Friday, February 27, 2009

Double, Double Toil & Trouble

Former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman, now in Australia, doesn't want us attending Durban II* (aka the Durban Review Conference) on April 20 (See my 20/2/09 post Danny Boy). [*The first, aka the World Conference Against Racism, was held in Durban in 2001.]

Alan Gold, Zionist apologist, novelist (*sigh*) and Durban I "delegate" (Smith should avoid racist conference, The Australian, 26/2/09) doesn't want us there either.

Gold knows in his bones that Durban II is cursed. After all, "The 120th anniversary of Hitler's birth falls on April 20 which coincidentally is the day nations will gather in Geneva under the banner of the UN to discuss ways of dealing with the growth of racism." "Coincidentally"? Are you sure it's just a coincidence, Alan? Durban I, that "notorious hate-filled gathering that devolved into one of the most racist and prejudiced meetings in the UN's history" also managed to coincide with the anniversary of some other day in Hitler's life (funny that), and "its anti-Semitism and anti-Israel agenda and hysterical crowd of extremists still send shudders of horror through human rights organisations."

Note the familiar conflation of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. In translation, Gold's hyper-ventilating prose simply means that some people at Durban I had sufficient gumption to call a spade a spade. For a fuller discussion of Durban I and the Israel lobby's campaign to thwart Australia's involvement in Durban II, see my posts Working Out the Mechanics of Our Relationship (18/1/08), Working Out the Mechanics of Our Relationship 2 (9/3/08), and Betraying the UDHR (10/12/08).

OK, so what foaming, spitting witch's brew does the Durban II draft agenda portend? According to Israel's Haaretz, "Draft resolutions for... Durban II... will brand Israel as an occupying state that carries out racist policies... They refer to 'the plight of Palestinian refugees and other inhabitants of the Arab occupied territories'... " (Durban II drafts: Israel is racist, occupying state, Shlomo Shamir, 21/2/09) Quelle horreur!

So how's the line-up at the starting gate, Alan? "Canada and Israel are so appalled at the agenda for this hate-fest that they have already announced their intention of boycotting. Officials in a growing number of European nations also have expressed their concern about attendance... The Obama administration* has said it will attend the preparations for the UN's Durban Review, but this must be viewed as a dangerous move." Thanks, Alan. And Australia? "Foreign Minister Stephen Smith hasn't yet announced whether Australia will attend the review... The 2009 agenda... must give Smith cause for concern... [Damn it!] We should play no part in this conference."

What's that, Alan? Another horreur? Merde! The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) are "using the gathering in Geneva to demonise Israel, give official credence to Holocaust denial and legislate against freedom of speech." How so, Alan? "Using the catch-all phrase of Islamophobia, the OIC is attempting to deny nations the right to criticise extremism and violence." You mean, like your mob uses the catch-all phrase of anti-Semitism in order to deny nations the right to criticise Israeli extremism and violence?

[*Alan will be pleased to know that there's been a scratching here. According to The Age of 28/2/09, the United States has decided against taking part after finding out that "the draft document was made even worse after some changes." (US opts out of UN racism conference) What's the guess that Stephen now does a runner?]

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