US May Boycott UN Racism Conference -- WTF?

[magbana]

Okay, this is off topic, but I couldn't resist.

"US may boycott racism conference
UN logo
The UN conference on racism is expected to open in Geneva in April

The US is likely to boycott a UN racism conference, reports say, saying a text drawn up for the event criticises Israel and restricts free of speech.

An unnamed state department official said the draft document for April's forum in Geneva was "unsalvageable".

Canada and Israel have also said they plan to boycott the meeting.

In 2001, US and Israeli delegates walked out of a similar conference in Durban, South Africa, when a draft document likened Zionism to racism.

The 2001 draft expressed "deep concern" at the "increase of racist practices of Zionism and anti-Semitism".

It talked of the emergence of "movements based on racism and discriminatory ideas, in particular the Zionist movement, which is based on racial superiority".

'Unsalvageable'

A US delegation travelled to Geneva for negotiations earlier in February to try to agree the conference's final document.

"Unfortunately, the document being negotiated has gone from bad to worse," the unnamed state department official was quoted as saying by the Washington Post newspaper.

"The current text of the draft of the outcome document is, in the United States government's estimation, unsalvageable.

"As a result the United States will not participate in the forthcoming negotiations on this text, nor will we be able to participate in a conference that is based on this text," the official said.

Washington says the proposed text unfairly singles out Israel for criticism.

US officials say they are also concerned that some sections of the draft - which call for restrictions on the defamation of religions - could threaten free speech.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7916191.stm

[Judi Lynn]

1. I was horrified and sickened when Bush did this originally, but I felt it was a sign

the monsters simply ruled our country, and they were flaunting their arrogance by doing this.

Why this is happening NOW is one huge mystery.

[Bacchus39]

2. why?? wtf?? both of you have your questions answered in document

as reported in the story.

[struggle4progress]

3. pdf of 2001 Durban Declaration can be obtained here:

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/racism/02-documents-cnt.html

[struggle4progress]

4. pdf of late December draft A/CONF.211/PC/WG.2/CRP.2 from UN website

http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/pdf/Technically_reviewed_version_of_the_compilation.pdf

[Judi Lynn]

5. So of course they had access to this material, too. What in it could they possibly condemn?

Sure hope they can get it all sorted out so they can avoid doing this next time.

Really appreciate the chance to get a look at this information. It seems so very well thought out.

Thanks to you for the depth on this.

[struggle4progress]

6. After a quickscan, I don't see a problem with the 2001 document, despite

the usual noise on wingnut websites about how horrid it is

With respect to the more current document: Since "race" is a cultural (rather than scientific) construct, effective work against racism would necessarily involve an effort to eliminate cultural prejudices and xenophobia, and the document contains references to "defamation of religion." There's a currently lot of hyperventilation on the net about this; there's currently a thread in the Religion-Theology forum on "defamation of religion," with some people claiming itv would prevent criticism of Islam. Much of the "defamation of religion" languages seems to me supportive of freedom of conscience, some is clearly directed at hate-speech, but some language might suggest support for state anti-blasphemy laws

But if the administration is avoiding this conference, I suspect a major reason is a desire to avoid getting tangled in anything that could derail its plans to negotiate in the Mideast: polarization-politics has been a popular game there as long as I can remember. In the context of increasing anger and anxiety around the Israel-Palestine issue, the Administration may believe the current document provides too much of an opportunity for hardliners on all sides to shriek "Islamophobe" and "anti-Semite" at each other, and it may not want to be splattered by flying shit