United Nations officials said Saturday that the United States has been unable to change any of the draft documents or statements that are being prepared for the second World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), set to be held April 20 in Geneva, dubbed "Durban II".
The conference is expected to be as anti-Israel as the first one that was held in Durban, South Africa, in August 2001 – weeks before the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. As a result, the officials said, it was likely that the American delegation would recommend that the U.S. boycott the meeting, despite a prior announcement by President Barack Obama that the U.S. would send a delegation.
The conference draft committee, which is in the process of deciding which amendments will be discussed, is chaired by a Libyan, and the assistant chairpersons are Iranian and Cuban – making it almost impossible for the U.S. to have any influence on the decision making process, the officials said.
According to the officials, nearly all the 100 or so amendments that meeting participants are hoping to place on the meeting's agenda relate to Israeli "occupation of Palestinian lands," Israel's being responsible for "the plight of Palestinian refugees," and other similar statements. The draft committee is still undecided on whether to add a line to the conference's official platform that the Holocaust "resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people."
A U.S. State Department spokesman stated last Wednesday that the United States is concerned with the Durban conference’s draft text, and they are trying to get the text changed. At the February 2001 preparatory meeting in Iran, members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) included language that equated Zionism with racism.
The draft at that time stated, “The World Conference recognizes with deep concern the increase of racist practices of Zionism and anti-Semitism in various parts of the world, as well as the emergence of racial and violence movements based on discriminatory ideas, in particular, the Zionist movement which is based on racial superiority.”
Responding to the conference’s anti-Israel language, President George W. Bush stated in August, 2001, “We have made it very clear ... we will not participate in a conference that tries to isolate Israel and denigrates Israel.”
In late August 2001, the Administration announced that then-Secretary of State Colin Powell would not attend the WCAR. The administration stated that it would instead send a mid-level working delegation, headed by Michael E. Southwick, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs.
Israel and Canada have already informed the WCAR that they will not participate in the conference. Some European countries are also considering refraining from participation. In addition, Israeli officials expressed their disdain at the U.S. participation in drafting proposals, which are overwhelmingly anti-Israel.
The U.S., however, still hopes to succeed in altering the text, as well as addressing what the US views as worldwide racism. The conference wants to include a clause that aims to make any attack on Islam a criminal offense. In order for the U.S. to succeed in altering any of the roughly 100 passages referring to Israel, it would need the backing of countries that have a history of deeply-rooted anti-Semitism.