Afro-Arab coordination to ensure balanced Durban declaration
Regional-Israel, Politics, 9/3/2001

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher has said that the issue of equating Zionism with racism was not on the agenda of the current World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in Durban, South Africa.

"The Arab countries thought it would be better not to get engaged in such ideological polemics and instead focus on Israel's bestial and highly aggressive practices against the Palestinian people," he told Cairo Radio Sunday in a telephone interview.

He cited coordination with Arab and African countries to ensure that the conference would come up with a balanced declaration expressing the Palestinian people's suffering under Israel's oppressive acts.

Referring to staunch Israeli opposition to the effort with US support, he added: Israel wants the declaration to be limited to the Holocaust and anti-Semitism." He branded Israeli demands as illogical and unbalanced.

"As Arabs we condemn the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. But at the same time, it is absurd of talk about things which occurred more than 50 years ago while ignoring the barbaric Israeli treatment of the Palestinians." Maher exhorted an apology for the pains caused to Africans by long years of colonialism. He cited Western fears that the apology would prompt legal action.

On his meetings on the fringe of the Durban gathering, Maher said that he had conffered with his German counterpart Yoschka Fischer, Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat and UN Chief Kofi Annan.

He added that he had conveyed to President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa a verbal message from President Hosni Mubarak.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa described as very complicated the situation in the third UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR).

"There are active contacts with the Arab group to see potential agreements that could be devised," he added.

In an interview with Abu Dhabi Satellite Channel late Sunday, Moussa deemed as untrue accusations that Arab countries are trying to policize the conference.

He pointed out that the event is of political nature and there are certain countries, Israel included, are accused of racial discrimination.

"Arab and Islamic countries are not concerned with these accusations and are trying to be objective," said Moussa.

Asked about targets in the final communique, Moussa said that the conference must address racist practices against Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims as it does with anti-Jews practices.

On the accusation leveled at the Arab League of drowning the conference with focusing on the Palestinian cause and neglecting other issues, Moussa said that the conference decided two years ago to address the situation in the Middle East side by side with slavery, colonialism and settlement.

Hundreds of Africans and members of world human right groups on Sunday staged demonstrations in protest against the US stances towards issues raised during the World conference Against Racism.

Those issues include an apology for slavery crimes committed against the blacks and reparations for them.

"The demonstrators also slammed the boycott of the conference by US Secretary of State Colin Powell," the CNN reported.

The US has been openly critical of a bid to single out Israel for its racist policies.

Cuban President Fidel Castro slammed the genocide war launched by Israel against the Palestinian people.

Addressing members of NGOs participating in the Durban forum, Castro urged them to stand by the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination and the establishment of their independent state with Al-Quds as its capital.

He accused Israel of giving a hand to the former apartheid regime in South Africa in producing 7 nuclear bombs.

Castro, who was given a warm welcome by the NGOs activists, asserted that the US knew about the bombs.

"The racist regime in South Africa was publicly backed by Israel and secretly by the US," he added.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt calls on Anti-Racism Conference to halt all forms of discrimination   (9/1/2001)
  Massive Durban march in support of Palestinians   (9/1/2001)
  Unfazed by US pressure, Durban meeting gets down to business   (9/1/2001)

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