29. The eighth session of the General Assembly has a special significance because it is the first regular session to be convened after the end of hostilities in Korea. The concept of collective security was upheld and cemented by the blood and suffering of the gallant men who fought under the banner of the United Nations and who deserve the everlasting gratitude of humanity and of peace lovers everywhere. Our Organization has passed its first difficult test, and we hope it henceforth will be able to handle its responsibilities with more confidence. We fervently, hope that the difficulties still lying ahead may be solved amicably and in a spirit of compromise and goodwill.
30. The truce signed in Korea some two months ago is a great success which brought the hopes for peace nearer to fulfilment. We should not allow ourselves to go back and nullify this great achievement. We must go forward and try honestly and sincerely to conclude a lasting peace based on the principles of the United Nations.
31. Our hopes for the achievement of peace are enhanced by the election to the Presidency of the General Assembly of Madam Pandit, a very distinguished and able lady in her own right and also the representative of a great country which has been known for its efforts on behalf of peace and freedom. India has become the embodiment and living example of the unconquerable spirit of freedom. To those people who are still struggling to liberate themselves from the chains of colonial bondage the example of India gives hope and comfort. The teeming millions in Asia and Africa, including the Arab world, are now astir. They face the future, after centuries of oppression, with a determination which it will be a tragic mistake to ignore. They demand of life what life in our time has to offer, and they will not be put off by sophistry or twisted legalistic arguments.
32. A very distressing phenomenon which characterizes international relations today is the increasing tendency on the part of some of the great Powers to bold inflexible, inconsistent and often one-sided views of world problems. These Powers are so obsessed with their own interests that they have lost all sense of objectivity and have become utterly impervious to reason in dealing with other international problems equally pressing and equally challenging to all the high moral principles which they invoke in dealing with problems they regard to be of vital interest to themselves. Thus, much to the dismay and frustration of many nations, different moral and legal standards are applied to identical world problems. Intensive efforts are being devoted to the practice of making the Charter and all moral and democratic maxims acquire such plasticity as to become almost meaningless. What is white one day according to the Charter is proved on another day, by invoking the Charter itself, to be black. The record is full of such contradictions.
33. The liberation of India, Pakistan, Burma, Indonesia and Ceylon, however, provides notable exceptions. They are indeed shining examples of the increasing response of some Powers to the challenge of our time. The happy and cordial relations between these countries and the Powers which ruled over them until the very recent past should spur all those who have stubbornly failed to keep up with world progress. Liberal world opinion is viewing the increasingly dangerous situation in North Africa with dismay. It is indeed a matter of deep disappointment that France has not caught up with the march of time and has not matched the worthy example of other States, no less powerful or proud than herself, which relinquished more glittering prizes than she holds.
34. The Arab people are doubly grieved that, their misfortunes are being dealt at the hands of those who profess to be their friends, while other friends who are the proclaimed champions of freedom and liberty in the world today are seemingly indifferent to the tragic events in North Africa.
35. Mr. Dulles eloquently told us the other day [434th meeting]: “The American people, like many others, hold to the belief which our founders expressed in the Declaration of Independence, that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Also, we believe, as Abraham Lincoln put it, that there is ‘something in that Declaration giving liberty not alone to the people of this country but hope to the world for all future time’.”
36. We take heart when we hear this clear statement uttered in this Assembly by the representative of a great nation. We take it to mean what it says, that the Government of the United States, true to its traditions, will make every effort to ensure that these worthy ideals are carried out and that it will render its general support to the cause of freedom all over the world, including, of course, Morocco and Tunisia.
37. The General Assembly dealt with the two questions of Tunisia and Morocco at the last session, and recommended that the parties concerned settle their differences peacefully and amicably [resolutions 611 '(VII) and 612 (VII)]. What has happened since those resolutions were passed? What has France done to meet the just demands of the people of Tunisia and Morocco?
38. We regret to say that the policy pursued by France since last year has not only failed to improve the situation, but has in fact made it worse. The Moroccan and Tunisian people are rapidly losing faith in the efficacy of peaceful means to achieve their just aspirations. France, for its part, chose the way of violence. It disregarded the desires of the United Nations for a peaceful settlement and intensified its repressive measures. The prisons were not emptied, as we hoped, but were filled to saturation point with political prisoners, people who dared to raise their voices against the military tyranny of the French administration. Terror and bloodshed have become the normal theme of Moroccan and Tunisian life.
