United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379

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United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379, adopted on 10 November 1975 by a vote of 72 to 35 (with 32 abstentions), "determine[d] that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination". The vote took place approximately one year after UNGA 3237 granted the PLO Permanent Observer status, following PLO president Yasser Arafat's "olive branch" speech to the General Assembly in November 1974. The resolution was passed with the support of the Soviet bloc, in addition to the Arab- and Muslim-majority countries, many African countries, and a few others.

The determination that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination", contained in the resolution, was revoked in 1991 with UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86.^[1]

Background

In July 1920, at the San Remo conference, a Class "A" League of Nations mandates over Palestine was allocated to the British. The preamble of the mandate document declared:

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.^[2]

On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recommending "to the United Kingdom, as the mandatory Power for Palestine, and to all other Members of the United Nations the adoption and implementation, with regard to the future government of Palestine, of the Plan of Partition with Economic Union" as Resolution 181 (II).^[3] The plan contained a proposal to terminate the British Mandate for Palestine and partition Palestine into "independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem." On 14 May 1948, the day on which the British Mandate over Palestine expired, the Jewish People's Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved a proclamation which declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.^[4]

On 11 May 1949, Israel was admitted to membership in the United Nations.^[5]

The resolution of 1975

The full text of Resolution 3379:^[6]

3379 (XXX). Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 1904 (XVIII) of 20 November 1963, proclaiming the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and in particular its affirmation that "any doctrine of racial differentiation or superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous" and its expression of alarm at "the manifestations of racial discrimination still in evidence in some areas in the world, some of which are imposed by certain Governments by means of legislative, administrative or other measures",

Recalling also that, in its resolution 3151 G (XXVIII) of 14 December 1973, the General Assembly condemned, inter alia, the unholy alliance between South African racism and zionism,

Taking note of the Declaration of Mexico on the Equality of Women and Their Contribution to Development and Peace 1975, proclaimed by the World Conference of the International Women's Year, held at Mexico City from 19 June to 2 July 1975, which promulgated the principle that "international co-operation and peace require the achievement of national liberation and independence, the elimination of colonialism and neo-colonialism, foreign occupation, zionism, apartheid and racial discrimination in all its forms, as well as the recognition of the dignity of peoples and their right to self-determination",

Taking note also of resolution 77 (XII) adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its twelfth ordinary session, held at Kampala from 28 July to 1 August 1975, which considered "that the racist regime in occupied Palestine and the racist regime in Zimbabwe and South Africa have a common imperialist origin, forming a whole and having the same racist structure and being organically linked in their policy aimed at repression of the dignity and integrity of the human being",

Taking note also of the Political Declaration and Strategy to Strengthen International Peace and Security and to Intensify Solidarity and Mutual Assistance among Non-Aligned Countries, adopted at the Conference of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non-Aligned Countries held at Lima from 25 to 30 August 1975, which most severely condemned zionism as a threat to world peace and security and called upon all countries to oppose this racist and imperialist ideology,

Determines that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.

Response

Israel

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly the same day, 10 November 1975, Israeli Ambassador Chaim Herzog stated:^[7]

"I can point with pride to the Arab ministers who have served in my government; to the Arab deputy speaker of my Parliament; to Arab officers and men serving of their own volition in our border and police defense forces, frequently commanding Jewish troops; to the hundreds of thousands of Arabs from all over the Middle East crowding the cities of Israel every year; to the thousands of Arabs from all over the Middle East coming for medical treatment to Israel; to the peaceful coexistence which has developed; to the fact that Arabic is an official language in Israel on a par with Hebrew; to the fact that it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel as it is incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country, indeed being admitted to many of them. Is that racism? It is not! That ... is Zionism."

Herzog ended his statement, while holding a copy of the resolution, with these words:

"For us, the Jewish people, this resolution based on hatred, falsehood and arrogance, is devoid of any moral or legal value. For us, the Jewish people, this is no more than a piece of paper and we shall treat it as such."

As he concluded his speech, Herzog tore the resolution in half.

The name of "The UN avenue" in Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv was switched to "The Zionism avenue" as a response to the UN's decision.^[8]

United States

Before the vote, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, warned that, "The United Nations is about to make anti-Semitism international law."^[9] He delivered a speech against the resolution, including the famous line, "[The United States] does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act ... A great evil has been loosed upon the world."^[10]

In Campbell, California, in the United States, a group of high school students attempted to solicit signatures on the premises of a local shopping center for a petition against Resolution 3379. The result was the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980) that supported states' rights to expand the exercise of free speech, which California held was legal in what were considered public areas of a shopping mall.^[11]

Mexico's vote in favor of the resolution led some United States Jews to organize a tourism boycott of Mexico. This ended after Mexican foreign minister Emilio Óscar Rabasa made a trip to Israel (Rabasa shortly afterward was forced to resign).^[12][13]

