Molotov

As you all will know, conflict between the Israelis occupying Palestine and the Arabs is nothing new - nor, even, something that is not fresh in the mind, after the events of the Israeli sneak attack last June that conquered swathes of Arab territory, established further unlawful occupation, and drove nearly half a million Arabs out of their homes in the face of more massacres by the Israeli war machine. But this series of illegal conquests and atrocities is not why I am speaking to you here today.

Even now, as we speak here at the General Assembly, Israeli military forces are firing artillery against civilian targets in Port Suez. That this was prompted by military conflict, between an Israeli destroyer attempting to lay mines to harm civilian trade through Port Said, and missile boats of the Egyptian Navy guarding against this threat to Egypt's prosperity and world trade. The response has been typically Israeli - immediate attacks on civilians, surely seen as an easier target than the dug-in military forces who have some protection against these mortars and guns.

The issue of the Israeli occupation government in Palestine is a large one, far too large to be dealt with by one simple resolution, particularly given the Israeli government's refusal to acknowledge and abide by previous UN resolutions on the subject of Palestine. That matter is ongoing, and a far wider issue than these latest atrocities. So for now, we call for something simple that we can all agree on - a condemnation of these vicious Israeli attacks on civilians and, furthermore, reparations to be paid by the occupation government to the families of the deceased. They will accept no responsibility for the death, destruction, and atrocities they have inflicted upon the people of Palestine, but perhaps, at least, they can make a small step towards taking responsibility for something they have done to any innocents at all.

Mohammed Hassan El-Zayyat, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations

The United States will endorse any resolution that seeks to end the fighting and killing on all sides - for let us not delude ourselves, or allow our viewpoint to be clouded by the esteemed representative of the United Arab Republic, a conflict such as this one requires two sides in opposition. While undoubtedly fighting remains present in the aftermath of the Israeli victory in the Six Day War, we should not do ourselves a disservice and ignore incidents such as the sinking of the Israeli destroyer Eilat, and the forty-seven sailors who died aboard her last October.

Although it is likely that this attack encouraged or led to the bombardments spoken of by the UAR representative, and in turn to their corresponding fire at Israelis, neither side should be permitted to abjure their responsibility in this conflict. We encourage cool headedness on all sides, so that this conflict does not intensify and another war be risked. The United States will therefore sponsor a resolution, if the international community indicates its support for one such, designed to express concern and opposition to the attacks made by both sides, and firmly supporting measures designed to obtain an easing of tensions.

The Soviet Union agrees with the representative of the United Arab Republic. The State of Israel has gone too far in its actions. Attacks on the Arab population must stop. On a related note, we believe that the death of the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization requires international investigation.

We must underscore our previous point - to direct blame solely at the State of Israel, a nation of some 2.8 million, surrounded by many tens of millions who wish their demise, is to miss the greater point. A conflict such as this cannot exist without these two sides in equal opposition to each other. The violence the world now witnesses, this contest of attrition between Arab and Israeli, will not end peacefully unless the international community can stand with the principles of peace and call for an end to the attacks mounted by both sides.

Tangentially, although unfortunate and a regrettable blow to the future of an Israeli-Palestinian peace process, we feel that this is not the best venue for an investigation into the demise of the late Mr. Arafat. However we encourage the Egyptian government to transparently open its domestic investigations to international scrutiny.

While Mr. Malik may in fact be used to life in a nation where one's actions can and will be put under the utmost scrutiny simply on the basis of their being, I concur with my American colleague's position that the United Nations has neither the venue, resources, or legal basis to investigate the regrettable death of Mr. Arafat, as his organization currently possesses no recognition by the United Nations whatsoever. To investigate would not only to be overstep our bounds, but it would venture into a sort of legal absurdity that could only make the already tense state of Israeli-Palestinian relations into even more of a quagmire.

Indeed, the situation is so murky that I hesitate to even reference this as a conflict between Arabs and Israelis, inasmuch as my Cairoan friend may beg to differ. The loss of life on all sides is a tragedy deeply felt by all Britons, and we will therefore support any resolution in the vein of one the Americans are proposing: noting, of course, that the UNSC has already set into place the Jarring Mission as laid out in Resolution 242.