(Author: Wendy Kahn, Vol. 64, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2009)
“Giving the Holocaust-denying Ahmadinejad a platform to lecture the world about racism is like inviting Bernie Madoff to head a global conference on business ethics”.
This was one of the choice quotes doing the rounds in Geneva during the UN Durban Review Conference (DRC) from 20-24 April this year. It was occasioned by an inflammatory opening speech by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, whose rabid antisemitic rhetoric was all too reminiscent of the event’s notorious predecessor, the September 2001 World Conference Against Racism in our very own Durban.
The purpose of the DRC was to follow up the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the 2001 conference. Much of the efforts of international Jewry in the build-up to the conference had been directed at persuading various countries to pull out altogether, and around ten, including Canada, Italy and Australia, eventually did so. However, the viewpoint adopted by the SA Jewish Board of Deputies and others was that this should not be done at the expense of preparing properly for the conference itself, since this was going to go ahead notwithstanding the boycotts.
It was to ensure a strong, coordinated and effective participation by world Jewry at the DRC that the International Jewish Caucus (IJC) was set up. Throughout, the SAJBD had valuable input into the process, inter alia bringing to the table its experience of what had been successful in the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Also useful was its contacts with the SA government built up over the years, which enabled it to obtain important accurate information on conference procedure on behalf of the IJC once the DRC was underway.
I was a member of the IJC in Geneva for the duration of the conference representing the SAJBD, which was participating as an accredited NGO and also as part of the IJC.
With me from South Africa was Marc Pozniak, who had participated (with former SAJBD Gauteng Council vice-chairman Gershon Hurwitz) in the previous year’s African Preparatory Meeting for the DRC in Abuja, Nigeria. Both attended under the auspices of the World Jewish Diplomatic Corps division of the World Jewish Congress. Prior to my departure, I had worked with communications expert Louis Gavin to develop some key messaging and communication tools for the Caucus, and Louis’ company designed some exquisite posters which I took across with me. The following are the essential messages we formulated to convey what the DRC meant to us as Jews:
The underlying lesson of 3500 years of Jewish history is that respecting human rights is not an abstract ideal – it is a necessity.
The history of the Jewish people is a story of constant struggle against persecution, whether racially or religiously inspired. Jews have striven, and continue to strive, to uphold the fundamental principles of human rights, dignity and equality that underpin their faith and national culture. For so long exiled from their ancestral homeland and dispersed throughout the world, they have fought to survive as a marginalised and powerless minority in their host societies. They have succeeded, but the price has been high.
Informed by the lessons of their own history, the Jewish people condemn all forms of prejudice, racism and injustice and commit themselves to fighting it wherever and whenever it occurs.
The Geneva Jewish community truly rose to the occasion, arranging a fully equipped Welcome Centre for us at the entrance to the UN, where we had our caucus briefings and where we could buy kosher sandwiches and salads. We were welcomed with a smile and treated with the warmest hospitality throughout.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row] The author speaking with SA Minister of ForeignAffairs, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. Day One of the DRC on Monday, 20 April, started with a bang thanks to Ahmadinejad. As the only Head of State present, the privilege of delivering the first of the speeches by participating countries was his. His address featured all the extremist antiIsrael language and antisemitic sentiment that had made the 2001 event so problematic. Ahmadinejad had already acquired a well-deserved reputation as a Holocaust Denier, and now further confirmed it by accusing Israel of occupying Palestinian territories “on the pretext of Jewish suffering”. Amongst other incendiary statements, he further accused Israel of establishing a “cruel and repressive racist regime” over Palestinians. It was gratifying indeed to see the massive walkout that followed when Ahmadinejad began to demonise Israel and Zionists, resulting in a visibly empty hall. Representatives of most EU countries, as well as from Morocco, Jordan and even the Palestinian Authority (almost certainly for political reasons, given Iran’s support for the rival Hamas faction, rather than as a protest over the anti-Israel