CM/Res.1137 (XLVII) RESOLUTION ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE
The Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African Unity, meeting in its Forty-seventh Ordinary Session, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 22 to 27 February 1988,
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the Question of Palestine as contained in Document CM/1473 (XLVII) Rev. 2,
Recalling the resolutions adopted by the previous sessions of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government and the Council of Ministers on the Question of Palestine and the Problem of the Middle East,
Guided by the principles and objectives of the Charters of the OAU and UN and the joint struggle against Zionism and racism in order to attain freedom, independence and peace,
Further recalling all the resolutions adopted by the United Nations and Non- Aligned Movement on the Question of Palestine and the Problem of the Middle East,
Noting the report of the United Nations Committee on the exercise by the Palestinian people of their inalienable national rights,
Noting also the reports of the UN Secretary-General and his continuous efforts to realize a comprehensive just and lasting peace in the Middle East and his efforts to enhance the peace process,
Reaffirming the legitimacy of the struggle of the Palestinian people under the leadership of the PLO, its sole legitimate representative in order to retrieve its land and exercise its full national rights,
Following attentively and with deep concern the popular uprising of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories to put an end to the Israeli
occupation and achieve those national inalienable and imprescriptible rights, notably their right to self-determination, the return to their homeland and the establishment of their independent Palestinian state, Jerusalem as its capital,
Viewing with grave concern that the alliance between the Zionist entity in Israel and the apartheid regime in South Africa aims at adopting a terrorist policy to liquidate the Palestinians and the Arabs in the Arab and Palestinian occupied lands on one hand, and the people of South Africa and Namibia on the other:
REAFFIRMS all the previous resolutions and recommendations adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government and the meeting of the Council of Ministers on the Question of Palestine;
FURTHER REITERATES:
the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland and properties in Palestine from which they were displaced;
the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination without any outside interference and the establishment of their independent and sovereign Palestinian state on their homeland with Jerusalem as its capital;
VEHEMENTLY CONDEMNS Israel the occupying power and its oppressive “iron-fist” racist policies against the Palestinians in the occupied territories, as this continuous policy of occupation, confiscation of land and water resources, deportation and illegal detentions constitute a flagrant violation of the universal declaration on Human Rights and the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 on the Protection of citizens during the time of war;
SUPPORTS the call for an International Conference in accordance with the provisions of the resolutions of the UN General Assembly No. 38/580 of 13/12/83 and 41/43D of 3/12/86 with participation of the Permanent
Members of the UN Security Council and the parties concerned including the participation of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people on equal footing with the other parties;
CALLS for the immediate unconditional withdrawal of Israel from all Palestinian occupied territories including Jerusalem and CALLS ON the UN and particularly the UN Security Council to take all necessary measures that would compel Israel to end its occupation and withdraw its forces immediately and to secure international protection through UN forces for the Palestinians in the occupied territories and to act as the supervisory organ during the transitional period to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their national inalienable and imprescriptible right as approach conducive to a successful convening of an International Conference;
SUPPORTS the efforts deployed at the level of the UN Security Council to pass a resolution recognizing the national inalienable rights of the Palestinian people notably their right to selfdetermination and CALLS FOR the implementation of the Council’s Resolutions No. 605, 607, 608
on the Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories;
EXPRESSES ITS UNEQUIVOCAL SUPPORT for the heroic popular uprising of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories and CALLS ON the UN to impose deterrent sanctions to stop the Israeli repressive policies against the Palestinian people;
APPEALS to all peace-loving peoples and forces of the world especially those of the EEC countries and Japan to give increased support to the Palestinian people in their just struggle to put an end to the Israeli occupation and to restore their national inalienable rights;
STRONGLY CONDEMNS the closure of the Palestinian Information Office in Washington and the American decision to attempt to close down the official Permanent Mission of the PLO to the UNITED NATIONS which constitute a blatant challenge to the will of the international
community and a violation of the Headquarters Agreement and REAFFIRMS its FULL SUPPORT for the right of all official missions including that of the PLO, to all necessary privileges and facilities to pursue their activities at the UN and all its Specialized Agencies;
CALLS ON the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity to follow-up the developments of the Palestinian Question and submit a report on them to the forthcoming Session of the OAU Council of Ministers.
Reservations expressed by:
Cameroon: Preambular Para 9 Libya: Operative Para 4