Voting record for Resolution 3379

Voting record

In favour (72) 25 states sponsoring	Abstaining (32)	Against (35)
Afghanistan  Albania  Algeria Bahrain  Bangladesh Brazil  Bulgaria  Burundi  Byelorussian SSR  Cameroon  Cape Verde  Chad  China  Congo  Cuba  Cyprus  Czechoslovakia  Dahomey  South Yemen  Egypt  Equatorial Guinea  The Gambia  East Germany  Grenada  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Guyana  Hungary  India  Indonesia  Iran  Iraq  Jordan Kampuchea  Kuwait  Laos  Lebanon Libya Madagascar  Malaysia  Maldives  Mali  Malta  Mauritania  Mexico  Mongolia  Morocco Mozambique  Niger  Nigeria  Oman  Pakistan  Poland  Portugal  Qatar  Rwanda  São Tomé and Príncipe  Saudi Arabia  Senegal Somalia  Soviet Union  Sri Lanka Sudan  Syria  Tunisia  Turkey  Uganda  Ukrainian SSR  United Arab Emirates  Tanzania  Yemen  Yugoslavia	Argentina  Bhutan  Bolivia  Botswana Burma Chile  Colombia  Ecuador Ethiopia  Gabon  Ghana  Greece  Guatemala  Jamaica  Japan  Kenya  Lesotho Mauritius  Nepal  Papua New Guinea  Paraguay  Peru Philippines  Sierra Leone  Singapore Thailand  Togo  Trinidad and Tobago  Upper Volta Venezuela  Zaire  Zambia	Australia  Austria  Bahamas  Barbados  Belgium  Canada  Central African Republic  Costa Rica  Denmark  Dominican Republic  El Salvador  Fiji  Finland  France  West Germany Haiti  Honduras  Iceland  Ireland  Israel Italy  Ivory Coast  Liberia  Luxembourg  Malawi  Netherlands  New Zealand  Nicaragua  Norway  Panama  Swaziland  Sweden  United Kingdom  United States  Uruguay
Source: United Nations Bibliographic Information System[14]

Revocation

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/86, adopted on 16 December 1991, revoked the determination in Resolution 3379, which had called Zionism a form of racism.^[1] Israel had made revocation of Resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference, in progress in the last quarter of 1991.^[15]

The resolution was raised under pressure from the administration of US President George H.W. Bush.^[16] The text of the revocation was simply:

"The General Assembly Decides to revoke the determination contained in its resolution 3379 (XXX) of 10 November 1975."

The motion was supported by 111 (including the 90 nations who sponsored the resolution), opposed by 25 nations and abstained by 13 nations.

Voting record for Resolution 46/86

Voting record

In favour (111) 88 states sponsoring	Abstaining (13)	Against (25)	Absent (15)
Albania  Antigua and Barbuda  Argentina  Australia  Austria  Bahamas  Barbados  Belarus  Belgium  Belize  Benin  Bhutan  Bolivia  Botswana  Brazil  Bulgaria  Burundi Cambodia  Cameroon  Canada  Cape Verde  Central African Republic  Chile  Congo  Costa Rica  Côte d’Ivoire  Cyprus Czechoslovakia  Denmark  Dominica  Dominican Republic  Ecuador  El Salvador  Estonia  Fiji  Finland  France  Gabon  The Gambia  Germany  Greece  Grenada  Guatemala  Guyana  Haiti  Honduras  Hungary  Iceland  India  Ireland  Israel Italy  Jamaica  Japan  Kenya  Lesotho  Latvia  Liberia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Madagascar  Malta  Malawi  Marshall Islands  Mexico  Mongolia  Micronesia  Mozambique  Namibia  Nepal  Netherlands  New Zealand  Nicaragua  Nigeria  Norway  Panama  Papua New Guinea  Paraguay  Peru  Philippines  Poland  Portugal  South Korea  Romania  Rwanda  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  São Tomé and Príncipe  Seychelles  Sierra Leone  Singapore  Solomon Islands  Soviet Union  Spain  Suriname  Swaziland  Sweden  Thailand  Togo  Ukraine  United Kingdom  United States  Uruguay Venezuela  Yugoslavia  Zaire  Zambia	Angola  Burkina Faso Ethiopia  Ghana  Laos  Maldives Mauritius Myanmar  Trinidad and Tobago  Turkey  Uganda  Tanzania  Zimbabwe	Afghanistan  Algeria  Brunei  Bangladesh  Cuba  North Korea  Indonesia  Iran  Iraq  Jordan  Lebanon  Libya  Malaysia  Mali  Mauritania  Pakistan  Qatar  Saudi Arabia Somalia  Sri Lanka  Sudan  Syrian Arab Republic  United Arab Emirates  Vietnam  Yemen	Bahrain  Chad  China  Comoros  Djibouti  Egypt  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau Kuwait  Morocco  Niger  Oman  Senegal  South Africa  Tunisia  Vanuatu
Source: United Nations Bibliographic Information System[17]

Statement of revocation

George H. W. Bush personally introduced the motion to revoke 3379 with these words:

UNGA Resolution 3379, the so-called "Zionism is racism" resolution, mocks this pledge and the principles upon which the United Nations was founded. And I call now for its repeal. Zionism is not a policy; it is the idea that led to the creation of a home for the Jewish people, to the State of Israel. And to equate Zionism with the intolerable sin of racism is to twist history and forget the terrible plight of Jews in World War II and, indeed, throughout history. To equate Zionism with racism is to reject Israel itself, a member of good standing of the United Nations. This body cannot claim to seek peace and at the same time challenge Israel's right to exist. By repealing this resolution unconditionally, the United Nations will enhance its credibility and serve the cause of peace.^[16]

See also

• World Conference against Racism
• African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

References

External links

• United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 (10 November 1975) (Official UN site)
• Report of the Plenary Meeting A/PV.2400 (Official UN site)
• Israeli Ambassador Herzog's response to Zionism is racism resolution (10 November 1975)
• Ambassador Moynihan's response to Zionism is racism resolution
• Video footage of Ambassador Herzog concluding his remarks and tearing the resolution in half (10 November 1975)
• American Jewish Committees' extensive archive of materials on the Zionism is Racism controversy