Live from Durban 2: The Show Goes On

Former SAUJS chairlady, Caylee Talpert, gives us another update about the events of the last few days at what must be one of the most Orwellian events of the decade, a United Nations anti-racism conference that has given a platform to some of the worst human rights abusers on the planet; a conference where all Jewish students were temporally banned on account of the actions of some Jews; and where real victims of genocide like Darfuris had to protest in the hope of getting some attention.

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The Show goes on! A show is pretty much exactly what over the past week the Durban Review Conference has become. Whilst at times very entertaining, unfortunately I don’t think I walked away from “Durban Two” with much more than I would have, had I had spent the week at the Cannes Film Festival and I don’t think the victims of racism would have known any difference either for that matter.

Despite a fully planned schedule, Day 2 of the conference (Tuesday) started off fairly quietly for the students. First we were forced to remain in the “Welcome Centre” where we were based as a result of security threats. However even after we were “released” we still could not enter the UN as we had lost our accreditation as a result of the two clowns that ‘stole the show’ during Ahmadinejad’s speech the day before. The fact that these students were actually accredited as part of the French Jewish Students Union and not the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) like the rest of us, didn’t seem to make a difference, after all Jews are Jews.

Once we were eventually allowed back in (and not before the media had reported on the Jewish Students losing their accreditation), we attended a few side events. Some proved enlightening with human rights heroes like Ellie Wiesel, Erwin Cotler and Alan Dershowitz addressing the audience (all organised by Jewish organisations); but others such as the one on “Human Rights, Discrimination and Islamaphobia”, organised by Interfaith International and Al Hakim Foundation, were not so enlightening. (Although NGO events like these where accusations of ‘the Zionists controlling the world’ and committing the ‘gravest violations in the 21st Centaury’ are a regular occurrence and hardly a newsworthy event for those more familiar with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s daily activity.)

The day ended with a Darfur Rally to try and put this horrific Genocide on the conference’s agenda. The Rally comprised largely of Jews, Darfuris and a couple of international students. Despite around 200 people and two hours spent chanting ‘Al Bashir, Criminal’ or ‘UN listen up, stop the Genocide in Darfur’ lead by the Darfuris, there was little news coverage. I guess after a day spent on Ahmadinejad, Darfur just isn’t that interesting anymore, after all its already been going on for 6 years and the deaths of over 500 000 people and displacement of 2.5 million others is just another tragedy taking place in Africa, far away from the imposing structure of the UN building with its well manicured lawns and massive halls. Yet another example of the indifference and myopia of a world where Genocide has become ‘old news’.

Wednesday we were again forced to stay away from the UN after the ‘Frenchies’ decided to hand out red noses in the council and again we were all found guilty by association. Instead we attended a series of lectures in the morning by human rights activists from around the world. This event, organised by a coalition of NGOs showcased the real heroes in the fight for human rights, (such as Nazanin Afshim Jam, an Iraqi born women who now runs the organisation “stop Child Executions” or Ahmed Diraige, a former governor of Darfur). Surely it is these people and not the likes of Ahmadinejad who should have been given the official platform at a conference dedicated to fighting racism and intolerance.

The afternoon brought an Israel conference organised by the multitude of Jewish NGOs that had come to defend Israel and Human Rights and decided to make use of the wealth of dynamic people who were already at the conference. The highlight for me was a panel on humanitarian projects carried out by Israel or Israelis both internally and around the world. We heard from Gal Lousky, CEO of Israeli flying Aid that provided humanitarian relief in countries all over the world, many of which are hostile to Israel; Dr Sion Houri from the “Save a child’s heart” program whose main recipients are children in the developing and especially Arab world and the stories of an Ethiopian Jew, a Sudanese Refugee and a Bedouin academic. For me, it was nice to be reminded why I initially got involved in the fight to defend Israel. While this was undeniably an Israeli publicity exercise and the audience largely Jewish, I think sometimes we forget about these things and may even begin to hold Israel to the unrealistic standard that the politicised International bodies do.

I now study in Israel at Hebrew University and one of the things I both love and hate about studying there is its openness and the freedom it offers to subscribe to any views. Much of my time I spend looking at the problems in Israeli society which, as I’m learning, seem to become more numerous by the day. Yet, at the same time, I am proud that this is what I am being taught. That I am not being subjected to a rose-coloured version of the country I love so much and that myself and other Israeli students are being empowered with the knowledge to do something about Israel’s problems. As Allan Dershowitz puts it, “in life there is always a simple answer and it’s always wrong!” Because life is complex and filled with nuances and ambiguity, simple answers just don’t exist especially with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel has its own problems that cannot be ignored but unless you are willing to make Israel your home, you can only hold it to a standard that you would expect of every other state in the world. This equality among the nations of the world is all that we ask from the UN Human Rights Council. From my experience of the last few day at this UN sponsored ‘anti-racism’ circus it unfortunately seems that such equality for the Jewish state is still being denied.

Comments

[JoeTalin]

http://mwcnews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30170&Itemid=26

Interesting opinion from a Palestinian writer... well as interesting as normal anyway.

[Art]

Thanks for enlightening us. You guys did a great job in Geneva. Jews all over the world should be grateful and proud of the work you guys did. My own govt (Australia) boycotted the event. I don't know how you feel about that as you attended BUT the decision to boycott was I'd say universally welcomed by the Aust Jewish Community, excluding of course the small band of israel-haters

[Religious Fundamentalist 1]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/04/2009429105147715724.html

Didn't see this on News24, did you?

[The Blacklisted Dictator]

Art,
You point out the anomaly... Australia boycotted the event but Jewish groups attended. Can somebody please explain the logic.... why was it appropriate to encourage nations to boycott Durban 2 whilst it was ok for Jewish groups to attend? Of course, Israel, quite rightly boycotted it but diaspora Jewry pitches up! And they are lauded for it. I apologize for my stupidity but I am unable to understand what underlying principle is dictating such a strategy.

[The Blacklisted Dictator]

I emailed Melanie Phillips (www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips) and asked her why she thought that some Jewish groups attended Durban 2. This is her response....

"Well, I think they thought they could affect the outcome by changing the text for the better. As such in my view they didn't understand what was actually at stake, nor the adverse effects of their participation. They were also very conscious that there had been no organised opposition at Durban 2001 to the outbreak of antisemitism and wanted to ensure that this time the Jews would be defended against such antisemitic expressions. Their motives were therefore idealistic, but that does not alter the fact that they were naive and very misguided."

[The Blacklisted Dictator]

I have asked David Harris the following on his JPost blog...

http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/harris/entry/tragedy_masquerading_as_farce_posted#comments

Why did The USA wait until just the conference commenced before deciding to boycott Durban 2?
Surely it would have been better if Obama had taken a moral lead much earlier and had also thereby encouraged other nations to bocott it?
And were you surprised that what emerged was "tragedy masquerading as farce"? Surely such a theatrical display was inevitable?
The following question must be answered... "Was The AJC wise to give the impression prior to the conference that negotiations with participants might radically alter the anti-zionist agenda?"

As for the Bernie Madoff "joke" about business ethics (quoted by Wendy Kahn), the less repeated the better. It only serves to give credence to the slur that criminal Jewish financiers were behind the economic crash.
Wendy Kahn should think more carefully before blogging mush such material.