It is an honour and a privilege for me to represent His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco and the Government of Morocco in the United Nations. I should like once again to express my appreciation and gratitude to the President of this Assembly and to all the delegations which supported and defended our cause.
150. Morocco looks on its admission to the United Nations first and foremost as an act of faith in the lofty principles of the Charter — the principles which brought the Organization into being, which govern its activities and provide inspiration for the achievement of its objectives. The fact of joining the United Nations also signifies our agreement, freely undertaken, to participate in the task of maintaining peace throughout the world.
151. Even the most superficial study of world affairs leads to the conviction that where freedom is denied, conflicts will arise. The task of the United Nations and the scope of its efforts must therefore be commensurate with the degree of injustice and oppression still prevailing in certain parts of the world. My country is determined to do its utmost in the United Nations to ensure respect and equality between States, and justice and fraternity between peoples.
152. It has been most satisfying to note the progress achieved by the United Nations, since its foundation, in bringing its Members to settle their problems peacefully and to co-operate faithfully to that end. In this connexion, the United Nations is to be congratulated on the new spirit which it has brought about and maintained and developed despite numerous crises. The experience of the last eleven years has demonstrated that the success of the United Nations in carrying out its task has frequently been due to the Organization’s principles of universality and equality and to the fact that all nations, whatever their level of development, their system of government or their power, enjoy full freedom within the Organization and are entitled to respect. My delegation therefore expresses the hope that every nation which loves justice and peace will join the United Nations and make our Organization even more universal and more effective.
153. Morocco underwent many trials and passed through many harrowing crises before achieving independence and taking its place among the free nations; but this has only served to strengthen our belief in the need for constant recourse to the just arbitration of the international Organization and for the utilization of every pacific means to settle disputes between nations. This was the very principle by which we were guided during our struggle for freedom, and on several occasions we brought our dispute with France before the United Nations. The Moroccan people are convinced that, through its action, the United Nations played a major role in the settlement of this conflict and in the restoration of freedom and peace to our country. Encouraged by this example, the Moroccan people today stand as one behind their sovereign and call upon the United Nations to intervene in the same way wherever any people is subjected to violence or colonialist oppression.
154. At the very time of our admission to the United Nations, the world is once again being threatened by the destructive scourge of war. For historical reasons and, more particularly, for reasons connected with its geographical and strategical position, Morocco is directly concerned with the great problems of today and particularly with the questions of Algeria and Suez.
155. Apart from our many natural links with the Algerian people, we are tied to them by very close bonds, and our love of peace and freedom has led us to seek the means of securing a peaceful settlement of this painful dispute. The stability, the security and the peace of North Africa depend upon the outcome, and in application of the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination laid down in the Charter of the United Nations, we urge most strongly that the bloodshed be stopped. No problem has ever been solved by recourse to force and violence, and unilateral decisions cannot bring about sound or lasting settlements. Such methods have failed everywhere in the world, and armed forces, however strong, can no more change the course of history than they can turn a people striving for liberty from the pursuit of their goal.
156. The honest efforts of H.M. the Sultan, in our relations with France, to find some common ground between the two parties and to bring about a peaceful solution of the Algerian problem, have been misconstrued and coolly received by the French Government. Our faith in the future is unshakable, however, and we are more firmly determined than ever to play our part in securing peace in North Africa and ensuring that justice and law shall prevail. We believe it highly desirable to put an end to the reign of fear, anxiety and insecurity in Algeria. The Algerian people have been deprived of the basic freedoms in their own country — freedom of speech, assembly and movement. The presence and the brutality of hundreds of thousands of armed troops in Algeria constitute a threat to peace in that part of the world.
157. The era of colonialism is now a thing of the past and Algeria is entitled to its freedom. The enslavement of one people by another, however civilized and powerful this latter may be, is by now an anachronism. Understanding and co-operation between peoples in all their multiplicity and diversity, the development of national cultures and civilizations, the reconciliation of spiritual values and the sharing of technical progress — these are the factors which lead to peace and make for lasting bonds between nations. The fact that there is an Algerian nation and an Algerian character cannot be validly denied, and there is no need to delve into history or sociology to prove it. The claim that Algeria forms part of French territory is a fiction which will not bear scrutiny. Algeria lies across the Mediterranean from France and has its own frontiers and institutions. Politically, as well as economically and socially, the laws applied in Algeria were never identical to those applied in French territory. The system of government established in Algeria is basically different from the French system, not to speak of ethnic factors of civilization and culture. The occupation of Algerian territory for almost 130 years would alone have been sufficient to strengthen the Algerian character and to prove, if proof were needed, that Algeria is not France.
