Durban Review Watch
At a UN Watch conference in Geneva May 27th, 2008, Jewish community and nongovernmental leaders expressed skepticism about warding off a repetition of the widespread antisemitism that permeated the Durban Conference on Racism in 2001. In preparation for the United Nations Durban Review conference, which will be held in Geneva April 20 – 24th, 2009, the European Forum on Antisemitism will keep you posted on trends and strategies to prevent the derailment of a UN anti-racism conference into an Israel-bashing event.
An international group of NGOs have joined the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Human Rights (JBI) in New York and the Magenta Foundation in Amsterdam on a statement denouncing attempts to use the United Nations and its human rights fora for forms of racism, including antisemitism. 98 non-governmental organizations to date have vowed to reject the hatred and incitement that proliferated at the United Nations Durban conference in 2001. The NGOs have agreed on a statement of basic principles for the Durban Review conference that would help prevent the spirit of hatred that permeated the Durban conference. Click here to see the text and signatories. Visit I CARE to get additional information.
UN Watch will provide information on developments in the preparatory process.
Additional information and material is provided by NGO Monitor.
Nasrin Amirsedghi (Author), Thomas von der Osten-Sacken (Director Wadi e.V.), and Alex Feuerherdt (Journalist) have initiated an appeal to boycott the Durban Review conference. More than 30 journalists, authors, scientists and artists, in Europe, the United States and the Middle East support this petition, which will be delivered to the German government and to the governments of other EU countries on February 15th, 2009 and needs as many signatures as possible by this date. See also Nasrin Amirsedghi's contribution to Durban Review Watch.
Durban I: What Went Wrong? Read the dramatic account from the daily diary of Joëlle Fiss, a young European student activist at the 2001 conference: The Durban Diaries
Latest articles:
Press Selection: Durban II Boycott Swells
By: CNS - News
,April 17, 2009.
As negotiations come down to the wire ahead of Monday’s opening of the United Nations’ politically charged racism conference in Geneva, several European countries are expected on Friday to announce that they will boycott the event.
Strategy needed to preserve Durban 2 victory
By: Gerald Steinberg, Jerusalem Post
,March 23, 2009.
A comment by Gerald Steinberg
Deidre Berger: It is not only about Israel
By: EUROPEAN FORUM ON ANTISEMITISM
,March 20, 2009.
Interview on Durban II by Deidre Berger, the managing director of the American Jewish Committee Berlin Office / Ramer Institute of German-Jewish Relation with Deutschlandradio [German]
Press Statement: Left leaning groups asking the German government to withdraw from the Durban Review Conference
By: various left leaning groups
,March 16, 2009.
A declaration from various left leaning groups asking the German government to withdraw from the Durban Review Conference
Press Selection: Durban II Countdown
By: EUROPEAN FORUM ON ANTISEMITISM
,March 13, 2009.
Durban II Countdown is your AJC resource for news, links, and commentary in the run-up to the Durban Review Conference, taking place April 20-25 in Geneva.
