In the Media

Australian Jewish News – 13 November 2025

Fifty years ago this week, on November 10, 1975, the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the United Nations managed the considerable feat of achieving the nadir in its heinous history of appalling discrimination against Israel.  It adopted General Assembly resolution 3379 declaring “that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.”

The resolution passed 72 to 35, with 32 abstentions, and was supported by the Arab and other Muslim states, the Soviet bloc and a number of other non-aligned nations.

It was largely the result of Soviet activity. The Soviets saw it as a way to undermine the West, which generally supported Israel; they used it as propaganda to counter an Israeli and US push for the USSR to allow Jewish citizens to emigrate to Israel; and they used it to solidify their alliances with the Arab world.

The irony, of course, is that the resolution itself was racist, delegitimising self-determination solely for the Jewish people. Israel’s UN Ambassador Chaim Herzog, later Israeli President, concluded a brilliant speech by stating, “For us, the Jewish people, this resolution, based on hatred, falsehood and arrogance, is devoid of any moral or legal value.”

US Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan noted, “A great evil has been loosed upon the world. The abomination of antisemitism has been given the appearance of international sanction.”

It’s also noteworthy that the authoritative International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism includes among its contemporary examples of antisemitism, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the state of Israel is a racist endeavour.”

By 1991, the geopolitical situation had fundamentally changed, and Resolution 3379 was rescinded with proud Australian support. General Assembly Resolution 46/86, adopted on December 16, 1991, simply read, “The General Assembly decides to revoke the determination contained in its resolution 3379 (XXX) of 10 November 1975.” The resolution passed easily, with 111 nations in favour, 25 against, 13 abstaining, and 15 absent, including Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain and Morocco.

However, the damage inflicted by 3379 remains to this day.

On that same infamous day, November 10 1975, a separate resolution, 3376, created the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) which, based on the premise that Zionism is racism, continues to lead the anti-Israel agenda in the UN.

The establishment of the CEIRPP saw a major growth spurt in anti-Israel motions at the UN and every year there are still more such motions at the General Assembly and various other UN instrumentalities, such as the ironically named Human Rights Council (UNHRC), than resolutions directed against all other countries put together. The CEIRPP was also instrumental in establishing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which aims to destroy Israel.

While 3379 was rescinded, the sentiment behind it continues to flourish. It especially burst back into prominence at the preparatory NGO conference to the Durban World Conference against Racism in September 2001, which called for the reinstatement of 3379. It was at that conference where many of the world’s leading supposed human rights groups settled on their current strategy of ostracising Israel by labelling it an apartheid state.

In May 2021, the UNHRC established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate “Systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity” in the Palestinian areas including East Jerusalem and Israel. In other words, Israeli oppression of Arabs based on Zionism’s supposed racism. Unlike all other HRC Commissions, which have a defined term, this one is perpetual.

Unsurprisingly, the Commission, comprised of veteran anti-Israel activists Navi Pillay, Miloon Kothari and Australian Chris Sidoti, recently found Israel guilty of genocide in relation to the Gaza War. The UNHCR’s current Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967 is Francesca Albanese, who has been accused by numerous Western governments of antisemitism. Her reports accused Israel of genocide and apartheid, and she justified Hamas violence against Israel.

So while the ignominious Resolution 3379 may be long gone, it lives on in spirit at the UN – and beyond. And not only Israel and the Jewish people, but any hopes for the UN to be a genuinely impartial force for peace and human rights, have been its victims.

Jamie Hyams is Director of Public Affairs at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).