the United Arab Republic. It seemed a clever political move designed to stalemate anyone except the Imam from taking any step. The paper Federation failed, and the people of Yemen continued their struggle. There were violent demonstrations in Taiz, Sana'a and Beida. The Iman beheaded the chief Sheik of Hashed, eighty years old, and his son. There followed opposition to the regime from the tribe of Hashed and the Qabbeitah and Yusfeen tribes in the South. This period of flux culminated in the attempt of three officers to end the life of the Imam. He was wounded, but escaped death. It was in this atmosphere of unrest that the Imam finally died in September 1962. His son came to the throne. He lost no time in announcing that he would follow the policy of his predecessor because he thought it wise. One could have asked: "Wise for whom?" With such an announcement of intent, the people and the army saw no hope of progress under the rule of the new Imam. The revolution was carried out and the Republic declared on 26 September 1962. And, as though conditions in the Arab nation and the rest of the world had not changed, the reactionary and Imperialistic forces sought to destroy the revolution from without and by the same methods as in 1946: intrigues, money and arms.
9. But the Yemen revolution captured the understanding and sympathy of Arab and freedom-loving public opinion in the world and found full support from most of the Arab States, especially the United Arab Republic and the friendly nations which stood beside our people in their heroic struggle for justice and human dignity.
10. Our country was ruled by the Imam's personality, by his myths and by an imaginary power. This was made possible by the unbelievable degree of isolation and illiteracy in which our people lived. The country had no modern administrative system —in fact, there was no administration to speak of.
11. The old régime considered the country an estate to be exploited. The Government kept no sound financial records. There was no budget; there were no banking facilities and no knowledge of the country's income or resources.
12. In the past few years, when attempts to change the government were intensified, the royal family began to smuggle funds abroad. Even the few houses which the Yemen diplomatic missions occupied were purchased in their names.
13. When the Republican regime came into being, its first task was to establish an administrative system. This process is going on satisfactorily. However, the Republic's work in many other fields is slowed by the Infiltration of arms and money from outside and the continuation of attacks against the Republic.
14. The new regime fully realized the heavy responsibilities which it carries. The introduction of new educational and health systems and the inducement of a satisfactory measure of economic growth are complex problems and have no simple solutions. However, we look with confidence to the future and our ability to meet the needs of our people. We look, too, for economic and technical assistance from the United Nations and friendly governments.
15. At this point I should like to turn to a problem that has troubled our people for many decades —the problem of the British occupation of Southern Yemen. The British colonial occupation of the Southern part of our country started in 1839, when Aden was occupied by the British aggressors. Through cunning and intrigue, Britain was able to force simple-minded sheiks to sign treaties which in effect gave Britain complete control over the so-called "Aden and Aden Protectorates". The Imam at that time was too weak to challenge British penetration into Southern Yemen. The gradual erosion of the authority of the Imam, due to the awakening of our people, began to endanger British hegemony over the South.
16. With classic ingenuity and precision, only to be expected from Britain, a new method was found by the British authorities to prolong their control over the area. An artificial State was created and named "The Federation of South Arabia". This done with the help of some stooges and followers and in complete disregard of the facts, history and geography and the desire of the people themselves in the area. By creating this State Britain sought to kill two birds with one stone: apparent compliance with the General Assembly resolution on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples, and apparent compliance with the United Nations principle of self-determination —an attempt, no doubt, to paralyse Yemen unity and the territorial integrity of Yemen.
17. This was done with Britain comfortably in control of the area, from behind a facade of legality and legitimacy with which Britain presumably was endowed by their creation, "The Federation of South Arabia".
18. The British administration persists in oppressing the labour movement and the popular organizations. It suppresses newspapers that oppose its designs and imprisons or terrorizes all those who stand in the way of its policy. British aircraft have bombarded the areas which refused to join the so-called Federation.
