Mr. President. it gives me great pleasure to
convey to you in the name of the delegation of
the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. our warm
congratulations on your election to your high
office. We have full confidence that your
experience and competence will contribute
effectively towards a successful out-come to this
session. I should also like to pay a tribute to
your predecessor Mr. Kittani who presided over
the proceedings of the thirty-sixth session most
effectively for which we thank him. I wish to pay
a particular tribute to the persistent efforts of
the Secretary-General to increase the
opportunities for peace and to alleviate the
tensions that prevail in many parts of the world.
My delegation takes this opportunity to express
its full support for those efforts and to pledge
its full co-operation with him.
40. A careful study of the agenda of this session
and the grave issues contained therein. which
have serious implications for world peace and
security confirms the bleak foreboding which the
Secretary-General has clearly and forcefully
expressed in his report.
41. Our world today is beset on all sides by
dangers resulting from the predominance of the
policies of the use of force or the threat of the
use of force: instead of having recourse to,
peacefulï means of 'settling problems among
nations. This tendency has been intensified by a
continuing and relentless arms, race. the
development and acquisition of the most
.sophisticated means of mass destruction and the
allocation by many States of vast human and
material resources to those ends. '
42. We also find that the States entrusted by the
Charter of the United Nations with a special
responsibility for maintaining international
peace and security have pursued policies which
are at variance with that responsibility. Some of
them have resorted to the use of force while
others have condoned the fact that States have
committed acts of aggression and intervention in
the affairs of other States.
43. The failure of those States to put an end to
the military option and the use of force and
their condoning of the use of force by others
have led to the prevalence of an aggressive
attitude in relations between States and
encouraged more States to take the same course.
44. As a logical and ineluctable corollary of
this development, the international situation has
deteriorated most seriously. amounting as the
Secretary-General said in his report to have
brought the world perilously near to a' new
international anarchy. As a result of this
development the United Nations has been rendered
incapable of contributing lo the solution of
international conflicts. The Security Council
whose principal duty under the Charter is the
maintenance of international peace and security
has been immobilized and prevented from
performing its -ask. Its functions have been
confined to issuing resolutions which remain
unimplemented.
45. Despite the fact that the Charter has laid
down a system of collective security in the
world.ï we note that the principles enshrined in
the Charter for regulating relations between
States have been flouted. That system has been
subverted by the prevailing tendency to use force
under different pretexts, whether it be a warped
concept of security or alleged' self-defence. All
those pretexts are actually aimed at imposing
hegemony and achieving the parochial interests of
those who have the force and the means of using
it. Thus we see the blatant military occupation,
the colonization of occupied land~. the
destruction of ,property and cities and
interference in .and manipulation of the internal
affairs of other States with a view to serving
the interests and aims of the aggressor.
46. It is profoundly disturbing that instead of
taking immediate and decisive action to deter
aggressors assist their victims and prevent the
fruits of aggression being reaped some of the
major Powers choose to stand idly by. to condone
the aggression or even to obstruct the
application against the aggressor of the
sanctions fm' which the Charter provides.
47. That approach. with its concomitant weakening
of the united Nations has led to the dangerous
situation that the world finds itself in today.
It has also led all those countries that observe
the Charter and support international law to lose
faith and confidence that their legitimate quest
for security and just solutions to their problems
can be pursued within the framework of the
existing international ordering the absence of
such assured security, those Member States have
found themselves impelled to scramble .for' arms
and divert large parts of their limited resources
for the acquisition of the necessary means of
self-defence in confronting the policies of
hegemony and domination being pursued by the more
powerful States. We must state that such a
development would never have taken place if the
major Powers to which the Charter entrusted the
maintenance of world peace and security. ~ad
shouldered their solemn responsibilities and
duties with firmness and sincerity.
48. The most glaring example of what I, have
just described is to be found in the Middle East,
where the situation is characterized by the 'use
of force and the imposition of occupation.
Hegemony and faits accomplis to which Israel has
resorted persistently, without being subjected to
the deterrent action that would force it to
submit to the international will and law..
49. Israel occupied the greater part of
Palestine in 1948 and in 1967 it completed the
occupation of the remainder. in addition to parts
of other Arab lands. In the past few months it
has occupied large areas of the sister country of
Lebanon rendering homeless and displacing scores
of thousands of its civilian population. Israel
has destroyed many of Lebanon's towns and
villages. It laid siege to Beirut devastating
large parts of it with unparalleled barbarism by
incessant land sea and air bombardment. which
claimed thousands of innocent victims in dead and
wounded.
50. One of the most heinous massacres in history
was perpetrated against unarmed civilians.
foremost among whom were women old people and
children. The conscience of humanity is still
overwhelmed with revulsion anger and abhorrence
at dimensions of this barbaric massacre which has
its precedent in earlier Israeli massacres
innocent Palestinians at Deir Yassin, Qibya and
Kafr Qasim.
