UN General Assembly
1990

The most persistent and the most intransigent problem is that in the Middle East. For forty years, the situation in the Middle East has been the cause of tension resulting in several wars. It has destabilised countries, caused devastation to the people of the region and destroyed their lives by denying them their basic human rights. The root cause of this situation is clear and well-known: the denial of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to their homeland. The situation has been further exacerbated by the continued Israeli occupation of Arab lands in defiance of the United Nations resolutions and in violation of international law. The courageous uprising, intifadah, of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza is an eloquent reminder that peace cannot be attained in the region unless the rights of the Palestinian people are fully restored.