158. Admittedly, there is in Algeria a strong minority of Europeans, more particularly of Frenchmen or of foreigners who have acquired French nationality; but the existence of this minority must not prevent the search for a peaceful, just and equitable solution of the Algerian problem. As the representatives of the Algerian people have themselves stressed, any solution which would give satisfaction to Algeria’s national aspirations would safeguard the legitimate interests of this minority. It could continue, in peace and security, with equal rights and obligations and in a spirit of fruitful co-operation, the work in which it has participated. But the legitimate rights of the Algerian people cannot be sacrificed to the goodwill of the minority and to the preservation of its interest alone. World progress can no longer tolerate privilege or the exploitation by force of an entire people which demands freedom and the recognition of its dignity.
159. Morocco, now renascent after its struggle against colonialism, would, like all countries which have undergone the same ordeal, place great value on a resolution of this Assembly urging the parties concerned to apply the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, so that wisdom and reason may prevail and an end be made of the bloodshed and violence which an uncomprehending policy has brought about in this part of the world.
160. In view of the violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, of the right of peoples to self-determination, and of the threat to international peace and security, the United Nations is fully justified in seeking a peaceful solution to the Algerian problem. It is only because the war in Algeria was not denounced earlier by the United Nations that certain great Powers have seen fit to resort to the old colonialist methods and to military occupation of countries which refuse to submit to their will. Such methods should be unanimously condemned, since they are not conducive to the consolidation of peace or to the establishment of just and lawful relations between nations.
161. By reason of its geographical position between the East and the West, my country forms a natural link between two civilizations which can and must complement each other for the general good and in the interests of all. However, we cannot admit any action prejudicial to the sovereignty of any country, irrespective of the motives involved, and particularly where force or violence are employed. The day after the conflict in the Middle East broke out, my country expressed its disapproval and registered a protest against the aggression suffered by Egypt and against the collusion between France, Israel and the United Kingdom. In our opinion Egypt was within its legitimate rights in nationalizing the Suez Canal, which constitutes an integral part of its territory, particularly since Egypt guaranteed freedom of movement through the Canal. Nothing could justify this aggression, the use of military force against the Egyptian people and the occupation against its will of part of its territory by foreign troops. Such action is a clear violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and flagrantly contravenes the principle of peaceful settlement of international disputes.
162. We associate ourselves with the unanimous condemnation of this action and we express the hope that energetic intervention by the United Nations in order to save the peace of the world will ensure the withdrawal of the foreign troops from the invaded territory of a country which is a Member of the United Nations. It is my duty, on behalf of the Moroccan delegation, to pay tribute to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and to the members of this Assembly for their past and present efforts, to put an end to this aggression and restore justice and peace. As the Sultan of Morocco declared on 18 November 1956, in his Speech from the Throne: “We trust that the United Nations will fulfil its mission by upholding the law everywhere and by protecting the oppressed; for we believe that peace can reign throughout the world only if we put an end to all forms of colonialism and establish fruitful co-operation between peoples on the basis of freedom, independence and equality.”
163. Another and even more essential role of the United Nations is to build a world where social justice and economic progress will be enjoyed by all peoples. The ideas on which colonialism is based have not yet been finally abandoned by certain great Powers. While some smaller nations have succeeded in achieving political freedom, they still have to struggle against economic difficulties originating in the system of occupation under which they had to live and making for instability. Thus in spite of its natural resources, the vitality of its inhabitants and its potentialities, my country still has to cope with the aftermath of an economic system to which it has been subjected for the last fifty years.
164. By supporting the under-developed countries, and through the aid which its specialized agencies can lend to them, the United Nations will play a decisive role in ending this die-hard neo-colonialism, this economic domination which certain great Powers still tend to maintain over smaller nations. The support which my country hopes to find in the United Nations, particularly in the field of technical assistance, will afford us protection against the covetousness of others and enable us to exploit the riches and resources of our country in the interests of its inhabitants.
165. It is unnecessary for me to stress the great importance of disinterested technical assistance by the United Nations to the under-developed countries, for the utilization of their resources and the well-being of their people. The role of the United Nations in this field is as important, if not more important, than that of maintaining international peace and security, if we are to put an end to the many forms of poverty and want which still prevail in various parts of the world. Poverty leads to despair and may sometimes give rise to social unrest; but it also inevitably leads to the enslavement of peoples, A people suffering hunger is not a free people; and while the task of the United Nations is to put an end to oppression, it has the no less vital responsibility of creating prosperity, since peace will remain an uneasy peace unless freedom is fortified by the well-being of the people. We have great hopes that the agencies and institutions of the United Nations will succeed in their task of assisting the under-developed countries to secure a stable economy and a better life.
166. The part played by the United Nations in supporting these countries is one of the most praiseworthy aspects of its mission, and the assistance it will give them in this field is the finest conceivable example of co-operation, solidarity and fraternity among nations. Because of its unceasing efforts to save mankind from the atrocities and evils of war, we look with hope to the United Nations to ensure that brotherly love and fruitful cooperation shall prevail among the peoples of the world.