Israel Matzav

Ahmadinejad to speak at Durban III

You just knew this was coming: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is speaking at the Durban III conference.

Over the summer, the contours of Durban III have slowly emerged. The day will begin with a select group of speakers. They include Qatar, the president of the General Assembly. The head of Qatar’s delegation at Durban I stated that “all the Israeli heinous violations are justified as a means to bring back every Jew to a land that they raped from its legitimate owners…”

Opening speakers will also include South Africa – lead promoter and home turf of the Durban fiasco. And there will be U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, herself a native of Durban, who promised the mayor, following her 2008 appointment, to rescue the city's good name.

In addition, one non-governmental organization “active in the field of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” will be given an early speaking slot. From among the hundreds of thousands who might qualify, the U.N. has devised a selection plan – NGOs will be chosen by states on “a no-objection basis.” That means leaders in the U.N.’s anti-racism world, like Ahmadinejad, will hold a veto.

Other NGOs can still attend a series of subsequent “round tables.” But first, they have to nominate themselves by completing a questionnaire that asks, for instance, was your group “accredited” to Durban I? The vast majority of accredited Durban I NGOs were the same gang that participated in the Durban “NGO Forum” and who voted to declare that Zionism is racism and Israel is an apartheid state.

The NGO questionnaire also requires NGOs to specify “concrete activities” taken by their organization to implement the Durban Declaration. In other words, NGOs that have actively rejected the Declaration’s paragraph on Palestinian victims of Israeli racism need not apply.

Organizers have decided that all participants in the round tables, states and NGOs alike, are “invited to make brief remarks that do not exceed three minutes.” Most self-respecting heads of state take three minutes to settle in. Ahmadinejad has responded by simply signing up to speak for 30 minutes in the segment directly after the opening session in the General Assembly Hall.

I know that some of you think that the big news about Ahmadinejad tonight is that he's Jewish. I told you that two years ago.

Labels: Durban III, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:49 AM