MyDurbanReviewBlog

Now What?

2009-04-29T01:30:00.001-07:00

Polished and packaged public relations rhetoric goes only so far. The seven-minute diplomatic speeches were eloquent; however, they seemed to hover over the conference on a parallel plane addressing the issue of racism and intolerance with no intention of actually entering into the discussion, forget offering a plan of action.

Outside the main hall of the U.N. was the real battleground; the place where unrehearsed language clashed with the opposition, where emotion controlled the debate, where the voices who did not have an opportunity to be a part of the official proceedings had a captive audience. I'm speaking about the NGO seminars.

In an effort to maintain a somewhat mild-mannered conduct and avoid what became a virulent platform of anti-Semitism at Durban I, this year the conference held prearranged side seminars in which various NGOs could discuss specific issues about racism and intolerance. The seminars were moderated, but unfortunately, while most of us would have preferred to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the periphery, it made its way front and center far too often.

“What happens when you are the victim of a forgotten war, or a Christian victim, when you don’t fall under the great conflict of Israel-Palestine?,” asked Bernard Henri-Lévy, internationally renowned French philosopher and writer, on Monday night at the Holocaust Remembrance Commemoration regarding Durban II. An answer: you fight harder to be heard.

Seminars such as “Human Rights, Discrimination and Islamophobia” and “Freedom of Expression and Incitement to Racial and Religious Hatred” attracted the masses, including several security guards. In a few seminars the rooms were beyond capacity and required some to sit on the floor alternating the translational device stationed at each desk with the person who had a seat at that desk.

When I saw the amount of people file into the rooms I was optimistic that everyone was there to partake in healthy dialogue, to try to better understand each other’s views. We were all open minded and here to dispel stereotypes, right? Wrong. My naivete didn’t last long.

The Q&A session that followed each seminar was meant to be exactly that: question and answer. Instead hands shot up like exclamation marks ready to make a point. In far too many seminars the panel had to kindly remind each person that they must ask a question, “You must have conduct at the U.N. Do not attack. If you have a statement of your own, make it on your own.” While many panelists interrupted to make this reminder, others stayed silent long enough to allow certain participants time to continue their diatribes. I’m more than happy to share my pages of notes with anyone who would like to read what my peers and I witnessed.

Were people attending these seminars from an educational standpoint or were they simply there to make a point in a crowded room? I started the conference thinking the former, but now believe it is the latter.

Our delegation was fortunate to have an opportunity to meet with several ambassadors at the end of the conference. Overall we posed different questions to each ambassador, and I learned quite a bit – it really was a remarkable experience meeting with each of them – but when we asked a variation of "now what?" in our meetings we were met with similar ambiguous remarks.

The outcome document was adopted by the U.N., but will each country implement this legislation? Will countries be held accountable when clearly so many of them are not held accountable today?

I would like an answer. I would like to know the next steps. I would like to know how individual countries are dealing with the growing incitement to hatred. I would like to know how we can work to expand freedom of expression, particularly for basic human rights.

I understand and agree with the United States for boycotting this conference. But I am pleased the U.S. will rejoin the U.N. Human Rights Council to take hold of the wheel and rescue a sinking ship from the pirates who have hijacked it.

I am still an idealist and want to fight the fight. My point is that if we listen only to the rehearsed speeches and statements written by strategic PR teams, we may be destined to continue twirling in circles oblivious to the real issues, the real voices who are struggling to be heard. It is even more evident from my time at this conference that when these voices are not heard, they feel ignored and suppressed which leads to anger.

So, now what? Listen and speak up.

Demonstration of Hope

2009-04-21T01:15:00.000-07:00

Two days have passed since the demonstration outside the main hall the day Ahmadinejad addressed the U.N., but I am still trying to digest the experience. Perhaps it is due to exhaustion from sleeping a mere two hours each night as our delegation tries to maximize our limited time here to meet with as many people as we can and attend every event that we can. But most likely it was my experience, for the first time, of attending a demonstration and being verbally assaulted because I am Jewish.

We followed the loud chants through the hallways of the U.N. that led us to a compact room crammed with groups fighting for the floor waiting for Ahmadinejad's press conference to end. The room overflowed with anger, passion and rage.

