Jordan

At the outset of my speech I would like to be allowed to express to the President the sincere congratulations of the delegation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on his unanimous election. The fine qualities which Prince Wan Waithayakon personally possesses have won the respect and the admiration of my Government as, indeed, they have won the respect and admiration of the other delegations. The cordial relations that exist between our two countries, particularly as members of the Bandung Conference and of the African-Asian group, add a sentiment of deep satisfaction to the force of our congratulations. 44. This is the first time that the delegation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has attended a regular session of the General Assembly. As a new Member of the United Nations, my country lacks to some extent the experience acquired by other countries in the functions of the United Nations. We also do not have a comprehensive knowledge of all the matters and problems which have been discussed by various organs and committees of this Organization. Nevertheless, we do have something in common with all Member States — something which gives us the same background and experience. It is adherence to the Principles and Purposes of the United Nations Charter. 45. It was long before we joined this world Organization that my country began to take an active part in the work of the United Nations as a member of its various branches and agencies. The Government of Jordan had also the privilege of taking part in the debates which were held in the General Assembly and its committees on matters of direct concern to us — debates in which we played a constructive part. 46. It was also long before we joined this Organization that my country adopted a policy of co-operation and friendship with all nations. It could never be said that we were a cause of any international friction or that we ever acted except in accordance with the principles of the Charter. Our relationship with our Arab sister-States stems from our national unity and from our common aims and interests. Though we, as Arabs, constitute eleven independent sovereign States, Members of this world Organization, we nevertheless represent one Arab nation which, in effect, extends beyond the boundaries of those States to other territories that are still seeking their independence and sovereignty. 47. Our relations with the countries of Asia and Africa constitute a natural cohesion which derives its strength from the similarity of conditions in those countries, from unity of aspirations and from spiritual, historical and geographical ties. The great entity of the African-Asian countries has expressed itself in an impressive form at the Bandung Conference, and that is continually revealed in the conduct of the African-Asian group at the United Nations — which lives up to its responsibilities under the United Nations Charter. 48. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the other hand, follows a friendly policy towards all other countries and blocs and groups of nations. We believe that friendship among all nations could best be secured by reciprocal respect and recognition of rights and freedom. This universe was not created to be a place of trouble but to be a paradise in which man should wish for his fellow man what he wishes for himself. In fact the Charter of the United Nations was set up to establish the rules for a decent life for mankind. This Organization was entrusted with the great task of accomplishing the aims and purposes of the Charter. 49. In view of the great responsibility which is laid upon our Organization, two big questions arise. One is whether the United Nations has fulfilled the principle of universality in its structure; and the other is whether it has been able to apply the rules of its Charter. 50. As regards the first question, it may be said that our Organization is growing steadily in the direction of fulfilling its mission of universality. The fact that its Members now represent seventy-nine States is a good indication that the Organization will further expand until it represents all the nations of the world. Speed, however, is required in the admission of new Members to take their places with us here. Among those nations for whose admission my Government earnestly hopes is Japan, with which Jordan maintains friendly relations; Japan is a great nation which has contributed substantially to human progress and civilization. 51. As regards the second question, it may easily be said that this Organization has gone far towards providing happiness and prosperity to the peoples of the world. It would take a lengthy report to attempt to enumerate the United Nations achievements in all fields. I must, however, say that the United Nations triumphed in its peaceful achievements when it established an international agency for the peaceful uses of atomic energy. In that case, virtue defeated the elements of evil. Technical assistance in the atomic field has now become available to all nations. Furthermore, the work of the United Nations in the economic and social fields and the contributions of technical assistance are acknowledged and greatly appreciated by my Government. Through its specialized agencies, the United Nations has scored, and scored notably, I wish to mention particularly the efforts of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Health Organization. My delegation also wishes to pay a special tribute to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and to its efficient administration. The Jordan Government also acknowledges with much appreciation the work of the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration. 52. My delegation is pleased to take this opportunity to express to the Secretary-General the great appreciation and high regard of the Jordan Government. We remember with gratification his last two visits to our country, in the performance of his important duties. 53. That is one aspect of the answer to the question relating to the achievements of the United Nations. There are, however, other aspects, bias the United Nations been successful in settling the basic issues of this world? Has the United Nations been able to obtain an agreement on disarmament by the great Powers — or even an agreement on a reduction of armaments? Has it succeeded in obtaining a pledge by those Powers to prohibit the use of nuclear weapons and avoid the possible destruction of civilization if a world war were to break out? Has it eradicated tension and precluded the flaring up of a major conflict that might arise from a particular problem or controversy? I am afraid that the answers to these questions cannot be in the affirmative. One may ask this further question: How far has the United Nations succeeded in solving the problems which are causing international friction and threatening international peace and security? 