51. The main objective of these repeated
massacres has invariably been to terrorize and
uproot the Palestinian people and to silence
them. in the vain hope' that such massacres will
erase from the consciousness of the Palestinian
people their yearning to return to their homeland
in Palestine. and that they will abandon that
homeland to strangers who falsely claim they have
a better right to it than its legitimate owners.
52. Israel's ability to persist in its aggressive
expansionist policies of which the most recent
manifestation is the victimization of Lebanon can
be traced back specifically to the time when the
whole world and particularly those great Powers
upon which devolves the responsibility for
preserving peace and security stood idly by or
ignored Israel's aggression in June 1967. At that
grave moment a fundamental deviation occurred in
the international collective security system.
When the Security Council was prevented from
taking action in conformity with its established
practice of linking a cease-fire with the
imperative demand for complete withdrawal from
all the occupied territories, Israel exploited
that in order to reap the fruits of its
aggression by continuing its occupation of Arab
territories and refusing to withdraw from them.
Moreover, Israel refused to implement Security
Council resolution 242 (1967) which called upon
it to withdraw completely from those territories.
.
53.' Israel 'has persistently sought to cover up
its defiance under the guise of its security. Its
supporters have sought to justify their massive
assistance to it on the ground that a secure
Israel would be more willing to make concessions
in exchange for peace. Events have proved the
fallacy of that claim.
54. We have seen that the greater Israel's military power grows the more obdurate
and inflexible its policies become. It stretches
its concept of security to include aggression
against the neighbouring Arab States. Israel's
doctrine of security has become synonymous with
aggression expansion and occupation. It reached
unprecedented dimensions recently with the
massacre of innocent civilians. The abominable
events in Lebanon have revealed to the whole
world and in particular to the friends of Israel.
Israel's true face and have unmasked the
falsehood of its security pretexts.
55. Israel's definition of its security is but a
slogan which it uses to cover up its continuing
expansion at the expense 'of Arab territories and
rights. Israel expanded since the Partition Plan
of 29 November 1947 going beyond the Armistice
Agreement of 1949 and the cease-fire lines of
1967 to what we see at present in Lebanon shows
that Israel is in no need of security. Israel has
annexed Arab Jerusalem and the Golan Heights; it
has established Israeli settlements; it bombed
Iraqi, peaceful nuclear installations: and, it
has started to build a canal from the Dead Sea to
the Mediterranean. Such an expansionist Israel
which has defined its perceived area of security
as encompassing all the lands from Pakistan in
the East and North Africa in the West is
suffering from an abundance of security, not from
a lack of it. That is all too dear when we take
into account Israel military nuclear capability
which was documented in the Secretary-General's
report at the preceding session.
56. It has been the consistent pattern that
whenever there appear to be indications on the
horizon of efforts by the international community
to achieve a just. comprehensive and lasting
solution to the question of Palestine and the
conflict in the Middle East Israel resorts to a
pre-emptive military strike in order to occupy
more Arab lands in order to thwart any such
international efforts and compel the world to
divert its endeavours towards dealing with the
complexities resulting from the faits accomplish
newly created by Israel's aggression.
57. Hence Israel's invasion of Lebanon and its
attempts to manipulate Lebanon's political
situation and internal affairs in a manner which
would serve its objective of spreading its
hegemony over the region. Israel was encouraged
to launch its invasion by the meek reaction to
its earlier invasion of southern Lebanon in March
1978 and its ability to impose its own conditions
for a partial withdrawal. Those conditions
included the creation of a buffer zone in south
Lebanon under the control of mercenaries
accountable to its will. When Israel saw that
that dangerous precedent had been tolerated by
the inter-national community, it embarked upon
its further invasion of Lebanon, which has
continued for the past several months. At the
beginning of the invasion it declared that its
objective was to secure a cordon sanitaire, the
depth of which it would decide at will, on the
pretext of an alleged need to ensure the security
of its citizens in the northern area.
58. Israel has only been encouraged by the
launching of the two invasions to carry out
further aggression. We warn the international
community of the seriousness of Israel's
premeditated plans and intentions regarding the
Arab States. It is determined to turn its back on
the principles on which a just peace could be
achieved. We also warn it against Israel's
efforts to impose a sham solution of its own
making, the preparations for which have already
been initiated in declarations by its leaders
that a solution to the Palestinian problem lies
outside Palestinian national soil.
59. The international community must take a
firm and decisive stand in confronting these
ominous plans. It most prevents the aggressor
from reaping the fruits of its aggression. The
international community must also compel the
aggressor to respect the principles of
international law and good faith in relations
among nations, if we are truly committed to the
purposes and principles of the Charter and to
safeguarding the region and the world as a whole
from the serious consequences of allowing the
present situation to continue.
