Eli Wiesel on Durban (Moral Catastrophe of the Political and Social Behavior of the World's Nations)

Yedioth Ahronoth via EEJH ^ | 09/07/2001 | Yedioth Ahronoth

[CommiesOut]

Eli Wiesel on Durban

Yedioth Ahronoth (p. 14) by Eli Wiesel -- exclusive to Yedioth Ahronoth --

The conference in Durban will go down in history as an enterprise of disgrace. Instead of being an important international conference that expresses goodwill, the conference has been turned into a circus of calumny. What began as an idea for a world gathering against hatred has turned into a meeting of hatred characterized by wickedness.

I was supposed to have been there. Both Kofi Annan and Mary Robinson did their utmost to persuade me, particularly in light of my membership on the small board of "very important persons" that the UN established to help with the preparations. But after I read the work papers, I quit.

Anti-Semitism, the oldest form of racism against a certain group in the world, did not appear in the program. What did appear was something about "holocausts such as the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians by the Israelis."

Mary Robinson phoned me a number of times. I had lunch with the UN secretary general, whom I have known for years. I explained to both of them why I could not take part in this event, which is so infuriatingly anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish. They said they would make changes in the phrasing, but the problem was with the content. I warned the UN secretary general that the conference and the manner in which it had been prepared would go down in history as a moral catastrophe of the political and social behavior of the world's nations.

All that because the content was wholly unadulterated hatred and cruelty, whose expressions ought to outrage any decent and cultured human being and cause them to behave as did American Secretary of State Colin Powell and his colleagues. They deserve praise and support for their courageous response.

The American and Israeli delegations left; others did not. If only the European and South African delegations had learned from them. Their explanation is that they would work from within to issue another draft of the resolution. It is too late. The damage has already been done.

Hatred is like a cancer. It spreads from cell to cell, from organ to organ, from person to person, from group to group. We saw it in action in Durban. Even a man of the stature of Kofi Annan somehow lost his way and said things that were inappropriate for him.

With the scandal of Durban in the backdrop, how can the world expect of Israel to trust the United Nations? And how can good people, idealists, have faith in the UN's mission to unite countries in an atmosphere of respect?

The conference in Durban will be remembered as a forum that was governed not by anti-Israelites but by anti-Semites. The fact that militant Palestinians hate Jews -- that is known already. One needs only hear the various Islamic leaders and read the books printed by the Palestinian Authority: They preach hatred and violence, not against Zionists but against Jews. Their slogan, naked and brutal and identical everywhere, was keenly felt and even heard in Durban: "Kill the Jews."

What is painful is not that the Palestinians and the Arabs voiced their hatred, but the fact that so few delegates had the courage to combat them. It is as if in a strange and frightening moment of collective catharsis, everyone removed their masks and revealed their true faces.

By means of the disgraceful conference in Durban, history has given us, the Jews, a sign. And we had better learn how to decipher it

[CommiesOut]

"All that because the content was wholly unadulterated hatred and cruelty, whose expressions ought to outrage any decent and cultured human being and cause them to behave as did American Secretary of State Colin Powell and his colleagues."

Hmm... Colin Powell--Republican. His colleagues--Republicans. According to the US neo-commies (formerly known as libruls) Republicans are anti-progressive rednecks, racists, KKK and sometimes even nazis.

What a terrible mess these neo-commie nuts put us, and themselves, in...

Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, left, and Former U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke attend a news conference held by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2001 in New York. Wiesel and Holbrooke addressed the media concerning the United States's and Israel's decision to leave a worldwide conference on racism being held in Durban, South Africa. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett)

[brat]

"What is painful is not that the Palestinians and the Arabs voiced their hatred, but the fact that so few delegates had the courage to combat them. It is as if in a strange and frightening moment of collective catharsis, everyone removed their masks and revealed their true faces."

Now does anyone doubt that the "New World Order" is a reality and everything the Scriptures predict is coming true? Christians undergoing a holocaust in nations around the world, and now the Jews set upon by this body. We win in the end, but the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" cannot be far off now! Thank God for His word!

[CommiesOut]

Better yet. Mr. Gerald M. Steinberg in yesterday's Jerusalem Post says:

"Few of the self-appointed guardians of international morality and human rights who gathered in Durban, South Africa this week appear to be aware of the irony of their own direct contributions to hatred, anti-Semitism, and other forms of racism.

