Summary
The General Assembly’s resolution 46/86 of 16 December 1991, adopted at the 74th plenary meeting under the heading Elimination of racism and racial discrimination, consisting of a single sentence with no preamble: the Assembly decides to revoke the determination contained in its resolution 3379 (XXX) of 10 November 1975 — the determination, stated in that resolution, that zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination. The file is one printed page (printed p.39) of the Assembly’s resolutions volume, which also carries the tail of a preceding Middle East resolution and a complete Jerusalem part B, both adopted at the 73rd plenary meeting the same day (Resolution 46/86: Elimination of racism and racial discrimination (16 December 1991), PDF p.1).
What the file is
Resolution 46/86 as printed in the General Assembly’s Official Records, on 1 PDF page (printed p.39), headed II. Resolutions adopted without reference to a Main Committee, about 1,007 words in the text copy counting the whole page. Resolution 46/86 itself occupies only the foot of the right-hand column; the rest of the page is the end of a preceding resolution (its operative paragraphs 4-12, with the start of a recital list) and part B of a Jerusalem resolution, each accounted for below. The text copy is OCR of a clean printed page, its main artefact hyphenated line-breaks; the page was checked against the original. Footnotes 97 and 95, attached respectively to the Fez plan paragraph and to the Secretary-General’s report of 22 October 1991, are not reproduced on this page.
Section by section
- Preceding resolution, tail of a recital and paragraphs 4-12 (PDF p.1). The page opens mid-recital listing earlier resolutions from July 1980 through 45/68; the resolution’s number and title are on the preceding page and are not in the file. Paragraph 4 considers the Arab peace plan adopted unanimously at the Twelfth Arab Summit Conference, held at Fez, Morocco, on 25 November 1981 and from 6 to 9 September 1982, confirmed by subsequent summits including the Extraordinary Arab Summit Conference at Casablanca from 23 to 26 May 1989, an important contribution towards realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people through a comprehensive, just and lasting peace. Paragraph 5 condemns Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab territories, and demands the immediate, unconditional and total withdrawal of Israel from all the territories occupied since 1967. Paragraph 6 rejects all agreements and arrangements which violate the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and contradict the principles of a just and comprehensive solution. Paragraph 7 deplores Israel’s failure to comply with Security Council resolutions 476 (1980) and 478 (1980) and General Assembly resolutions 35/207 and 36/226 A and B, determines that Israel’s decision to annex Jerusalem and declare it as its capital, and the measures to alter its physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and status, are null and void and must be rescinded immediately, and calls on Member States, the specialized agencies and all other international organizations to abide by the present and other relevant resolutions. Paragraph 8 condemns Israel’s aggression, policies and practices against the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory and outside it, including expropriation, establishment of settlements and annexation. Paragraph 9 strongly condemns the imposition of Israeli laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan, its settlements, land confiscation, water diversion and imposition of Israeli citizenship on Syrian nationals, declaring all these measures null and void and a violation of the law of belligerent occupation, in particular the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949. Paragraph 10 calls on all States not to provide Israel with assistance to be used specifically in connection with settlements. Paragraph 11 strongly deplores the continuing and increasing collaboration between Israel and South Africa, especially in the economic, military and nuclear fields, which constitutes a hostile act against the African and Arab States and enables Israel to enhance its nuclear capabilities. Paragraph 12 requests the Secretary-General to report periodically to the Security Council and to submit a comprehensive report to the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session. Adopted at the 73rd plenary meeting, 16 December 1991.
- Part B, Jerusalem (PDF p.1). Headed only B, with no number or title on this page. Its recitals recall the Assembly’s Jerusalem resolutions from 36/120 E of 10 December 1981 through 45/83 C of 13 December 1990, in which it determined that all Israeli legislative and administrative measures altering the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, in particular the so-called Basic Law on Jerusalem and the proclamation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, were null and void and must be rescinded forthwith; recall Security Council resolution 478 (1980), which decided not to recognize the Basic Law and called on States with diplomatic missions at Jerusalem to withdraw them; and note the Secretary-General’s report of 22 October 1991. Operative paragraph 1 determines that Israel’s decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem is illegal and therefore null and void and has no validity whatsoever. Paragraph 2 deplores the transfer by some States of their diplomatic missions to Jerusalem in violation of Security Council resolution 478 (1980). Paragraph 3 calls once more on those States to abide by the relevant United Nations resolutions, in conformity with the Charter. Paragraph 4 requests a Secretary-General’s report to the forty-seventh session. Adopted at the 73rd plenary meeting, 16 December 1991.
