UNITED NATIONS: Tribute

Last week, for the first time in history, somebody took U.N. seriously enough to riot against it.

In Cairo, members of the devoutly anti-foreign Moslem Brotherhood heard a rumor that U.N.'s Security Council might reject Egypt's demand that British troops clear out of the Nile Valley. Five thousand Caireńes thereupon marched through the streets chanting: ". . . Egypt defies the Security Council! Egypt defies the whole world!"

At Lake Success a few hours later, Egyptian zealots in the gallery disturbed the peace of the Security Council itself. Cried bearded, red-fezzed Mustafa Momen from his place in the front row: "I have a document here written with blood .... Justice for our people!" Guards rushed him out; the startled Council resumed debate on the Egyptian case. But a few minutes later, when another galleryite, Ahmed Kamel Kotb, had to be ejected for shouting "Down with imperialism! Long live the Nile Valley! . . ." the Security Council decided to quit for the week.

Apart from the evidence that some Egyptians took it seriously, the Security Council had little to cheer about. During the week, Andrei Gromyko had blackballed the U.N. membership applications of Trans-Jordan, Eire, Portugal, Italy and Austria. He had blocked two more resolutions to do something about Greece. These Soviet gestures had required seven more vetoes (breaking all records for any week) and had raised the Russian total to 18 vetoes.