The General Secretariat of the Arab League:
1. The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs received your Memorandum No. 10/6/10/J6/1350 dated 15-6-70 AD in conjunction with a message from Mr. Edward Lowson, Vice-President of the Human Rights Section at the United Nations in connection with the Resolution of the Human Rights Commission No. 14 (25th Meeting) and Resolution No 1421 (46) of the Economic and Social Council, each entitled as follows: "The subject of the implementation of the economic and social rights embodied in 'The International Human Rights Declaration' and the 'International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights'."
2. The Ministry also received along with your Memorandum the following attachments:
3. On studying your Memorandum and the relative enclosures we have come to know the following:
a) We are advised that Mr. Manuchehr Janji, a professor of Teheran University, was appointed as Rapporteur in accordance with the two Resolutions mentioned above for the preparation of a study on the implementation of the economic, social and cultural rights in the member countries of the United Nations, which differ in their systems and methods used for the promotion of such rights.
b) We have been requested to assist the named Rapporteur and to furnish him with data and observations which can serve the Arab cause.
c) Presenting any information we have in connection with this subject particularly from our national legislative system,
d) Mentioning the domestic practices we have and which aim at the realization of the implementation of the economic, social and cultural rights.
e) Studying the special problems connected with Human Rights in the member states, particularly those effected by foreign factors, so as to submit a report on them to the Human Rights Commission during its 27th Meeting in 1971.
4. In order to assist the named Rapporteur in his task of preparing a comprehensive study on the extent of the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights in the member countries of the United Nations in accordance with the International Human Rights Declaration and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights , we shall speak hereafter about all the points mentioned above and which were requested for his assistance, in spite of the fact that f the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not joined until now the signatories to either 'The International Human Rights Declaration' or 'The International Covenant on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights'. Saudi Arabia's failure to join was not, as we shall see, due to its disapproval of the aims of the Declaration and the Covenant which stands for the dignity of man as outlined in their provisions, but:
a) Because of our determination to let the dignity of a human person be protected by us without any distinction between one man and another under the impetus of the divine Islamic creed and not by the material law. We are fully convinced that most of the confusions and perversions of the youth of the civilized world have been the result of their loss of the divine creed and their resort to a purely material life in which crimes and perversions have increased in society in proportion to the detachment of such youth from the faith in God.
b) Because of our reservations on some of the points mentioned in the Declaration, and the Covenant, for Islam had its own reasoning with regard to the support of the dignity of man, and the protection of human freedom. Our call for peace among all human beings is based on our Islamic principles which have been distorted by both the ignorant and the prejudiced. Adhering to its scientific philosophy which some researchers have failed to penetrate and which is supported with decisive historical facts in respect of this subject, we had to differ in our interpretations of some of the applications of the rules of the Declaration and the Covenant in as far as the points we mentioned before are concerned, and not over the basic principles relating to the dignity of man, his freedom and coexistence among all human beings and which we shall refer to in this Report when we get to them. We shall avoid all superficial propaganda pretensions which proved sometimes that they were not for the service of the dignity of man or his security or his fundamental rights (such as the distinction given to the workers over others in relation to rights, and their empowerment with the right to go on strikes as we shall see later on).
5. We now begin with the first point pertaining to this subject by giving short data on "The Principles of Human Rights in Islam" prevailing in our country, mentioning some of the legal provisions related thereto and which form our written National Law. Besides, these principles are closely connected with the Muslim creed and are an integral part of it, and we derive our general policy from them.
6. These rights can be summed up in the following points which have been outlined in the Rules of the Islamic Religion:
a) The dignity of man, in conformity with the Koranic verse which says: "We have honoured the sons of Adam". (XVI1, 70).
b) No distinctions in dignity and fundamental rights between one man and another as race, sex, blood relations or wealth, in accordance with the Saying of the Prophet of Islam: "There is no advantage for an Arab over a non-Arab, or for a white man over a black man excepting by piety," and in his saying: "Women are partners to men".
c) The call for the unity of the human race. The persons most favoured by God are those who are most beneficial to mankind, in accordance with the Saying of the Prophet of Islam: "Human creatures are the families of God and the ones who are most loved by Him are those who are most useful to their families."
