Chicago Tribune · 12 June 1976

CP-1976-015

Conference links zionism, racism

By Alan Merridew, Chicago Tribune Press Service, Vancouver

Transcribed from the clipping

“The United Nations Conference on Human Settlements [Habitat] Friday night adopted a declaration of principles which by association equated Zionism with racism. The vote in favor was 89-15, with 10 abstentions. Voting no were Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, West Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Britain, and the United States… A general principle in the declaration says it is the duty of all people and governments to join the struggle against ‘any form of colonialism, foreign aggression and occupation, domination, apartheid, and all forms of racism and racial discrimination, referred to in the resolutions as adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations.’ The last phrase was taken to be a link with last November’s General Assembly resolution which equated zionism with racism.… NEITHER OF THESE two amendments named Israel or mentioned Palestinians. But it was clear to all participating that Palestinians living in Israeli occupied territories was the subject… THE ISRAELI SPOKESMAN responded bitterly. The amendment was ‘just one more tired act in the world-traveling Arab circus,’ he said.”

Context added by this archive

Seven months after the vote the formula turns up at a conference about housing. It would do the same at UNESCO in Paris, at a racism conference in Geneva, at the women’s conferences in Copenhagen and Nairobi, and at Durban. Each time it attaches itself to a meeting convened about something else, and each time the something else is what gets held up. The Tribune sets zionism in lower case in its headline.

Cite this item

"Conference links zionism, racism," Chicago Tribune, 12 June 1976. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1976-015. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1976-015

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