Summary
Part B of the General Assembly’s three-part Resolution 2535 (XXIV) on UNRWA, adopted 10 December 1969, which recognizes that the problem of the Palestine Arab refugees has arisen from the denial of their inalienable rights under the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, records grave concern that the denial has been aggravated by reported acts of collective punishment, arbitrary detention, curfews, destruction of homes and property, deportation and other repressive acts in the occupied territories, reaffirms the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine, draws the Security Council’s attention to the grave situation resulting from Israeli policies and practices and Israel’s refusal to implement the return resolutions, and requests the Council to take effective measures under the Charter to ensure their implementation (Resolution 2535 (XXIV) B: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (10 December 1969), PDF p.1-2).
What the file is
The resolution as printed in the General Assembly’s Official Records, twenty-fourth session, printed p.25-26. 2 PDF pages, about 1,711 words in the text copy counting the whole pages. The pages carry Resolution 2535 in three parts — A (the annual UNRWA report resolution), B (this source) and C (assistance to persons displaced in June 1967) — preceded by the tail of an apartheid resolution and followed by Resolution 2576 (XXIV) on peace-keeping and a decision; those surrounding items are accounted for in the section by section entry but are not part B. The text copy’s OCR departs from the printed original at three noted places: it gives “194 (II)” in part A paragraph 1 (text copy line 88), against “194 (III)” in the preamble’s first recital (line 64) and in paragraph 4 (line 115); “Cc” for part C’s heading; and “2341 B (XXIE)” in part C paragraph 1. The original’s printed pages read “194 (III)”, “C” and “2341 B (XXII)” at those places; quotations and operative wording follow the original where the text copy garbles it.
Section by section
- Preceding tail (PDF p.1). Paragraphs 9-13 of an apartheid resolution (Security Council attention, withholding co-operation from South Africa, 21 March 1970 observance, Special Committee requests), 1816th plenary meeting, 21 November 1969. Not part of Resolution 2535.
- Part A (PDF p.1). Recalling 23 resolutions from 194 (III) of 11 December 1948 to 2452 (XXIII) of 19 December 1968 and noting the Commissioner-General’s annual report for 1 July 1968 to 30 June 1969 (A/7614), part A: notes with deep regret that repatriation or compensation under paragraph 11 of resolution 194 (III) has not been effected and no substantial progress made on reintegration by repatriation or resettlement under resolution 513 (VI); thanks the Commissioner-General, UNRWA staff, specialized agencies and private organizations; directs rectification of the relief rolls for equitable distribution based on need; notes with regret that the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine could not achieve progress on paragraph 11 and requests its continued efforts; directs attention to UNRWA’s critical financial position and the shortfall in contributions; and calls on all Governments urgently to make the most generous efforts possible. 1827th plenary meeting, 10 December 1969.
- Part B, preamble (PDF p.1-2). “Recognizing that the problem of the Palestine Arab refugees has arisen from the denial of their inalienable rights under the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”; gravely concerned that the denial has been aggravated by the reported acts of collective punishment, arbitrary detention, curfews, destruction of homes and property, deportation and other repressive acts against the refugees and other inhabitants of the occupied territories; recalling Security Council resolution 237 (1967) of 14 June 1967 and resolutions 2252 (ES-V) of 4 July 1967 and 2452 A (XXIII) of 19 December 1968 calling on Israel to take effective and immediate steps for the return without delay of inhabitants who fled since the outbreak of hostilities; desirous of giving effect to its resolutions for relieving the plight of the displaced persons and the refugees.
- Part B, operative paragraphs 1-3 (PDF p.2). Reaffirms the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine; draws the Security Council’s attention to the grave situation resulting from Israeli policies and practices in the occupied territories and Israel’s refusal to implement the above resolutions; requests the Security Council to take effective measures in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter to ensure implementation of these resolutions. 1827th plenary meeting, 10 December 1969. No vote figures are given.
- Part C (PDF p.2). Recalling resolutions 2252 (ES-V), 2341 B (XXII) and 2452 C (XXIII), taking note of the same annual report and the Secretary-General’s letter of 24 July 1969 (A/7577), and concerned at continued suffering from the June 1967 hostilities, part C reaffirms those resolutions, endorses the Commissioner-General’s efforts to provide humanitarian assistance on an emergency basis and as a temporary measure to other persons displaced and in serious need as a result of the June 1967 hostilities, and strongly appeals for generous contributions. 1827th plenary meeting, 10 December 1969.
- Following material (PDF p.2). Resolution 2576 (XXIV) on peace-keeping operations and a decision appointing Denmark to the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations. Not part of Resolution 2535.
Key passages
- “Recognizing that the problem of the Palestine Arab refugees has arisen from the denial of their inalienable rights under the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (part B, preamble, PDF p.1).
- “Reaffirms the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine” (part B, operative paragraph 1, PDF p.2).
Evidence the work relies on
A General Assembly resolution, not an evidentiary work. Part B rests on the instruments it recalls — Security Council resolution 237 (1967) and Assembly resolutions 2252 (ES-V) and 2452 A (XXIII) — and on “reported” acts in the occupied territories, which it does not cite to any report. Parts A and C in the same file rest on the Commissioner-General’s annual report for 1 July 1968 to 30 June 1969 (A/7614) and, for part C, the Secretary-General’s letter of 24 July 1969 (A/7577).
Analysis
Within a single UNRWA resolution number, part B does different work from the annual-report business of parts A and C: it reframes the refugee problem as arising from a denial of inalienable rights, names a catalogue of reported repressive acts, and addresses its only operative demand to the Security Council rather than to Israel or to UNRWA. Its limits are in the text: the rights reaffirmed in paragraph 1 are not specified, the Charter provisions behind the requested Council measures are not identified, and no vote figures are given in the file.
People, organizations, places and events
UN General Assembly Resolution 2535 B, UNRWA, Palestine Conciliation Commission, UN Security Council Resolution 237
Concepts
Right of Return, Self-determination
How it relates to other sources
Part B’s paragraph 1 formula, “the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine”, precedes in this wiki’s record the fuller specification in Resolution 3236 (XXIX): Question of Palestine (22 November 1974) (self-determination without external interference, national independence and sovereignty, and return), and its preamble’s grounding of the refugee problem in a denial of rights stands against the treatment of the same refugees in part A of the same resolution, which proceeds by repatriation-or-compensation under Resolution 194 (III): Palestine — Progress Report of the United Nations Mediator paragraph 11 and the UNRWA mandate of Resolution 302 (IV): Assistance to Palestine refugees. Its return chain (resolution 237 (1967), resolutions 2252 (ES-V) and 2452 A (XXIII)) is the 1967-displacement chain also recalled in Resolution 2443 (XXIII): Respect for and implementation of human rights in occupied territories (19 December 1968).
Open questions
- The file gives no vote figures for Resolution 2535 or any of its parts.
- Part B paragraph 1 does not specify which inalienable rights it reaffirms.
- In the text copy, part A gives the same paragraph 11 reference in two forms: paragraph 1 prints “resolution 194 (II)” in the passage on repatriation or compensation as provided for in paragraph 11 (line 88), while the preamble’s first recital (line 64) and paragraph 4’s reference to the implementation of paragraph 11 (line 115) print “resolution 194 (III)”. The conflict is inside the text copy and is recorded here, not reconciled.
- The “reported acts” listed in part B’s preamble are not attributed to any named report in the text.
Coverage
PDF p.1-2 of 2, read in full.