The absurd obsession with the charges of Israeli and Zionist "racism," "apartheid," "genocide," and the ridiculous lies regarding "oppression of the Palestinian people" and "ethnic cleansing" will haunt the groups and individuals who participated in this travesty for many years. The members and supporters of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and dozens of other groups, will carry the burden of fostering oppression and hatred wherever they go. The stains on their hands will never wash away."

Imagine: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and dozens of other groups, all of them ultra progressives, liberal saviours of the world, will carry the burden of fostering oppression and hatred wherever they go... What a shame and confusion.

[CommiesOut]

All evil but Mr. Colin Powell and his colleagues, most of them Christians. And they deserve praise and support for their courageous response.

Talk about total chaos...

[sarcastro]

Ok, Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor, he's fought against racism, so he deserves his props for that. Having said that, he is also a left wing hack. He campaigned vigorously for Hillary Clinton, and is the kind of guy who would normally LOVE the U.N., but when they turn on HIS people, THAT'S when it's a "circus of calumny".

To me, this is one of the most revealing statements from the left in a long time. Those do-gooders can bomb Kosovo, destroy the world's economy (Kyoto), and kiss up to Fidel Castro. But when they talk against Israel, well, THAT'S when they've gone too far. Liberalism is a wonderful thing to these people, until it actually affects them. For example, I'm sure Kofi Annan himself would walk out, if there was a U.N. resolution against the racist practices of his home planet, wherever that may be.

By the way, as far as Colin Powell goes, I was watching Washington Week on PBS, and they were all talking how Powell was snubbed, and how he REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to go to Durban. From the looks of it, so did the folks on Washington Week. Well, they can all go there and STAY there. I was never a fan of Colin Powell- he's as overrated as they come. As far as the U.N. goes, why Dubbya doesn't use this incident to show what a fraud the U.N. is as a whole is beyond me.

[Mike Darancette]

Those do-gooders can bomb Kosovo, destroy the world's economy (Kyoto), and kiss up to Fidel Castro. But when they talk against Israel, well, THAT'S when they've gone too far...

I just have the feeling that if Israeli Racism had not been on the agenda that Wiesel would have been one of the most strident voices denouncing the US over slavery and colonialism banging his tin cup for reparations.

[CommiesOut]

why Dubbya doesn't use this incident to show what a fraud the U.N. is as a whole is beyond me.

Dubbya enjoys the show called "Total Chaos", that's all. Is it good or bad? I don't know.
Total Chaos. The only Thing the commies are capable to create.

By the way, the US lost.

==============================================

Out of an anti-racism conference, into a trap
Analysis By Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post

(September 7) - When the US and Israel walked out of the UN anti-racism conference in Durban on Tuesday, they left behind a vacuum which the European Union and South Africa were all too willing to fill, and which the Arab League and the Palestinians were eager to have them fill.

In other words, the US and Israel walked out of the conference and into a trap.

Ever since the beginning of the Palestinian violence, one of Yasser Arafat's goals was to bring other countries - especially the EU's - into the negotiation process. He saw how much he could get with US mediation efforts, and speculated that he could get more if other parties were involved.

Israel, naturally, opposed more active EU intervention, believing it biased towards the Palestinians. And so far Israel was able to keep the Europeans out of a central role.

But now, if the Europeans - working in close tandem with the South Africans - succeed in coming up with a compromise solution that will save the anti-racism conference, they and the Palestinians will say: "See, the Europeans succeeded where the Americans failed."

It should have come as no surprise to anyone, then, that the EU did not walk out of the conference as it threatened Wednesday night, or that the Arabs did not force them to leave by totally rejecting any compromise language. For with the US out of Durban, now the EU has a golden opportunity to ride in and both save the conference and be seen as the capable negotiator able to bridge gaps between Jews and Arabs.

This is something good for the EU - which in the past two weeks has been protesting vociferously against what it says is the US's inaction in the Middle East - and is also good for the Palestinians, who want the Europeans at center stage.

By walking out of the conference when it did, the US allowed the EU to come into the breach. And once there, they will demand to stay. In this sense, what has been going on this week in Durban could have much wider diplomatic ramifications.

