UN General Assembly
1981

40. Developments over the past year "in the Middle East have not been encouraging in the search for peace. Tension and hostility have increased, contributing to the hardening of attitudes. Understandably, feelings ran high when Israel attacked the nuclear facilities in Iraq an act which Was rightly condemned by the international community. The whole episode demonstrated the need for statesmanship? in the region. Peace cannot be impeded by military force. Rather, it must be built on mutual trust and confidence and mutual accommodation. Jamaica has for a long time urged such an accommodation as a means of achieving peace. The rights of all parties in the region should be recognized. The elements of comprehensive settlement have already been identified by a broad consensus in the international community. They involve, first, the withdrawal of Israel from territories occupied in the 1967 war; secondly, the implementation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and national independence; and, thirdly, the establishment of appropriate arrangements to enable all States in the region, including Israel, to exist in peace and security within their recognized boundaries. These elements would require adjustments of position on the part of all the parties concerned and would, establish a basis for negotiating a just and lasting peace.