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After the 1967 war, the UN Security Council adopted
Resolution 242, which notes the "inadmissability of the acquisition
of territory by force," and calls for Israeli withdrawal from
lands seized in the war and the right of all states in the
area to peaceful existence within secure and recognized boundaries.
The grammatical construction of the French version of Resolution
242 says Israel should withdraw from "the territories," whereas
the English version of the text calls for withdrawal from "territories." (Both
English and French are official languages of the UN.) Israel
and the United States use the English version to argue that
Israeli withdrawal from some, but not all, the territory occupied
in the 1967 war satisfies the requirements of this resolution.
For many years the Palestinians rejected Resolution
242 because it does not acknowledge their right to national
self-determination or to return to their homeland. It calls
only for a just settlement of the refugee problem. By calling
for recognition of every state in the area, Resolution 242
entailed unilateral Palestinian recognition of Israel without
recognition of Palestinian national rights. |
