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November 22, 1967 The Six-Day War

June 1967: Israeli Centurion tank corps prepare for battle during the Six-Day War. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

U.N. Security Council Resolution 242

The Security Council,

Expressing its 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, emphasizing further that all member States in their acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations have undertaken a commitment to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter [Article 2 of the U.N. Charter instructs members to settle disputes peacefully and bans threats or force against the territory or political independence of other states].

  1. Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:
  2. B) WITHDRAWAL OF ISRAELI ARMED FORCES FROM TERRITORIES OCCUPIED IN THE RECENT CONFLICT; [NOTICE THE OMISSION OF THE ARTICLE “THE” TO INDICATE THAT ISRAEL WAS NOT EXPECTED TO WITHDRAW FROM ALL TERRITORIES. THE WEST BANK, GAZA STRIP AND EASTERN JERUSALEM ARE NOT EVEN MENTIONED. THE LANGUAGE WAS CAREFULLY CRAFTED WITH THE AWARENESS THAT ISRAEL’S PRE-1967 BORDERS WERE INDEFENSIBLE AND INVITED FURTHER ARAB AGGRESSION.]

Lord Caradon, chief architect of U.N. Resolution, 242 said

It would have been wrong to demand that Israel return to its positions of June 4, 1967, because those positions were undesirable and artificial. After all, they were just the places where the soldiers of each side happened to be on the day the fighting stopped in 1948.  They were just armistice lines.  That’s why we didn’t demand that the Israelis return to them.”

GEORGE BROWN, BRITAIN’S SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS IN 1967, STATED IN 1970 “THE PROPOSAL SAID, ‘ISRAEL WILL WITHDRAW FROM TERRITORIES THAT WERE OCCUPIED,’ AND NOT FROM ‘THE’ TERRITORIES WHICH MEANS THAT ISRAEL WILL NOT WITHDRAW FROM ALL THE TERRITORIES.”

Eugene Rostow, an American drafter of 242, said

“MOTIONS TO REQUIRE THE WITHDRAWAL OF ISRAEL FROM “THE” TERRITORIES OR “ALL THE TERRITORIES” OCCUPIED IN THE COURSE OF THE SIX-DAY WAR WERE PUT FORWARD MANY TIMES WITH GREAT LINGUISTIC INGENUITY. THEY WERE ALL DEFEATED BOTH IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL.”

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Arthur Goldberg stated that there would be

“LESS THAN A COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL” FROM THE TERRITORIES BECAUSE “ISRAEL’S PRIOR FRONTIERS HAD PROVED TO BE NOTABLY INSECURE.”

  1. B) 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.
  2. Affirms further the necessity

– For guaranteeing freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area;

– For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem;

– For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political independence of every State in the area, through measures including the establishment of demilitarized zones;

  1. Requests the Secretary General to designate a Special Representative to proceed to the Middle East to establish and maintain contacts with the States concerned in order to promote agreement and assist efforts to achieve a peaceful and accepted settlement in accordance with the provisions and principles in this resolution;
  2. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the progress of the efforts of the Special Representative as soon as possible.

Source: 90;  (Items in brackets from a Camera, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, ad appearing in the June 5, 2002 edition of the New York Sun, under the title: “Memo to the Media: Stop Distorting Un Resolution 242!”)

Posted in: Six Day War

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