I wish to associate myself with my colleagues in saluting this generous city which has welcomed us to work in the very field which it has chosen itself, the field of freedom and social justice to all its nationals. Paris, the capital of the French Republic, has welcomed the United Nations twice within four years.
124. Six years have passed since this Organization came into existence. It was constructed to best serve the desires of the peoples who bear the burden of war and for whose sake peace is sought. These are the people of the world regardless of their size or strength. Efforts have been made in this Organization during past years, and every year before the session of the General Assembly the whole world expects the fulfilment of a hope which has been the sincere desire of everyone. That is the hope of peace and liberty. However, I believe that these very people, during recent years, have come to expect or to know what will be the outcome of our session. This fact is greatly regrettable as our work has already been understood and judged. In every session we have dealt with questions which are important to the whole world, the solutions of which are desired by the whole world, and which have been requested by the whole world. They are questions of peace and the realization of social, political and economic liberty. The result of every session has unfortunately been the same. We have listened to statements expressing divergent opinions and to declarations evoking pessimism and filling humanity with despair. I believe that you share with me regret for this state of affairs. We all know well that the Charter is adequate and perfect in so far as it embodies the desires of the people. We know that we have accepted this Charter in order to implement its purposes and to be able to live as brethren in this world which is so full of disputes, wars, suppressions of freedom, exploitation of nations and the domination of the weaker Powers by the strong Powers. This is the world which has entrusted us with the sacred task of fulfilling the principles of the Charter, and of guiding humanity towards its high ideals along the path of peace.
125. Yet it is really a fact regrettable — I say regrettable and I mean regrettable — from the point of view of all mankind that this Organization has achieved, irrespective of all that it has done, and regardless of all the good results it has brought about, nothing more than a partial and indirect fulfilment of our great goal, the goal which is being sought and pursued by humanity, namely, the prevention of war and making it possible for all nations to enjoy the full rights and liberties in all respects.
126. Here we may stop to ask ourselves who is responsible for this tension which has caused anxiety to women, children, the old and even the young? The answer is as simple as it is clear. Through their disputes and divergencies, dividing the world into two camps, the great Powers must fairly assume the responsibility for this state of affairs. The disputes amongst the great Powers have become so acute that the moment may not be so remote when we shall hear of the declaration of war. The international rostrums of peace may thus become the ominous signs of the third world war.
127. However, I wish to associate myself with my colleague the representative of Uruguay [343rd meeting], in sharing the belief that the small States bear equally the responsibility. Had the small States been co-operative and faithful to the principles of the Charter, not guided or expecting to be guided by the great Powers, and had they formed a bloc to prevent anything, at any time or in any form, which would touch or impair the principles of the Charter, we, the small nations, would have been able to realize for the people of the world all that the great Powers have failed to achieve. We would have been the hope of the whole world. Owing to one reason or another, such a hope has never been fulfilled, but, had it been fulfilled, we would have spared the great Powers the efforts of dividing the world into two blocs, and those Powers would have realized that the world needs real peace, real prosperity and real brotherhood.
128. I have listened with great concern to some of my distinguished colleagues who have expressed certain views which are worthy of consideration. While speaking of the Middle East, reference was made by one representative to what he called a “supra-national” interest. With all due respect to the opinions expressed here, I believe that this is a very dangerous line of thinking, which drifts away from the spirit of the Charter as it does from the sacred desires of the peoples who want peace and liberty, and whose blood is the blood that is shed in time of war. Why then do we, the speakers from this rostrum, try to ignore the desires of the people? Why do we accept a policy of power politics which does not aim at the fulfilment of these aspirations? Why should we defeat the very purpose of the Charter by advocating such a dangerous policy?
129. I wish to state also that the primary concern of every nation is its security and its liberty. If its security and liberty are threatened, then such a nation will not find a great difference whether it alone is threatened and terrified or whether the whole world is terrified, since that nation is being threatened and its freedom strangled either from this side or the other, or by one principle or the other. I do not believe that the interest of international politics lies in the suppression of freedoms.
130. I have also listened with all respect to the representative of the United Kingdom who referred to an attempt which is to be made to proclaim a truce from name-calling and angry words. I wish to associate myself with his appeal that such an attempt should be welcomed and that agreement should crown the attempt. I look forward to the day when the good example will be applied in one of the most important centres of the world, namely, the Middle East. I do not wish to dwell on the problems of the Middle East. I wish to refer only to some of the problems which necessitate an immediate and fair solution in accordance with the Charter.
