reflections on the un racism conference

There’s so much to say about this week’s United Nations conference on racism that I’m really not sure where to begin.  I think that one of the most important things to take away from the conference and the hooplah surrounding it is that while we see the UN as an entity in which dignity, human rights, and cooperation should always supercede politics, when it comes down to it, member nations still put politics first.    

Of course, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad stole the show with an impassioned speech largely criticizing Israeli Zionist policy (If you haven’t read or seen the entire speech, you can read it here).  With regards to Israel and Palestine, I agree with much of what Ahmedinejad had to say.  Most of the criticism against the speech labeled Ahmedinejad;s words as anti-Semitic and advocating for the destruction of Israel (For the record his statements on these issues are open to vast, vast interpretation.  When we’re reading something interpreted from another language, there is no way we can understand the intricacies of rhetoric) .  Read the speech: you’ll see that the words “Jew”, “Jewish”, or “Judaism” appear only once: “

“Following World War II, they resorted to military aggression to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering and they sent migrants from Europe, the United States and other parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in occupied Palestine.”

The argument that Zionism-equals-racism and Zionism-does-not-equal-Judaism is extremely well supported and impossible  to refute.  Simply put, how can a country rooted in laws and ideologies that give clear preferential treatment to one race and not others not be racist?  Those who walked out on Ahmedinejad’s speech simply fail to see the connection between Zionism and racism and cannot yet separate Judaism from Zionism.  Perhaps this is merely political, perhaps it is because of a perception on the part of previously anti-Semitic European countries that any criticism of Israeli policy will be equated as anti-Semitism.  Whatever it is, it is clear that any criticism of Israeli government and policies is simply not tolerated.  Current global hegemony dictates that Israel is inherently “good” and “with us” and countries like Iran are not.

What’s interesting to note is that while many European leaders walked out during Ahmedinejad’s speech, the majority stayed, and received the Iranian President’s speech with a standing ovation.  I don’t believe I’ve seen this fact mentioned in any major news outlet.  It’s clear that the world is starting to realize the truth about Israeli apartheid and what’s happening in Palestine.  But when will major world leaders realize it?

Ahmedinejad has a history of angering the West and I feel like he already had several strikes against him the minute he stepped onto the podium.  Had Barack Obama gone up and said the same exact thing, we’d be looking at a very different reaction.  In addition, what kind of example has Ahmedinejad set?  He runs a country that enjoys little to no press freedom and has persecuted minorities (including Jews) to the point of expulsion from Iran.  Ahmedinejad clearly took a stand against Israel.  He speaks the truth and it’s impossible to refute.  But how can we expect other global leaders to listen to man who can’t  practice what he preaches?  Of course, that’s not to say that the United States has a clean slate when it comes to human rights and racism by any means.  But again, current global hegemony dictates that’s somehow more acceptable and can be justified.

The United States, Israel, Italy, Germany, Canada and a few other major European nations did not even attend the conference in “protest”.  What kind of dialogue can possibly ensue if major players refuse to even listen?   To me, this is like a child giving the silent treatment because he’s angry he didn’t get what he wanted.  And in the wake of election of the first mixed-race American president, what kind of image does it send when the US fails to even attend the world’s leading conference on racism?  Do US leaders really believe that racism no longer is an issue in American society?

The Durban Review Conference definitely provided material for some great sensationalized stories.  But beyond this, what did it really accomplish besides some great PR for the Israeli cause?  Another step back for Palestine and another step back for the UN.

The saddest thing is that the voices of those actually affected by this ongoing conflict still have not been heard.