39. What are the people of Morocco and Tunisia to do? Are they to sit idly by while their liberties are being strangled and their national dignity and self-respect trampled in the dust?
40. France attempted to impose the so-called municipal reforms upon the unwilling rulers of the two countries, and sought by doing this to divert attention from the basic issue, which is the desire of the people for independence and nothing less than independence. Those so-called reforms are really no reforms at all. They aim at augmenting the influence of the French settlers at the expense of the Moroccan and Tunisian peoples. These settlers were given equal representation with the people of a country who outnumber them ten to one in Tunisia, and forty — or perhaps more — to one in Morocco.
41. Not satisfied with all these oppressive measures the French crowned their policy with an act which has few parallels in the long and sordid history of colonialism. The Sultan of Morocco, the rightful and beloved ruler of his people, was deposed and exiled because he defended the aspirations of his people for freedom and independence. It is not difficult to know who caused the artificial clash between the Sultan and the few feudal pashas who allowed themselves to be stooges of the oppressors of their country.
42. The French, who have vociferously maintained that they have introduced civilization and progress in Morocco, have now fully exposed themselves by instigating actions of feudalism against the Sultan, who responded to the true will of his people. The French also violated the treaty which gave them the protectorate over Morocco. Nothing in that treaty could justify the recent acts of France in Morocco.
43. The Spanish Government, which is responsible for the administration of Northern Morocco, has protested against the deposition of the Sultan and branded the recent acts of the French Government as acts contrary to the spirit and letter of the Algeciras Treaty, according to which the signatory Powers, among which were France and Spain, recognized the sovereignty of the Sultan and undertook to defend the integrity of his domain.
44. The French came to the country presumably to defend his Sherifian Majesty, the Sultan, and to uphold his authority. But what they did was to undermine this authority and to divest it of any real power. The so- called new Sultan, the puppet of France, did not leave any doubt as to where he stood. One of his first acts was to relinquish his legislative authority to a council with equal French and Moroccan membership. The Moroccan members of the council are appointed not by the Sultan, but by the French Resident General, who now has the authority to promulgate the laws passed without any further reference to the Sultan.
45. It must be evident by now that the French have no intention of introducing a liberal policy in Morocco and Tunisia. They are bent upon maintaining their oppressive rule by force. The United Nations, therefore, must adopt a different policy towards the Tunisian and Moroccan questions. It is obvious that pious resolutions, merely calling upon the parties concerned to meet together to solve their problems peacefully, will not end the present difficulties. The United Nations, which represents world opinion, must clearly and definitely proclaim itself against unilateral and oppressive measures taken by France. The North African people should be morally supported in their struggle for freedom and independence. It would be a great misfortune if the United Nations were to abdicate its responsibility to protect the people who are striving to free themselves from the shackles of colonialism.
46. There can be no doubt that the French policy in Morocco is endangering international peace because, among other things, it caused a serious deterioration in the relations between France and the Arab and Moslem world. We say in all earnestness that those who are behind present French policies in North Africa are not acting in the best interests of France.
47. It would be very sad indeed if France drew the wrong conclusion from the moderation and patience of the North African people. Free and high-minded people may suffer patiently for a time but, if they are pressed too far, they will rise to a man. The oppressed peoples of the world must know that they can bring their claims to freedom to the notice of this Organization. If their efforts to do so are constantly frustrated by twisting the Charter, or if they continue to be ignored, then they will be forced to look toward different horizons.
