Attack on Al-Aqsa mosque – Letter from Palestine

Letter dated 8 October 1990 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

I am instructed by the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which has the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government of Palestine, to bring the following to your immediate attention:

Today, 8 October 1990, Israel committed another crime of genocide, resulting, until 0800 hours New York time, in the martyrdom of 22 unarmed civilian Palestinians and the wounding of almost 200 others.  Israeli occupation troops are preventing the Palestinians from reaching hospitals to donate blood to the wounded.

Early in the morning it was learned that a group of Israelis had planned to enter the precinct of the Haram al-Sharif (the al-Aqsa Mosque) in Jerusalem and to lay therein the "Foundation Stone" for the erection of the "Third Temple".  As these Israelis approached the gates from the southern side, the people of Jerusalem were already in the area to prevent the aggression against one of the holiest of Moslem Shrines.  Members of the Israeli army, in uniform, opened fire with live ammunition and gas cannisters.  Israeli troops opened fire from helicopters circling over the area.

The Security Council is called upon immediately to invoke the powers vested in it by the Charter, to put an end to such criminal acts by the occupying Power, Israel, and to ensure respect by Israel for the legal obligations arising from the Charter and from the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The aggression committed today and the persistent policy and practice of the occupying Power against the Palestinian people under occupation do constitute a threat to international peace and security.

I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of the present letter circulated as an official document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 23, 35 and 75, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Zuhdi Labib TERZI

Permanent Observer of Palestine

to the United Nations

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