Racists avoid talking about racism by boycotting UN racism conference

US boycotting, Iran starring, at UN racism meeting

Bradley S. Klapper,
Associated Press Writer

19/04/09

GENEVA – The United Nations opens its first global racism conference in eight years on Monday with the U.S. and at least five other countries boycotting the event out of concern that Islamic countries will demand that it denounce Israel and ban criticism of Islam. The administration of President Barack Obama, America's first black head of state, announced Saturday that it would boycott "with regret" the weeklong meeting in Geneva, which already is experiencing much of the bickering and political infighting that marred the 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa. The Netherlands declared its boycott Sunday, while Australia, Canada, Israel and Italy already have said they would not attend."I would love to be involved in a useful conference that addressed continuing issues of racism and discrimination around the globe," Obama said in Trinidad on Sunday after attending the Summit of the Americas.

But he said the language of the U.N.'s draft declaration risked a reprise of Durban, during which "folks expressed antagonism toward Israel in ways that were often times completely hypocritical and counterproductive." "We expressed in the run-up to this conference our concerns that if you adopted all of the language from 2001, that's not something we can sign up for," Obama said. "Hopefully some concrete steps come out of the conference that we can partner with other countries on to actually reduce discrimination around the globe, but this wasn't an opportunity to do it," he said.

Some European countries are still deciding whether to attend the U.N. conference.U.N. spokesman Rupert Colville said Germany informed the global body on Sunday that it would boycott it. In Berlin, the German Foreign Ministry refused to confirm that, but said the government would announce its final decision on Sunday night.Britain said it will send diplomats, despite concerns the meeting could become a forum for Holocaust denial or anti-Semitic attacks.At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI said the conference is needed to eliminate racial intolerance around the world. Asia News, a Catholic news agency that is part of the missionary arm of the Vatican, said of the pope's comment: "The Holy See is distancing itself from the criticisms of some Western countries." "I am shocked and deeply disappointed by the United States' decision not to attend," said U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay, who is hosting the conference.

She conceded some countries were focusing solely on one or two issues to the detriment of the fight against intolerance, but said it is essential that the issue of racism be tackled globally. The major sticking points regarding the proposed final U.N. declaration are its implied criticism of Israel and an attempt by Muslim governments to ban all criticism of Islam, Sharia law, the prophet Muhammad and other tenets of their faith. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — who repeatedly has called for the destruction of Israel and denied the Holocaust — is slated to speak on the first day.He arrived in Geneva on Sunday evening and was meeting President Hans-Rudolf Merz of Switzerland, the country which represents the diplomatic interests of the United States in the Islamic republic.

The pullout of Germany would be significant as it has played a leading role in U.N. anti-racism efforts as a result of its troubled historical legacy. In recent meetings, it has expressed dismay about some governments' attempts to downplay the significance of the Holocaust.The bland U.N. draft statement does not mention Israel by name, but it reaffirms the Durban statement and its reference to the plight of Palestinians. That document was agreed after the United States and Israel had walked out over attempts to liken Zionism — the movement to establish a Jewish state in the Holy Land — to racism.

Israel and Jewish groups have lobbied hard against Western participation in the meeting, arguing that the presence alone of American and European negotiators would give legitimacy to what they fear could become an anti-Semitic gathering. Still, after years of contentious preparations there appears little evidence to validate these fears. The statement of 2001 that is so contentious now was cheered in Israel at the time, as it recognized the Jewish state's right to security.

Regarding its boycott, the Obama administration said it could not endorse any statement that singled out Israel or included passages demanding a ban on language considered an "incitement" of religious hatred. Such calls "run counter to the U.S. commitment to unfettered free speech," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. Many Muslim nations want curbs to free speech to prevent insults to Islam they claim have proliferated since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. They cite the 2005 cartoons of Muhammad published by a Danish newspaper that sparked riots in the Muslim world. European countries also have criticized the meeting for focusing heavily on the West and ignoring problems of racism and intolerance .

GAC Letter to President Obama on WCAR
April 9, 2009

President Barack Hussein Obama
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Obama:

Re: Reconsideration of the US Boycott of the UN WCAR Durban Review Process in Geneva.

Please accept our heartfelt congratulations on your elevation to highest office in the United States of America, and one of the most important political offices in the world.

As the first African American to be elected to this esteemed office, your victory is not only cause for celebration in the US, but throughout the world, especially that section of the world’s population that has experienced centuries of oppression because of race, sex, place of origin, and social and economic status.

Your victory is an indication to all humanity that there are hopes for a world where past wrongs are possible to be corrected. The opportunity for such redress was won for the first time by the descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, South and Central America, Europe and other parts of the world at the 2001 United Nations World Conference against Racism (WCAR) held in Durban, South Africa.

