Israel Matzav

Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands pull out of Durban III

On Friday, the Czech Republic announced that it is pulling out of the Durban III conference, which is scheduled to take place in New York on September 22.

The Czech Republic’s move comes three days after U.N. negotiators quietly circulated a draft of the final declaration that will be adopted at the conclusion of Durban III. Although the writing had been on the wall for a very long time, the alarm bells could no longer be ignored. The “political declaration” focuses particularly on what it calls “victims of racism.” And the Durban Declaration emanating from South Africa names only one state victimizer – Israel. The Palestinian people are listed as victims of racism.

The Zionism-is-racism mantra, the Durban formula being its most recent incarnation, has been circulating around the U.N. for decades. It is the cornerstone of the effort to delegitimize the Jewish state and invoke lethal politics when other weaponry falls short. These days, the campaign is headquartered in a working group of the U.N. General Assembly that is tasked with squaring the circle: reaffirming the contemptible message of the Durban Declaration under a veil of human rights gibberish.

The Czech Republic’s diplomats, however, can read. The current draft of the final declaration for Durban III says that the U.N. must “incorporate the implementation of the Durban Declaration into the human rights mainstreaming in the UN system” and demands an intensification of “efforts at the local, national, regional and international levels aimed at the full and effective implementation” of instruments like the Durban Declaration and beyond.

And there’s more. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation managed to insert a demand for “cultural diversity, solidarity and harmony.” That’s the typical U.N. prescription for stifling free speech—avoiding any action to stop Syrian butchers, for example—and generally keeping criticism of Islamic anti-human rights predilections off the table.

The countries from the so-called non-aligned movement, which comprises 115 developing countries, have also incorporated into the political declaration a claim that “poverty,” “underdevelopment,” and “economic disparities” are “closely associated with racism and racial discrimination.” That’s a familiar form of extortion that starts by labeling donor countries racists.

The Czech Republic rightly decided they’d had enough. The next round of "negotiations," at which Western states are dressed-down and manipulated by the racism charge coming from the Islamic world and others, will be held at U.N. headquarters on July 28.

Read the whole thing.

Norway, where a double terror attack took place on Friday, is among the leaders of the Durban III conference.

On Saturday, the Netherlands and Italy announced their withdrawal. The Netherlands had already warned previously that it would not participate unless the final declaration disavowed the condemnation of Israel in the original Durban conference. Obviously, that's not going to happen.

I received this by email.

Italy and The Netherlands announced over the weekend that they will not take part in the notorious United Nations Durban III meeting scheduled for September 22, 2011 in New York City.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini pointed out that “The [Durban] Process has been transformed … into a tribunal for accusations against Israel.”

As the main reason for boycotting Durban III the Italian foreign minister pointed to the anti-Israel elements of the Durban Declaration and its progeny. In the past few days, UN negotiators - who are currently drafting a final political declaration for Durban III - signalled rejection of Czech, Italian and Dutch proposals to denounce the anti-Israel portions of the original Durban Declaration. The Italians had asked that Durban III “explicitly recognize that past references, in the context of the Durban Process, to the specific situation of the Middle East are not part of the international commitment against racial discrimination.”

According to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands, Italy and the Czech Republic all wanted to include in Durban III a statement that "all participating states emphatically distance themselves from the linking of subjects that have nothing to do with the fight against racism." Their request was ignored by conference organizers, who are largely being driven by Arab and Islamist states, as well as South Africa and UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay, herself a native of Durban.

The real question is why the United States is allowing this conference to take place on American soil. Oh, I forgot. The US has a President whose middle name is Hussein who insists on pandering to Muslims. Yes, I know that the US is not participating in the conference. It's 13 and a half months before the Presidential election.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Czech Republic, Durban III, Holland, Italy

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:55 AM