text: War, of 12 August 1949: to those occupied territories. Israel has understandable security concerns, but it has an obligation to respect the civil liberties of the Arab inhabit- ants of the West Bank and to refrain from excessive meas- ures. There may be debate as to what constitutes a breach of the Geneva Convention, but it is important that the acts of the occupier conform to the letter and spirit of the provisions of that Convention. 196. The facts of the situation in the West Bank speak for themselves. Much has been said here about causes and effects and blame has been directed at different parties. What is clear is that action has bred reaction in a cycle of violence. The result has been a series of events all too familiar, but none the less distressing, to members of the Council. It is the hope of the Australian delegation that we shall see, first, an early end to violence and, secondly, a restoration of calm and peace in the occupied territories. 197. My delegation regrets that the draft resolution before the Council was deficient in several respects. We would have preferred to see a recognition in it of the rzgret- table escalation of violence in the occupied territories rather than a focus solely on the actions of one party. Similarly, the draft resolution in our view contains unbal- anced and, in some cases, less than fully accurate reflec- tions of the situation on the ground in its relationship to the Geneva Convention. It is for those reasons that my delegation abstained in the vote on the draft resolution before us. 198. Mr. BIERRING (Denmark): ‘Let me start, Sir, by saying how pleased we are to see you presiding over the Council for the month of September. We have worked 
analysis: The text appears to be a diplomatic statement discussing a conflict between Israel and the Arab inhabitants of the West Bank, and the concerns of the Australian delegation regarding the actions of the Israeli government. The language used is formal and diplomatic, and the text references international law and conventions, suggesting that it is related to international relations and conflict resolution.