United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379, adopted on 10 November 1975, "Determines that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination" with 72 votes in favour, 35 votes against, and 32 abstentions. It was revoked by Resolution 46/86, adopted on 16 December 1991 with 111 votes in favour, 25 votes against, and 13 abstentions.[1] The vote for Resolution 3379 was held nearly one year after the adoption of Resolution 3236 and Resolution 3237: the former recognized the "Question of Palestine" and invited the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to participate in international diplomacy; and the latter designated the PLO as a non-member Assembly observer following the "Olive Branch Speech" by Palestinian political leader Yasser Arafat.

UN General Assembly
Resolution 3379
Flag of Israel
Date10 November 1975
Meeting no.2400
CodeA/RES/3379 (Document)
SubjectElimination of all forms of racial discrimination
Voting summary
  • 72 voted for
  • 35 voted against
  • 32 abstained
ResultAdopted, but revoked on 16 December 1991

In the context of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, adopted on 10 November 1963, Resolution 3379 officially condemned the national ideology of the State of Israel. It was sponsored by the Arab League and a number of Muslim-majority countries, and was chiefly supported by in-favour votes from the Second World and many African countries. Israel, which had been granted United Nations membership in 1949, voted against Resolution 3379 and subsequently condemned it, and was chiefly supported by the First World.

Background

Jewish nationalism in Palestine

In July 1920, at the San Remo conference, a Class "A" League of Nations mandate 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Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national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]

UN Partition Plan for Palestine

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]

Text of Resolution 3379

The full text of Resolution 3379:[6][7]

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.

Votes of 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[8]

Response

Israel

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly the same day, 10 November 1975, Israeli Ambassador Chaim Herzog stated:[9]

"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.[10]

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."[11] 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."[12]

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.[13]

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).[14][15]

Revocation

UN General Assembly
Resolution 46/86
Date16 December 1991
Meeting no.74
CodeA/RES/46/86 (Document)
SubjectElimination of racism and racial discrimination
Voting summary
  • 111 voted for
  • 25 voted against
  • 13 abstained
ResultAdopted

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/86, adopted on 16 December 1991, revoked Resolution 3379's designation of Zionism as a form of racism and racial discrimination.[1] Israel had made the revocation a condition for its participation in the Madrid Conference of 1991.[16] The vote on Resolution 46/86 was held shortly after the Gulf War with sponsorship by 88 countries, including the overwhelming majority of both the First World and the Second World, and was chiefly supported by many African countries. The Arab League, most Muslim-majority countries, and four other countries (Cuba, North Korea, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam) voted against it.

In total, the motion to revoke Resolution 3379 received 111 votes in favour, 25 votes against, and 13 abstentions.

Motion by the United States

Resolution 46/86 was raised under pressure from the United States,[17] and American president George H. W. Bush personally introduced the motion to revoke Resolution 3379 with the following statement:

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.[17]

Text of Resolution 46/86

The full text of the revocation was simply:[18][19]

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

Votes of 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[20]

Legacy

On 21 June 2004, while inaugurating the first United Nations conference on the issue of antisemitism, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan stated that "the actions of the United Nations on the issue of antisemitism have not always been worthy of its ideals. It is deplorable that the General Assembly adopted in 1975 a resolution which assimilated Zionism with racism and I welcome that it later came back on its position".[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Lewis, Paul (17 December 1991). "U.N. Repeals Its '75 Resolution Equating Zionism With Racism". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  2. ^ "The Avalon Project : The Palestine Mandate". Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel". United Nations. 29 November 1947. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel". GxMSDev. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  5. ^ Admission of Israel to UN: Retrieved 24 May 2013 Archived 15 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Resolution 3379: Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination Archived 6 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine. UNGA, 10 November 1975 (doc.nr. A/RES/3379 (XXX))
  7. ^ "Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination: Zionism as racism - GA resolution". Question of Palestine. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  8. ^ "UNBISnet". Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  9. ^ Blaisdell, Bob (18 August 2014). Great Speeches of the 20th Century. Courier Corporation. p. 163. ISBN 9780486315560. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  10. ^ פדן, יחיעם (2005). Tel Aviv-Jaffa Streets Guide (PDF). p. 158.
  11. ^ Gil Troy, "Moynihan's Moment: America's Fight Against Zionism is Racism", page 134
  12. ^ Stanley Meisler, United Nations: A History, 2011, page 215
  13. ^ "Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  14. ^ "Mexican Heritage Almanac". Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  15. ^ "Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe". Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  16. ^ "260 General Assembly Resolution 46-86- Revocation of Resolution 3379- 16 December 1991- and statement by President Herzog". GxMSDev. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  17. ^ a b Address to the 46th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. 23 September 1991. The American Presidency Project
  18. ^ "A/RES/46/86 of 16 December 1991". 7 December 2012. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Racism and racial discrimination/Revocation of resolution 3379 ("Zionism as racism") - GA resolution". Question of Palestine. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  20. ^ "UNBISnet". Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  21. ^ "Message du Secrétaire général : L'antisémitisme a été le signe avant-coureur d'autres formes de discrimination". United Nations. 21 June 2004.