54. The United Nations has no doubt solved a number of major political problems and achieved final settlements of questions which were causing conflict among some of its Members. This is clear from the role of the United Nations in the Far East, in South East Asia, in parts of North Africa and in the dependent and Trust Territories of Africa. There are, however, problems which are still unsolved and which represent a continuous threat to international peace and security. I do not say that we should expect the United Nations at once to solve all the problems of the world. I would, however, say that the prestige of the United Nations would be jeopardized if it were to avoid dealing with a problem effectively merely for reasons of political expediency on the part of some of its Members, or if it were to ignore human and national rights because of its inability to uphold and implement the principles of the Charter. 55. Among these problems which cry out for solutions and which are still pending, is the question of Palestine, a problem which was created by the United Nations itself. The present instability and explosive tension in the Middle East are the outcome of the creation of Israel by the United Nations. This Organization must admit that the establishment of an alien, artificial State on the Arab soil of Palestine, in the way in which that State was established, was the greatest error ever committed by the United Nations. The hundreds of thousands of Arab inhabitants of Palestine who were driven out of their homeland by the terror of the Israelis and dispersed, or crowded into camps as destitute refugees, are living symbols of what this world Organization has done to an innocent nation and of what it is unable to do to restore right and justice. 56. What is today known as the State of Israel is the Arab territory of Palestine which was usurped in its entirety from its rightful Arab owners by the crowds of Israelis flocking in from every part of the globe. It was contrary to the principles of justice and right for such a State to have been recognized by the majority of Member States represented in this Assembly and to have been given a seat in this world forum. I do not believe that the nine years that have passed since Israel’s inception is a period long enough to make us forget how Israel was established. The sad events that are taking place each day in the Middle East are constant reminders of the wrongful act of creating Israel. Israel was established on Arab soil, in complete disregard of the wishes and aspirations of its indigenous Arab population. Now it exists, persistently denying the natural rights of the legitimate inhabitants of Palestine — rights which are recognized in international law, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the very resolutions of the United Nations which brought Israel itself into being, and which are confirmed and reaffirmed year after year by the United Nations General Assembly. 57. Nine years have passed, and the Arab refugees still subsist on the charity of other nations. They live in despair and produce seeds of hatred and vengeance all over the Arab world against those responsible for their sad destiny. They have lost everything they possessed in Palestine and have received no restitution. 58. A visit to these refugees in their mud huts and shabby tents under the burning sun of summer and the severe cold of winter would enable one to listen to their appraisal of the justice of the United Nations. It is not enough in any appraisal to hear only what the well-off have to say or how they judge, it is also necessary to know what the poor and miserable feel. The Palestine Arab refugees, of whom my country shelters 600,000 and whose legitimate right it is to return to their lands and properties in Palestine, have no possibility of living a self-sufficient life on the economic opportunities in the Arab countries. The Director of UNRWA has mentioned this fact often in the official reports he has submitted during the past years to the General Assembly. The economic projects that were offered did not serve any end in this respect. The only solution which remains applicable to the problem of the Arab refugees, and which is consistent with the rules of right, is to repatriate them to their native land. 59. It has been proved, from the investigations which were made by the Director of UNRWA and from the conferences held by the refugees themselves, as well as from much other evidence, that the yearning of the refugees to return to their homeland has never diminished during the past nine years of forced exile. They have never given up their determination, and their only hope is to return. Any attempts to divert this desire will be in vain. 60. The proper action to be followed by the United Nations would be to give them an opportunity to choose between repatriation and compensation. Such a method on the part of the United Nations would be in accordance with the resolutions previously adopted by the General Assembly and in conformity with the views of the Director of UNRWA. It is against the laws of morality to keep these hundreds of thousands of refugees forcibly away from their homes and from their properties and to make them subsist on the minimum of United Nations relief. 61. This is what the birth of Israel brought to the Arabs; perils and miseries, threats and instability. We hear voices resounding in the atmosphere about an attempt to work out a settlement of the major problems between the Arab States and Israel. I wish to make a very essential clarification on this point by saying that whatever outstanding problems exist, they are, in their essence, problems between the United Nations and Israel. Israel is responsible before the United Nations for its challenge to and continued defiance of the United Nations resolutions on the Palestine question. For its occupation of parts of Palestine that were not allotted to it by the United Nations; for its disregard of the rights of the Arabs of Palestine for repatriation and compensation, as reaffirmed in successive resolutions; for its direct challenge to the United Nations by declaring Jerusalem as the capital of its State, for its continued violations of Security Council decisions that have condemned Israel time and again and called on it to observe its obligations under the Charter; for its violations of the armistice system and the general armistice agreements and its denunciation of their validity, Israel is responsible to the United Nations. Therefore, a settlement of these major problems should first be made between the United Nations and Israel before the Arabs are called upon to consider a settlement with Israel. 