Page 2 - The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, February 28, 1975
News
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Resolution 242 seen framework for negotiation
Cont'd from Page 1 |
Q: UN Resolution 242, passed in 1967, is open to different interpretations. |
Israel maintains she is obliged to evacuate some Arab lands; the Arabs |
contend Israel should withdraw from all Arab occupied territory. What is |
Canada's interpretation of Resolution 242? |
A: Our adherence to Security Council Resolution 242 is total. We have al- i
ways refused, however, to add anything to the Resolution/to subtract i
anything from it, or to attempt to interpret it or draw implications from |
it. It is Cana'da's view that this Resolution represents a framework upon |
which to base~the negotiations required to achieve an overall Middle East |
peace settlement. It is for the parties directly concerned to decide how i
such a settlement will be constituted. It would be inapprppriate for |
Canada to prejudge the shape of any potential settlement by attempting |
to interpret Resolution 242. — 1
Q; UNESCO's decision excluding Israel from membership in its European |
section has been widely condemned. The U.S. Seriate has voted to vyith- |
hold financial support to UNESCO until the anti-Israel resolution is re- |
pealed. Is the UNESCO decision a reflection of the moral disintegration |
I of the UN and do you consider the world body a viable organization |
I under present circumstances with its built-in majority opposed to Israel? 1
I A: There has been considerable criticism of the United Nations in the past i
I year, largely because of the operation of what has been described as an |
1 "autornatic" majority in the General Assembly and in some of the specializ- i
I ed agencies. Were such a trend to become a permanent pattern, it would, I
1 I think, reduce the overall effectiveness of the United Nations. In an |
I attempt to insure that this will not happen, Canada is now engaged in a i
i process of discussion with other members of the UN. Many of the prob- 5
I lems now facing the world are of global dirnensions; they can be resolved 1
I only by global solutions. It is in the' interest of both the industrialized S
» countries and the developing countries to work within the UN system, g
I Consultation, not confrontation, is the key. s
I Canada supported Israel's application for membership in UNESCO's s
I European Regional Grouping. Canada also opposed the resolution on =
I Jerusalem which, among other things, called for the withholding of j
I assistance in the fields of education, science and culture. ~
I Q: Does Canada intend to follow the lead of the US. Senate?
\ A: The government has deplored publicly the politicizing of UNESCO. We
I believe, however, thatwe would be ill-advised to withhold our contribution
I to UNESCO since to do so would withdraw support for an association
I with the many important non-political programs carried out by that body
I throughout the world.
Q: What is your view of the rapidly growing investment of Arab money in Canada and does such investment running^into many millions of dollars have political as well as economic implications?
A: The investment in Canada of large sums of money from abroad carries with it implications both political and economic which must be considered by the government, and this whatever the source of the money. The "Minister of £jn,ance has stated publicly that funds from Arab sources I would be welcome in Canada, especially in the form of debt capital, so i long as "they do not exceed in amount our projected current account I deficit for 1975 and so long as they are channelled toward provincial I governTients and the private sector.
i Q.Giv^n the existing state of international affairs, is there an expanded role for Canada to play in helping to bring about peace in the Middle East? A: Canada's participation in the United Nations i>eacekeeping operations in the Middle East - elemtents of the Canadian Armed Forces are there as members both of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights and of the United Nations Emergency Force in the Sinai - have provided the parties with the time required to negotiate. Canada is prepared to assist in the negotiation and implementation of a settlement provided there is a useful role for us to play and provided there is a willingness on all sides that we should do so. The basic responsibility remains now, as in the past, on the parties immediately involved.
Q: Does Canada support a Palestinian state on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip and a secular state as proposed by Yasser Arafat, the leader of die Palestine Liberation Organization?
A: This is a hypothetical question. I am not aware of any specific;proposal put forward for discussion by the parties for the establishment of a Palestinian state comprising the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is, of course, the declared aspiration of the Palestine Liberation Organization to establish an independent national authority in the region, but it remainS; Canada's view that the emergence of any such entity should be the result of agreement among all the parties directly involved including, of course, Israel.
