Cite: Friesel, Equating Zionism with Racism: The 1965 Precedent

Friesel, Ofra. “Equating Zionism with Racism: The 1965 Precedent.” American Jewish History 97.3 (2013): 235-58.

 

URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_jewish_history/v097/97.3.friesel.html

 

Abstract

In 1975, the UN General Assembly adopted its notorious resolution 3379 equating Zionism with racism. The origins of that resolution can be traced back to the previous decade. Ironically, an early initiative to denounce Zionism as racial discrimination in a UN formal text was presented during the negotiations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1965 (CERD). The context was none other than the debate regarding incorporating a denunciation of anti-Semitism into the Convention. The present article explores the particular meeting of interests behind the effort to incorporate a denunciation of anti-Semitism into CERD. It is designed to elaborate on how this attempt was used to promote what to all intents and purposes appeared to be the precise opposite: equating Zionism with racism—and how the seeds of resolution 3379 were sown.