d) The call for acquaintance and cooperation for the common good as well as for the performance of all kinds of righteous deeds towards all human beings regardless of their citizenship or religion, in conformity with the Koranic verse: "O mankind we created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is he who is the most righteous of you." (XLIX, 13). The same theme is repeated in the following Koranic verse: "God forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: For God loveth those who are just." (LX, 8).
e) Religious freedom to every one and prohibition of any exercise of force in this respect, in response to God's Sayings in the Glorious Koran: "Let there be no compulsion in religion," (II, 256) and "Wilt thou then compel mankind against their will to believe!" (X, 99). These sayings show how the use of pressure on man's religious freedom is denounced.
f) Prohibition of any attack on the property or the life of a man as expressed in the Saying of the Muslim Prophet: "You are forbidden to attack the property or the lives of others."
g) House immunity for the protection of man's freedom as mentioned in the following Koranic Saying: "O ye who believe! Enter not houses other than your own, until ye have asked permission and saluted those in them; that is best for you, in order that ye may heed (what is seemly)." (XXIV, 27).
h) Reciprocal responsibility among members of society, as to the right of every person to lead an honourable life, and to get rid of poverty and need, by levying a certain tax on the wealth of those who are financially able, so as to be paid to those in need, whatever their needs may be. This is in conformity with the words of the Glorious Koran: "And in their wealth the beggar and the deprived had due share" (LI, 19).
i) Imposing education on every Muslim in order to get rid of ignorance - this is being in response to the Saying of the Prophet: "Seeking knowledge is the duty of every Muslim; male and female," - while opening at the same time the horizons of Heavens and Earth for them to ponder them and pass through them, in compliance with the following verses of the Glorious Koran: "Behold all that is in the Heavens and on Earth" (X, 101), and "Ye can pass beyond the zones of the Heavens and the Earth, pass ye! Not without authority shall ye be able to pass!" (LV, 31). That is the authority of knowledge.
j) Enforcing penalty on all those refusing to be schooled or to do schooling. Such human rights which have not yet been attained by any State were observed, in abidance with the Sayings of the Prophet, prior to the construction of schools or Houses of Learning. "Let people learn from their neighbours and let others teach their neighbours, otherwise I will be fast in my punishment."
k) Imposition of health quarantines in the event of any epidemic outbreak. This has been an Islamic practice for the last fourteen (14) centuries. No other State at that time could even recognize such health measures and let them be part of their System of Law so as to serve as additional precautions for the protection of public health from disease. Islam has ordered this just as it has ordered the protection of society from poverty and ignorance, as mentioned before, according to the words of the Prophet: "If an epidemic breaks out in an area and you happen to be there, do not leave it, and if you happen to be away do not try to enter it."
1) There are countless other Islamic religious laws for the protection of those rights which are referred to above. They explain, on the whole, the basic inalienable Human Rights. They also deal in a comprehensive way with man's economic, social and cultural rights from the humanitarian and idealistic aspects which do not make any distinction or allow for any kind of distinction between one human being and another, particularly concerning the things provided for in the International Human Rights Declaration, namely sex or colour or language or religion or opinion or national or social origin or wealth or country. We also go farther than that and add things that were not recognized by the Drafting Body of Human Rights, such as those that appear in the following Koranic Verse: "O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for God, as witness to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety; and fear God, for God is well-acquainted with all that ye do." (V 8). We can infer from these holy words that no discrimination in human rights ought to be made because of hatreds or animosities. Likewise Islam declared that women are the sisters of men and that they have claims over others just as others have claims over them, excepting where men were given the right to be heads of the families and to look after their affairs, for men's constitutions are more strongly built and make them more fit to bear the heavy social burden. Truly, it is a heavy burden laid on their shoulders from which women were freed. However, this does not affect women's equality in dignity and rights. This is the highest level of justice between the two sexes.
7. It is quite clear from these religious Laws of Islam how much concern is given to the basic human rights and how much care is devoted to the economic, social and cultural rights of man. Islam has not used these laws for moral sermons but as legal order. It supported them with all the legislations that are needed to insure their implementation. Neither the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights nor the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have gone as far as that; they remained as moral recommendations not guaranteed by any legal safeguards whether on the international level or on the domestic level. It can be said that this is our first reservation on the Charter and the Covenant in a general manner.