48. When the questions of Tunisia and Morocco were discussed in the First Committee last year, the French delegation unfortunately chose to absent itself from the meetings. It will be very regrettable if a similar attitude is going to be adopted by it this year. The boycotting of our meetings for one reason or another reminds me of something which happened some twenty years ago in the League of Nations. It was during a session of the Disarmament Conference. France was then eminently represented by her Foreign Minister, the late Mr. Barthou. The empty chairs were those of the German delegation which, for some reason, had decided to boycott the meetings. Mr. Barthou, one day, rose and pitilessly assaulted those empty chairs. I cannot remember all that he said, but I still remember one or two things. Pointing an accusing finger, he said, “nos maux de tête viennent de ces jauteuils inoccupés”. And then he added, “leur absence ne pourra jamais prouver leur innocence”. I am not trying to make a comparison between the two situations. We all know that most of our headaches nowadays are caused by some sort of political scarlet fever. Nevertheless, we are certain that the headaches in North Africa are due to the unlimited greed of the handful of French settlers there. We are also certain that the sooner we cure North Africa, the better for France and for all of us.
49. In other parts of Africa, the violation of fundamental human rights continues. The racial policy which is followed by the Union of South" Africa has occupied this Assembly since its inception. The treatment of people of Indian origin, together with the general racial policy in the Union of South Africa, has deserved the condemnation of world opinion and the clear censure of this Assembly.
50. I now come to the question of Palestine, that unhappy country which has seen no peace ever since it became the victim of the Zionist conspiracy which has brought nothing but misery, hatred and suffering to the Holy Land. While this Organization is trying to promote the cause of human universality, the Zionists stubbornly and defiantly persist in their fanaticism, espousing the discredited theory of racial nationalism in its most dangerous form. We sincerely believe that it is not the Arabs alone who suffer at the hands of Zionism. In the long run the Jewish people themselves will be the greater and more tragic sufferers.
51. Far from solving the Jewish question, Zionism has brought additional problems for the Jewish people everywhere. It is imposing upon them the onerous obligation of having a dual loyalty, one to the country in which they are citizens and the other to the State of Israel. We have heard a great deal about the duty of the Jewish people towards the new State, but we have not yet heard an answer to the question which is uppermost in the minds of those who have the interest of the Jewish people at heart. It is a question which the Zionists are always trying to ignore because the answer to it would be detrimental to their assumption. The question is this: where will the loyalty of Jewish people lie in case of a clash of interests between their country and Israel? In such a clash of loyalties, what would be the position of citizens of the Jewish faith? Will they aid Israel against their own country, as the Zionists want them to do, or will they side against Israel and thus be open to the Zionist accusation that they are traitors to their own people? I am afraid that the inexorable logic of such divided loyalty will have serious consequences for the Jews all over the world.
52. In another way, the Zionists have done an even greater disservice to the welfare of the Jewish people. They have tried, and unfortunately succeeded to some degree, in distorting the real meaning of Judaism. They have attempted to transform its great universal message into a fanatic and intensely nationalistic creed. In doing this Zionism has succeeded in sowing the seeds of hatred and bitterness among people who have lived in brotherhood and harmony for thousands of years. They tell us that they still want to live in brotherhood and harmony, that they want peace, and they ask us to forget the tragedy which they inflicted upon our people in Palestine. The peace they propose and loudly proclaim amounts to nothing more than the acknowledgement of their aggression and the abandonment by the people of Palestine of their inalienable right to return to their homeland as rightfully recognized by this Organization and indeed endorsed by world opinion. Israel has pursued a policy which confirmed the worst suspicions of the Arabs and fully justified their fears and unheeded warning to the world that the establishment of a Zionist State in Palestine would bring nothing but misery and strife to the Holy Land.
53. Now, five years after the Zionist invasion, nothing has mitigated the plight of the martyred and dispossessed people of this unhappy country, people who are suffering the indignity and degradation of destitution while their lands and properties are being exploited for the benefit of an alien and hostile people. I doubt whether those who were instrumental in the creation pf the State of Israel and who have continued to give it aid and succour have fully recognized the tremendous, blow they have dealt to democracy in the Middle East at a time when democracy itself was going through its greatest trials.
54. The partition resolution [181 (II)] passed by this Assembly in 1947 in effect implied that in Palestine the normal democratic rule of the majority would not be operative and that the consent of the people would not be considered. On that basis a new population was imported from all over the world, and the rightful inhabitants were ousted; that was their bitter fate.
