News & Events

December 12, 2025

Fifty years ago this November, U.S. Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan delivered a speech at the United Nations responding to Resolution 3379, which had declared Zionism "a form of racism and racial discrimination." The resolution passed the General Assembly 72-35, with 32 abstentions.

Moynihan's response became one of his most widely discussed moments in public life. He argued that the resolution distorted both the meaning of Zionism as a political movement and the concept of racism, and that it damaged the credibility of the UN itself. "The United States rises to declare before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and before the world, that it does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act," he stated.

The speech exemplified Moynihan's conviction that ideas matter and that political arguments should be made with precision, historical grounding, and moral seriousness. He viewed the resolution not merely as a policy question but as a moment requiring clear articulation of principles—an approach that sparked intense debate then and offers lessons now.

For the Moynihan Center, this anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on what we can learn from Moynihan's approach to contentious political questions—not what to think, but how to think: grounding arguments in evidence, engaging seriously with opposing views, and treating political opponents as worthy of substantive debate rather than dismissal.

These skills—constructing rigorous arguments, engaging across difference, and participating in democratic discourse even on the most difficult questions—remain at the heart of the public service leadership we seek to develop in our students.