62. The United Nations is required to settle these matters in a manner which deserve its authority and prestige and which restores general confidence. After such confidence has been restored, and after the United Nations has acted in the Palestine question in accordance with the principles of right and justice, then it will be possible for those who wish to introduce a peaceful settlement to do so. 63. Moreover, I wish to draw the attention of the representatives to the fact that when we wish to bring about a peaceful settlement of the Palestine question, we have to take into consideration primarily the views of the party essentially concerned. This major party consists of the Arabs of Palestine, the original inhabitants of the area with which we are dealing. Where is that party now? It is scattered here and there, and it is not in a position to express its will. Therefore, it is a matter of equity and sound policy that the people of Palestine should be returned to their normal life in their former possessions and homeland and enabled to determine their own future. This is their inherent right. How can the Arabs bear to see their region subjected to trouble and instability by the presence of Israel? 64. The dearest hope of the Arabs is to live in peace and tranquility in their own land and to restore the stability of their lives. We lived in peace and we want peace, but peace is not a mechanical operation. It cannot be imposed on nations by force or by the threat of force. No power in the world can compel a nation or even an individual to justify what is wrong. Peace can only be achieved in a state of contentment and self-satisfaction, m conditions which are receptive to the theories of intelligent minds and good hearts. 65. To accept the injustice which was inflicted on the Arabs of Palestine would be to add a further error to the past errors and to aggravate still further the situation in Palestine. Israel occupied a territory of Palestine which did not belong to it and a further territory which was not even allocated to it by the United Nations resolutions. In its last aggression against Egypt, it added the territory of Gaza, thus transgressing beyond its armistice demarcation line with Egypt. The military attacks of Israel against the Arab countries developed into a stage where aggression became the policy of the Israel Government and the conduct of the Israelis. Sometimes they call it retaliation or reprisal, and sometimes defensive reaction. They have called it Israel’s intensified fear of attack, and they have called it the elimination of the nests of the fedayeen. Let them call it whatever they wish. Let than enrich the expressions of their aggression by all sorts of terminology. We call it aggression for expansionist purposes. 66. The Jordanian delegation on 19 October brought to the attention of the Security Council the fact that the Israel Government was aiming at the annexation and incorporation into its territory of the two remaining parts of Palestine, the Gaza Strip and Eastern Palestine, which is the western bank of the Jordan. Ten days later, Israel invaded and occupied the Gaza Strip. It committed and is still committing all kinds of atrocities, murders and acts of genocide among the civilian inhabitants and refugees. 67. If Israel does not withdraw immediately and unconditionally from the Gaza Strip and implement the resolutions of the General Assembly, and if the United Nations does not compel Israel to withdraw at once, then a very serious situation will arise in which the Arabs will have no other alternative but to defend themselves. 68. It was most regrettable that the last Israel aggression against Egypt revealed a plot prepared and executed between Israel on the one hand and the United Kingdom and France on the other. Never would one imagine that the two big Powers had stooped to the stage where they disregarded the fundamental principles of the Charter and the standards of morality by launching a sudden and unprovoked invasion on Egyptian territory and innocent Egyptian inhabitants. Never would one imagine that two major Powers, co-founders of the United Nations, used Israel as a tool for their aggressive plans against Egypt. If this reveals anything, it reveals why these big Powers were instrumental in creating this foreign State in the heart of the Arab world. 69. Thanks to human conscience, to the overwhelming majority of this house, and to the honest leaders of the great nations of the world, the aggression against Egypt was withheld at a certain stage and the immediate withdrawal of foreign forces was ordered. Thanks to the bravery and boldness of the Egyptian defenders and people, the treacherous triple attack was checked. The Anglo-French aggression against Egypt was actually directed against every Arab country and every nation. It instigated in the Arab world a new wave of resentment and hate for the imperialistic Powers. 70. What did the United Kingdom and France gain by their military expedition against Egypt? They bombed, they shelled, they killed and they destroyed. Yet they failed to defeat an innocent nation or even to break one man. The result was that a revival swept the Arabs and led them towards a brighter future. This page of the history of imperialism in the Arab lands shall never be forgotten. It shall always remind us of how the colonial Powers tried to subdue the Arab nationalistic movement at the beginning of its growth. It is in the interests of these two Powers to withdraw their forces immediately and completely from Egyptian territory, and to pull out with them their third partner in the plot. Such is the will of right, as expressed forcibly in the several resolutions of this Assembly. 