For this reason the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is careful on not letting these rights fall to the level of unguaranteed recommendations. It shall continue to observe these rights on the basis of the Islamic Code, since our religion has guarantees and procedures which were implemented by us on the national (domestic) level with all our capacities, at all times and in a progressive manner every year.
8. It is necessary here to present other partial reservations from the Islamic point of view, after presenting the general reservation in the previous paragraph, without prejudicing the essence of those rights, as we saw in the legal provisions which we gave in brief. We shall sum up the partial reservations in the following:
a) What is taken by a foreigner to be a restriction on the part of Islam respecting prohibition of a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim and the consideration of this restriction as a violation of Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
b) What is taken by a foreigner to be a restriction on the part of Islam respecting the prohibition of a Muslim to change his religion, and the consideration of this restriction as a violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
c) Finally, the views taken by a foreigner on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia respecting the latter's attitude of not allowing workers to form labour unions as stipulated in Article18 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and which gave all workers the right to form labour unions without being subject to the regulations of their organizations! and stated that it is not permissible to lay any restrictions on the exercise of such right! Article 18 also gave the worker the right to go on a strike provided he does that within the bounds of the concerned State.
9. In connection with point (a) concerning the prohibition of the marriage of a Muslim woman to a non-Muslim and which is considered by a foreigner to be a restriction that violates Article 16 of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights which gives both man and woman who reach the marrying age the right to get married without restriction caused by religion, and on which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gave its reservations when the Covenant was drafted, we would like to say that the reasoning of Islam in this connection is that this is not a restriction on the freedom of marriage because of religion but because of the need to save the family from disruption due to the difference in religion, for a husband may not respect the sacred beliefs of his wife because of different creed, and moreover, a woman is one of two members of the family and is the more sensitive one in view of her feelings of weakness in respect of man.
10. There branch out the following three cases which are different in their laws, but which have the same reasoning like the one we explained in the previous paragraph. These cases are:
I: The marriage of a Muslim husband to a paganistic woman or to a woman who does not believe at all in God has been prohibited by Islam because a Muslim husband will never respect in any manner the beliefs and practices of such a wife. This will expose a family to disputes and disruption. Islam considers divorce as the most hateful thing in the sight of God. Thus, it is not encouraged. Out of this reasoning, such a marriage in which a husband does not respect the beliefs and practices of his wife, ending thereby in disputes and disruption, had to be forbidden. Islam does not encourage the disruption of the family and for this reason it has been careful on letting the foundations of marriage be void of such faults that lead to disruption.
II: The marriage of a Muslim man to a Christian or a Jewish woman has been permitted by Islam, because Islam glorifies Christ for being a Prophet of God who was born by a supernatural miracle and glorifies his mother Mary and absolves her from the charges hurled against her by the Jews. Likewise, Islam glorifies Moses and considers him the Prophet sent by God to the people of Israel. Thus, a Christian or a Jewish wife who is concerned on keeping her religion does not find anything to estrange her from her Muslim husband or to expose the family to dispute and disruption. Thus, Islam has no objection to this kind of marriage despite the difference in religion.
III: The marriage of a non-Muslim whether he is a Christian or a Jew for instance, to a Muslim woman has been prohibited by Islam, because a Christian or Jewish husband does not believe in the sanctity of the creed of Mohammad, the Prophet of Islam, and that he is the Messenger of God. As a matter of fact he believes that the Prophet is wrong in his message and his sayings, and this may estrange a Muslim wife from her husband and may expose the family to Conflicts and disruption. For this reason, this marriage which ends in such a manner has been forbidden.
