From the great Elie Wiesel’s timeless words to then United States Ambassador to the United Nations Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s stirring speech at the United Nations in 1972, we know Zionism is NOT Racism
Fifty years after the United Nations passed its infamous 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism, Elie Wiesel’s words remain as piercing and prophetic as ever. In his essay—originally published in the aftermath of that moral outrage—Wiesel warns that the resolution was not merely a political maneuver, but a continuation of the oldest hatred in history: the attempt to isolate the Jewish people and deny their right to dignity, identity and nationhood. His defense of Zionism as a human, moral and spiritual movement stands as both a rebuke to the cynicism of the U.N. and a call to conscience for every generation.
Wiesel states that “…the United Nations’ infamous resolution comparing Zionism to a form of racism is shocking and revolting. It must be viewed in a context of chilling horror.”
Zionism represents the nationalist movement that promotes Jewish self-determination in a homeland. Accusations of racism are primarily derived from the 1975 UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, which equated Zionism with racism, having been passed with a vote of 72–35 amidst Cold War dynamics and the influence of the Arab League. This resolution was later revoked in 1991 (Resolution 46/86, with a vote of 111–25) as it was deemed factually unfounded and politically driven.
To equate a people’s right to establish a state with racism undermines Jewish indigeneity and disregards similar claims made in other contexts. Zionism is the past, present and future of the Jewish people.
Sources:
Zionism and racism, by Elie Wiesel/JNS, November 10, 2025