UN General Assembly
1968

5. Would you consider me too pessimistic if I told you how concerned I am at the worsening situation in the Middle East, after a moment at which there seemed to be a glimmer of hope, when the international community believed, on 22 November last, that there might finally be a chance of peace with justice and freedom, the hope of which, after more than twenty years of warfare and suffering, had not been completely banished from the hearts of the children of Palestine or among all men of good will throughout the world who were shocked at the relentless fate which kept the cradle of human brotherhood torn apart and racked by hatred? We feel it is even more urgent to take stock of the new situation since at the. present time it is marked by confusion between what is essential and what is incidental, between phenomena and epiphenomena, between cause and effect — a confusion which is increasing daily, to such an extent that it is hard to believe it will ever come to an end.