Summary
The programme adopted by acclamation with the Geneva Declaration on Palestine at the International Conference on the Question of Palestine on 7 September 1983, reproduced in annex I of the United Nations study of 1978-1983 (headed without a “B.” letter in the copy): recommendations to States in 29 numbered paragraphs, invitations to the Security Council and requests to the Secretary-General and the Department of Public Information, and appeals to worldwide public opinion, all directed to enabling the Palestinian people to attain and exercise its rights in Palestine (Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part III (1978-1983), lines 411-593).
Details
- Section I, to States: oppose and reject Israel’s expansionist policies and measures in violation of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the Hague Regulations of 1907, including settlements and transfers; refrain from assistance of a nature to encourage Israel militarily, economically and financially; comply with the Jerusalem resolutions; consider the threat posed by Israel’s collaboration with the apartheid régime in Africa; contribute to assistance, including at least $8 million in additional UNDP contributions for 1982-1986, a UNCTAD special economic unit and a special legal aid fund; ensure UNRWA can meet essential needs; review the situation of Palestinian women ahead of the Nairobi 1985 conference; accord prisoner-of-war status to detained Palestinian and Lebanese combatants; recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization; and ask the General Assembly to designate a Year of Palestine (lines 415-483 approx.).
- Section II A, to the Security Council: take steps to establish an independent sovereign Palestinian State, including measures to ensure Israel’s withdrawal from the territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, within a specific time-table; guarantees for Palestinians pending withdrawal; a short transitional period under United Nations supervision after withdrawal, during which the Palestinian people would exercise self-determination; facilitation of the Right of Return; supervised elections to a constituent assembly in which all Palestinians shall participate; and, if necessary, temporary peace-keeping forces (lines 507-529 approx.).
- Section II B, meanwhile: urgent cessation of settlement policy; urgent consideration of, and reactivation of, the Commission established under resolution 446 (1979); action to terminate exploitative policies and compel Israel to lift water restrictions and end diversion of West Bank water; constant attention to actions against the Palestinian people; and, in the event of persistent non-compliance, appropriate Charter measures to ensure compliance (lines 531-549 approx.).
- Section II C and D: a Secretary-General-convened meeting of agencies, the PLO, host countries and other sources to develop a co-ordinated programme of economic and social assistance; and a Department of Public Information programme, co-ordinated through the Joint United Nations Information Committee, expanding coverage and organizing fact-finding missions and regional encounters for journalists (lines 551-571 approx.).
- Section III, to public opinion: NGOs, women’s, teachers’, workers’, youth and student organizations, media, universities and jurists’ associations are urged to act, including jurists’ investigative commissions on violations of Palestinians’ legal rights and joint work on detention and prisoner-of-war status in the southern African and Palestinian struggles (lines 573-593 approx.).
- The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People was requested by the General Assembly to keep under review the implementation of the Programme of Action (lines 325-327 approx.).
Related pages
Geneva Declaration on Palestine, International Conference on the Question of Palestine, UN Security Council Resolution 446, Right of Return, Self-determination, UNRWA