World Jewish News
United States leaves option to attend 'Durban II' open
13.04.2009
The United States is likely to wait until the last moment before deciding whether to hold to its original decision to withdraw from the United Nations' anti-racism conference, which opens this coming Monday in Geneva, according to diplomatic sources.
As of press time Monday, the US was expected to issue a statement clarifying its position regarding the week-long event, dubbed Durban II, which opponents fear will single out Israel and will take a stand against free speech.
Initially, only Canada and Israel said they would not attend. But when the United States and Italy followed suit, and other European countries threatened to boycott the event as well, steps were taken to amend the draft text of the conference document to stem the growing swell of opponents.
With less than a week to go until the conference opens, the changes have not yet gone far enough to assuage those opponents. Among other things, they worry that the event will replicate the virulent anti-Semitic atmosphere of the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance that met in Durban, South Africa. Israel and the US walked out of that conference in protest, while the European Union remained.
News Monday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who seeks to annihilate Israel, had formally announced his intention to attend the anti-racism conference only fed those fears that Durban II would be a repeat of the 2001 event.
Conference opponents have also taken issue with the conference's stance against defamation of religion, which they claim is a blow to freedom of speech.
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Roni Leshno Yaar told The Jerusalem Post that attempts were still ongoing in Geneva to come up with a compromise text that would appease the United States and allow it to participate in the conference.
"We are still very far from closure on this business," said Leshno Yaar.
The last planning session for the conference ends on Friday, April 17, just three days before the event opens on Monday, April 20.
"We will continue with this game until the very last day and hour before the conference," he said.
One of Israel's objections has been the opening paragraph of the 2009 draft text. It reaffirms the 2001 document, which singled out the Jewish state. Any other new language that referenced Israel has now been removed from the 2009 text.
Ahmadinejad's decision to come has complicated the issue, said Leshno Yaar, adding that the Iranian president was not coming to praise Western democracies. Now there are more questions on the agenda, Leshno Yaar noted: If those democracies attend, will they also listen to his speech or will they walk out? How will they sit in the room while Ahmadinejad is speaking against them and against Israel?
The issue here goes beyond the text to the overall atmosphere of hatred that can be created, said Leshno Yaar.
In 2001, the worst anti-Semitism came from the forums of the non-governmental organizations that met on the sidelines of the anti-racism conference.
Already in advance of Durban II, a two-day anti-Israel NGO conference is scheduled to meet on April 18 and 19, called "The Israel Review Conference." An anti-Israel rally is also scheduled in Geneva for April 18.
The American Jewish Committee sent a letter to the Obama administration last week opposing participation in the conference, given not just the text of the current documents, but the tenor of the negotiations on the text over the past several months.
"As far as the official conference is concerned, we are calling on the governments, including the US administration, not to participate," said AJC associate director of international affairs Aaron Jacob, a former diplomat in Israel's UN mission. He said that even if references to the resolutions adopted in 2001 were removed from the current crop of draft documents, there would still be a problem of "the environment" of negotiations over the past few months, in which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been cast as a racial issue rather than a strictly political one.
Jacob said AJC had not received a response from the US State Department.
The AJC was nervous about US participation, because the administration's February decision to withdraw left the door open for America to change its mind if satisfactory changes were made to the text.
"We're hopeful that the administration would continue to remain firm on principle and stand by allies like Canada, Italy and Israel," said David Michaels, director of UN affairs for B'nai B'rith.
Michaels said B'nai B'rith would send a delegation to Geneva to monitor the proceedings whatever the final document drafts included.
"We're not there to vote or to provide cover or legitimacy to developments," Michaels told the Post.
"Frankly we're there to show solidarity with Israel and with the Jewish community - we won't be absent should the same players, whether member state representatives or [NGO] representatives come to this forum with signs that equate the Star of David with a swastika," Michaels added.
By TOVAH LAZAROFF AND ALLISON HOFFMAN
Источник: JPost.com
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