Summary
The Security Council’s resolution of 30 June 1980, adopted at the 2242nd meeting by 14 votes to none with 1 abstention (the United States), on the letter of 28 May 1980 from Pakistan as current Chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (S/13966): it reaffirms that acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible, deplores Israel’s persistence in changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem and its grave concern at the legislative steps initiated in the Israeli Knesset aimed at changing the city’s character and status, reaffirms the overriding necessity of ending the prolonged occupation of Arab territories occupied since 1967 including Jerusalem, reconfirms that all Israeli legislative and administrative measures purporting to alter Jerusalem’s character and status have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, reiterates that all such measures are null and void and must be rescinded, urgently calls on Israel to desist forthwith, and reaffirms the Council’s determination, in the event of non-compliance, to examine practical ways and means under the Charter to secure the resolution’s full implementation (Resolution 476 (1980): Jerusalem (30 June 1980), PDF p.1).
What the file is
The resolution as printed in the Security Council’s Official Records, on 1 PDF page, about 711 words in the text copy counting the whole page. The page also carries the participation decisions at the 2241st and 2242nd meetings and the decisions of the 2245th meeting of 20 August 1980, accounted for below; the last of those decisions is cut off mid-sentence at the page’s end. The text copy’s OCR garbles scattered words (including “muting” and “I” in the adoption line); the resolution’s wording was checked against the original’s printed page, which reads it cleanly, and quotations are corrected against the original where the text copy garbles them.
Section by section
- Preceding decisions (PDF p.1). At the 2241st meeting, 30 June 1980, invitations to Algeria, Chad, Democratic Yemen, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Maldives, Mali, Oman, Uganda, the United Republic of Cameroon and the Upper Volta; at the 2242nd meeting, to the Gambia — all to participate without vote. Not part of the resolution.
- Preamble (PDF p.1). Having considered Pakistan’s letter of 28 May 1980 as current Chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (S/13966); reaffirming that the acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible; bearing in mind Jerusalem’s specific status and the need to protect the unique spiritual and religious dimension of the Holy Places; reaffirming the resolutions relevant to Jerusalem’s character and status, in particular 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 271 (1969), 298 (1971) and 465 (1980); recalling the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949.
- Preamble, Israel’s measures (PDF p.1). Deploring Israel’s persistence in changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem; gravely concerned about the legislative steps initiated in the Israeli Knesset with the aim of changing the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem.
- Operative paragraph 1 (PDF p.1). Reaffirms the overriding necessity for ending the prolonged occupation of Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem.
- Operative paragraph 2 (PDF p.1). Strongly deplores the continued refusal of Israel, the occupying Power, to comply with the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.
- Operative paragraph 3 (PDF p.1). Reconfirms that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention and a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.
- Operative paragraph 4 (PDF p.1). Reiterates that all such measures which have altered the geographic, demographic and historical character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with the relevant Security Council resolutions.
- Operative paragraph 5 (PDF p.1). Urgently calls on Israel, the occupying Power, to abide by the present and previous Security Council resolutions and to desist forthwith from persisting in the policy and measures affecting Jerusalem’s character and status.
- Operative paragraph 6 (PDF p.1). Reaffirms the Council’s determination, in the event of non-compliance by Israel, to examine practical ways and means in accordance with the relevant Charter provisions to secure the present resolution’s full implementation. Adopted at the 2242nd meeting by 14 votes to none, with 1 abstention (United States of America).
- Following decisions (PDF p.1). At the 2245th meeting, 20 August 1980: invitations to 35 named representatives to participate without vote on the item on Pakistan’s letter of 1 August 1980 (S/14084), and a voted decision to invite the Palestine Liberation Organization’s representative to participate in the debate with the same rights of participation as those — cut off mid-sentence at the page end. Not part of the resolution.
Key passages
- “Reaffirms the overriding necessity for ending the prolonged occupation of Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem” (operative paragraph 1, PDF p.1)
- “Reiterates that all such measures which have altered the geographic, demographic and historical character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council” (operative paragraph 4, PDF p.1)
Evidence the work relies on
A Security Council resolution, not an evidentiary work. Its occasion is Pakistan’s letter of 28 May 1980 (S/13966), which is not reproduced, and its stated basis is the line of Jerusalem resolutions it reaffirms (252, 267, 271, 298 and 465) and the 1949 Geneva Convention. The Knesset legislative steps that prompt its grave concern are characterized but not named or quoted.
Analysis
Resolution 476 applies the settlements line of Resolution 446 (1979): Israeli settlements (22 March 1979) and Resolution 465 (1980): Israeli settlements (1 March 1980) to Jerusalem alone, and sharpens it for legislation: where 465 determined change-measures have no legal validity, paragraph 4 adds “null and void and must be rescinded”, and paragraph 3 adopts 465’s “flagrant violation” formulation for measures purporting to alter the city’s status. Paragraph 6 is its only forward mechanism — a determination to examine practical ways and means under the Charter on non-compliance — with no date, no reporting requirement and no commission, a thinner follow-through than 446’s commission or 465’s mandated report. Its timing, a month after the Knesset steps it deplores and weeks before the 20 August meeting recorded on the same page under a follow-up Pakistani letter, places it at the start of the sequence that produced the Council’s next Jerusalem resolution.
People, organizations, places and events
UN Security Council Resolution 476, UN Security Council Resolution 465, City of Jerusalem, Fourth Geneva Convention, UN Security Council Resolution 252, Organization of the Islamic Conference
Concepts
How it relates to other sources
This is the primary text for Resolution 476, not previously held as a source in the wiki; the City of Jerusalem page records the 1980 Jerusalem resolutions from secondary accounts, which this text now anchors for 476 specifically, including its 14-0-1 vote and its Charter “practical ways and means” paragraph. It is the Jerusalem-specific continuation of the determination line running from Resolution 252 (1968) on measures to change the status of Jerusalem (21 May 1968) through 446 and 465, both of which already named Jerusalem within the wider occupied territories; 476 reverses the framing, treating Jerusalem alone and listing 465 among its antecedents.
Open questions
- The Knesset legislative steps are not named in the file; which bill or stage prompted the resolution cannot be settled from this page.
- Pakistan’s letter S/13966, the resolution’s occasion, is not reproduced or summarized.
- The following decisions of 20 August 1980 are cut off mid-sentence at the page end, in the clause defining the PLO’s participation rights.
- Paragraph 6 names no date or procedure for examining practical ways and means.
Coverage
PDF p.1 of 1, read in full.