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can see no
ibr military preparedness
TEL AVIV —
: Premier Yitzhak Rabin isays no defence-guaran-iees can take the place of 'Israel's ability todefend Itself.
i Commenting on reports %hat Israel might seek guarantees from the U.S. ^o back any new peace tagreement with Egypt, ^Rabin declared Israel had tpever sought such a pact, i* But the premier did
J' idmittd students at Bar Ian University that no !5tateof Israel's size had ^'the capability to defend ^tself from the hostility of
the world's second largest super-power."
Pointing out larger nations in Europe had banded together to form pacts, he said Israel cannot afford to stand alone, but added "I cannot see any kind of pact replacing our own ability to take care of ourselves."
Officials in Jerusalem are taking the line that bigrpower guarantees could be useful as an additional safeguard, but were no replacement for the signed official declaration Israel seeks from
President Sadat of Egypt.
Meanwhile in Washington, the State Department said the U.S. is considering guaranteeing a final Middle East settlement but not individual guarantees for interim agreements.
"There is no talk aboiit any kind of guarantees in this phase of diplomacy in the Middle East," State Department spokesman Robert Anderson said. "The whole question of possible guarantees may become relevant later on in the context of an overall settlement.
Won't release archbishop
tpmres UN call
Iv/hraet will ignore the Remand of the United ^iations Human Rights Comtiiisston to release - - - - Hilanon Ca-l.ooii'iActeddf running gi^fitt Arab guerrillas. f: EytanJRoiin, the Israel to the com-jtahiftidn^ said,that body rtiii^ i4o jwisdididn what-iver^! 1^ ttilr case. He
* iVotedikgaihstthe
Ottiy. {lolitical
the U.S., Britain, France, Italy, West Germany and the Netherlands dissent-
UN commision also condemned the "desecration of Moslem and Christian shrines, desrespect andilltreatment of feli-gious leaders, and viola* tion of rights of worship*' in Israeli-occupied tcrrit" tories.
Archbishop Capuoci,' leader the Greek CathoIi<i Church in Jenisaleni. was sentenced to 12 yeart last Awgustl on charges; of sihuggHbg pistols, auto-
matic rifles, ammunition, grenades and enough explosives for ISO bombs in the Mercedes limousine on return from Lebanon.
In Jerusalem, a top Israel legal ofRcial called the commission's demand astounding and said "it smacks of intervention in our'internal affairs."
isnlel officials pointed out she has consistently denied any desecration of telig^us shrines and both Israelis and independent observers have said that Israel imposes no restricr tions on worship
Boycott banks Arab strategy
Hebrew University will be celebrating its SOth anniversary next month. A number of special events are scheduled to take place. In July, there will be a world conference of the Friends of Hebrew University during the institute's annual convocation. (Hebrew U.)
50th year of its colorful life
JERUSALEM —
The Hebrew University here will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its opening next month. .
Its board of governors, convening for their annual meeting in March, will take part in the Jubilee events including a gala concert ofthe Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra with Isaac Stern as soloist, and the unveiling of a Jubilee Wall in the Mount Scopus amphitheatre where the English statesman Lord Balfour, declared the university open April li 1925 (7 Nissan 5686).
Anotherseriesof festivities will centre around the July convocation when a world Conference of Friends of the Hebrew University will be held in Jerusalem. Honored guests will be individuals who were present at the historic opening ceremonies.
When Lord Balfour proclaimed the university open before a crowd of thousands, including dignitaries from the Yish-uv, the Diaspora, foreign academic institutions and goverments, it was the realization of an idea bom years earlier. The dream of a university as the cultural
and spiritual focus of the Jewish people's national reawakening to sovereignty was put forth in 1882. given full expression by Dr. Chaim Wiezmann in 1902. and made concrete with the laying of foundation stonesin 1918—an act of faith in a land still at war.
