The Parliament of Europe voted 181-3 to repudiate the resolution equating Zionism with racism, adopted by the United Nations General Asembly on November 10, 1975.
The statement, adopted on the eve of the opening of the 42nd session of the General Assembly in New York, asserted that “Zionism cannot be equated to racism” and declared the 1975 resolution “unacceptable.”
The statement called on the Foreign Minister of the 12 member-states of the Parliament — which are also the member-states of the European Economic Community (EEC) — to “make clear to the (current) session of the General Assembly that member-states reject the principle that underlies the 1975 resolution, which can only increase the misunderstandings that divide the peoples of the Middle East.”
It asked the Foreign Ministers to make clear as well in all international organizations the European Community’s commitment to oppose all types of racial discrimination and to uphold the inalienable rights of all peoples to self-determination and their legitimate aspirations to live within secure, internationally recognized borders.
The Parliament’s statement was initiated by Otto von Hapsburg, a Bundestag member of West Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Party (CDU), and was supported by the Christian Democratic, Socialist and Liberal parties in the parliament. Von Hapsburg has been a champion of Jewish rights in the Soviet Union.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
