Durban 2

"Incredible

"This is likely just one of many incredible decisions that will be made by the Obama government. "Incredible" not in the sense of amazing, but, literally, "hard to believe."It has been announced that next week the State Department will be sending "diplomats" to participate in the planning of the UN-sponsored World Conference Against Racism, known as Durban 2. This is a conference that is widely expected to be as virulently anti-Israel as the first conference in 2001 was.The announcement states that the decision on whether the US will actually participate in the conference, to be held in April, would be made following the planning discussions. But participation in the planning sessions is truly a pointless and, worse, a destructive exercise.~~~~~~~~~~A statement from the State Department said:"This will be the first opportunity the [Obama] administration has had to engage in the negotiations for the Durban Review, and - in line with our commitment to diplomacy - the U.S. has decided to send a delegation to engage in the negotiations on the text of the conference document.
"The intent of our participation is to work to try to change the direction in which the review conference is heading. We hope to work with other countries that want the Conference to responsibly and productively address racism around the world." ~~~~~~~~~~"Commitment to diplomacy..." This is breathtaking in its naiveté. Do President Obama and Secretary Clinton truly believe they can shift the tenor of the conference, which has been determined by a Muslim/Arab majority? US participation isn't benign: It runs the risk of lending the proceedings an air of legitimacy, and encouraging other nations that are still on the fence to participate. Israel will not be participating. Canada has already announced its decision not to participate as well. And President Bush had declared that the US would not be participating either, short of a guarantee that the conference would not repeat its one-sided attacks on Israel. In recent months our Foreign Ministry has sought to encourage other nations -- notably within the EU -- to refrain from participation. A wide-scale Western boycott of the conference would speak volumes.Now the US decision upsets matters and puts Israel on a collision course with the State Department. Our Foreign Ministry is working to keep the US from participating. ~~~~~~~~~~The NGO Forum statement from the first Durban Conference accused Israel of "apartheid," "crimes against humanity," "war crimes," "acts of genocide," and "ethnic cleansing." (Did they leave anything out?) The delegations from both Israel and the US walked out of that conference in protest.~~~~~~~~~~Much the same is anticipated the second time around. What we see now is this, from the draft of the outcome document:"Expresses deep concern at the practices of racial discrimination against the Palestinian people..."Reiterates that the Palestinian people have an inalienable right to self-determination, and that, in order to consolidate the occupation, they have been subjected to unlawful subjective punishment, torture, economic blockade, severe restriction of movement and arbitrary closing of their territories. Also notes that illegal settlements continue to be built in the occupied territories...""Reaffirms that a foreign occupation founded on settlements, laws based on racial discrimination with the aim of continuing domination...contradicts the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations..."Reiterates deep concern about the Palestinian people under occupation..."Re-emphasizes the responsibility of the international community to provide international protection...for civilian populations under occupation..."~~~~~~~~~~What must be understood for starters is that what is written here is exclusive to the Palestinians. There are no comments about the right of the Kurdish people to self-determination, or of the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the need for Tibetans to have protection. This is aimed exclusively at Israel.This is a highly politicized document designed with an agenda of delegitimizing Israel. The final clause, above, raises particular concern, as it suggests international meddling in our affairs.The US delegation will change none of this.One might hope that the difficulty that will be encountered here by the US delegation might open Obama's eyes to world realities, but this is not likely to be the case. ~~~~~~~~~~According to news reports, pressure has been put on Sec. Clinton to announce US participation in the conference -- and that this pressure has come in part from Susan Rice, now US ambassador to the UN, and Samantha Powers, now at the National Security Council. Reports from credible journalistic sources (which I cannot independently confirm) indicate that Powers was actually at the first Durban conference as the representative of an NGO. What is clearly on the record is that she has recommended cutting assistance to Israel, providing the Palestinians with billions of dollars, and putting into place "a mammoth protection force" to protect the Palestinians from the "major human rights abuses" committed by Israel. So we're in trouble here, folks.~~~~~~~~~~Please, if you are a US citizen, contact the White House and the State Department and urge that the United States not participate in the Durban 2 Conference.