Jordan

It is an honour for me to address this distinguished gathering in the name of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and on behalf of my delegation. 52. The favourable atmosphere in which the General Assembly of the United Nations enters its eighteenth regular session gives us hope that it will be a session of success and positive results. 53. I deem it a privilege at the outset of my statement, Mr. President, to express to you my warm congratulations on your election to the Presidency of this Assembly by a vote of unanimous confidence which, as an outstanding diplomat and a distinguished son of your great country, you fully deserve, and to wish you all success in carrying out your important task. 54. The growth of the United Nations in membership and in experience gives it increasing strength and wisdom to enable it, in its endeavours, to solve the difficulties of life and to lead man in his eternal journey towards a world of peace, justice and prosperity. This everlasting journey, which throughout the ages has been guided by prophets, heroes and martyrs heading towards the higher and richer plateaus of life, stands today as a challenge to the united forces of all nations and to the statesmanship of all leaders of our time. 55. The struggle between good and evil, between right and wrong and between peace and war manifests itself today more than ever in a decisive contest which will either realize the golden dream of humanity or will throw it into the valley of death and darkness. 56. Do our achievements in establishing a better and more progressive life, and our accomplishments in laying the foundations of international peace, warrant a claim of victory to which we close our eyes in pleasant comfort? Are these achievements and accomplishments comparable to the magnitude of our collective efforts throughout the past seventeen years, since the inception of the United Nations? 57. Today, at the opening of the eighteenth session, we meet to review our successes and our failures and to register our satisfaction and declare our hopes. 58. The signing in Moscow of the partial nuclear test- ban treaty introduced a fresh breeze in the international climate and caused a feeling of comfort. Although it is limited to three environments, this treaty has the strong effect of leading to a comprehensive and universal solemn pledge which will prohibit all forms of nuclear weapons tests and thus will pave the way for wider spheres of agreement in the general scope of disarmament. 59. It is fair to say in this respect that, although the credit for concluding the Moscow test-ban pact should go to the States and leaders that took the initiative, yet a considerable proportion of that credit should go to the small States and the non-nuclear Powers which never failed to exert their moral pressure, both within and outside the United Nations, to bring about such a result. The immediate and impressive demonstration given by over one hundred Governments in subscribing to the agreement is strong evidence of the genuine world-wide desire to put an end to these perilous tests. 60. This achievement, however marginal it may be, in arresting the armaments contest should be a true encouragement in the efforts towards the resolution of the central issue of general and complete disarmament. 61. My Government follows with keen interest the tireless endeavours of the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament. We realize that the process of armament throughout the ages and the compounded mistrust, doubts and apprehensions do not help negotiations among the parties concerned to go faster or to achieve better results commensurate with the universal call for disarmament. Yet we also realize that what we are trying to build today is not mainly for the present generation but rather for the generations to come, and what we are trying to plant will grow and flourish in the days of those who follow us. What is important is that we should save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and should honour the first pledge in our United Nations Charter. My delegation notes that the treaty for the partial banning of nuclear weapons tests was concluded outside the province of the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament. Yet we consider that such achievements, wherever they may take place, are part of the general progress along the road of disarmament. Nevertheless, we believe that the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament should be further strengthened in both authority and level of representation to enable it to carry out its weighty task, 62. But that feeling of comfort which touched the hearts of men and which reduced tension in international relations —how far did it go and what people did it reach? Did it reach the miserable, the deprived, the oppressed and the man in refuge and destitution? Did it cover regions where rights are lost and territory is usurped? Did it reach the masses of Arab refugees subsisting on international charity after being uprooted from their native land by the cruelty of mankind? Did it touch the parts of Africa in which the African inhabitant has been suffering racial discrimination and segregation under the self-interest of the white settler? And did it reach those people whom colonial rule has not yet allowed to join the procession of independent and free nations? 63. The delegation on whose behalf I speak represents a country which lives in the centre of the plight of the Arab nation of Palestine, a country which bears the Arab pains of Palestine and entertains the Arab hopes in that sacred land, I would be betraying the cause of righteousness and justice and the principles of honesty and faithfulness if Idid not portray to this Assembly the effect of the plight of Palestine among my people, and report on the impact of this cardinal issue in our region. 