September 1999

An international conference lasting a total of seventeen minutes is difficult to imagine. But that is what happened on July 15 1999, when 103 of the 188 signatory nations to the Fourth Geneva Convention met in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference was confined to a symbolic opening due to the notable boycotts of the United States, Canada and Australia, and the decision of most European countries attending to postpone the conference indefinitely.

The reason for the farce was intrinsically related to the conference’s raison d’etre. The primary purpose was to attempt to tarnish the reputation of Israel by highlighting its alleged breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention (relating to the treatment of civilians in occupied territory). The premises underlying the unprecedented conference were so clearly selective in their bias that a broad consensus agreed that to continue would have unacceptably politicised the Geneva Conventions.

The seventeen minutes, and the brief statement that it produced, was the culmination of over two years of speeches and resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly, committee meetings, official correspondence, international seminars and discussion papers. That such a proposal proceeded to the point of starting a conference, still without any agreement on how the conference should operate and what its objectives may be, says something about the power of the Palestinian lobby and its largely Arab and non-aligned supporters in the UN.

For a people without full nation status, the Palestinians have long wielded considerable clout and commanded a disproportionate share of the UN’s organisational and operational resources. The numerical strength of the Arab states and the Non-Aligned Movement in the General Assembly is such that the organs of the United Nations have long been politicised by a strongly anti-Israeli agenda, at the cost of millions of dollars annually.

Here follows a list of the various UN bodies created either specifically to promote the case of the Palestinians or which have a sizeable amount of their resources regularly devoted to Palestinian interests:

Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

Established in 1975 by resolution 3376 (XXX) of the General Assembly to report and recommend to the Secretary-General and the Security Council on measures to be taken in assisting the Palestinians in exercising their ‘rights’, as established by Resolution 3236 (XXIX) of the previous year; these being "the right to self-determination without external interference; national independence and sovereignty; and the right of Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced."

The Committee’s recommendations have not been adopted by the Security Council due to the United States’ veto. They have, however, been endorsed by the General Assembly, to which the Committee reports annually, by overwhelming majorities ever since 1976. The Committee has 23 member nations, while 23 other members have observer status. It represents the driving force behind the pro-Palestinian machinery in the UN, issuing directives and sponsoring resolutions and other political activity.

Division for Palestinian Rights

Created by resolution 32/40 B of 1977 to carry out the directives of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, including monitoring developments relevant to the Palestinian issue, organising conferences and seminars and publishing periodic bulletins, studies and other documents.

The Division, currently part of the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, is the linchpin of the pro-Palestinian bureaucracy in the UN. It convenes seminars and NGO (Non-Government Organisation) meetings worldwide, with the participation of political figures, representatives of governments and intergovernmental organisations, UN officials, academics and media. The main purpose of these events is to provide briefings and analyses on political developments, and lobby governments and officials for action supportive of the Palestinians. Generally these seminars and meetings feature panel presentations, followed by discussion and then a final document is usually adopted at the concluding session. Since 1980, the Division has organised over 40 such seminars around the world, averaging more than two each year. Since the 1993 Oslo peace accords, the Division has also organised an annual seminar on assistance to the Palestinians in the area of "nation building", and training programmes for staff of the Palestinian Authority.

The Division regularly produces a raft of publications: a monthly bulletin on international action on the Palestinian issue, containing resolutions, decisions and communiques of various United Nations and other intergovernmental bodies and agencies; a periodic bulletin entitled Developments related to the Middle East Peace Process, and a chronological summary of relevant events based on press reports and other sources. It has also published numerous studies on legal, political and economic aspects of the Palestinian question, some in as many as six languages. The Division also publishes reports of the regional seminars, NGO symposia and the international NGO meetings held under the auspices of the Committee; a special bulletin on the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People; and an annual compilation of relevant resolutions and decisions adopted by the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Economic and Social Council.

United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL)

Created by the Division for Palestinian Rights in accordance with the General Assembly in resolution 46/74 B of 11 December 1991, and established in 1993 to develop the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine. Its main objective is to provide Internet users with full-text documents of all UN system material relating to the question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East since 1946.

