U.S. Boycott of UN Durban Conference on Racism
The selected link covers the United States’
boycott of the UN Durban Conference Against Racism in 2009 due to predicted
criticism toward the nation-state of Israel (a Jewish state: a Jewish person is
an ethnicity) for repeated aggressions against the Palestinian people, illegal
settlements on confiscated land, and overall human rights violations). Again, we
see just how influential the nation-state of Israel is, through their
pro-Israeli lobbyist efforts on American representative democracy, by the
actions of the United States actions across the international stage.
The public justification for the U.S. boycott
was over the use of the word ‘Zionism’ in one of the Durban conference
documents. Israel, and therefore the United States, did not want Zionism to be
referred to as a racist terminology. Oddly enough, in 1975 the United Nations
General Assembly resolution 3379 declared Zionism a form of racism.
Of course, this resolution was revoked in 1991
by resolution 4686.
The issue and point here is that if the
permanent members of the UN Security council play favorites, especially the
United States, and walk out on every leader or conference that criticizes
Israel’s actions, such as they do every year when President Ahmadinejad speaks
at the UN General Assembly, what is the point of having any UN programs aimed at
human rights? If it is not open dialect and human rights efforts for all, what
is the point of having these programs at some and ignored when it concerns
others?
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