19. The question relating to this problem has been under consideration at the United Nations in the Special Committee of Twenty-Four. The Special Committee at its 163rd meeting on 3 May 1963 appointed a fact-finding Sub-Committee. The Sub-Committee visited all the pertinent areas except Aden, due to the refusal of the British authorities to admit them. The facts obtained from the visit of the Sub-Committee are contained in its report and in the report of the Special Committee.
20. As a measure of pressure on the Yemen Government, Britain refused to recognize the Republican regime, and aggression against Yemen increased in frequency.
21. But none of this could conceal the facts or the nature of the problem. The real issues is the actual British presence in Southern Yemen; and Britain is very much in error if it assumes that its presence can be condoned by the people of Yemen.
22. This question does not concern the Yemen Arab Republic Government alone. It is also the concern of the people who declared their opposition and resistance to the British scheme even before the Republican régime. The problem is also very much the concern of the United Nations in that it involves violation of
the principles of its Charter and of the General Assembly's resolutions on colonialism.
23. Britain has for too long dominated the several parts of the Arab homeland, "Balkanized" it and established States and thrones. The Arab revolution had, and will have, to struggle bitterly to rid the Arab land and people of foreign influence and to right the wrong done.
24. Today we are past the first half of the twentieth century. A lot of developments have occurred in all fields relating to relations among nations, and yet we find Britain lagging behind in recognizing this fact in South Yemen as well as in Oman and the Gulf Territories. The Yemen Arab Republic strongly supports the Omani people in its desire for independence and urges this Organization to take strong steps towards the realization of the aspirations of the Omani people.
25. In other areas we see violations of United Nations principles as in Angola, Rhodesia and Mozambique which are still denied their right to self-determination. In South Africa a majority of the population is denied the basic human right of equality. In all these and similar issues, our delegation supports the implementation of the principles for which this Organization was created.
26. There is very little to add to what is already known about the tragedy of Palestine. The Zionist organizations, with the tremendous means at their disposal, have sought to distort the facts and to mutilate reality. But in spite of these attempts the world does recognize the elements of the Palestine tragedy —peaceful people attacked by well-equipped and organized renegade Zionist bands which took, by murderous force, the cities, the villages and all that the Palestinians owned. All this occurred in defiance of the United Nations, the world and all the humane principles of civilized society. We are left now with people who, having lost their land, live in the open without a country or hope, watching, day in and day out, their farms and their houses being utilized by the intruders.
27. We are not against Judaism or against the Jews as a race. They have lived amongst us for many generations, free to practise their faith and to pursue their hopes in this life. However, we reject Zionism, the political movement that, in fact, reproduced in Palestine the Nazi atrocities, thus mocking the very basic values for which the world fought the Second World War.
28. The Yemen Arab Republic believes that there will be no peace and security in the area until the Palestinian question is rightfully solved and the refugees returned to their homeland. The conscience of this international Organization and the conscience of the civilized peoples of the world will always be overburdened with this distress. World problems cannot find real solutions, and true and lasting peace cannot be reached unless based upon the principles of justice and human dignity.
29. The partial success resulting from the Treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water has been a step forward, paving the road towards this human goal of lasting peace with justice. For the small nations of the world this agreement is a double rejoicing, for it not only opens the way to peace but also gives hope that the colossal sums of money which are being wasted in the
marathon race of nuclear explosions, spreading fear and poisons, will be converted to the use of spreading bread and butter, hope for a better future and confidence in man. Upon these premises, the Yemen Arab Republic, joining the many small nations, welcomes this Treaty and considers it an important watershed of a new era.
30. The Yemen Arab Republic supports all steps leading to better international relations and co-operation. It fully supports all efforts of this Organization aimed at promoting the cause of peace and progress and mutual understanding among nations. It holds in high esteem the principles upon which the United Nations is based.
31. Our people have an emotional drive to hold firmly their belief in the United Nations, its different organizations and all the Member States, particularly to rid themselves of the isolated prison to which they were condemned for generations and to benefit from world progress in their striving against illiteracy, disease and poverty.
32. For these noble goals the Yemen Arab Republic stretches a hand of brotherhood to all the nations of the world.