11. In connection with point (b) regarding the prohibition of a Muslim to change his religion and which is considered by a man alien to Islam to be also a restriction violating Article (18) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which gave every person the right to change his religion and on which the Kingdom also gave its reservations at the time of the drafting of the Charter, we say that according to the reasoning of Islam this is not a restriction on the freedom of every person to change his religion, but is the outcome of a historical incident. It was established to curb a Jewish conspiracy which was plotted in the early days of Islam when all the Arabs of the city of Al Madinah Al Munawwara united themselves after an armed conflict between them caused by the Jewish refugees. The Jews then craftily thought to let some of them join Islam then renounce it in order to make the Arabs suspect their religion and be misled. A law originated from that incident preventing a Muslim from changing his religion and threatening to penalize him so that nobody could join Islam excepting after making a rational and scientific study of its doctrines ending with his permanent acceptance of the Muslim creed. That was meant to cut off the way for evil men and their like of superficial people, under the threat of punishment, from joining Islam, for the sake of extirpating malicious elements who have been persisting in spreading evil on Earth.
12. It is clear from the reasoning of Islam respecting this point also that it does not spring from the logic of the restriction of freedom but rather from the logic of the curbing of the intrigues of the plotters who are addicted to the spread of evil in the world. Thus, this matter is purely an Islamic interpretation - ijtihad - which is one of the requirements of freedom of opinion. It should not be opposed by a counter-interpretation, for every one has his own interpretation of things, and we have our own interpretation which is supported by historical facts, and our concern on not letting any one join Islam excepting those who believe in it in a positive and decisive manner. This shows the extent of sacredness attached to the faith which Islam does not allow to be superficial and subject to the misleadings of evil persons.
13. Concerning point (c) as to the failure of the Saudi Kingdom until now to adopt a policy towards labour unions and their absolute rights as provided for in Article (18) of the Universal Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which gave every worker the right not to submit excepting to the laws of his union, forbade the imposition of any restriction on the exercise of such right, and besides, gave the worker the privileged right to go on strike, we would like to say openly that Marxism, which called for this during the nineteenth Century, is the one which is depriving the workers of this right throughout the communist countries today. The communist State does not acknowledge today except its own powers and it chokes every one who threatens to go on strike or to exercise the right to strike. Likewise, the British Labour Government complained in past years of the labour unions and their strikes which were not in the interest of the country. According to their reports, ninety percent of those strikes were in violation of the law. Similarly, the United States of America was in the fore among the States which passed domestic legislations curbing these absolute rights. It issued a statute granting the American President the right to dissolve any labour union if he finds it to be necessary for the security and interest of the country.
14. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with deep understanding, has given its reservations on this point which combines odd and absolute rights including the right to strike, in order to prevent the interests of the workers themselves, and the interests of the national economy from becoming a tool in the hands of irresponsible subversive foreigners, particularly after issuing the Labour and Social Security Codes in which it included all the international principles laid down for the interest of work and workers. It has included in a special manner the right of equitable pay for performed work, the right of payment for work done on weekends or holidays, the regulation of working hours, the right of getting annual leaves with pays, health and sanitary conditions as well as health security conditions, compensation for industrial accidents estimated on the basis of the degree of disability, the right to be pensioned on reaching the valid retirement age. These labour and social security statutes have placed the Kingdom, in as far as the field of labour rights is concerned, in the fore among developing countries.
15. In addition to that, the Saudi Kingdom is still on the threshold of industrial planning designed to promote economic development which is necessary for furtherance of the prosperity of everyone. Thus, the Kingdom does not want its young and starting industry to suffer from what the British industry is suffering now. The Associated Press Agency reported on August 26, 1970 AD saying: "The industry of Britain is plagued by strikes which are considered the worst ever known during the past sixteen years, and which had their worst effects on British economy." Referring to this, Chairman of the Board of Trade Mr. Michael Nowair warned by saying: "Britain is now on the verge of an economic depression," the Associated Press added in the same report: "We do not only have our reservations on such rights but are also surprised to see that they are issued by an international organization in an age in which everybody is concerned on the necessity of the spread of security for the sake of the success of the economic development projects everywhere."
16. It is quite known that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is still young in its "civilizational" developments. Most of its establishments and organizations which are connected with our domestic procedures for the implementation of economic rights are not more than fifteen years old. But this does not mean that such rights were neglected before. What is meant, in fact, is that the material means for pushing the wheel of such procedures were not available. Credit goes only to the Islamic Religion which:
17. As the exercise of basic rights, or even civil and political rights by man depends on the extent of his culture, the first thing which the Kingdom did was to turn its attention to the spread of knowledge and to provide the means for it, according to its potentialities and capacities and in compliance with the order of Islam which says that "The quest for knowledge is the duty of every Muslim; male and female'. We were short at the beginning of all the means for education; we needed teachers and schools for every one. Thus, our attention, in proportion to the development of our means, was concentrated on the recruitment of teachers from every corner on Earth and on the construction of schools in every part of the Kingdom. Construction of schools reached an average of one school every other three days in some of the past years. We should bear in mind that on some years the building of schools exceeded 120 per year.
