Egypt calls on Anti-Racism Conference to halt all forms of discrimination
Regional-Israel, Politics, 9/1/2001

Amidst sharp disagreements on topics to be tackled mainly equating Zionism with racism and compensation for slave trade, International Anti-Racism Conference opened yesterday in Durban, South Africa, in presence of 15 heads of state and 130 foreign ministers.

As United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan was addressing the conference, some 10,000 demonstrators from non-governmental organizations participated a march downtown Durban, chanting a song "yes, a better world could be set up".

He said the suffering of the Jews in the past does not justify oppression of the Palestinians at the present time.

He called for an end to disagreements on racism in order to send a signal of hope to victims of the scourge around the world.

Annan cautioned "If we leave without agreement we shall give comfort to the worst elements in every society".

"But, if after all the difficulties, we can leave with a call to action supported by all, we shall send a signal of hope to brave people struggling against racism all over the world."

"Let us rise above our disagreements. The Wrangling has gone on long enough," he told leaders and delegates from more than 190 countries at the opening ceremony of the eight-day conference.

Turning to the Middle East conflict, Annan noted that the Jewish people have been victims of anti-Semitism in many parts of the world and the target in Europe of "the ultimate abomination" - the Holocaust.

It was therefore understandable, he said, that many Jews resented deeply accusations of racism directed against Israel, particularly when it coincided with "indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians."

"Yet we cannot expect Palestinians to accept this as a reason for the wrong done to them - displacement, occupation, blockade, and now extra-judicial killings. This should be not ignored, whatever label one uses to describe them," he told the assembly.

South African President Thabo Mbeki asked the conference to be inspired by "a new internationalism that says that we are determined to unite in action to repair the gross human damage that was caused in the past".

"Nobody ever chose to be a slave, to be colonized, to be racially oppressed. The impulses of the time caused these crimes to be committed to human beings against others," he said.

"Surely, the impulse of our time says to all of us that we must do everything we can to free those who to this day suffer from racism, xenophobia and related intolerance because their forebears were enslaved, colonized and racially oppressed".

Mbeki stressed that the Middle East was in dire need of the long-awaited just, durable and balanced peace.

"The Palestinian people, like the Israelis and all other world peoples, have the right to enjoy, in full, the rights of freedom, peace and security," he asserted.

Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, Cuban President Fidel Castro and leaders from across Africa were among the guests at Friday's opening ceremony at the city's International Conference Center.

Despite threats of a boycott of the conference in the light of moves by the Arab region to equate the Jewish ideology of Zionism with racism, diplomats from the United States and Israel, were among the 160 official delegations in attendance on Friday.

The conference, which aims at achieving a universal approach to racism, a phenomenon on the rise in various forms throughout the world, will culminate in the adoption of a declaration on September 7.

Previous Stories:
  Anti-racism conference probes condemning Israel's separation policies in occupied lands   (8/29/2001)
  OIC Condemns Assassination of FPLP Leader   (8/28/2001)
  Arab participation in Durban conference   (8/28/2001)

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