60. The international community, both within
the United Nations and outside it, has defined
the necessary bases for the achievement of a
just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the
region. These include the withdrawal of Israel
from all the Arab territories occupied since the
June 1967 aggression, the return of the Arab City
of Jerusalem to Arab sovereignty, and recognition
of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian Arab
people, including its right to self-determination
in conditions of total freedom on Palestinian
national soil. Israel has subverted all the
international efforts aimed at the attainment of
this goal. The most recent example of this was
its outright rejection of the ideas put forward
by President Reagan although they could not
possibly be considered as prejudicing Israel's
security.
61. In contradistinction to these Israeli
policies, which are based on the rejection of
peace and attempts to achieve hegemony over the
region, there is sincere Jordanian and Arab
determination to achieve a just peace which would
guarantee rights and ensure security and
stability in the region. Jordan accepted Security
Council resolution 242 (1967) and has used its
influence to persuade others to accept it and
support its implementation. Jordan has also
supported efforts and initiatives formulated both
within and outside the United Nations to ensure
the implementation of that resolution and the
achievement of a comprehensive settlement, in
accordance with universally agreed principles.
62. Furthermore, Jordan's role was actively
pursued in co-operation with sister Arab States,
at the Twelfth Arab Summit Conference held in Fez
in September, in the formulation of a collect e
Arab peace initiative compatible with what the
international community has resolved should be
the framework for peace. We call upon the
international community to support this
initiative and to strive resolutely to give
effect to it since it offers an historical
opportunity which has gained world-wide
acceptable, with only Israel dissenting. It is a
unique opportunity which must be seized by
everyone in order to ensure a just peace and a
comprehensive settlement of this whose question,
which has threatened international security and
the security of the region for the pas: 34 years.
63. There is another conflict threatening the
stability and security of the region in which we
live, namely, the Iraqi-Iranian war that has been
raging for about two years. This causes Jordan
pain and grief because it involves two Islamic
States. Jordan, which respects the Charter and
international law and accepts its national
responsibilities, supports its sister Iraq in its
defence of its national territory and its
legitimate rights on its land and waters. Jordan
adds its voice to that of the international
community in asking the Islamic Republic of Iran
to respond positively to Security Council
resolutions 479 (1980), 514 (1982) and 522
(1982), as well as to the many mediation efforts
aimed at ending the war between the two
neighbouring countries. Jordan has also welcomed
with satisfaction the initiative taken
unilaterally by Iraq for the observance of a
cease-fire and withdrawal of its troops to within
its international borders in order to open the
way for a just settlement that would prevent
further bloodshed and destruction. Such a
settlement would give each party what rightfully
belongs to it and lead to the establishment of
good-neighbourly relations between the two
countries which would undertake not to interfere
in each other's internal affairs.
64. Several other parts of the world have been
afflicted in the same way as the Middle East
region. The racist government of South Africa
continues to practise its hateful apartheid
policies, to occupy Namibia and to commit acts of
aggression against neighbouring African States.
65. The international community is duty-bound to
take a firm stand against the practices of this
racist regime and to apply all the means of
pressure available to it, including the sanctions
provided for inthe Charter, to compel South
Africa to comply with international resolutions.
66. We also call for the implementation of
United Nations resolutions pertaining to
Afghanistan and Eritrea and for respect for the
right of all peoples to self-determination and to
express their national will in conditions of
total freedom.
67. Jordan also calls for the peaceful
solution of the problem of Cyprus through the
intercommunal talks under the auspices of the
United Nations and within a framework which would
preserve the unity, independence and non-aligned
status of that country. .
68. We support the solution of the problem of
Korea by peaceful means through negotiations
between the two parts of Korea, in accordance
with the joint communique issued in July 1972.
69. It is impossible to separate the gloomy
climate pervading the world today, which is based
on the use of the military option to solve
international issues, from the overall thrust of
the arms race. The race to develop or acquire the
most modem weapons of destruction, conventional
as well as nuclear, has intensified the tendency
to use or threaten to use force and hag compelled
many States, particularly the developing nations,
to seek to acquire arms for their legitimate
self-defence at the expense of the satisfaction
of their pressing economic and social needs. It
is incumbent upon the major Powers to set an
example by showing the political will to curb the
arms race and to work, guided by the principles
of the Charter, to averting aggression, providing
an atmosphere of confidence and security for all
States that respect international law. It is also
imperative to transfer the enormous human and
financial resources devoured by the arms race to
the task of reforming the international economic
order, which is exposed to huge strains and is
suffering from a structural disequilibrium. This
state of affairs had led many countries,
particularly developing countries, into a serious
situation, made them incapable of servicing their
foreign debts and brought them to the verge of
disaster.
70. In this statement I have reviewed some of
the gravest problems facing our world today and
threatening its resent and future. The family of
nations, individually and collectively, must
exert serious and sincere efforts to deal with
the crises. We must not continue to pursue the
policies that have brought the world to the state
of degeneration which we are witnessing today and
which the Secretary-General has strongly
emphasized in his report. It is our earnest hope
that the imminence of the danger will increase
our awareness of the responsibilities incumbent
upon the international community so that it may
rise to the challenges confronting it and the
world may become a better place to live in.