64. The peace with which we all are enchanted and to which all our efforts are dedicated will be meaningless if its realities are translated only into mechanical terms. It will be meaningless if its purpose is only the elimination of the tools of war. It will be meaningless if disputes are decided by the rule of force, not the rule of law and justice. It will be meaningless if political expediency and vested interests set the norms of international relationships and conduct. Such a peace cannot rise to the hopes of my people. It cannot heal the wounds of the Arab nation, caused by the historic aggression in Palestine. 65. My country, which lives in the range of vision of the disaster of Palestine, cannot sleep with pleasant dreams. The hundreds of thousands of unfortunate human beings who are herded nowadays into camps within the border of the Jordan Kingdom represent a nation that has been ruined by the action of the United Nations at one time and the inaction of the United Nations at other times. 66. What is severely painful in the question of Palestine is not only the extirpation of the native and legitimate inhabitants from their fatherland, but equally the fact that in the age of the United Nations this population, scattered here and there, has continued to suffer in destitution and exile for fifteen long years and continues to wait for redress. Time has not softened the bitterness of the Arab people with regard to Palestine. There is no other problem in the world which could arouse the sentiments of the Arabs more than that of Palestine, I would venture to say that the political attitude of the Arab nation as a whole in its international relations could be seriously affected one way or another, or shifted from one position to the other, if the Palestine question or any of its aspects and ramifications is at stake. 67. The catastrophe of Palestine unleashed in the Arab world a wave of national awakening imbuing the masses of the Arab nation with vigorous ideas. The pressure of these ideas will continue to generate a chain of actions and reactions until the Arab nation finds a way of political, economic and social life which will fully justify its higher national and international aspirations. 68. We, the Arabs, have witnessed in our recent history the collaboration of colonialism and Zionism in a joint atrocious move against our national existence in Palestine. Whenever we try to dispel the image of the brutal massacres and the terror and horror which swept our people in Palestine, we see that image, as a living reminder, in the faces of the destroyed families of our refugees. 69. It does not escape the attention of my Government that the Palestine question, great and grave as it is, has not yet shaken the conscience of the world so strongly as to move this Assembly to act on it in a just and rightful manner. The fundamental question to be answered is why the Palestinian Arab, the rightful owner of the land, should be thrown out of his homeland to live as a refugee, and be replaced by a foreign invader who has usurped the land, the house, the farm and all the movable and immovable property of that native Palestinian. In all conscience, no one would expect the Arabs to tolerate such a grave injustice. And when we, as Arab Members of the United Nations, defend the rights of the Arabs of Palestine, we in fact defend the principles of the United Nations Charter. 70. Having established an alien Zionist State on the pure Arab soil of Palestine, the United Nations created a serious problem in the Middle East. The problem, in its wider sense, is that in the Arab region there exists today a foreign authority in an Arab environment, illegally founded, hostile in attitude to the surroundings, and expansionist by policy. And, in its stark reality, the problem is the tragedy of an Arab nation living in exile and deprived of all its natural rights of return, of property, and of compensation, a nation deprived of its past and of its future. 71. In a wider range, the problem produced several other difficulties and complications each of which constitutes a serious issue. Thus, we see that, apart from the military conditions along the demarcation lines governed now by a general armistice, a great deal of unrest lies in several other aspects of the main problem. 72. To mention some, I would refer to the attempt of Israel to divert the waters of the Jordan River to the territory presently under its control, an attempt which, if completed, will endanger peace in our area. I also would refer to the treatment of the Arab minority in Israel, which is being subjected to restrictive and discriminatory measures and regulations. And I would refer to the question of the property of the Arab refugees, controlled and seized and disposed of by the Israeli authorities through the promulgation of laws and ordinances to ensure the expropriation of this immense property, the income from which exceeds $100 million a year. 73. Reference could be made to other important aspects of the question of Palestine. However, such issues are symptoms of the original disease, which, unless properly and effectively treated, will continue to grow and spread with increasing danger. 74. If the United Nations, with the moral and material resources at its command, has become unable to settle the question rightly and equitably, or if it has become indifferent to such a settlement, then it is creating a situation tantamount to an open invitation to the aggrieved, the wronged and the desperate to take the law into their own hands, with all the dire consequences that inevitably flow therefrom. 