Coupled with the UN opportunity is, also, the fresh approach you demonstrated so eloquently during the presidential campaign in addressing sensitive and controversial race relations issues, an approach based on dialogue as opposed to unilateral action that is always divisive and has the potential for hardening differences and conflict.

Mr. President, it is an understatement to say that the race question is, and has been, the most controversial question in the United States of America for the last two and one-half centuries. The same holds true in the Caribbean, South and Central America societies that were created out of the trade in Africans as slaves, slavery, exploitation and racial genocide.

We observed with keen interest how you masterfully analysed the divisive issue of race with respect to the Reverend Wright controversy during the presidential campaign and lay the possibility for potential racial reconciliation for the first time in the history of the United States of America, and other parts of the world.

The following quotations could not be said any better and could not have come at a more opportune time in world history than on the verge of the United Nations WCAR Durban Review Conference to be held Geneva, Switzerland, April 20th to 24th. 2009. You said, “The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through –a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.”

The above quotation holds true not only for African Americans, but for the people of Africa and African descendants living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Dar- es- Salaam, Tanzania; San Jose, Costa Rica; Nairobi, Kenya; St. George’s, Grenada; Paramaribo, Suriname; Bogota, Colombia; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Kingston, Jamaica, who are descendants of enslaved Africans and/or victims of colonial domination and exploitation.

The hopes and aspirations raised by your speeches are not only for the dispossessed in the United States of America, but for the dispossessed the world over. The principles, philosophy and moral courage you demonstrated represent fundamental changes with respect to equality and racial justice and the fulfillment of our hopes for humankind. Billions of people around the world, from all geographical regions, see you as the realization of the hope they did not think was possible in their life time.

We respectfully submit that in this context, your administration’s decision not to participate in the up-coming UN Durban Review Conference, in Geneva, is the wrong message for you to be sending to the world. You have conquered complex and challenging issues. You have made it known to the lobbyists in Washington that business will be done differently in Washington. To give in to the lobbyists and boycott the Durban Review Conference will be a violation of the core principle you have embraced.

If truth be told, we need to see you in Geneva, helping to build upon the progress that was made in Durban, South Africa and outlined in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

The success of the United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa in 2001 was immense.

Never before had the descendants of enslaved and colonial subjugated Africans had the opportunity to see and hear the international community acknowledge their complicity in African slavery -- the worst crime against humanity, in all of world history.

You also said in your historic speech on March 18, 2008, in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Centre that “Understanding this reality (Slavery and Legalized discrimination) requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, ‘The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.’ We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist between the African-American community and the larger American community today can be traced directly to the inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.”

ABOUT THE GLOBAL AFRIKAN CONGRESS

The GAC is an international network of Pan-Afrikanist and Afrikan-centered organizations and individuals who are committed to building linkages and genuine and permanent relationships across the Afrikan world. We aim to mobilize the human, economic, political, spiritual and cultural resources of Afrika and the Afrikan Diaspora in the interest and to the benefit of Afrika and her scattered sons and daughters. The governing body of the GAC is its International Working Committee that comprises representatives from throughout the Afrikan world.

The genesis of the Global Afrikan Congress is to be found in the series of regional meetings and preparatory conferences in which hundreds of Afrikan and Afrikan Diasporan organizations participated as they prepared for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa, in September 2001.

In order to work effectively within the UN context, our Black organizations established an ‘Afrikan and Afrikan Descendants Caucus’, and resolved to continue beyond the Durban Conference, in order to establish a new and permanent global organization.

In pursuit of this goal, a major Afrikan and Afrikan Descendants World Conference against Racism was held in Bridgetown, Barbados in October 2002, with the support and assistance of the Government of Barbados. It was at this conference that the Global Afrikan Congress was officially established and a programme of action entitled “The Bridgetown Protocol” was adopted.

Today, as we organize to eliminate the effects of these inequalities through the Durban Conference, we would appreciate, Mr. President, your support for our struggle for justice and reparations and you using the immense influence of your office to encourage the European nations to join with you, and begin to work to correct the enduring effects of slavery. For crimes against humanity, the World Court demands reparations -- over due for the wrongs of the trade in African as slaves, slavery and colonialism.

We understand the tremendous weight of history and responsibility that rests on your shoulders; and do not wish to add to the burden. However, your administration’s support for the Durban Review Conference would be an extension of the leadership you have shown on this issue as exemplified by the outstanding discussion on race during the presidential election.

We thank you for your consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Original Signed By Original Signed By

Dorothy B. Lewis Cikiah Thomas
USA North American Representative Co-Chair Global Afrikan Congress