- Resolution 46/86 (PDF p.1). Under the heading 46/86. Elimination of racism and racial discrimination, the whole text is the single operative sentence quoted under Key passages. Adopted at the 74th plenary meeting, 16 December 1991. There is no preamble, no second paragraph, and no vote figure on the page.
Key passages
- “Decides to revoke the determination contained in its resolution 3379 (XXX) of 10 November 1975” (Resolution 46/86, PDF p.1)
- “Determines that Israel’s decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem is illegal and therefore null and void and has no validity whatsoever” (part B, operative paragraph 1, PDF p.1)
- “Condemns Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab territories” (preceding resolution, operative paragraph 5, PDF p.1)
Evidence the work relies on
A General Assembly resolution, not an evidentiary work. Resolution 46/86 relies on nothing stated in the file beyond the identification of the determination it revokes, by resolution number and date; it gives no reasons, recitals or findings. The other texts on the page rest on the resolutions they recite, in particular Security Council resolutions 476 (1980) and 478 (1980), the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, the Fez Arab peace plan of 1981-1982, and the Secretary-General’s report of 22 October 1991.
Analysis
Resolution 46/86 is, in form, the shortest possible repeal: one sentence, no preamble, no replacement determination, no statement of what the Assembly holds instead about zionism and racism. It revokes a determination, not the whole of resolution 3379 — 3379’s operative content was that single determination, so nothing of its operative text survives the revocation, while its recitals are simply left unaddressed. Placed on the same printed page, and adopted the same day one plenary meeting earlier, the Jerusalem part B and the preceding Middle East resolution show the Assembly the same day reaffirming, in its long annual series, that Jerusalem measures are null and void and condemning the occupation and Israel-South Africa collaboration — the revocation was not part of a general withdrawal of the Assembly’s Palestine positions as printed on this page. The file gives no vote and no debate, so why the Assembly acted, and on what terms, cannot be taken from this page; other ingested sources that connect the revocation to Israel’s condition for participating in the Madrid Conference are recorded on the UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 page.
People, organizations, places and events
UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86, UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, UN Security Council Resolution 478, UN Security Council Resolution 476, City of Jerusalem, Basic Laws, Fourth Geneva Convention, South Africa
Concepts
How it relates to other sources
This is the primary text for the revocation that Resolution 3379 (XXX): Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (10 November 1975) has attracted since its adoption: 3379 determined, in a single unnumbered operative clause, that zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination, and 46/86 revokes that determination in a single sentence, identifying it only as the determination contained in resolution 3379 (XXX) of 10 November 1975. The UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 page records from secondary sources that the revocation was a precondition set by Israel for its participation in the Madrid Conference and that 3379 is, in Feldman’s account, the only General Assembly resolution formally revoked, rescinded on December 16, 1991 in a one-line declaration; this text confirms the date, the one-sentence form and the 74th plenary meeting, and it does not itself mention Madrid or any condition. The Jerusalem part B on the same page continues the Assembly line carried in Resolution 478 (1980): The Basic Law on Jerusalem (20 August 1980), determining the imposition of Israeli laws on Jerusalem illegal and null and void and deploring the transfer of diplomatic missions to Jerusalem in violation of resolution 478.
Open questions
- The file gives no vote figure, no list of sponsors and no debate for resolution 46/86; its adoption figures, if any were recorded, are not on this page.
- The preceding resolution’s number, title and paragraphs 1-3, and the number and title of the resolution of which the Jerusalem text is part B, are on the preceding page, which is not in the file.
- Footnotes 97 (on the Fez plan) and 95 (on the Secretary-General’s report of 22 October 1991) are not reproduced on this page.
- Resolution 46/86 does not restate the determination it revokes; its identification of that determination rests on resolution 3379’s own text, held separately in the wiki.
Coverage
PDF p.1 of 1, read in full.