75. Sometimes we hear voices calling for direct negotiations between the Arabs and Israel, which they believe may lead to peace. While we yearn for the restoration of peace in the Holy Land, we maintain that a situation in which wrong is legalized and aggression is tolerated and considered an acceptable fact is a situation which does not provide a suitable atmosphere for peace. 76. If I have dwelt at a certain length on the Palestine question, in this general statement, it is not only because my country is deeply and widely involved in this problem, nor is it only because it is a question of denial of basic legitimate national rights, but because it is a continued threat to international peace and security. The fact that this question has, up to now, engaged the Security Council in two hundred meetings is indeed a further evidence of its seriousness. 77. Another source of danger to international peace and security is the policy of apartheid in South Africa and the question of racial discrimination. In an age when man has reached a better understanding of his own worth and his own significance, when men of all colours, creeds and sects should form one society with no barriers or limitations whatsoever among the individuals in it —in this age, we submit, any policy of racial discrimination or persecution is a reactionary and uncivilized practice, which my country strongly condemns. 78. We deplore the rule of the white minority settlers in any African territory over the indigenous African population, whether this rule is the result of an applied racist policy or of an undemocratic colonial system. What is now taking place in South Africa, Angola, Southern Rhodesia and the remaining colonies in Africa is an outrageous practice, repugnant to the political, moral and social standards of today. The United Nations must take every measure necessary to remedy this intolerable situation. The unyielding policy of apartheid applied by the Government of South Africa poses another serious problem for this General Assembly. It confronts us with the question of the "defiance" by a Member State of the decisions and pronouncements of the Organization. The United Nations cannot safeguard its integrity and prestige if its decisions are to be disregarded by its Members. On our agenda there are important items on which the General Assembly has adopted a number of resolutions —indeed, to such an extent that the issuance of such resolutions has become routine work. They are in our records, reaffirming each other with no substantive effect. The General Assembly, in adopting resolutions, should therefore follow a procedure which would ensure the implementation of its resolutions, not merely the repetition of terms and expressions, and which would guarantee the effectiveness of its recommendations. 79. Discrimination as regards race or religion does not belong to the ethical standards of this age, nor does it belong to the moral teachings of earlier days. I come from a region where international brotherhood and human tolerance are basic conditions of life; where nationalism is a concept of culture and common life, not of race and blood; where religion is the practice of virtue, not the form of worship; where human beings, all of them, are the people of God, the most favoured being the most useful to his community. It is on the basis of this attitude that we view any situation of racial discrimination or religious intolerance, whether in Africa, in South-East Asia or in any other part of the world. 80. Man has gone far in breaking through outer space, in exploring the infinite universe, in discovering his own realities and abilities through discovering the unknown. My country takes pride in honouring those champions who fly into the atmosphere to challenge the limitations of the upper strata and to circle the globe with unbounded courage and utmost dedication. How happy humanity would be if the collective efforts of its own sons and their talents could be used for a joint exploration of the unknown for the common benefit of mankind. How great it would be if the big Powers could agree to a pooling of their resources in a unified atmospheric scheme. 81. On this planet, we note with great satisfaction that economic development and prosperity are marching side by side with political progress and achievements. Economic development plans are being carried out in various parts of the world at a rapid rate and in wide dimensions. It is vital to the general movement of international economic progress that the developed countries should continue to assist the developing countries, in an organized and systematic manner, to meet their development needs. 82. My country, under the wise leadership of its monarch and through his perseverance in securing for his people both progress and stability, is advancing steadily toward self-sufficiency, a stage which is bringing us closer to meeting the needs of our people and to ensuring their happiness, well-being and prosperity. 83. The United Nations, with the limited funds available for development assistance, is doing its utmost. The developed industrialized countries are expected in this regard further to increase their contributions to the various funds administered by the United Nations in the field of economic and technical assistance programmes, so that the goals of the United Nations Development Decade may be realized. 84. It gives me pleasure on this occasion to acknowledge with appreciation, on behalf of my Government, the technical assistance and the aid to Jordan's development plans which are extended to us by the United Nations, the Special Fund and the specialized agencies. 