Israel welcomes Durban declaration
Israel welcomed yesterday the final declaration adopted by the United Nations' World Conference Against Racism. Sources in the Foreign Ministry praised the final declaration and called it a major success for Israel.
Israel welcomed yesterday the final declaration adopted by the United Nations' World Conference Against Racism. Sources in the Foreign Ministry praised the final declaration and called it a major success for Israel.The sources said that Israel had managed to achieve a complete turnaround; they said the declaration was "one of the greatest achievements ever at an international organization." Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Ha'aretz that the final declaration was a "stinging defeat for the Arab League".
Israel and the United States walked out of the conference in South Africa on Monday in protest at Arab and Islamic demands to single out Israel for criticism that pushed to the sidelines other issues on the agenda of the largest-ever conference on racism and xenophobia.
After hours of wrangling, the conference finally adopted the full compromise formula put forward by South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlimini-Zuma.
Syria, supported by Pakistan, tabled a last-minute motion calling for the conference, which had already been extended by a day, to adopt a text implicitly referring to Israel as racist. But the motion was rejected in a conference vote, clearing the way for adoption of the Durban Declaration that lays down a program of action to combat racism and xenophobia.
"On the Middle East, the conference called for the end of violence and the swift resumption of peace negotiations; respect for international human rights and humanitarian law; and respect for the principle of self-determination and the end of all suffering, thus allowing Israel and the Palestinians to resume the peace process, and to develop and prosper in security and freedom.
"Expressing concern about the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation, the conference, in its declaration, recognized the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent state. It also recognized the right to security for all states in the region, including Israel, and called upon all states to support the peace process and bring it to an early conclusion."
An official Foregin Ministry statement said that "Israel is satisfied that the clauses full of hate and incitement against it and the Jewish nation were removed from the conference's final document."
"The language that was approved in Durban in our absence ... is not the best and we opposed it, but it is completely different from the venomous decisions the extremist countries wanted passed. The non-democratic countries failed in their attempt to determine laws for the enlightened world on human rights issues that would have turned the conference into a theater of the absurd," the statement added.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Ha'aretz that a number of non-democratic states with a numerical majority had tried to teach the democratic states democracy and human rights. But he said, the automatic majority of the Arab League collapsed. The democratic world made it clear that the resolutions bordered on the absurd and that it would not give in to the dictates of the non-democratic world. Iran and Libya will not teach us human rights. I am very happy that this did not happen and the conference ended as it did, said Peres.
"The key to the success of the conference was the help of the United States, which showed everyone the way. After the U.S. said stop, it came to a stop. The fact that the U.S., Europe, Australia, Canada, India all stood on the side of justice tipped the scales. We have not seen such a strong front for a long time, after having been used to the support only of Micronesia. Thanks to correct diplomacy by Israel, with the aim for peace at its center and stubborn adherence to basic principals, the automatic majority against Israel was broken, Peres said.
Peres also told Ha'aretz that he attached great importance to the fact that the final declaration was sponsored by the South African President Thabo Mbeki, whom he described as the most prominent leader in Africa.
"There is not one word condemning Israel in the entire document," Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior told Israel Channel Two television. "They [the Arab countries] didn't succeed and not only didn't they succeed, it was the first time the whole world stood behind us," he added. "But I think it should concern us that there is so much hate against us in the Arab world."
Western regret over slavery
The other main issue to dominate the conference was slavery. Arguments over the slavery issue were a major point of contention, with African states pressing for an explicit apology from Western governments. A deal on slavery was only sealed in the early hours of yesterday, with Africa settling for something less - expressions of regret and the promise of more aid for development projects.
The declaration "acknowledged and profoundly regretted the massive suffering ... caused by slavery." It urged countries involved to express "regret, remorse or apologize", and declared slavery and slave trading to be crimes against humanity, saying they "should have been [considered] so" in the past.
However, the European Union issued a statement that the declaration carried no obligation for countries formerly involved in slavery to pay compensation. "These documents cannot impose obligations or liability or a right to compensation on anyone. Nor are they intended to do so," the EU statement said.
Rich states had feared that any formal apology or recognition that past slave trading constituted a crime against humanity could lead to a flood of lawsuits. No statute of limitations applies to crimes against humanity in international law.
On the issue of racism, the declaration said that the conference condemns "the persistence and resurgence of neo-Nazism, neo-fascism and violent nationalist ideologies based on racial or national prejudice". The conference also expressed deep concern with, "the existence of religious intolerance against religious communities, particularly limitation of their right to practice their religious beliefs freely."
Summing up the conference, Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who was secretary-general of the meeting said that, "the real measure of our work will be whether it makes a real difference in the lives of victims."
By Nitzan Horowitz and Yair Sheleg
