Forty Years of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 (XXX) on Zionism and Racism: the Brazilian Vote as an instance of United States - Brazil Relations

Abstract

In 1975, Brazil voted in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolution 3379 (XXX), equating Zionism with a form of racism. Focusing on the decision-making process of president Ernesto Geisel's (1974-1979) foreign policy, "responsible pragmatism", this article discusses how the ultimate decision to vote in favor of resolution was taken taking into account mainly US-Brazil relationship.

Diaspora boundaries and racial democracy: Nationalist discourses on Judaism and Zionism in Brazil

“…Whereas most Latin American countries either opposed the resolution, abstained, or did not vote, Brazil supported it on both occasions, causing much anxiety among its Jewish population. While the historical evidence suggests that Brazil's vote was primarily motivated by its wish to secure Arab oil imports and petrodollar investments and assert its autonomy from Washington (Santos and Santos & Uziel, 2015), Brazil's rejection of the Jewish diasporic stance seems to have been a factor in the decision (Chor Maio, 1999, p. 252, Grossman, 2022a, p. 534).…”

“…Yet, there has been little study of the dictatorship period beyond the single case study of Brazil's vote for the 1975 anti‐Zionist resolution. Moreover, most scholars investigating this vote (e.g., Dávila & Lesser, 2012; Santos & Uziel, 2015; Sochaczewski, 2014) focused on its foreign policy aspects rather than its domestic implications for Jewish Brazilians (two exceptions are Chor Maio, 1999, Grossman, 2022a). By analysing the discourse throughout the entire dictatorship period rather than focusing on a single incident, I seek to bridge this historiographical gap.…”

Brazil’s policy toward Israel and Palestine in Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer’s administrations: have there been any shifts?

“…The vote in favor of the declaration that Zionism represented a form of racism and racial discrimination was widely discussed, as per UNGA Resolution 3379 of 1975(Pimentel 2001Rosa 2000;Dávila and Lesser 2012;Caraciki 2013;Santos and Uziel 2015;Grossman 2017). Today, in light of the research, we can consider it a decision that did not result from a fully bureaucratic process, but rather finds its rationale, in the case of Brazilian policy, strongly influenced by its relations with the United States, as analyzed by Santos and Uziel.…”