There are more than 3000 UN documents in the main UNISPAL database. They include: General Assembly and Security Council resolutions; verbatim records of meetings; reports, notes and communications of the Secretary-General, resolutions and reports of the Economic and Social Council; the Commission on Human Rights; the Trusteeship Council; UNRWA; the Conciliation Commission for Palestine; UNESCO; the United Nations Development Programme; the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People; the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices and, of course, studies, reports and publications from the Division for Palestinian Rights.

Department of Public Information

The UN’s information service carries out special activities in cooperation with the Committee as part of its Special Information Program on the Question of Palestine. Foremost of these is the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November, the anniversary of the 1947 resolution partitioning Palestine, at United Nations headquarters in New York, with similar activities taking place at the UN offices in Geneva and Vienna. The day includes special meetings at which statements are made by high-level officials of the United Nations and intergovernmental organisations, and by a representative of the International Coordinating Committee for NGOs. It also includes, at UN Headquarters, the display of a Palestinian cultural exhibit, film showings, and other activities. At other locations, activities are organised by local embassies and NGOs, in cooperation with UN Information Centres. The Department also runs a training program each year for Palestinian journalists to develop their media skills, which involves taking the trainees to Washington, the CNN headquarters in Atlanta and to New York.

Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories

A committee created in the wake of the 1967 Six Day War by resolution 2443 (XXIII) of 1968, its three members are appointed by the President of the General Assembly. Currently they are Senegal, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Carrying out the duties described by its name, this Committee travels to the Middle East each year to hear opinions on conditions in the territories. This year the Committee has already travelled to Jordan, Egypt and Syria, aside from its regular meetings in Geneva. It reports to the Assembly annually on alleged breaches of Palestinian human rights by Israel. The report is predictably adopted by the Assembly by large voting margins. The Committee’s mandate has been renewed annually since its inception.

United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP)

Established by General Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 1948 to help with the repatriation of refugees, arrange for compensation for the property of those choosing not to return and to assist Israel and the Arabs to reach a final settlement on all outstanding issues. The Commission’s mandate has been renewed annually in the General Assembly.

United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

Established by Resolution 4/302, it began operation in 1950 to provide relief, health and education services to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, as well as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Its mandate was expanded in 1967 to include emergency humanitarian assistance to other, non-Palestinian, refugees affected by hostilities in the Middle East.

Conceived originally as a temporary organisation pending the return of the Palestinians to their homeland, UNWRA defines a Palestinian refugee as someone who lived in Palestine for at least two years before 1948 and, as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict, lost their home or livelihood. It employs more than 20,000 local staff, mainly Palestinians, and over 170 international staff. UNRWA’s operational budget is financed largely through direct contributions from member countries for specific projects, though its funding levels have fluctuated in line with perceptions of the Palestinians political fortunes.

Despite the unquestionable value of its humanitarian work for impoverished Palestinians, particularly in the fields of health and education, the non-political mission of UNRWA has been carried out in an environment saturated by politics. Its efforts to continue its work have inevitably been influenced by the operational necessities of having good relations with its host states and Palestinian leaders on the ground. UNRWA has helped Palestinian refugees to survive their statelessness and prosper in neighbouring countries, thus maintaining their identity as an independent political force.

Non-Government Organisations (NGOs)

Since 1983, following decisions taken by a UN International Conference on the Question of Palestine, the Division for Palestinian Rights has been mandated to increase its contacts with NGOs and to convene symposia and meetings for NGOs in different regions in order to "heighten awareness of the facts relating to the question of Palestine". Since 1984, 36 regional symposia and 14 international meetings have taken place, annually in North America and periodically in other regions, where they are usually combined with other Palestinian-related seminars. International NGO meetings have been held annually at either Geneva or Vienna.

In order to participate in these events, NGOs have to become accredited to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and there are now more than 1000 NGOs worldwide that are active on the Palestinian question. The network includes national, international political and humanitarian organisations, promoting such issues as human rights, political and religious solidarity and economic and social development.

