A Critical Analysis of Security Council Resolution 1073

October 1, 1996

1. The resolution takes as its basis the letter of the Saudi representative
   regarding the “action by the Government of Israel to open a tunnel in the
   vicinity of Al Aqsa Mosque”. This is in fact a distortion of the situation
   as the tunnel is an archeological site which has nothing to do with the
   Mosque.
2. The resolution ignores the letter of Israel’s permanent representative,
   to the UN Secretary General, on this very subject and at the outset
   constitutes a one-sided approach to the issue.
3. The resolution mentions the “consequent results” of the tunnel’s opening
   and as such ignores the the campaign of incitement and vilification on the
   part of the Palestinian Council and several Arab states which engendered
   the current outbreak of violence.
4. While the Security Council expresses its “deep concern” over the deaths
   of Palestinian civilians and “concern” over the violent clashes between the
   Israeli Army and the Palestinian Police, nowhere does this resolution
   express “concern”, deep or otherwise, regarding the blatant violation by
   the Palestinian Police of the Agreements between Israel and the
   Palestinians. Not only did the Palestinian Police not exercise effective
   control to prevent violence, there were repeated instances when Palestinian
   Policemen joined rampaging mobs and fired on Israeli positions with the
   very weapons that were supposed to be used to keep order, causing the
   killing of 15 Israeli soldiers and policemen and the wounding of more than
   60.
5. It should be noted that the violence in the territories was instigated
   and encouraged in a cynical and calculated manner by the leadership of the
   Palestinian Council as well as other states in the region. Israel has not,
   nor will it ever, undertake or countenance any action which would damage
   the holy sites of any religion in Jerusalem, or in any other locale under
   its jurisdiction. The members of the Security Council as well as the
   Palestinian Council are well aware of this. Nevertheless, the resolution is
   silent about the distortions and incitement which were aimed at Israel in
   the days prior to the violence in the territories and which set the stage
   for its outbreak. Furthermore, the resolution does not call upon those who
   engaged in this dangerous incitement to desist from it in the future.
6. It must be stated that this resolution is also silent regarding those
   who actually resorted to violence. The Palestinian Police and Security
   Services who were armed by virtue of the agreement between Israel and the
   Palestinians and are charged with keeping order in the areas under
   Palestinian jurisdiction. Instead they turned these weapons on Israeli
   soldiers and police, without any provocation, in what can only be described
   as an horrendous abuse of the trust with which they were invested and the
   powers which they were granted. None of this finds any expression in the
   resolution.
7. One can only, and sadly, conclude from this resolution that the Security
   Council has sent a message that artificially generated violence achieves
   political advantage and rewards those who cynically endanger human lives
   and the cause of peace in the Middle East.