NY rally marks infamous UN resolution

30 years after the UN equated Zionism with racism, US envoy Bolton speaks out.

By REBECCA STOIL, JTA
UN general assembly 248.88 (photo credit: Channel 1)
UN general assembly 248.88
(photo credit: Channel 1)
Thirty years - and one repeal - after then-Ambassador to the UN, Chaim Herzog warned the UN General Assembly that "we, the Jewish people, will not forget" the infamous UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, Herzog's son Michael joined America's UN ambassador John Bolton in slamming the resolution that denigrated Zionism as racism on the 30th anniversary of the measure's passage. General Assembly Resolution 3379 was the world body's "single worst decision," John Bolton said Thursday at an rally sponsored by B'nai B'rith International marking both the anniversary of the infamous resolution and the United Nations' 60th anniversary. While the "Zionism equals racism" measure was repealed in 1991, the underlying anti-Israel animus that led to its passage still remains, Bolton said. "It's incredible that it was passed to begin with," said Bolton, who was instrumental in pushing for the measure's repeal. "It's incredible that it took 16 years to repeal it." Michael Herzog, son of then-ambassador to the UN and later president of Israel Chaim Herzog, participated in the rally. Herzog followed his father's example by reading the text of the resolution from the speakers' podium, Israel Radio reported. He then read the text of the speech of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. Israel's UN ambassador, Dan Gillerman, lauded recent Israeli gains at the United Nations, but said more needed to be done. "Most of these achievements are achievements of atmosphere," he said, though he still hoped for "achievements of substance." The infamous resolution condemned "the unholy alliance between South African racism and Zionism" and announced that the UN believed that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination," citing resolutions of other transnational organizations stating that Zionism is "a threat to world peace and security," a "racist and imperialist ideology," and claimed that ""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." At the time, Chaim Herzog delivered a speech refuting the claims, saying that "Zionism is to the Jewish people what the liberation movements of Africa and Asia have been to their own people," and warning the UN General Assembly that "the issue is the continued existence of this organization, which has been dragged to its lowest point of discredit by a coalition of despots and racists. The vote of each delegation will record in history its country's stand on anti-Semitic racism and anti-Judaism. You yourselves bear the responsibility for your stand before history, for as such will you be viewed in history. We, the Jewish people, will not forget."
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