It also explains why the Arabs seem to be willing to show more flexibility on language offered by the Europeans than on language offered by the Americans. They want the Europeans to succeed, but had no interest in the US - working with and through the Norwegians - doing so.

Ditto South Africa. The Palestinians have said that they would like to see South Africa more involved in the Middle East, again as part of their overall effort to get more international involvement. If the South African proposal is accepted, it will give them a victory and establish their credibility as mediators.

But South Africa will not be pleased if the Durban conference collapses. Thus the Arabs have an interest in not forcing a collapse at the last minute, to keep the conference from falling apart.

The big loser in this exercise is not Israel (though if the conference collapses because of anti-Zionist resolutions it will be blamed) but rather, the US.

Had the US not walked out on the fourth day of the conference, but on the last instead, it would have drawn in its wake numerous other countries who would have been forced at that time to make a decision. There would have been no time for anyone to move in and start playing around with the language. A decision would have had to be made then and there.

But by pulling out so early, the US gave others a chance to draft compromise language, and to salvage the conference. In the case of the EU and the Arabs, it is in their interest to do so.

[CommiesOut]

Temple Mount Report

israelnationalnews.com
The Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities laments yet again that despite police reports, the Moslem Waqf continues with its excavation and construction work on the Mount, causing damage to 2,000-year-old Jewish artifacts. The committee sent off an urgent letter to Prime Minister Sharon, saying that the Moslems are in the process of building a large monument on the Mount in memory of Feisal Husseini, and are damaging ancient water cisterns while refurbishing the Al Aksa Mosque.

The police, according to the Committee, are not preventing them from bringing construction materials to the site. Two months ago, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau informed the Committee that he had instructed the police not to allow the Waqf to bring such materials to the Mount.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #6 He once lobbied against the senate resolution recognizing Armenian massacre in 1915. Was he doing Turkey's bidding ? No, he does not want to see Armenian tragedy going anywhere near Jewish Holocaust in its specialness. He seems keen on perpetuating the status of Jewish people as ultra victims of all time. This much fixation on one's victimhood is not healthy, no matter how good the initial intention was.

[Lizzy W]

Have you been reading your PA issued texts again?

[CommiesOut]

Russia shifts Mid East focus, tells Israel to return "occupied" land

Friday, 07-Sep-2001 5:40AM

Story from AFP / Dmitry Zaks Copyright 2001 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)

---

</CLARI-ITEM HEADER>

MOSCOW, Sept 7 (AFP) - Russia reassured Palestinian leaders Friday that a visit here this week by Israel's hardline prime minister, Ariel Sharon, had not lessened Moscow's support for the full return of "occupied Arab territories."

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the visiting deputy head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Mahmud Abbas, that Moscow condemned Israel's military presence in Palestinian areas and supported an independent Palestine.

Russian officials had said nothing in public about the Israeli army's presence in Palestinian territories during Sharon's three-day Moscow stay that ended Thursday.

Sharon described his Moscow visit as "excellent" and some Palestinian officials expressed dismay at what they viewed as a shift in Russian allegiance away from its traditional allies in the Arab world.

But Ivanov told Abbas, who is also known by his nom de guerre of Abu Mazen, that Russia believed that any Middle East peace deal must include "the Palestinians' right to self-determination and the creation of its own state, as well as the return of occupied Arab territories."

Russia "is deeply concerned by the dramatic events in the Middle East, and especially those surrounding the Palestinian territories," Ivanov said.

Yet at the same time Ivanov underscored that any peace treaty must guarantee the long-term security of both the Palestinians and the Israelis.

And the top Russian diplomat repeated Moscow's support for the peace plan drafted by former US senator George Mitchell and stressed that Russia, a co-sponsor of the decade-old peace process, saw only a political solution to the conflict.

Abbas for his part replied that the Palestinians "will make every effort to reach a political solution to the conflict with Israel" following 11 months of violence that has left 769 dead, including 590 Palestinians and 157 Israelis.

"I agree that this problem cannot be solved through military means," he said Abbas, voicing support for a "land for peace" agreement.

Separately, Moscow announced that President Vladimir Putin's top Middle East envoy, Vladimir Vdovin, would leave for the region on Sunday for talks with both Palestinian and Israeli authorities.

Moscow has sought to re-assert its role in the stalled peace process, with Palestinian sources telling Russian news agencies earlier Friday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would shortly visit to Moscow.

