Moynihan’s Moment: America’s Fight Against Zionism as Racism, by Gil Troy (Oxford University Press), is one of the most important books to appear in recent times.
Using his vast erudition of modern American politics and especially of the institution of the American presidency, Prof. Troy shines a penetrating and highly illuminating light on a watershed moment at the United Nations on Nov. 10, 1975.
By a vote of 72 to 35 with 32 abstentions, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 3379 that stated “Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.”
Troy places the adoption by the UN of that infamous resolution under the microscope of his careful research, razor-sharp analytical abilities and superb, pinpoint writing. He achieves what mere microscopes cannot. He conveys an image of exhaustive, meticulously precise detail within a wider panoramic sweep of time, human endeavour and international affairs.
The centrepoint of the slide on which Troy has fixated was the very large presence of the American ambassador to the UN, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.