September 4 , 2001 Vol. 3, No. 27

This Week in Durban, South Africa…

It was time to walk:  Last night, just before 6:00 p.m. Durban, South Africa time, Jewish Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) attending the United Nations World Conference Against Racism received word that the U.S. and Israel were about to walk out of the conference.  After three days of negotiations in Durban, which followed weeks of negotiations in both Geneva and on a bilateral level in capitols around the world, it was clear there would be no movement on the offensive language about Israel.  Norway had proposed language that could possibly have salvaged the documents, but we are hearing that only a few dozen countries were willing to sign onto the compromise. 

The JCPA followed Israel and the US, leaving the conference. (See our press statement.)  Some countries are considering "walking" as well, while others have pledged to continue working over the course of the remaining four days to press for removal of the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic language contained in the formal government documents.  The Jewish Caucus here in Durban held a press conference earlier today once again expressing our condemnation of the conference although emphasizing that we have not abandoned the conference goals.

NGO Forum Votes on Radical and Hostile Agenda: The Government conference overlapped by two days the NGO meetings, which ended Saturday night.  After cheering wildly for Cuban leader Fidel Castro, NGO delegates gathered in a large tent to consider the NGO documents.  The second presentation, by the Ecumenical Caucus, called for the deletion of a paragraph in the section on "Antisemitism", which said:

 "We are concerned with the prevalence of antizionism and attempts to delegitimize the State of Israel through wildly inaccurate charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and apartheid, as a virulent contemporary form of antisemitism leading to firebombing of synagogues, armed assaults against Jews, incitements to killing, and the murder of innocent Jews, for their support for the existence of the State of Israel, the assertion of the right to self determination of the Jewish people and the attempts, through the State of Israel, to preserve their cultural and religious identity."

The vote in favor of deleting this section was decisive, with only the Jewish Caucus in opposition.  After the vote, members of the Caucus rose spontaneously, began to chant  "shame, shame, shame," and walked out of the tent and out of the NGO Conference as well.  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and secretary general of the conference Mary Robinson was presented with the NGO documents this afternoon and is reported to have temporarily rejected the sections on Israel.  While it remains unclear what will happen to the omitted sections, the actions of the drafting committee and those in charge have created an unsettling and chaotic situation.  Although the NGO documents have no official impact on the diplomatic conference and its documents, the process has engendered a hostile atmosphere, which has pervaded the Convention Center and all the proceedings.  

JCPA Civil Rights Partners Persevere: JCPA coalition partners who came to Durban with the delegation from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights have also been victimized by those who have hijacked this conference, attempting to turn it from a conference against racism to a referendum on the situation in the Middle East.  Tragically their issues have barely received the attention they deserve.  The groups led by LCCR Executive Director Wade Henderson will hold a press conference tomorrow morning to try to garner some attention.  They are expected to express their disappointment with the U.S. decision to leave, while also condemning as repugnant the hate speech and antisemitism that has been rampant at the conference.  (The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights is the largest, oldest, and most diverse civil rights umbrella agency in the U.S.)

Follow-up:  You may wish to send letters to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, thanking him and the Bush administration for unflinching support throughout these past months at preparatory conferences and in Durban.  Convey our gratitude to the U.S. delegation for its tireless work in pursuit of genuine racial reconciliation and language that would have enabled the conference to refocus its attention and the world’s on its original critical goals.   Write to Secretary Powell at the U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, D.C.20520; email: secretary@state.gov.

Stay tuned for additional updates