18. The Kingdom feels proud because education is free at all its levels: elementary, intermediate, secondary and college, for both males and females. Not to mention also the hundreds of students who are sent abroad at the expense of the Government for specialization in higher studies whenever there is need for such studies.
19. Besides, a student gets his books and all educational facilities free of charge throughout the various levels of education. He also gets monthly pay when he enrolls for higher education. Each student gets the equivalent of thirty sterling pounds. The idea is to let him concentrate on his studies and to help his family members whenever there is a need for that. Not a single State in the world has adopted such measures to encourage education and to provide the means to a human being to enjoy cultural rights.
20. The Kingdom did not forget vocational training to which it devoted its greatest attention next to elementary education. It took care of its secondary and higher stages and allocated financial assistance to every student who joined it.
21. Finally, the Kingdom did not neglect the education of the illiterate whose age is above the formal school age. As a matter of fact, the Kingdom spent all it could for this type of education. Having known how well this education can assist them in improving their conditions and income the citizens took to it with surprising enthusiasm. Night schools specialized in teaching the illiterate have run up to 600 throughout the Kingdom this year.
22. Though the Kingdom takes good care of education, yet it has not nationalized it. As a matter of fact it encourages private schools and allocated all possible assistance to them for the sake of spreading knowledge.
23. In accordance with the Laws of the Islamic Religion which hold to the principle of equality in human dignity and in the basic rights of man, which we outlined at the outset of this memorandum, the measures taken by the Kingdom in connection with the social rights of man began to be implemented since its formation, for it was based on the Laws of the Islamic Religion, without any kind of distinction and with the right of every person living in the Kingdom to be free of fear, hunger, sickness and particularly of ignorance, as we stated before, on the basis of complete social security.
24. The Muslim Religion did not recommend this type of security only but made it incumbent on those who are financially able to pay a tax which it considered to be the right of all needy people. It set up an independent Fund for all such needy people. The ones who are required to pay this tax make their payments voluntarily and willingly in fulfilment of their religious duty towards social security.
25. Thus, the Kingdom has been concerned, in accordance with the Laws of Islam, with the regulation of this tax since its very foundation. It set up lately a fund for these tax collections and called it the Social Security Fund. The revenues of this Fund, drawn principally from the taxes imposed on the visible property are 2.5% of total ownership and annual profits. All commercial stores, companies and businessmen pay the tax, and a share of agricultural and livestock product throughout the Kingdom is added to it. As you may see, this is a legal measure carried out solely by the Muslim Religion and every State whose system is based on Islam for the protection of the right of every person to social security. Moreover, there is the Social Securities Fund which was established this year for the labourers and workers with view of raising their status and safeguarding them against emergencies of accidents, sickness and old age, as mentioned before.
26. The ones who benefit most from the Social Security Fund are the aged people, the widows who have no persons to support them, the sick, and the ones unable to work for one reason or another, as well as the orphans who have no source of income.
This Fund also shares in compensating those who have suffered from a fire or a flood disaster or from a house collapse, and assists the needy families of the sick and the prisoners families, whatever the reasons for imprisonment are, and uses modern scientific and technical means to prepare those who are fit to earn their living in a decent and honourable way.
27.We cannot forget to mention at this point that every person in the Kingdom has the right to enjoy the best medical care whether for himself or for his family, free of charge. However, medicine has not been nationalized. For this reason, the Government constructed hospitals and established clinics throughout the country and opened their doors for every one for free unconditional treatment and without any distinctions between one man and another or between a citizen or a foreigner.
28. Regarding the legal measures taken by the Kingdom for the protection of the economic rights of each Citizen without any kind of distinction, they are self-evident and self-explanatory, because the Muslim religion believes in freedom to own property and in freedom of work for every one. Thus, it provides all the conditions and means for the enjoyment of such rights and guards them against any encroachment, and does not restrict them excepting where public interest is involved.
