territories has been con-
sidered much more outside
the U.N. than inside, the ma-
jor actors being Israel, Jor-
dan, Syria, the PLO and
Egypt. U.S. Secretary of State
George Shultz, Jordan's King
Hussein, former Prime
Minister Shimon Peres of
Israel and President Hosni
Mubarak of Egypt have all
put forth proposals, but not
through the U.N.
Both the General Assembly
and the Security Council
have been critical of Israel's
position vis-a-vis its policies,
but no meaningful solutions
have emerged from those
bodies.
The PLO is, however, ap-
parently willing to drop its in-
sistence that Security Coun-
cil Resolution 242 be modified
to mention Palestinian rights.
At its Algiers Conference last
month, it stated its will-
ingness to accept the resolu-
tion as a means of breaking
the impasse between the
Palestinians and Israel.
The one major action the
Security Council took was to
pass unanimously a resolu-
tion applying the Geneva
Convention's protection of
civilians in wartime to the oc-
cupied territories and Israel's
obligations there. This is im-
portant considering the fact
that Israel controls 50 percent
of the West Bank, where
140,000 Israelis live, and
about 33 percent of Gaza.
Israel is a signatory to the
convention but claims its ac-
tions are compatible with its
Obligations under the conven-
tion. Fourteen members of
the council supported the
resolution, which included a
request to allow the Red
Cross and the U.N. refugees
agency to operate there. The
one negative vote was that of
the United States, whose veto
blocked the resolution.
Israel's most serious pro-
blem regarding its role in the
U.N. pertains to the intifada
and its response to Palesti-
nians rebelling against
Israeli rule, as well as to the
declaration of Palestinian
independence.
While the prospects of the
U.N.'s being able to help
resolve the long-standing
crisis do not appear good, it
should be remembered that
other world tensions have
been reduced and in some
cases resolved, either direct-
ly through U.N. assistance, or
indirectly by virtue of the par-
ties quietly using its facilities
and machinery.
If both sides are willing to
use it to bring a peace that
will provide for security and
justice, the organization will
have merited the world's
thanks.
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
13