Herzog speech on Zionism makes history

VIDEO - Thirty-two years after it was delivered before the UN Security Council, former president Chaim Herzog's speech on Zionism was chosen as one of the most important speeches in history by a team of British historians. The speech will be included in the new edition of the book Speeches that Changed the World, set to be published in August. On November 10, 1975, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 3379, which determined that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination." Following the resolution's adoption, Herzog, then Israel's ambassador to the UN, took the podium and delivered an address that is considered to this day one of the most important speeches in the history of Israeli diplomacy. Herzog said that the resolution was, "another manifestation of the bitter anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish hatred which animates Arab society." He ended his statement, while holding a copy of the resolution in his hand, with the words: "For us, the Jewish people, this resolution based on hatred, falsehood and arrogance, is devoid of any moral or legal value. For us, the Jewish people, this is no more than a piece of paper and we shall treat it as such." As he concluded his speech, he tore the document in half. The speech was chosen for the book by a group pf historians and researchers headed by Simon Sebag-Montefiore. "This is one pf the most important speeches in history in terms of the struggle against anti-Semitism," he explained. The book will also include the speeches of Martin Luther King ("I Have a Dream"), Winston Churchill ("Blood, Sweat and Tears"), Nelson Mandela ("Free at Last") and John F. Kennedy ("Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You, Ask What You Can Do for Your Country"). Minister Isaac Herzog, the former president's son, said that the family was moved by the decision to include the speech in the book, a decision that conveys respect to Israel "and true appreciation to one of its greatest spokespeople."

Herzog speech on Zionism makes history

(VIDEO) Former president's UN speech gainst decision to define Zionism as racism, chosen by team of British historians to be included in book on speeches that changed the world