The nine West European Economic Community (EEC) member states told the World Conference to Combat Racism meeting here they would not accept any resolution referring to Israel, Zionism or the Palestinian issue.
The nine, who announced their stand through the West German delegate, intimated that should the conference adopt the resolution prepared by the African state, they would leave the meeting. This threat was not made explicit but the West German Ambassador made it clear. Other West European delegates also made this point known in unofficial meetings with the Afro-Asian delegations.
Both Canada and the Scandinavian countries announced that they fully associated themselves with the EEC-member countries’ stand. The African-proposed resolution does not refer to the declaration on Zionism and racism adopted in 1975 by the UN General Assembly but it contains several Arab suggestions and violently attacks Israel both for its own policies and for its links with the South African government. The Communist and Arab delegates have been circulating draft resolutions which link Zionism with racism.
The Soviet Union and the Arab delegates made it clear they would not be unhappy if the Western countries walk out. The Africans, on the other hand, would like the final declaration to be adopted by unanimous vote. The United States is not attending the conference because it was convened under UN resolutions such as the one equating Zionism with racism. Israel is not attending for the same reason.
ELEMENTS OF THE RESOLUTION
“The conference condemns the existing and increasing relations between the Zionist State of Israel and the racist regimes of South Africa, in particular those in the economic and military field, and deplores and warns against cooperation between them in the nuclear field….
“The conference also notes with concern the insidious propaganda by the government of Israel and its Zionist and other supporters against the United Nations organs and against governments which have advocated action against it.
“The conference recalls with deep regret the cruel tragedy which befell the Palestinian people thirty years ago and which it continues to endure today–manifested in preventing it from exercising its right to self-determination on the soil of its homeland, in the dispersion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, the prevention of their return to their homes, and the establishment therein of settlers from abroad, and in the practice of diverse forms of racial discrimination against Palestinians…
“The conference voices its hope that the Palestinian people will soon have the opportunity to exercise its inalienable right to self-determination in Palestine, and proclaims its solidarity with the Palestinian people in its struggle for liberation and against racial discrimination.”
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.