Passion met passion as the two divided groups shouted back-and-forth getting louder and louder with each exchange.

"Human rights! Human rights! All human beings are born free and equal!"

"Stop the Holocaust in Gaza! Zionism equals racism!"

We pushed our way into the room to support our cause. And as we did, we saw Elie Wiesel, Jewish writer, professor political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. He was a tranquil presence juxtaposed against a turbulent backdrop.

As I stood there listening to moderate conversations and some heated debates, I thought about my grandparents, Holocaust survivors, who would be disappointed that a demonstration of this nature was taking place on the eve of Yom Hashoah, and at a conference focused on combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other related intolerances.

We would soon be attending a Holocaust Remembrance Commemoration to begin at 7:30 p.m. Elie Wiesel would be one of the keynote speakers. My grandparents were on my mind, so I walked up to Elie Wiesel and talked with him. I immediately felt a sense of calm as I observed his reaction to the chaotic and volatile environment around us. He remained diplomatic, speaking articulately and eloquently as people with opposing viewpoints were in his face pressing him to answer their questions.

It was a sobering moment for us all that we felt we must be there to demonstrate, but we were there together to demonstrate on behalf of all races, religions and ethnicities; we were there to express our commitment to human rights.

I asked Weisel if I could take a picture with him, and he said, "yes." I wanted that photo to serve as a reminder of that day, of the many issues we continue to confront about racism and discrimination, of the people who want to be acknowledged for their suffering, of the work we have yet to do to create a world more respectful of differences.

I was uncomfortable that day at the demonstration, and I was uncomfortable in a seminar I attended about racism and genocide when a man sitting next to me left the room when the Holocaust was mentioned. However, it is this discomfort that inspires us to be ambassadors of change.

I have met with some of the most wonderful people at this conference who are open minded and committed to ensuring that all people have the rights to have rights. There are also those here who do not want to engage in conversation and who do not want to listen to other perspectives.

Every year around the world Jews gather together for a Holocaust Remembrance Commemoration to honor the millions who died. But it is also a time to inspire a demonstration of hope for the next generation.

Circus at the U.N.

2009-04-20T17:28:00.001-07:00

The first day of the Durban II Conference in Geneva ironically coincides with Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began this evening. As thousands of people gather from all over the world to fight racism and intolerance in Geneva this week, there are still those who believe that Israel and the Jews should cease to exist.

Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary-General, and Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights, among other diplomats, opened the conference today with hopeful language that danced around the main hall of the U.N. without a melody. "There comes a time to reaffirm our faith in fundamental rights and the dignity and worth of us all...," said Ki-moon.

Several hours later Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would take the podium, contradicting the very statements of tolerance Ki-moon stated in his opening speech. It is appalling that a man with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views addressed a conference focused on combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerances.

In the overflow room, many of the conferees tried to listen to him speak, but the translation system would not work. The room exploded with outrage that the system was not working properly.

People shouted, "This is a violation of our rights! We have a right to listen, a right to criticize."

Within moments the entire room was up in arms and impassioned conversations were happening simultaneously in every corner, but soon our attention was directed to the monitor by the very few who were not distracted by individual debates.

As Ahmadinejad began to focus his attacks on the West and Israel, a demonstrator popped up from the first row in the main hall of the U.N. wearing a rainbow wig and launched a red clown nose at him. U.N. security officers grabbed the demonstrator and escorted him out of the room. The scene was representative of the circus atmosphere so many felt Ahmadinejad created at the conference. He continued to speak.

"The word Zionism personifies racism," said Ahmadinejad. "Efforts must be made to silence the will of Zionists and their supporters."

The debates in the overflow room continued to gather heat as teams of people from various non-governmental organizations stated their individual cases.

Those of us in the overflow room could not hear what Ahmadinejad was saying, but we looked up at the screen as more and more people in the room began cheering; the European diplomats were leaving the room. The U.S. and several other European countries boycotted the conference in fear that Durban II would become another anti-Semitic forum, and it was wild applause when those who were left in the room walked out.

It was a small moment of triumph.