sentiment) took part. The Foreign Minister of Norway strongly rebuked the Ahmadinejad speech when it was his turn to speak and his condemnation was supported by South African Foreign Minister Dlamini Zuma in her remarks. Other delegates and officials in the course of the next few days similarly criticized Ahmadinejad. It should be noted, however, that while the walk out was effective; there were countries that applauded Ahmadinejad’s statements. The IJC was incensed that a man representing a country inflicting such grotesque human rights violations (besides his Holocaust Denial and ‘wipe Israel off the map’ pronouncements) could be allowed to be one of the introductory speakers at a conference purporting to be further the causes of human rights and opposing racism. That a notorious Holocaust Denier had spoken on the very eve of Yom Hashoah compounded the outrage we all felt. Encouraging from a South African point of view was Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma’s support for the Norwegian Foreign Minister condemnation of the Ahmadinejad speech, with her comments that the forum was not a place for “hatred and finger pointing” and her mention of the Shoah. Also interesting to us as South Africans was the reading of a message from Nelson Mandela about the values of anti- racism and the importance of this conference. I was pleased that a senior South African government representative attended the three-hour Yom Hashoah ceremony on the Monday night of the conference. The author and Marc Pozniak at the Yom Hashoahceremony, Geneva, 2009. The Yom Hashoah ceremony, organised by the Geneva Jewish community, with thousands gathering in the square in front of the Palais de Nations (headquarters of the UN) for the occasion. Memorable moments were the magnificent Yizkor loudly proclaiming our grief outside the gates of the UN, the impassioned speeches by Eli Wiesel, Irwin Cotler and French philosopher Bernard Henri Levy and a children’s choir singing the Partisans’ Song as the crowd held up candles. It was an opportunity to focus on the real issues of human rights and to mourn a time when these were completely forgotten. The conference document was formally adopted on Tuesday, Day Two of the DRC, and this was followed by submissions by all the countries present. The government submissions included a long string of condemnations of Ahmadinejad’s offensive address, mainly coming from Argentina, Ukraine, the UK, France, Sweden and Spain, as well as from Austria, Lithuania and the Holy See. The UN Secretary General and High Commissioner Pillay were also highly critical. The last country to present their submission was Iran who, as anticipated, was quite unrepentant for its leader’s actions. Its representative heavily criticized Norway and other countries that had attacked Ahmadinejad, invoked ‘freedom of expression as a human right’ and called for countries to cease from making ‘judgmental remarks’. Members of the International Jewish Caucus team inaction during the United Nations Durban ReviewConference. In the final Declaration eventually adopted by the conference, the reference to Antisemitism was retained (par. 12), and the reference to the Holocaust was actually strengthened by urging all states to implement the General Assembly resolutions calling for Holocaust commemoration and condemning Holocaust denial (par. 66). The controversial “Defamation of Religion” clause, which was intended by its sponsors as stifling criticism of Islam, was excluded. However, there was an indirect reference to Israel in a paragraph calling for the need to address the problems arising from ‘foreign occupation’ (par. 5), which is UN-speak for Gaza and the West Bank situation. Marc and I had two outstanding meetings on Tuesday. First, we met with Advocate Tseliso Thipanyane, CEO of the SA Human Rights Commission, who was in Geneva to present the submission on behalf of similar Human Rights advocacy bodies from around the world. He spent considerable time briefing us on human rights and NGOs in South Africa, as well providing us with some fascinating insights on the DRC itself. That evening, we met with the SA government delegation for a very warm and informative session. Beulah Naidoo, a senior member of the delegation and Chairperson at the Regional Preparatory meeting for the DRC in Abuja, gave us a full briefing on many issues and allowed us an opportunity to ask questions and receive clarification on issues of relevance to the IJC. We also had an opportunity to speak with Minister Dlamini Zuma and the SA Ambassador to the UN. The Darfur protest rally, organized by the European Jewish students in tandem with Darfur victims, was one of the highlights of Day Two. Holding banners, wearing t-shirts and distributing materials, the protestors stood on the edge of the square in front of the Palais de Nations and communicated their messages to passing traffic and pedestrians. A lone anti-Israel protester sheepishly left after being