131. There is, for example, the case of hundreds of thousands of Arab refugees of Palestine who have been evicted from their homes, deprived of the use of their property and denied the most elementary rights of man. These refugees and the whole free world behind them expect the implementation of the United Nations decisions concerning their repatriation and compensation. The problems of Palestine and the repatriation of refugees are undoubtedly among the most important cases to be dealt with by the United Nations. In fact it may be said without exaggeration that the United Nations is directly responsible for the desperate conditions of the Palestinian refugees. Such conditions tend to encourage subversive movements and illegal activities, thus rendering the fulfilment of peace a matter far from realization. Every day, nay, every hour and every minute, adds to the misery of these refugees and detracts from the faith of nations in the justice of the Charter, or rather in the goodwill of those Powers which have made of the Charter an elastic instrument applying it or ignoring it according to their interest. These refugees, who have reached a state of misery and poverty not difficult to imagine, have observed with hearts full of anxiety the efforts which have been made during the past few years to obstruct the implementation of United Nations decisions. These refugees have also noticed with misgivings and suspicion the efforts which have been made by some States to replace and to abrogate the decision concerning their repatriation.
132. Can I be accused of exaggeration when I say that the reputation and justice of the United Nations depend on the extent to which these decisions are implemented and on the extent of the willingness of the concerned Powers to put aside their ambitions and their interests for the sake of justice?
133. I wish to conclude my reference to the problem of Arab refugees of Palestine, without following the example of the representative of Israel whose aim was to distort this question. The injustice under the partition has been committed not only against the Arabs themselves but against their land and property in disregard of the decisions of the United Nations starting with the decision to partition Palestine [resolution 181 (II)]. The dangers of such a decision are that it could be used by Israel as a means of utilizing the property of the Arabs of Palestine and therefore to exceed the limits of the United Nations decision. Israel has repeatedly ignored the decisions of this Assembly regarding Arab refugees, the decision to internationalize Jerusalem, and others. My delegation does not wish to comment on the many difficulties caused by Israel, because we believe that responsibility for all these complications rests on those who started the existence of Israel in the first place. Furthermore, I do not wish to take up your time by commenting on any of the points referred to by the representative of Israel. However, my delegation wishes to say that, against that which the representative of Israel says in these meetings, Arab refugees are suffering and Arab men, women and children are dying, and all this because Israel continues to violate the decisions of this Assembly.
134. The problem of the Arab refugees of Palestine is but one of the problems of the Middle East and its peoples, these peoples who have struggled for their liberty and independence, and some of whom still struggle to achieve their full sovereignty. Yemen has asked with its sister Arab States for the inclusion in the agenda of the Moroccan question. We have been prompted to this action by our faith in the right of the people to decide their fate and also by our faith that France, cradle of the Revolution, which has so willingly sacrificed the blood of its youth for the causes of equality, liberty and fraternity, is more wise than to deprive a whole nation of the very principles of equality, liberty and fraternity.
135. The Yemen delegation has also defended and supported the independence of Libya as it has supported all the great questions taken up by the United Nations. The Yemen delegation would like to express its best wishes to the people of Libya, and to His Majesty the King for whom we have the highest esteem. Meanwhile, we look forward to the day when this nation will realize its unity as well as its complete sovereignty, so that it may co-operate with its Arab sister States in the realization of prosperity and international security.
136. The Yemen delegation believes that most of the nations of the Middle East have their problems and their claims, which do not conflict with the spirit of the Charter and which up to this day are still awaiting solution. The most important problems are the Egyptian and the Iranian questions. We are confident that these problems will receive their share of the solutions which fulfil the national aspirations of all the people of the world. These nations have been working steadily with the big Powers concerned in the hope of achieving their aspirations and reaching acceptable solutions and fair settlements complying with the Principles of the Charter and preserving good, friendly relations. With such friendly relations, it would be possible to co-operate in the settlement of international political, economic and social matters. Such a stage cannot be reached, however, until the nations of the Middle East obtain their full rights and breathe liberty, as was very ably expressed by Sir Mohammad Zafrulla Khan when he said that freedom was as necessary as the air breathed by man. Any attempt to strangle freedom by force can represent nothing but an attempt to impair world security.
137. In point of fact, the Principles of the Charter, which are the cornerstones of this Organization, cannot be observed and respected until the great Powers treat them with sincerity, a sincerity which will not be affected by competition or obstructed by disputes. Such a condition cannot prevail except through the path of honest goodwill and the realization by the great Powers that the United Nations represents a turning point in history, a forum where all States regardless of their size or strength have come to enjoy the right of equality, and that all peoples have attained a degree of national consciousness which does not permit the great Powers to ignore the voices of mankind.