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Wednesday, August 29, 2001

The Extent of World Hypocrisy: Where Racism Flourishes right in front of everybody's noses

No more explanation is required, just read the article below.

Jewish groups say victimized at UN race meeting

By Reuters





DURBAN - Jewish delegates attending a United Nations
racism conference in Durban said Wednesday they were
being victimized by anti-Israeli pressure groups and
had been subjected to anti-Semitism. The official UN
conference opens Friday, and Jewish groups in Durban
for an earlier non-governmental race forum said their
members had been intimidated by pro-Palestinian groups
who were pressing the meetings to denounce Israel as a
racist and modern-day apartheid state.

"I feel besieged, there's anti-Semitism and hate
literature at the World Racism Conference. It couldn't
get much worse," Anne Bayefsky, a professor from New
York's Columbia Law School said. "Some of the Jewish
delegates are hiding their accreditation badge because
it identifies them as from Israel or as Jewish. Some
are considering leaving Durban altogether."

The United States has said it will not attend the UN
conference if Arab and Islamic states insist on
pressing for the meeting to accept "offensive
language" against Israel. The State Department said
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell would not attend
the summit, and Washington has not announced what
level of delegation, if any, it will send.

Stacy Durdett, representing the Anti-Defamation League
said some of around 200 Jewish representatives in
Durban were shocked by their treatment and felt
unfairly singled out. "More than anything Jewish
delegates are being hurt since we are being targeted
and victimized when we come to a conference to talk
about racism," Durdett said. "The intimidation is
unfortunate. At the very least it's hurtful."

Pamphlets circulated at the non-governmental meeting
caricatured Jews and posters carried slogans
overlapping the Star of David with the Nazi Swastika.
Many pro-Palestinian delegates wore T-shirts with a
slogan that equated Israel with apartheid, colonialism
and a military occupying state that killed innocent
civilians.

A spokesman for the South African police said the
safety of the 7,000 delegates attending the meeting
was a high priority.