55. Another resolution by this Assembly to return these unhappy people to their lands is prevented from being effected by a government which soon proclaimed itself with much audacity to be the shining example of democracy in the Middle East, the shining model for all of the Middle East to emulate. It has recently given another stark and impudent example of the contempt in which it holds the United Nations, and that was by its refusal to recognize the internationalization of the Holy City of Jerusalem. The seat of government was transferred to Jerusalem despite the fact that various resolutions have clearly and repeatedly provided for the establishment of a separate international regime in the Holy City. The government tried to justify this aggressive act by saying that Jerusalem is an integral part of Jewish life, completely forgetting that it is also an integral part of Christian and Moslem life.
56. Not content with its spoils and with the unspeakable human misery which it has visited on the people of Palestine, Israel has for some time been intent on exhibiting its military prowess on defenceless and unarmed peasants — and even on women and children across the armistice line. Intermittent attacks are made by groups from the Israel army, often supported by tanks and machine guns all along the armistice line; they infiltrate deep into Jordanian territory. The New York Times of 2 January 1953 reported that responsible Israel officials have indicated that 394 civilians, who were alleged to be infiltrators, were killed and 227 wounded by the Israel armoured guards along the armistice line during the twelve months ending 30 November. This policy of terror is obviously calculated to intimidate the refugees and to dash any shred of hope they have to return to their homes. This continuous violation of Jordanian territory will create a situation fraught with great danger for the peace and stability of the area. These frontier attacks have multiplied during the past few months so as to constitute another present menace to the lives and property of Arabs all along the armistice line.
57. My Government had occasion on 22 January 1953 to bring to the attention of the Secretary-General, the Conciliation Commission and the Member States of the United Nations the dangerous situation arising from these provocative frontier attacks.
58. On 27 April the permanent Arab delegations to the United Nations drew the attention of the President of the Security Council to the wanton and unprovoked firing by Israel soldiers on Arab civilians in the middle of Jerusalem. It is remarkable that the shooting began simultaneously from five separate points and was preceded by preparation and special warnings to Israel citizens to avoid being in the area where the firing was to take place.
59. Some may claim that these problems have-no connexion with the sensitive East-West cleavage which is marring the relations of the great Powers, but it would be a grievous mistake to assume that they are too far removed from the dividing line which marks the two apparently conflicting ideologies of the world today.
60. Israel has repeatedly defied the United Nations, but unfortunately nothing serious has been done so far to put an end to this continuous violation and acts of aggression. The past resolutions on Palestine are still awaiting implementation and the refugees, the rightful people of Palestine, are patiently waiting for this Organization to live up to its ideals and enforce its declarations. The failure of the United Nations to take any positive and practical steps for the implementation of its resolutions has inevitably caused disillusionment in the Arab world, and it will in the end undermine the faith which the peoples of the world have in this Organization.
61. I should like now to turn to some non-political but no less important activities of the United Nations. I should first mention the very valuable work that this Organization is doing for the economic development of the under-developed countries. The Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance of the United Nations and its specialized agencies is of the utmost importance for the future of peace and human welfare. Our interest in the programme has been demonstrated in a clear and tangible way by the fact that we have more than doubled our contribution to the Special Account. It is unfortunate that the pledge and the contributions have been far short of the 25 million dollars which it was hoped would be collected for the third financial period. My delegation associates itself with other delegations in appealing to all Members and non-members to participate in the technical assistance programme, to increase their contributions in order to save the programme from its present financial difficulties.
62. In regard to another endeavour of the United Nations, namely, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund [UNICEF], Iraq has played and is playing a leading part in the work of this great humanitarian institution. My Government has increased its contribution to the fund from $14,000 to $42,000, and here again we have practically demonstrated our belief in the work of the United Nations in this very important sphere of social activities.
63. The question of the continuation of UNICEF on a permanent basis will be dealt with here and this Assembly will have occasion to express its appreciation of UNICEF’s valuable accomplishments. UNICEF affords an outstanding example of the valuable co-operation which should exist between international organizations and governments in the social and humanitarian fields. My delegation will whole-heartedly support its continuation on a permanent basis.
64. In conclusion, we are looking forward to a session which we hope will make a valuable contribution towards a just solution of world problems and bring clear fulfilment to the cherished hopes of humanity for peace and prosperity.