Introduction
On 10 November 1975， the United Nations General Assembly voted by 72
votes to 35 to adopt resolution 3379 which determines that Zionism is a
form of racism and racial discrimination .
The principal speaker in favour of the resolution was the representative of
Kuwait. He referred to the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination (resolution 2106) according to which
the term \"racial discrimination\" shall mean any distinction， exclusion，
restriction or preference based on race， colour， descent， or nation or ethnic
origin . He presented this as being the total definition of racism adopted and
espoused by the United Nations . He went on to refer to the Israeli Law of
the Return， permitting a Jew who had never been in Palestine to return and
to the policy prohibiting a Palestinian from returning to his actual home;
these he saw as concrete practices which had the effect of excluding some
people on the basis of their being non-Jews and including others on the basis
of their being Jews - Jewishness being decided officially by Zionism as an
ethnic and not strictly a religious definition . The Kuwaiti ambassador
added there is one \"ism\" that comes to this platform to proclaim: \"Hands
offl If you criticize me you are criticizing a religion. If you criticize me， you
are expressing hatred for a people!\" To such arguments he objected，
insisting that Zionism was not synonymous with Judaism.
The ambassador failed to persuade his opponents who did indeed see
anti-semitism behind the resolution， and who thought it betrayed a serious
and perhaps wilful misunderstanding of Zionism. The procedural status of
the resolution was also important. It came after two resolutions about the
implementation of the Programme of the Decade for Action to Combat
Racism and Racial Discrimination and the convening of a world conference
to combat racism and racial discrimination in 1978， which was to carry
forward intemational action in this sphere. The west European countries，
together with the United States， Canada， Australia， New Zealand， Fiji，
Chile， Uruguay， Kenya， Liberia and Zambia wished to support the first two
resolutions but explained either that they could not do so if the programme
was to be widened into a platform for action against Israel， or that they felt
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