Security Council Urges No Deportations

The Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ask Israel not to deport Palestinians from the occupied territories. It marked the first time the United States had voted against Israel in the council since 1981, the U.S. mission said.

The United States, Israel’s main defender at the United Nations, usually wields its veto power on behalf of the Jewish state.

But Israel’s crackdown on unrest in the occupied territories has provoked strong criticism by the Reagan Administration. On Dec. 22, the United States rebuked Israel by abstaining from a 14-0 Security Council vote condemning the crackdown.

The United States has publicly called on Israel to refrain from the deportations.

On Tuesday, it joined the other 14 members of the council in calling on Israel not to deport nine Palestinian activists.

The United States joined the vote because it considers deportations “harsh measures unnecessary to maintain order,” U.S. Ambassador Herbert S. Okun told the council.

Israel has defended the expulsions as necessary to prevent more unrest in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which it captured from Egypt and Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War. Since rioting broke out there last month, Israeli troops have fatally shot at least 24 Palestinians.

The latest casualty was Tuesday, when Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip opened fire after demonstrations in support of one of the Palestinians ordered deported.

Israeli Ambassador Benjamin Netanyahu defended his nation, telling the council that the few Palestinians being deported are “members of extremist and terrorist organizations” and that many have previous convictions for committing acts of terrorism.

‘A Rigged Game’

The council was playing a “rigged game,” he said.

“We’ve never had a Security Council convene to condemn the murder of a Jew,” he said. “Not once.”

The council met Tuesday evening at the request of Jordan, Israel’s neighbor. Arab delegates said during the debate last month that they would seek another meeting if the situation in the occupied territories did not improve.

“(The Palestinians) cannot be deported from their own land,” said Shaker Arabiat, a Jordanian representative to the United Nations. At least four of the Palestinians are appealing the deportation orders, which were issued Sunday.

According to the U.S. Mission, the last time the United States voted against Israel in the council was in 1981. It joined the rest of the council in endorsing resolutions condemning Israel for bombing an Iraqi nuclear reactor and for imposing Israeli law on the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel rejected the Dec. 22 Security Council measure; it is not expected to change its course of action because of the latest resolution.