United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

The international development assistance program concentrates on improving the basic infrastructure in the Palestinian territories, developing the Palestinian capacity for self-governance and public administration, and strengthening the economic base of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, particularly in agriculture, industry and trade. It also handles information exchange among donor Governments and international organisations and works closely with NGOs in the areas. UNDP activities are decided jointly with the Palestinian Authority, but are often implemented by the NGOs, who are often the only street-level operators.

United Nations Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories (UNSCO)

Appointed by the Secretary-General in 1994 in the wake of the Oslo accords, the Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories is the focal point for all United Nations economic, social and other assistance to the Palestinians in the occupied territories. The current Special Coordinator is Chinmaya Gharekhan of India and under him are five units which deal with United Nations Coordination, Donor Coordination, Economic and Social Monitoring, Legal matters, and Media and NGO Liaison. He coordinates the respective United Nations programmes and agencies that are operating in the Palestinian territories, and maintains contact with the United Nations agencies, the Palestinian Authority, the NGOs and the international donor community in general. The UNSCO also coordinates regular meetings with Palestinian NGOs operating in the Gaza Strip and annual inter-agency meetings, in which the UN finalises its assistance programme for the coming year according to the priorities identified by the Palestinian Authority, which are then submitted to donor countries for possible funding.

Prior to the Oslo accords, there were three United Nations organisations with an ongoing presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; UNICEF, UNDP and UNRWA. A number of additional agencies and programmes assisted Palestinians through collaborative efforts with these organisations. Since then, the number of United Nations organisations providing assistance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has increased to 29; 15 of these have offices in the area, such as the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Gaza, which costs US$1 million each year to maintain. For a recent estimate, the total UN disbursements in 1996 including ongoing projects and regular budgets came to approximately US$245 million, covering virtually all areas of socio-economic development.

The extent of the ongoing United Nations activity relating to the Palestinians is far out of proportion with nationalistic political causes with comparable claims to UN patronage. A useful comparison can be made between the proliferation of Palestinian-related bureaucracy and expenditure at the UN and that which is devoted to the cause of Tibet.

After more than a thousand years enjoying a distinct culture with minimal interference, Tibet was invaded by Chinese forces in 1950. Its unique religious traditions and monarchical system were overturned and successive rebellions were put down. By 1965 it had been formally assimilated into China as an "Autonomous Region" and its case for independence effectively quashed by the realpolitik imperative of maintaining good relations with Beijing. Tibet’s exiled leader, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, retains an international following and widespread sympathy but there has been no significant international pressure on China to relinquish the region.

In almost the same amount of time since the Palestinians rejected partition and partially dispersed, there have been no UN committees or departments created to lobby on behalf of the Tibetans, nor has any coalition of states emerged to press for General Assembly resolutions condemning China for human rights abuses in the province and calling for Tibet to be restored to its pre-1950 territorial integrity. Unlike the case of the Palestinians, there are no voluminous UN reports on the restricted political rights of the Tibetans or recommendations for conferences and other political action. A simple search query on the UN website under "Palestine" brought up 197 documents, while an identical search under "Tibet" brought up just three documents.

It is ironic that the organisation which gave the international legal impetus to the creation of the State of Israel has become the largest single bureaucracy promoting the interests of the Palestinians. The extent of UN resources devoted to this one case of self-determination, while a relatively small part of the official UN budget of US$2.5 billion, certainly far outweighs that devoted to any other comparable cause, both currently and over time.

One of the pivotal moments in the creation of Israel was a resolution brought before the newly created United Nations in 1947. Resolution 181 proposed the partition of the British protectorate of Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish, with a special international status for Jerusalem. After the Assembly adopted the resolution, the plan was accepted by the Jews but rejected outright by the Arabs - thus began the war that resulted in Israel’s independence.

More than fifty years later, the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations is attempting to revive Resolution 181 and the Partition Plan by attempting to resurrect the UN Trusteeship Council. Until 1994, the Trusteeship Council dealt with attempts to achieve self-determination for territories under colonial rule or a League of Nations mandate. It was dissolved after its objectives were said to have been achieved. The Palestinians’ volte-face is just another indicator of how they have come to view the UN as an invaluable political tool, much to the long-term detriment of the world body in which such high hopes have been placed.

Copyright © AIJAC 1999
Last Updated 3 September, 2001