confronted by the Darfuri participants. I attended a symposium in a venue next to the Plenary Hall entitled “Antisemitism and Intolerance: In the Here and Now”. Speakers included Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Professor Alan Dershowitz, the renowned actor Jon Voight, Professor Steele, Father Patrick Desbois (who works with East European countries to find Jewish bodies that did not receive a suitable burial and seeks to remedy this) and Natan Sharansky. The venue was completely crammed, to the extent that people had to be turned away. I chatted with Dershowitz afterwards, telling him of the row his statements re Tutu had caused in SA and asking for clarification. He confirmed that he had called Tutu a “racist and a bigot” and that he fully stood by this. Geneva woke up to Day Three of the DRC while South Africans were waking up to Election Day. Once again, there was great activity in the IJC caucus offices as we frantically set about preparing statements for the session. One of these was an NGO session with UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay, in which accredited NGOs would be asking questions. One of the questions was submitted on behalf of the SAJBD. A number of interesting points came out of this session. It was notable that no overtly anti-Israel questions were posed, which would certainly not have been the case in 2001. A representative from a French African NGO asked a lengthily question in which he condemned pro-Palestinian groups for hijacking the conference and detracting from the voices of the real victims. Sitting opposite us (and doing exceptional networking at the conference) was a trio of Neturei Karta representatives sporting Palestinian flag badges. Thanks to UN regulations, they at least had to leave their trademark sandwich boards at home. Following extensive debates (and some serious confusion) it was determined that approximately 150 NGOs would be making two-minute submissions at the Plenary stage. Thanks to our interaction with the SA delegation, we were able to assist the IJC with information enabling it to secure slots and four Jewish NGOs ultimately made submissions. One slot was used on behalf of the IJC, and this submission was presented by the co-Chair of the Jewish Human Rights Coalition (UK), Rosalind Preston. When drafting its International Jewish Coalition statement, the IJC included the comment, “The World Conference Against Racism in 2001 is remembered for the antisemitism on the streets of Durban. The Durban Review in Geneva will be remembered for the antisemitism within the Assembly hall of the UN, as clearly spelt out by Iran’s President.” It must be remembered, however, that Ahmadinejad’s speech was followed by unequivocal condemnation by many countries, by the Secretary General of the UN and the HRC High Commissioner. None of the violent and overt antisemitism as seen in Durban in 2001 was evident in Geneva. The event was monitored closely by the authorities, who showed a zero tolerance for any unruly behavior or violation of the rules. As for the anti-Israel or proIran rallies, these were dismally attended and were certainly in no way reminiscent of 2001. The comments of Ronald Eissens from the Dutch Magenta Foundation are worth sharing: People ask us all the time if this conference is like Durban. No, it’s not. It is absolutely incomparable. Foremost, there is the question of size. Only 314 accredited NGOs are here, with 1073 NGO delegates, which is nothing like Durban, but the atmosphere is also very different. It is mostly a well-behaved affair, with only a few incidents. Stickers and some flyers were confiscated by the UN Police. A small number of side-events were cancelled because of content not in line with the DDPA and/or abuse language. A few NGO delegates and one journalist had their accreditation revoked. Kudos to the UN people at the Palais de Nations for doing a great job, and special kudos to the UN Police and security forces for keeping everybody on the straight and narrow and handling it all with utmost care and friendliness. International Jewry was far better prepared for this conference. Preparation had started early last year, and it could be clearly seen how more effective the responses were. The coalition provided a coordinated front at the DRC. It was wonderful to see Jewish NGO’s putting aside their egos and turf issues to work together for the common good. Our caucus office (situated in the World Jewish Congress suites near the UN) was a constant buzz of activity, and was run in a professional and efficient way. I was able to leave Geneva feeling gratified that international Jewry played a significant role in preventing a repeat of 2001.
Was the DRC like Durban 1?
Wendy Kahn is National Director of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies. She was extensively involved in the UN Durban Review Conference, both prior and during the event, working closely with international Jewish organisations
