Palestinian Rep Says Zionism Is Racism At UN

A representative for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which runs the Palestinian Authority (PA), said that Zionism is a racist ideology during a United Nations committee hearing on Aug. 14, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Speaking before the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, PLO Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi said, “In 1975, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 3379, indicating that Zionism is a form of racism. That is the root of the problem that we face.”

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon tweeted, “In response to the UN’s first report on racism and discrimination in the PA, @ibrahimkhraishi chose to claim ‘Zionism is racism’, evoking a despicable UN resolution that was revoked. Such statements encourage anti-Semitism, proving that the PA leadership encourages incitement.”

In response to the UN's first report on racism and discrimination in the PA, @ibrahimkhraishi chose to claim 'Zionism is racism', evoking a despicable UN resolution that was revoked. Such statements encourage anti-Semitism, proving that the PA leadership encourages incitement. https://t.co/RY7uGcBzv3

— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) August 14, 2019

The day before, members of the U.N. committee grilled the PA delegation about PA officials inciting anti-Semitism through their statements as well as textbooks in the PA education system. The PA delegation deflected and blamed Israel instead.

U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer tweeted out a cartoon from the PA ruling party Fatah as an example of the PA’s anti-Semitism.

But this cartoon from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah group is antisemitic.

Shameful how Palestinian rep is right now addressing UN anti-racism committee & completely denying this kind of official antisemitism, all of which we documented here: https://t.co/SdKjwAhtc4 https://t.co/2m9rXAfJ84 pic.twitter.com/sOaQSX26wh

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 14, 2019

Palestinians do themselves a disservice by telling the United Nations today that “advocating for Palestinian rights” requires them to publish grotesque antisemitic caricatures of Jews straight out of Der Stürmer. https://t.co/ARKqiMywar

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 14, 2019

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has a fact sheet explaining that statements accusing Zionism of being an inherently racist ideology are “false and biased” because “Zionism is an ideology that celebrates the Jewish national connection to Israel,” noting that “Israel is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, comprised of Jews and non-Jews from at least 100 different countries.” The fact sheet also states that such accusations are part of “a deliberate effort to delegitimize the right of Jews to a national homeland and undermine the Jewish nationalist movement.”

Additionally, the 1975 U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism was repealed in 1991, according to the ADL.