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DURBAN,
Sep 4 (IPS) - An emotionally charged day followed the pull-out from
the conference by the United States and Israel on Monday as the
fall-out from the Middle East continued to scald the UN World Conference
Against Racism.
In
the main negotiating hall, initial anger was followed by resolve
as the conference heard pleas for flexibility and commitment to
meet the challenge of consensus.
At
the same time, the official Jewish caucus also walked out the conference
and then the final presentation of the NGO Forum declaration descended
into chaos as civil society was also riven apart on the language
it chose to criticise the Middle East.
UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson warned that Durban
had to find the spirit of dialogue. ''We will have let down those
who are looking to this conference to be a breakthrough in how we
relate to each other as one human family in the 21st century,''
said Robinson in a moving speech to a general session.
But
she also criticised the ''hurtful'' language of the NGO Forum's
shadow declaration, saying that, for the first time, she could not
recommend it to delegates. By late afternoon, it was not yet clear
that she would meet civil society to receive their document.
''If
all sides display courage and flexibility, we will send out a strong
signal of our united determination to take on the scourges,'' she
said.
The
consensus opinion of the Conference was that the United States and
Israel had pulled out on the cusp of hope. Robinson said progress
was smooth in ''agreeing, cleaning up and condensing'' the draft
declaration and the platform for action.
More
than just the crafting of a document, the Conference had also provided
a platform for silent struggles. ''Durban has enabled the voices
of victims - those who have been silenced for too long at home -
to be heard around the world.''
The
''difficult issues'' of naming victims of racism, the Middle East,
reparations and colonialism had been isolated and referred to smaller
groups, which negotiated outside the larger meetings, said South
Africa delegate Jody Kollapen, of the Human Rights Commission.
The
three ''difficult issues'' groups are chaired by three neutral nations:
Mexico, Brazil and Norway. It will take their best strategic instincts
to reach a consensus by Friday when the conference closes. ''We
could get there,'' said Kollapen.
Norway
chairs the committee on the Middle East. Asked how Israeli and the
United States concerns would be addressed in their absence, Kollapen
said that, ''We must not assume that the concerns they hold are
theirs exclusively.'' There were numerous other countries that would
take up cudgels.
In
a dramatic press conference, over a score of Israeli and Jewish
organisations represented at the conference walked out. A spokesperson
for the Jewish Caucus said they were protesting against the singling
out of Israel by the conference and for a host of ''anti-Semitic''
emotion. He cited anti-Semitic literature handed out at the NGO
Forum and hostility towards Jewish students who had set up a table
at the Forum.
Influenced
by a strong Palestinian lobby, the NGO declaration adopted strong
language against Israel. For this, five international NGOs disassociated
themselves from the document, while the European caucus was so divided
that part of it acceded to the document, while over 40 other organisations
denied it. The NGO Forum called ''for an immediate end to the Israeli
systematic perpetration of racist crimes including war crimes, acts
of genocide and ethnic cleansing...''
Another
clause declared ''Israel a racist, apartheid state''.
NGO
Forum spokesperson Myrna Cunningham said, ''As victims, we respect
diversity of voices, even if we don't agree. We know that the Middle
East has hidden problems of racism in other parts of the world.
But we hope the High Commissioner (Robinson) will not focus only
on one issue that she deemed 'hurtful'. It is a universal document.''(END)
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