71. The United Nations Emergency Force which was formed to effect such a withdrawal, has begun its task. This Force will function, as its task was defined, through the area between the Suez Canal and the Egyptian-Israel armistice line, until it finally takes up its position along the armistice demarcation lines north of the Gaza strip. This has been clearly expressed in the resolutions that were adopted, in the statements made at the first emergency special session and in the reports and explanations of the Security Council. It is noticed, however, that the United Kingdom and France wish to link the duties of this Force with the future conditions of the Suez Canal Zone. In this respect, my Government holds to the view that the Suez Canal lies within the complete sovereignty and jurisdiction of Egypt. Egypt alone is the authority that should control and administer the Canal and that should be responsible for safeguarding free navigation through its waters. 72. We believe that the six principles enunciated by the Security Council and adopted in its resolution of 13 October 1956 [S/3675] provide good grounds for a solution to this problem. Furthermore, any negotiations for a final settlement of the Suez Canal problem should be undertaken after the complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from Egyptian territory. 73. In discussing the varied aspects of these problems, my delegation wishes to assert the responsibility of the United Nations. We, as Members of one universal Organization, are pledged to uphold the principles of our Charter, the first purpose of which is to maintain international peace and security by taking effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace. 74. It might be helpful to those Members who wish to view matters with objectivity and realism to recognize one striking fact; there is a movement of liberation sweeping all the nations that have laboured for long under foreign rule and domination. There is a rising tide and an awakening and a self-assertion among the peoples who have suffered deprivation, suppression and colonialism. 75. Speaking of that part of the world to which I belong, I declare that the nations in our area wish to live with all other nations in harmony, co-operation and friendship on the basis of reciprocal respect for freedom and equal sovereignty. It is contrary to the concept of human rights that a nation of 11 million people in Algeria should be made to live forever under the French yoke. France believed, and still believes, that it could make out of Algeria a part of France, and out of the Arab inhabitants of Algeria a French people. This old imperialistic French mentality has never changed throughout the past 126 years since the early days of the French occupation of Algeria. This reminds me of the unforgettable reply of the great Algerian leader, Abd El Kader, to the French Minister of War, Field Marshal Bugeaud in 1849 when he said, in answer to a French offer to grant him French citizenship: “If all the treasures in the world could be laid in the skirts of my burnouse and set in the balance against my liberty, I would choose mv liberty. I ask neither favour nor grace.” 76. Decade after decade has passed, and Algerian devotion to liberty has never weakened despite the undeclared war against the Algerians by half a million French troops. Thousands of Algerians have lost their lives in recent months in the fight for their liberty. France, which itself tasted the bitterness of tyranny and later enjoyed the happiness of liberation, should be the first country to recognize the freedom of the Algerians. But France still claims that the question of Algeria is an internal question which falls within its domestic jurisdiction. France takes advantage of its unilateral interpretation of Article 2, paragraph 7 of the Charter to prevent the world community from defending the principles of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all and the right of self- determination. 77. I could not have been more in agreement with the following statement which the French representative made in 1948 in the United Nations: ". . . the question of human rights was a matter no longer of domestic, but of international concern.” The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan which is attached to Algeria by ties of brotherhood and national relations, supports the gallant Algerian nation in its struggle for independence. The Jordan delegation is gratified that the General Assembly has inscribed the Algerian item in its agenda. We shall deal with this problem in due course. 78. Going back to Article 2, paragraph 7, of the United Nations Charter, it is most regrettable to see that this text is used as a shield behind which colonialism hides. The same arguments that were used by French spokesmen in respect to Algeria were used by the delegation of the Union of South Africa on the question of racial discrimination in the Union of South Africa. The Government of the Union of South Africa wants the family of nations not to interfere in a problem which concerns the human race much more than it concerns the Union of South Africa or India or Pakistan. Those people in South Africa who are deprived of their civil rights are our brethren in humanity before we were divided into different States and nationalities. When we support their rights, their dignity and their existence, we support the rights, dignity and existence of man as a human being. It seems to me that there should be a closer agreement among the Members of the United Nations on the application of the principles of the United Nations Charter. 79. Extending farther to the problems that have not yet been solved by the United Nations we find the problem of West Irian. Apart from the extremely friendly relations and sympathetic attitude my people feel reciprocally with the people of Indonesia, this question is the concern of all the Asian countries because it is a colonial problem. West Irian is part of the territory of Indonesia to which the Netherlands can have no claim whatsoever. Since Indonesia emerged as an independent sovereign State, its sovereignty should extend over all its territory. 80. The African-Asian group, which was gratified to have seen the item of West Irian inscribed on the agenda of this eleventh session, would urge the General Assembly to take effective measures to terminate the Netherlands colonization of West Irian so that tire territory would adjoin the Indonesian native land. We hope that the Netherlands will not continue to refuse to relinquish its last colonial grip on a part of the Indonesian land. 81. There remains one last point which I should like to state and state clearly. This point is that when we call for our freedom we do not enslave others. When we reject colonialism we do not colonize others. When we defend our rights we do not deny the rights of others. And when we seek justice we do not oppress others. All that we want is to live on this planet in the family of nations, with a life of peace with dignity.