1By the time there are 130 member-nations in the U.N. then at that time the percentage of the Arabs world wise will be, vote-wise, a staggering hunk of ten percent in the U.N. Till that time, we have a higher percentage than ten at the present time. This fact is all the more staggering when it is realized that the U.S.A. or the U.K. or France or the big powers, each hold, vote-wise, only a fraction of one percent at the present time. So, also, does Israel. Our percentage of votes is, thus, far in excess of our percentage of the world population even with China out of the U.N.

2Such simple statistics are stultifying. I had only realized this fact, quantitatively, just now, and I cannot easily couch my dismal outlook about Arab achievement with respect to all this, when faced starkly by such a naked fact.

3When one visualizes, in addition to these stark statistics, the numbers of delegations and delegates we have roaming about the U. N., then one cannot help but being singularly impressed by the advantages of Arab weight, volume and occupancy of seats in the total architectural displacement of the General Assembly and, I should assume, in its slab-like, architectonic Secretariat. When I, as architectural professor, led a group of American architectural students on a field trip to study the U.N. building when it was still under construction in 1949, when I was then, also, more interested in the profession and architecture of buildings than that of nations, it did not dawn on me, then, that we, the Arabs, were to figure to the tune of more than ten percent in the amours and paramours of that sanctified and noble mass of concrete and glass, that has chosen to behave sphinxlike on only the issue of Palestine -the issue that that concerns me the most- as it does all the Arabs, judging by all the avowals to that effect by all the Arab leaders, especially as soon as they take over office from another group.

4Sixteen years have elapsed since that pitch-black day in Arab history and, I would say, international history. We have grown from a smaller percentage of member nations belonging to U.N. a decade or so ago, to the very respectable ten-percent PLUS today. Israel, on the other hand had decreased in percentage importance even as we were appreciating.

5What applies to the U.N. applies, qualitatively if not exactly quantitatively, to every Arab country represented in every country around the world, and vice-versa in the costly affair of diplomatic representations and so on. In other words, we, the Arabs, have roughly ten times the advantage in U.N. and diplomatic affairs than most of the strongest countries of the world and Israel, too. This all means that, by and large, we have great advantages over many a friend and foe in only, by virtue of number and quantity, we turned our advantages to nobility and quality by diplomacy and work or, even, by alchemy if necessary.

6All this discourse would not I grant, be in place or called for, had not one puny little member-nation of the U. N. turned her disadvantages to advantages, turned her defensive-posture into offensive, succeeded where we have failed and is on the verge of convincing the people of the world that we, the Arabs, are aggressive and barbaric while she, Israel, is progressive and peace-loving.

7We draw all this to the avid attention of the Arab Kings and Heads of State, that they may be able to pin down responsibilities of failure where success was expected, and in order to review the quality and caliber of men, generally speaking, we have entrusted with serious missions for the Arab welfare. What the Arab Kings and Heads of State must do is renovate our diplomatic corps abroad, with a view to infusing new blood into the rank and file of the men the Arab pays to represent him, fight for him, defend him.

8To be an official Arab abroad carries with it grave responsibilities. It is not just a luxury-type vacation. It is a profession, a mission, a duty. The position of the Arab Kings and Heads of State would be greatly strengthened when they have serious political professionals abroad instead of, merely, dubious glamour. The grave role they are trying to play for the betterment of the Arab lot, generally, would be greatly enhanced, when the many men abroad all act as the very few who have done a good job, instead of merely "vegetating" in their positions, We are to exercise our legal international and diplomatic rights to the tune of TEN percent, we would enhance the prospects of Palestine by at least ten percent.