85. My delegation gives due regard to the preparations being made by convening the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 1964. We are hoping that this Conference will mitigate the effects of the adverse terms of trade from which the primary producing countries continue to suffer. 86. We are confident that the present encouraging international situation is quite suitable for fruitful cooperation in the economic and social fields and that the objectives of the United Nations Charter concerning the improvement of the standards of living of all peoples can be achieved. 87. The Jordan delegation notes with great satisfaction that in the course of the last year the United Nations was able to settle satisfactorily several important questions which could have developed in a manner endangering international peace. And in this respect it is a privilege for me to pay the highest tribute to our Secretary-General, U Thant, for his superior ability and outstanding statesmanship in helping to bring those problems to a successful solution. 88. It is to the satisfaction of my delegation that the United Nations operations in the Congo have fulfilled the tasks with which they were charged. The political unity of the Congo has fortunately been achieved. Order and security in the Congo are being maintained. Direct intervention across the Congolese borders can no longer be claimed. The tense international situation which surrounded the Congo at one time is now over, and the Congolese Government is in a position to assume the full responsibilities of a sovereign State. 89. A notable feature in the progress of our Organization is that it has developed to a stage where it is able to implement general and basic principles contributing to the solution of international problems. Thus, we see that the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples has gone so far in a horizontal line that it has covered several lands and nations in Africa and Asia and has helped the process of independence to materialize. It is indeed a source of pride for us to sit today in this great hall with nations that a few years ago were deprived of their present status by colonial rule. The newly independent and Sovereign States are contributing not only to the progress of their own peoples or their own continents, but to the progress of humanity at large. 90. The meeting of thirty-two Heads of independent African States in Addis Ababa in May 1963 was a remarkable historic event demonstrating the unity of the African nations and their march towards the realization of the higher ideals of life. 91. My country will continue to give its support to every nation that has not yet been able to enjoy freedom and independence, and to this end will continue to join in the efforts to eradicate the remnants of colonialism in every part of the world. We highly praise the activities and accomplishments of the Special Committee of Twenty-Four. In view of the important task with which that Committee is entrusted, my delegation feels that a system for its membership should be adopted which would allow a wider association by Members of the General Assembly in its work. 92. My delegation follows with keen interest the evolution towards independence in the various territories reported upon by the Special Committee of Twenty- Four. A colonial issue of major importance in the Arab homeland is the question of Aden and the protectorates in the southern Arabian Peninsula. The presence of a British military base in Aden is a cause of tension and insecurity in the whole region. The political measures and establishments which the colonial Power tries to impose in order to secure its continued presence in the colony of Aden and the protectorates are contrary to the national aspirations of the inhabitants who should be given full freedom to exercise the right of self-determination for the attainment of their independence and the achievement of their national and territorial unity. The United Nations itself, in view of the prevailing conditions in Aden and the protectorates, should see to it that the political future of the area is determined by the freely expressed will of its inhabitants. Such has been the practice of the United Nations on all similar colonial issues. This area, therefore, cannot be an exception. My delegation will give full consideration in due course to the important question of Aden. 93. Jordan, being a part of the Arab homeland, can in no way tolerate the presence of colonialism on the shores of the Arabian Peninsula. For the last three years the question of Oman has been on the agenda of the United Nations without any fruitful result being achieved in bringing the right of the people of Oman to independence closer to fulfilment. The people of Oman have paid and are still paying a heavy price to regain their independence and restore their country's territorial integrity, it is contrary to the principles of self-determination and the terms of the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples that their national rights remain unrecognized. My delegation earnestly hopes that this year the question of Oman will receive adequate consideration by all the Members of the General Assembly, with a view to restoring independence to the people of Oman. 94. We come to the eighteenth regular session of the General Assembly with problems before us to solve and proposals to consider. Our attitude one way or the other on these problems and proposals will write history and establish the future. May we hope that our decisions in every case and in every situation will be determined by the merits of the issue and the principles it involves. And may God guide us in the right path for the good of humanity.