29. As the enjoyment of economic rights by a citizen is for his welfare, and as his happiness is completely connected with the Economic Development Projects, the Kingdom set up a few years ago a Council to deal with Planning and Development in a general way, and with Economic Development in a particular manner, for it is useless to the citizen to be entitled to the enjoyment of all economic rights if there were no projects to increase economic development, national income and per capita income.
30. The Kingdom, within the bounds of its material revenue, gives great importance to the development of the resources of the country, the exploration of its hidden wealth, the encouragement of industrialization, the reliance on private sector and its support, within the bounds of public interest, without any exploitation and with equitable remuneration for work performed, leaving no room for any class struggles or grudges. It considers the encouragement of individual incentive within these bounds as one of the most important factors to push the wheel of economic development and to safeguard human dignity. It is for the interest of the individual and the well-being of the group.
31. We regret, at this particular point, in which we ought to explain our own problems that are connected a with Human Rights in our Regional Arab Countries that we have to refer to the only basic problem in which Human Rights were exposed to hostile acts. This problem had and will always have the greatest effect on regional and international peace and on the waste of the largest portion of the national and individual resources of more than thirteen Arab countries. This problem has hampered a lot their economic, social and cultural progress since they were seeking to let the groanings of the Arab people of Palestine be heard. The Palestinians were deprived of all their basic rights in their historical Fatherland in which they lived since the times of the Arab Canaanites six thousand years ago and before Israel came to life and resorted to Egypt together with his twelve children where they multiplied for hundreds of years. Then their descendants decided to free themselves from the slavery of the Pharaohs and fled to Palestine. They went there as aggressors and destructive elements in order to establish a homeland for themselves there through conquest against the Arab people who have the sole right to that historical land.
32. If the law of the jungle had dominated the ancient world when the Israelis conquered Palestine after fleeing from the slavery of the Pharaohs; that barbaric conquest in which the blood of the Arab Canaanites was shed, their lands burned, and their towns destroyed during that period of time as mentioned in the text of the Old Testament; it cannot be permissible in this era, which saw the birth of the United Nations Charter and the Declaration of the Human Rights Charter by the United Nations, that conquest, killing, destruction, extermination and wiping out of people who did not submit during early conquest and at the time when the law of the jungle was prevailing, and who will not for a better reason submit during the time of the United Nations Charter, Human Rights and the Universal Charter connected with the implementation of such rights that have never been so badly violated in history by any race as they have been by the Israelis, for one single reason, namely their belief that they are the Chosen People of God and are thus superior to all other peoples; a thing which is unacceptable to anyone at all times. That was the first and the last reason for the persecution which had befallen the Israelis and which will always befall them because it is in complete disagreement with the Rights of Man.
33. Since we referred before to the history of their first and ancient conquest of Arab Palestine, which was taken falsely as a legal justification for their modern conquest and since we pointed out that the Canaanites refused to submit to them, we feel that it is useful to expand a little on the history of that barbaric aggression and the bad consequences it had on world peace at that time when the Canaanites were forced to seek the help of the Babylonians who rushed to their support, ended the State of Israel and destroyed their Temple for the first time and expelled them from Palestine.
34. When the Babylonian State grew weak and collapsed under the thrashes of the Persian State at that time, the Persians considered those who were the enemies of their enemies as their friends. They restored the Jews and allowed them to rebuild their Temple, but under Persian Rule.
The Arab Canaanites sought anew the help of the Greeks, the enemies of the Persians. To meet their appeal Alexander the Great went to Palestine, destroyed their Temple for the second time and expelled the Jews from there.
35. But when the Greek Empire became weak and fell a prey to the Romans and the Romans entered Palestine, they behaved like the Persians and considered the enemies of their enemies as their friends. They restored the Jews and allowed them to rebuild their Temple for the third time, provided they did it under Roman Rule. But the Arabs did not despair and were able to handle the Romans. Thus, after a while the Romans became aware of the danger of the Israelis and ordered the destruction of their Temple for the third time, until the Muslim Arabs came over and liberated Palestine from the Romans. The Arabs did not find a single Jew there.
