The State of Palestine has long been persecuted by the racism prevalent in the ideology of Israeli Zionists. This body previously determined Zionism to be a form of racism(in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379), before later repealing that determination(with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/86). This determination was revoked as a concession to Israel to appease it into participating in the Madrid Peace Conference, against the founding principles of this body. It took a 14-year-long struggle for Palestinian workers to gain the same rights as Israeli workers.¹
Palestine has long worked to solve the issues caused by racist countries, such as speaking out in the past against apartheid in South Africa and Zionism in Israel. It participated in and worked a great deal with the other countries in the world seeking freedom from racist ideologies and pursuing self determination during the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial
Discrimination, speaking out against these evils. Any victory over racism anywhere is one step closer to freedom from the racial discrimination against the Palestinian peoples. The body must work together to condemn all types of racism and xenophobia across the world, and to apply diplomatic and economic pressures in an attempt to resolve these issues.
1. Salwa Alenat, “Palestinian Workers in the West Bank Settlements,” Workers Hotline (Kav LaOved), accessed November 15, 2019, https://www.kavlaoved.org.il/en/palestinian-workers-in-the-west-bank-settlements/)
- Camden Lucas
