In 1975, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that Zionism, the philosophy behind the creation of Israel, is a “form of racism ….” The United States was among 35 countries to oppose it. As Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan said at the time, “The United Nations is about to make anti-Semitism international law.”
Forty years later, the American Studies Association and other academic groups are moving along the same path. They are adopting resolutions calling for boycotts or other steps against Israeli institutions, ostensibly because of Israeli policies toward Palestinians. These actions stem from a campaign to treat Israel as a country that practices apartheid, as South Africa once did.
However, not even those it is supposed to help support this movement. Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has objected to boycotting Israeli goods.
Nor is it apt to be very effective. The Economist magazine has called the boycotts “flimsy” with little impact. Even Israeli critics of their country’s policies regard these tactics as counter-productive.
Most importantly, the campaign to equate Zionism with racism is fundamentally flawed. The case for the state of Israel rests not on the claim that Jews are better than other people, but on their right to national self-determination. Until that right is recognized by others in the Middle East, conflict will persist.
In 1991, the UN repealed its resolution. IU’s Michael McRobbie and other academic leaders have already denounced the action of the American Studies Association. But until the Jewish desire for a homeland is accepted, anti-Semitism will continue to flourish in a new form among those who should be most resistant to it.
Sources
Zionism as Racism Resolution: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, with Suzanne Garment, A Dangerous Place, Little Brown, 1978.
“Campaign Against Israel” (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
“Boycott by Academic Group Is a Symbolic Sting to Israel” (New York Times)
“Boycotting Israel: New Pariah of the Block” (The Economist)
“A Leftist’s Critique of BDS” (Daily Beast)
