Summary
The Security Council’s unanimously adopted resolution of 22 November 1967, emphasising the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, affirming that a just and lasting peace requires both withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict and termination of all claims or states of belligerency with respect for every State’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries, affirming further the necessity of freedom of navigation through international waterways, a just settlement of the refugee problem, and guaranteeing territorial inviolability and political independence through measures including demilitarized zones, and requesting the Secretary-General to designate a Special Representative to promote agreement toward a peaceful and accepted settlement (Resolution 242 (1967) (22 November 1967), PDF p.1-2).
What the file is
The resolution as printed in the Security Council’s Official Records, English and French in parallel columns; the English text is followed here. 2 PDF pages (printed p.8-9), about 1,298 words in the text copy counting both languages and the surrounding decisions. The resolution is preceded by the Council’s decisions of 9 and 13 November 1967 inviting the United Arab Republic, Israel, Jordan and Syria, and followed by the 8 December 1967 presidential statement on Suez Canal observers (S/8289) and the head of the Cyprus question section, neither of which is part of the resolution. The text copy’s OCR garbles scattered words (“grdvc” for grave, “sooa” for soon); the operative wording was checked against the original, which carries the same OCR layer.
Section by section
- Preceding decisions (PDF p.1). At the 1373rd meeting, 9 November 1967, invitation to the United Arab Republic, Israel and Jordan, without vote, on the item of the United Arab Republic’s letter of 7 November 1967 (S/8226); at the 1375th meeting, 13 November 1967, invitation to Syria, without vote.
- Preamble (PDF p.1). Continuing concern with the grave situation in the Middle East; “Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security”; all Member States, by accepting the Charter, have undertaken to act in accordance with Article 2.
- Operative paragraph 1 (PDF p.1). A just and lasting peace should include both principles: (i) “Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict”; (ii) termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right “to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force”.
- Operative paragraph 2 (PDF p.1-2). The necessity of guaranteeing freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area; “For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem”; and guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political independence of every State in the area, through measures including the establishment of demilitarized zones.
- Operative paragraphs 3-4 (PDF p.2). The Secretary-General is requested to designate a Special Representative to proceed to the Middle East, establish and maintain contacts with the States concerned, promote agreement and assist efforts to achieve a peaceful and accepted settlement in accordance with the resolution’s provisions and principles, and to report on the Special Representative’s progress as soon as possible. “Adopted unanimously at the 1382nd meeting.”
- Following decision (PDF p.2). The 8 December 1967 presidential statement (S/8289), recalling the 9 July 1967 consensus of the 1366th meeting, recognising the necessity of enlarging the number of observers in the Suez Canal zone with additional technical material and means of transportation; followed by the unrelated Cyprus question head, which is not part of this resolution.
Key passages
- “Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security” (preamble, PDF p.1).
- “Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict” (operative paragraph 1(i), PDF p.1).
- “For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem” (operative paragraph 2(b), PDF p.1).
Evidence the work relies on
A Council resolution, not an evidentiary work. It invokes Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations and the commitment Member States undertook in accepting the Charter, the item’s originating letter (S/8226, in the preceding decision), and the document S/8053/Add.3 underlying the following Suez observers statement. It cites no reports, testimony or statistics.
Analysis
The resolution states principles for a settlement without naming the Palestinians, a Palestinian state, or any territory, boundary line or timetable, and without specifying from which territories withdrawal is required beyond “territories occupied in the recent conflict”. Its machinery is a Special Representative designated by the Secretary-General, unnamed in the text, reporting back to the Council. As a primary text it settles the wording over which later ingested sources argue: the absence of a definite article before “territories” in paragraph 1(i) is as printed.
People, organizations, places and events
UN Security Council, UN Security Council Resolution 242, Gunnar Jarring, Israel, United Arab Republic, Hashemite Jordan Kingdom, Syria, Suez Canal
Concepts
Self-determination, Right of Return
How it relates to other sources
This is the primary text behind the existing UN Security Council Resolution 242 entity page, whose accounts from The Political Economy of Israeli Occupation: What is Colonial about It? (no legitimacy for the occupation, ambiguities easing territorial ambitions, Chapter VI without implementation force), Perceptions of Palestine (foundation of United States policy, no mention of the Palestinians by name) and the United Nations study (no explicit mention of Palestine beyond “the refugee problem”, implicit endorsement of Israel’s jurisdiction over territory occupied in 1948 beyond the partition lines, and the parties’ differing responses) are now held alongside the resolution’s own wording, which those accounts characterise but do not reproduce in full. It follows the The Khartoum Resolutions (1 September 1967) of 1 September 1967, whose principles of no peace, no recognition and no negotiations it does not adopt, and it supplies the Special Representative mandate under which Gunnar Jarring was later appointed. Its paragraph 2(b) refugee formula is the treatment against which Resolution 194 (III): Palestine — Progress Report of the United Nations Mediator paragraph 11’s return-and-compensation wording stands in contrast within the wiki.
Open questions
- The resolution does not name its Special Representative, define “the recent conflict”, list the territories concerned, or say whether withdrawal is from all or some of them; those matters are left open in the text itself.
- The text copy opens a quotation mark before “Withdrawal” in paragraph 1(i) with no closing mark shown; whether that mark is in the printed original could not be settled from the OCR layer alone.
- No chapter of the Charter is invoked for the resolution’s authority in the text.
Coverage
PDF p.1-2 of 2, read in full.