The plight of the Palestinians has been removed from Durban II, just like the references to slaves and reparations for slavery, Sheesh! Not much of a conference on Racism, now is it? All the "racism" has been removed. Why don't they just hold a conference called the "Mutual Admiration Society" instead. Who cares if African Americans were slaves and suffered, who cares if Palestinians are being discriminated against and abused, who cares if Israel is an apartheid rogue state. All of these are removed from the so called "racism" conference. Ok, I just have to say it, can't help myself. I am reminded of one of my favorite "Monty Python" episodes, called "The Cheese Shop" (video below) where every type of cheese asked for, they don't have, in fact, they dont have ANY cheese at all!! The guy ends up saying "Not much of a cheese shop then is it?" Trust me, it's a lot funnier when you watch it, But this Durban II conference IS identical to Monty Python's Cheese Shop, no discussion of racism at the racism conference and no cheese in the cheese shop. To prove my point the latest Durban II article is below along with the "Cheese Shop Video"
see this:
UN protects Israel from Racism Charges
And more below:
Bethlehem - A UN-sponsored racism conference will begin Monday, but the plight of the Palestinians will not be on the agenda, partly because Palestine's own diplomats have buckled to US pressure, civil society organizations have alleged.Now, see what I mean? Durban II has no discussion of racism, and the Cheese Shop has no cheese, they are the same:)
The Draft Outcome Document of the Durban Review Conference – to be held in Geneva, Switzerland – contains no reference to the Palestinians, Palestine, or to Israel or its occupation of Palestinian land. All such references were removed by a Preparatory Committee from an earlier draft in March.
According to its official website, the purpose of the conference is to “evaluate progress towards the goals set by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.”
The 2001 conference ended in controversy when the US and Israel walked out in protest of attempts to identify Israel as a perpetrator of racist policies.
In an open letter signed by some 50 Palestinian, Arab and international human rights organizations, it was alleged that “This step (of deleting any reference to Palestine) was unfortunately approved by official Arab negotiating delegations in Geneva including the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine at the UN office in Geneva.”
The letter accuses the Palestinian and Arab diplomats of capitulating to a threat to boycott the conference by US, Israel, Canada and European states to remove references to Israel and Palestinians.
Asked why the Palestinian negotiators had accepted the removal of their own people from the agenda, the head of the PLO mission to the UN in Geneva, Ibrahim Khreisha told Ma’an that “the decision was made by all groups” to remove references to all specific countries. “Some from Africa don’t want to mention certain African countries … like Sudan. Europe doesn’t want to mention Israel. … We don’t want to single out any one country.”
Asked why the US, Canada and Italy are still boycotting the conference despite the removal of the references to Israel and the Palestinians, Khreisha said that these countries were actually seeking further concessions, in fact asking for the Durban Review conference not to align itself with the goals set out in Durban.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the US State Department said it “welcomes the recent progress in … the document, removing all language that singled out any one country or conflict, and removing language that embraced the concept of ‘defamation of religion’ and that demanded reparations for slavery.”
Presented with this description of the US demand, Jaradat, the director of BADIL said that not endorsing the 2001 document would be the equivalent of “not having the conference.”
Khreisha said he did not know exactly what conditions would have to be met to persuade the US to participate in the conference, but he said that the American delegation was “waiting for instructions from Washington” and specifically from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
With Palestinians stricken from the agenda BADIL and its partners are organizing a parallel “Israel Review Conference” for civil society groups to discuss analysis and strategy in the fight against “Apartheid, Colonialism and Occupation.” link