At its opening in 1925, th'e university wis composed of three research institutes — chemistry, microbiology and Jewish studies — and the nucleus ofthe Jewish National and University Library, Three years later, three new institutes had beeii added, and teaching began. The first Master of Arts degrees were awarded in 1931.ahdthefirstPh.D.in 1936.
By 1947. Hebrew University had grown to the stature of a large and well established research and teaching institution. It had faculties of humanities and science, a pre-faculty of medicine, a school of agriculture (with its own campus in Rehovot). a department of education, the library, a university press and an adult education centre. Student enrolment topped 1,000 and there were some 200 faculty members.
The War of Independence saw the state bom— and access to Mount Scopus cut off, in defiance of all international agreements. When the new nation's need wasgreat-est. the university had no home. But studies resumed, in dozens of buildings widely, scattered around Jerusalem. Under these immense difficulties two new faculties — law and medicine — were inaugurated, for trained men and women were to be a prime guarantee of the young state's viability. A few years later, the facul-tieis of social sciences and dental medicine and the school of pharmacy opened — a further move towards providing an indigenous leadership to cope with the problems of an immigrant society fighting for its life.
Throughout those difficult years with makeshift premises and insufficient equipment, the university operated with the attitude that the situation was temporary. A return to Mount Scopus was expected. When it became obvious that there was no end in sight to this "temporary" state of affairs, land was acquired on Givat Ram in western Jerasalem and
building of a new campus began there is 1953. Givat Ram was officially dedicated in 1958, part of Israel's 10th anniversary' celebrations, even as the university was tuming its attention outwards and setting up branches, destined for ultimate independence, in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beer-sheba.The new medical centre in Ein Kerem, buih at the same time as Givat Ram. was by then also in use.
But Mount Scopus remained the heart of the university, and the faith in a return there was never abandoned.
At the height of the fighting during the Six Day War. this dream was realized in a reunited Jerusalem. The 5()th anniversary, in 1968. of the laying ofthe cornerstones was celebrated with the laying of foundation stones for a new university city to arise on Mount Scopus.
LONDON [JTA] —
Banking sources in London and Paris have report-,ed that several major . European banks connected with leading Jewish families have been barred . from a number of routine international financial transactions in recent months because of Arab pressure. The sources in London reported the existence of a blacklist of banking houses the Arab govemments want excluded from any financing with Arab participants. Those on the list reportedly included N.M. Rothschild andSons.S.G. Warburg and Co. and Lazard Freres.
London bankers were quoted as saying that the source of the list was Kuwait and Arab banks dominated by Kuwaiti in-t(erests. They said that at least a dozen other banking houses are on the boycott list. The Arabs apply the pressure by refusing to participate in the financings if Jewish-connected banking houses on the blacklist are included in the fund-raising syndi-dates.
The sources said that doing business with Israel has put about 1.000 indus-.trial concems and financial institutions on the blacklist maintained by the Arab boycott office in Damascus. Its influence has increased recently be-
cause many Western and Japanese concerns are avoiding deajings with Israel to be able to bid for business opportunities stemming from vast oil wealth of Arabs.
One high level source in London listed seven transactions, including one arranged last week, in which one or more of the major Jewish-connected banking houses were barred from participating. Arab threats not to join in routine financings now could be interpreted as threats not to invest their fast growing surpluses in much bigger deals in the future and bankers wishing to gain favor with the Arabs might respond to such presures, the banking sources said.
The first case reported by the London sources was an issue of 100 million Marks to finance a French highway. Another deal involved raising $25 million for Air France through a French banking syndicate. The most recent syndication was issue of $60 million for the European Investment Bank, a Common Market agency. Also listed was an earlier transaction involving 150 liiillion Marks for the same bank.
Tne Arabs were understood to have tried to apply pressure for similar exclusions in W^st Germany but the Germans refused to be coerced.
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