Uniting to stop Durban repeat

By Naomi Levin
February 18, 2008
The Australian Jewish News
Original Source: http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=4950

THE Federal Government and the Israeli embassy will assist Jewish community groups to prevent a repeat next year of the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiment which was the hallmark of the 2001 racism conference in Durban.

Robert Goot, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), led a group to Canberra that included Philip Chester, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA). 

Last week the group met Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith – who flagged his intention to visit Israel in the latter part of this year.

During the meeting, Smith expressed his support for the ECAJ as it considers its approach to the 2009 United Nations Conference against Racism, a follow-up to the 2001 conference of the same name in Durban, South Africa. 

At the 2001 conference, rather than discussing ways of combating global racism, the meeting’s focus turned to Israel, with many delegates referring to the Jewish homeland as an “apartheid state”.

Smith’s spokesperson told The AJN that “Australia will closely monitor the Durban review conference preparation for any signs of unbalanced ... language.”

Canada has already signalled its intentions to stay away from next year’s meeting, while the United States has scaled back its involvement in the conference, but has not yet decided whether to attend.

During the meeting, the community leaders presented Smith with a submission outlining their concerns with next year’s racism conference, including their apprehension at recent reports indicating the Rudd Government intended to work more closely with UN.

The ECAJ submission said “although UN instruments and personnel are overtly committed to combating anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, the UN is in fact complicit in promoting anti-Semitism by condoning the distinction between anti-Semitism and Israel-phobia”. 

It goes on to list examples that suggest the UN has been overly critical of Israel, particularly the UN Human Rights Council, which criticises Israel, but fails to criticise countries such as Iran, Libya and Cuba.

Chester said after the meeting that while Smith was not ready to commit one way or another to Australia’s participation at Durban II, he did ask that the community leaders keep in touch.

“The minister is maintaining a wait-and-see approach, he wants to see how things pan out before he makes any further decisions,” he said.

Chester added that he feels the Australian Government will eventually support the position of the Jewish community.

Earlier in the day, the leaders met with the Israeli ambassador and embassy representatives. 

A spokesperson told The AJN that embassy staff would do all they could to help the ECAJ in its quest to prevent a repeat of the 2001 conference.

The spokesperson said that it was up to the media and non-government organisations (NGOs) to decide how the 2009 conference would pan out, because it was those people in particular who hijacked the 2001 conference. 

“It is all about NGOs and the media,” the spokesperson said. “Jewish communities from around the world need to unite and be prepared for it.”

He added that while the ambassador has not made a formal submission to the Australian Government to ask it not to attend Durban II, he has encouraged community leaders to lobby hard.

The UN conference on racism was not the only issue discussed in the meeting with Foreign Minister Smith. 

Goot told The AJN they also discussed the pattern of voting in the United Nations, which often appears weighted towards condemnation of Israeli actions Iran’s nuclear capability Labor’s pre-election posturing to legally pursue Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the unsolved kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers more than a year ago.

“The minister was well-briefed and understood the issues,” Goot said. “We were entirely satisfied with the minister’s response on all those topics.”