The tricky UN resolution on Middle East peace

Fifty years ago, the UN adopted a resolution on an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories that remains the reference for peace in the Middle East, even though it has never been implemented.
UN Security Council resolution 242 was agreed unanimously on November 22, 1967, five months after a crushing Israeli offensive during which it occupied vast swathes of Arab territory.

While the resolution lays the foundation for negotiations on the basis of a return of land in exchange for an end to hostilities, it contains a subtle difference in its French and English texts that has instead further soured relations.

- Lightning land grab -

In June of that year, Israel's army had struck out with lightning speed and occupied 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 square miles) of Arab land in what became known as the Six-Day War.

Israel took the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Syrian Golan Heights. The human losses were also heavy.

That August, Arab nations voiced their anger at a summit in Khartoum remembered for its "Three No's": no negotiation with Israel, no reconciliation and no recognition of the Jewish nation.

Israel believed the areas it had taken were essential to ensure its security, a stance adopted by its US ally after several attacks on Israel from these positions.

- The 'the' problem -

The dispute was referred to the United Nations for arbitration, and of the various resolutions proposed to the Security Council, it was a British initiative that was adopted.

Resolution 242 underlines the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East in which every State in the area can live in security".

Source:AFP