Vol. 412 No. 3
6 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether it is intended to support the initiative taken by President Bush at the United Nations and to vote in favour of rescinding the motion passed in 1975 which equates Zionism with racism; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
President Bush, in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September, appealed to the UN to repeal the resolution adopted in 1975 which purported to determine that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.
No draft resolution has yet been tabled for the repeal of the resolution. Ireland was one of the 35 countries which opposed the resolution in 1975 and voted against its adoption. We have always rejected this offensive resolution and we would wish to see it repealed.
I thank the Minister for his constructive reply. I presume he would agree that the resolution is perceived not just by Israelis but by many people outside the State of Israel to be a perversion of history and grossly offensive. I suggest to the Minister that we should use our own good offices in the United Nations to bring forward a resolution which is not simply an American resolution but a resolution to which a number of countries would now be willing to sign their names. Some of these countries in the Cold War political era, voted in favour of this resolution in 1975. For example, I understand the Soviet Union is now in favour of repealing this resolution. Will the Minister agree that rescinding this resolution would be a step along the road towards achieving a general peace in the Middle East? It would be a small step towards restoring the confidence of the State of Israel in the United Nations and a small step towards allowing Israel and the Arab states to reduce the levels of tension between them. Will the Minister agree that this resolution is a cause of considerable tension? I am sure it is the wish of all Members of this House that the Madrid Conference will lead to a resolution of the disputes in the area. Will he further agree it would be a constructive step to take at present?
As I have already said, we opposed the resolution in 1975 and we voted against its adoption. It is important to repeat, so that there should not be any misunderstanding about our position on the issue involved, that we have always rejected this offensive resolution and we wish to see it repealed. The call for the repeal of the Zionism and racism resolution was made by President Bush and we should allow the United States to decide how to pursue this initiative.
