Community thanks the Government for racism stand
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) and The Executive Council of Australian Jewry have formally “acknowledged and extended appreciation” to the Australian Government for the “principled stand in voting against the UN resolution to hold a conference in New York in 2011 marking 10 years since the Durban WCAR [World Conference against Racism].”
Mark Leibler, AIJAC’s Chairman, said, “It is to this country’s great credit that Australia has decided not to give credibility and legitimacy to what is a shameful perversion of the ideals of the UN.”
“The transparent attempt to involve world leaders by holding the conference at the same time as the annual opening of the General Assembly should not be permitted to confer undeserved legitimacy on this process,” he added.
Colin Rubenstein, AIJAC’s Executive Director, noted, “Australia has a proud record of confronting racism and bigotry and the vote on this matter is entirely consistent with that tradition.”
Exective Director of the The Executive Council of Australian Jewry Peter Wertheim has added to the thanks writing the following to Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd:
Peter Wertheim
Re: Proposed UN commemoration of 10th anniversary of World Conference against Racism 2001 – ‘Durban III’
I refer to the resolution passed by the Third (Human Rights) Committee of the UN General Assembly on 23 November 2010, calling for the holding of a commemoration in September next year to mark the 10th anniversary of the World Conference Against Racism that took place in Durban in 2001 (‘Durban I’).
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry commends and thanks the Australian government for voting against the resolution together with the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania.
We also ask the Australian government to convey to the UN Secretary General that Australia will not attend the commemoration unless the General Assembly clearly acknowledges and repudiates the bias and antisemitism that marred both Durban 1 and the review conference held in Geneva in April 2009 (‘Durban II’).
Durban I produced the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), which singled out Israel for criticism (while naming no other countries) and introduced extraneous anti-Israel content which overshadowed and distorted the critically important professed agenda of the conference. A concise account of the subsequent history of the Durban process is attached, and explains the basis of our concern that Durban III will entrench and ‘celebrate’ the worst aspects of Durban 1 and Durban II.
If, as foreshadowed by the intergovernmental working group which is responsible for organising the commemoration, Durban III is intended to provide a further endorsement of the DDPA, then we would urge the Australian government to remain true to the position it adopted in connection with Durban II. Until the outcomes document to be put to Durban III has been finally decided, our community will fully support any efforts the Australian government may make in concert with other democratic nations to work for an alternative outcome that breaks decisively from the flaws of Durban 1 and II.
I expect no less from any democratic government that respects human rights.
The “United Nations” has not only lost all credibility, it should, in fact, be indicted for actively abusing Human Rights by supporting and sponsoring proponents of state-sanctioned violence against women, Paedophilia (child brides being basically “sold” to old men), genital Mutilation of girl-children, incitement to genocide, to mention but a few.
Those who let this so-called “United Nations” get away with all those breaches of the most basic human right (the right to live free of fear) are either blind or of extreme bad faith. Shame on them!