Ivanov did not confirm the Arafat trip, but said: "There is no reason to make special preparations for such a visit ... If it is needed, no obstacles stand in its way."

Putin struck a cautious tone during a meeting with Sharon, refusing to add his voice to widespread condemnation of Israel's hardline tactics in its clampdown on the Palestinian uprising.

The Russian leader condemned international terrorism -- a statement seen as encompassing a spate of Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel -- and added that he and Sharon had some things in common because Russia was now fighting "terrorists" in breakaway Chechnya.

On his arrival in Moscow, Abbas was quick to stress that separatist Muslim guerrillas in the North Caucasus had little in common with the Palestinians in the Middle East.

"There is absolutely no similarity between us Palestinians and the Wahabites who are fighting in Chechnya," Abbas told NTV television.

The television station, in a commentary, remarked that Israeli and Palestinian officials have engaged in a "tug of war over Russia's role in the Middle East peace process." </CLARI-ITEM STORY>

[calebcar]

. As far as the U.N. goes, why Dubbya doesn't use this incident to show what a fraud the U.N. is as a whole is beyond me.

When the enemy is selfdestructing, get dickens out of their way. Don't give them a target to redirect their energy. W and Powell played this one quite well,thank you.

[GROUCHOTWO]

It is hard to imagine that any conference on racism or hate crimes could be fruitful. After all, the idealized goal of such is the insistence that all obey the self appointed rulers of this agenda. For such an event to proceed smoothly it would have to be so tightly controlled as to not allow dissent.

We have seen the damage of this philosophy in this country where hate crimes now include hate speech. A rude remark made against a member of certain minorities is now deemed hate speech.

Consequently, some of the finest writers of this past century are ignored in our schools. Non-PC books are silently banned. Careers are ruined. Reputations are slandered. All these bigoted actions in the name of tolerance!

[builder18]

The man has made a profession out of whining about "anti-semetism".

[WaterDragon]

The Durbin conference is absolutely the best thing to happen in years. The NGOs, the Arabs and the blacks exposed themselves as the ultimate con-men, on an international scale. For these people, "racism" is meaningless.

And decent people are outraged.

Look at all the articles written about this conference, including one after the other pointing out that only white men had the conscience and courage to end slavery in their countries over a century ago, while black Africans and Arabs continue buying and selling slaves today.

Phony "racism" is getting a lot more attention and scrutiny than they bargained for. For this conference, nothing matters except picking the white man's pocket. But it ain't gonna happen.

[RippleFire]

Indexing for the UN_list. Click the silly logo to see the list.

[foreshadowed at waco]

I agree with your sentiments...GW, Powell, and Condi Rice played their cards just right...we emerged as a country with principles...the Europeans look stupid for being wimpy with regards to the Arab demands...and Jesse Jackson, the extortionist/ racist who called New York City Hymietown about 10 years back, did little to resurrect his image after his love child fiasco...the 3rd world countries like India with its 'untouchable' class, Sudan and Mauritzania with its ongoing slave trade, and the Asians from the southeast who sell their poor young girls as sex slaves (often to white Europeans BTW), tried to make the US look like the bad guys...their words were belied by their lack of action with regard to cleaning up their own acts...who they hell do these morons think they are messing with....European whites may be too intimidated to speak up but they are slowly being exposed as 2nd Worlders who are motivated by jealousy and resentment disguised as intellectual highmindedness IMHO...the Palestinians who let their schoolchildren out of school to stage rock-throwing photo ops to garner international sympathy when their corpses pile up versus the Israelis who target the adult leaders of terrorism...it's getting harder for the liberal press to keep the falacy of Bush's incompetence alive...go Bush team...stay the course...don't get dirty trying to reason with scum!!!

[KC_for_Freedom]

IMHO...the Palestinians who let their schoolchildren out of school to stage rock-throwing photo ops to garner international sympathy when their corpses pile up versus the Israelis who target the adult leaders of terrorism

IMHO too. Palestinians have been subjected to Arafat's continued pressure to throw their lives away in suicide bombings and children throwing rocks for network cameras so that this "crisis" could continue to mount. So much so that they would continue to bomb the Jews even if they were to get everything they want.

Durban was disgusting, and Wiesel is courageous for his statements precisely because he is a leftist.