Faces of Genocide

2009-04-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

The words and photographs in newspapers and magazines tell a distant story about the realities of genocide. Behind the statistics there are fathers and mothers, and sons and daughters. The living victims, the survivors, are left helpless, scarred with horror and tragedy.

"Those who survive genocide don't know how to live," said Ester Murawajo, Tutsi survivor of the genocide in Rwanda and founder of Association of Widows of Genocide in Rwanda (AVEGA). "We are no longer someone's sister, someone's daughter, someone's wife; we have a completely emotional void."

At the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Intolerance and Democracy, and on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention, we heard the personal stories of two genocide survivors, Murawajo and Ahmad Ibrahim Diraige, Head of National Redemption Front Alliance of Darfur rebel groups, and former governor of Darfur.

Murawajo lost all but her daughter between April - July 1994. "The only mistake, the only 'sin' we committed was being born Tutsi. We had no rights; we did not have a right to be defended, to be represented."

Persecuted in her own country and dismissed by the international community, there was nothing left and no one to help rebuild what had been lost.

Fifteen years later she wants to apologize for her anger, but she can't. What is being done today? What has been done in 15 years? What is the international community doing for people who miraculously escaped the indiscriminate killings? "I want to be safe. I want stability for my people. I want to know where my family was buried so I can find comfort in giving them a proper burial."

She challenged us to leave the conference with concrete proposals and to implement them. "It's not just a talking game. It's important for us to point out world responsibility."

Ahmad Ibrahim Diraige echoed Murawajo's passionate language as he spoke about ending the war in Darfur."We are struggling, struggling to get somewhere, and we have gotten nowhere."

He began to cry as he told us the Darfurians need to be protected and freed. The top left corner of the conference center erupted into a chant, "Justice! Justice! Justice! Justice for the people of Sudan!" Again and again they chanted in support of Ibrahim Diraige's important message until he wiped his tears and could continue addressing the audience.

Ibrahim Diraige, "Why are we not accepted by international communities? Why is this happening to us?"

Top left corner, "Justice! Justice! Justice!"

Ibrahim Diraige, "We are human beings."

Everyone: Applause.

We witnessed firsthand the broken lives of genocide victims who urged us to act as responsible citizens by taking action.

We are inspired on the eve of the UN Durban Review Conference. Taking action is progress; inaction is apathy and makes us vulnerable to those advocates who have less benevolent motivations and agendas.

Chair Irwin Cotler, Counsel for genocide victims and dissidents, closed the session with two words we so often hear and hope someday will be irrelevant, "Jamais plus." (Never again.)

Editorial in The Denver Post, Sat., April 18: http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_12169403

On My Way to the UN Durban Review Conference in Geneva

2009-04-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at DIA waiting for my flight to take off for a new adventure. (Blogging is also a new adventure, I might add.) This new adventure is traveling to Geneva, Switzerland as one of 21 national delegates from my generation and the only Coloradoan selected by American Jewish Committee (AJC) to attend the UN Durban Review Conference, April 20-24. We are all representatives from ACCESS, the 20- and 30-somethings arm of AJC, created to engage the next generation in domestic and international public affairs, and issues of concern to the global Jewish community.

It is an honor for me to be a part of this delegation. We will have a unique opportunity to follow official proceedings, meet with diplomatic delegations, report on the street environment, discuss issues with the media and witness the impact of non-governmental organizations on international affairs.

The World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa, was supposed to be the most significant global effort to tackle the complexities of racism and all forms of bigotry and prejudice; instead it perpetuated a forum of anti-Semitic discourse, a tone far from the purpose of the conference.

The hope is that this year’s conference refocuses its purpose to re-evaluate, implement and confirm the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, renewing confidence in all international stakeholders that the mission of the Durban Review is truly to create a more tolerant and understanding world. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, can be found at www.eyeontheun.org/Durban.

They just announced my flight is boarding, so I must go. Please check back often as I hope to post frequent blogs about my experiences at the conference. Thank you for taking the time to read.

Looking forward to sunnier skies in Geneva...

http://www.ajc.org/

http://www.bostonfreedomforum.org/