UN Assembly again calls for an Arafat PLO state

The UN General Assembly called Tuesday for the creation of a Palestinian state led by Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization. Israel, Canada, and a number of Western European nations joined the United States in a futile effort to block the resolution, which passed 101 to 13, with 30 abstentions. Only Monday the Assembly passed five resolutions dealing with the Palestinian question and repeating previous demands for sanctions against Israel.

In another vote, the Assembly branded South Africa an international outlaw because of its racial policies and asked the Security Council to institute mandatory sanctions against the country, including an oil embargo. The resolution also authorized continued financing for the New York office of the South-West African People's Organization, which conducts guerrilla warfare in the South African-controlled territory of Namibia.