Boycott UN forum, says Israeli ex-envoy
By Jason Koutsoukis 
February 16, 2009
Sydney Morning Herald
Original Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/boycott-un-forum-says-israeli-exenvoy-20090215-884f.html

A FORMER senior Israeli diplomat, Dan Gillerman, has urged Kevin Rudd to cancel Australia's attendance at a United Nations forum on racism, saying it will be used as a platform to bash Israel.
In an interview with the Herald, Mr Gillerman, Israel's ambassador to the UN from 2003 until last September, also strongly rejected calls for war crimes investigations against Israeli commanders involved in the recent war in Gaza.
Speaking from Tel Aviv before a visit to Australia late this month, Mr Gillerman said this year's UN World Conference Against Racism, also known as Durban II, to be held in Geneva in April, was a charade.
Keep away from Durban, Mr Gillerman said.
Countries like Australia who, to my mind, represent the best of what democracy and civilisation can be, shouldn't take part in this charade.
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, said in November that Israel would boycott the conference as it was turning once again into an anti-Israeli tribunal, singling out and delegitimising the state of Israel.
Last month Canada said it would boycott the conference because the process was too flawed to make it worthwhile.
Other countries, including France, Britain and the Netherlands, may also stay away, and the US is considering whether it will reverse a Bush administration decision not to attend.
A central Israeli objection is that the UN committee responsible for managing the conference is chaired by Libya and includes vice-chairs from Iran, Pakistan, Cuba, Russia, Indonesia and Turkey.
I think the less enlightened Western civilised societies attend the conference, the more it will be seen as the stage for anti-Semitism, racism and Israel bashing that it is, Mr Gillerman said.
I would very much hope that Australia will also take the decision not to be there because I think it's taking part in something which is totally unacceptable.
Mr Gillerman also lashed out at critics of the war in Gaza who wanted to prosecute Israeli commanders for alleged war crimes.
The International Criminal Court has signalled it is exploring ways to prosecute Israeli commanders over the use of white phosphorus in densely populated civilian areas.
I think the Israeli troops should get a medal for the way they conducted themselves in that war, Mr Gillerman said.
I don't think any war crimes were committed.
The former envoy, who was called in by the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, to help frame Israel's international justification for the offensive, which killed more than 1300 people in Gaza, said civilian casualties were unavoidable.
There is no army in the world as moral and as careful about not hitting civilians as the Israeli army, Mr Gillerman said.
He blamed the Palestinian organisation Hamas for the civilian casualties in Gaza, through its routine use of human shields.
For us, every dead Palestinian child is a horrible mistake and a tragedy. For Hamas, every dead Israeli child is a huge success and a cause for victory, and that's the kind of people we are fighting.