36. Thus, we see that the rise of the Israelis in Palestine in the past centuries and the murder of its people upset each time world peace and led to foreign intervention, once on the part of Babylon, then on the part of Persia, then on the part of Athens and finally on the part of Rome. This intervention did not happen at any time except for the interest of a new imperialist empire in this important area of the world, after weakening its Arab inhabitants. Thus, we see that history is repeating itself today due to the Israeli oppression itself, after the Jews were permitted to re-establish Israel and go back to their old aggressive actions. As a result, regional peace has been upset, and had its repercussions on world peace. In Palestine, Human Rights were violated by the Israelis, in a manner unprecedented in the history of mankind. So, can't we draw a lesson from the facts of history?
37. While we thank today the UN Human Rights Commission which emphasized to its Special Rapporteur Mr. Janji the necessity of studying the problems connected with the respect of the rights of man and his basic freedoms, their implementation and the implementation of his economic, social, and cultural rights, particularly the regional ones arising from external factors as indicated in paragraph (206) of the debate of the 26th Meeting of the Human Rights Commission, we feel that it is the duty of the Arab countries to give major importance to the sufferings of the Arab people of Palestine whose Human Rights have been violated as a result of aggression by the Israelis who have gathered from all over the world under the guise of return to their historical national homeland, while in fact this is no more than revival of the old barbaric invasion which took place thousands of years ago, we mentioned before, and which is known in their religions and historical books. They aim at changing the map of this area on the basis of aggression and the elimination of the Arab people of Palestine, which is contrary to Human Rights principles.
38. It is quite strange that the change of the map of this area in favour of an old Israeli aggression and an old form of imperialism is accepted, at a time when the United Nations is liquidating unanimously modern imperialism and aggression since it considers it against Human Rights.
If it is necessary to correct the map of the world on the basis of old conquest, then we would like to ask why the map is not corrected in favour of Old Athens and Old Rome in Europe today also?
39. We now present the different aspects of violation of Arab Human Rights in Palestine today as a result of the restoration of the Israeli presence in this Land which has been an Arab Land for thousands of years. We list the following flagrant violations to which we attract the attention of the UN Human Rights Commission:
I The creation of Israel in Arab Palestine where the Arabs used to own 96% of the land at the time of the Declaration of the Formation of the State of Israel, and without consulting the opinion of the people of the country respecting self-determination, which is acknowledged by the Universal Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its Article No. 1 in conformity with the terms of the UN Charter.
11 Stripping the Palestinian Arabs daily of their property in an oppressive manner and expelling them from Palestine which is in violation of the terms of Article 17 of Human Rights.
III Prohibiting the remaining Arabs in Palestine of the right of movement and the selection of their places of residence within the State, which is contrary to Article 13 of Human rights.
IV Complete seizure by force of all the lands of the Palestinians and their expropriations from their Palestinian owners and the expulsion of Palestinians to live in camps either inside or outside the country, under certain living conditions which aim at the wiping out of these nationalistic Palestinians who are known since the dawn of history. This is in violation of the provisions of 'The Special pledge to Prevent Racial Extermination and Application of Penalties against it' issued in 1948 AD.
V Denying the people of Palestine their right in their historical lands and expelling them for replacement with ramblers from different citizenships. Besides, commiting all sorts of barbaric acts like the killing of aged men and the cutting of the abdomens of women, the slaughter of children and the profanation of the place of worship for their expulsion from their country with the aim of terrorizing them and making them leave their lands in a permanent manner.
This is contrary to all the basic rights of man. As a matter of fact these new invaders are not Israelis, but most of them are Caspians, from the Caspian Sea area who adopted the Jewish faith eleven centuries ago and had no historical connection with Palestine.
40. For all these reasons, we draw the attention of the UN Human Rights Commission to this flagrant violation of Human Rights in the Arab Land of Palestine under the observation of the UN Organization, and the threat it poses to World peace. This problem cannot be solved excepting by eliminating its causes which lie in the foreign Israeli conquest, and by restoring the usurped rights of the Arabs who are the owners of the land, or else woe to Human Rights from the Israelis who believe, like the Nazis, that they are superior to all other races.