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Why is the U.S. Boycotting the U.N. World Conference Against Racism?
The State Department has announced that, "with regret," it will be boycotting the 10-year commemoration of the UN World Conference Against Racism because past meetings have included “ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism” against the State of Israel.
Meanwhile, members of the Congressional Black Caucus have urged the Obama administration to reconsider its decision not to attend the conference.
The UN World Conference Against Racism will be held on September 21st in New York.
Background of the U.N. Racism Conference
During the last fifty years since the adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international community has made some important advances in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. National and international laws have been enacted and numerous international human rights instruments, particularly a treaty to ban racial discrimination, have been adopted. Progress has been made -witness the defeat of apartheid in South Africa. Yet, the dream of a world free of racial hatred and bias remains only half fulfilled.
As technology brings the peoples of the world closer together and political barriers tumble, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance continue to ravage our societies. Horrors such as "ethnic cleansing" have emerged in recent years, while ideas of racial superiority have spread to new media like the Internet. Even globalization carries risks that can lead to exclusion and increased inequality, very often along racial and ethnic lines.
As racial discrimination and ethnic violence grow in complexity, they become more of a challenge for the international community. As a result, new tools to deal with racism are called for. "This World Conference has the potential to be among the most significant gatherings at the start of this century," the Secretary-General of the Conference and High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, stated. "It can be more: it can shape and embody the spirit of the new century, based on the shared conviction that we are all members of one human family."
Why is Israel a target at the UN Racism Conference?
The State of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians has been compared by United Nations investigators, human rights groups and critics of Israeli policy to South Africa's treatment of non-whites during its apartheid era. Israel has also been accused of committing the crime of apartheid.
Critics of Israeli policy say that "a system of control" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including Jewish-only settlements, separate roads, military checkpoints, discriminatory marriage law, the West Bank barrier, use of Palestinians as cheap labor, Palestinian West Bank enclaves, inequities in infrastructure, legal rights, and access to land and resources between Palestinians and Israeli residents in the Israeli-occupied territories resembles some aspects of the South African apartheid regime, and that elements of Israel's occupation constitute forms of colonialism and of apartheid, which are contrary to international law.
Some commentators extend the analogy, or accusation, to include Arab citizens of Israel, describing their citizenship status as second-class.
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At this critical moment in modern history, the importance of attending this conference can not be overstated. It is a global gathering of individuals, organizations, and nations who are committed to the irradication of the racism, ethnic cleansing and economic exploitation which has been perpertrated against people of color on every continent by Western European governments for the last millenium.
It is not surprising that information about this conference has been surpressed and ignored by even the most progressive media.
This is a very important conference to attend if you can get there.