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These reports has taken from Canadian Broadcasting
Cooperation CBC
new and advanced type of apartheid." His
on Friday.Canada's secretary of state for multiculturalism
and women's issues, Hedy Fry, said the
Palestinian leader's comments were
inflammatory and inappropriate."We feel this language is totally unacceptable to
Canada, that it actually is provocative and that it
is unhelpful in the prospects for peace," Fry told
CBC Newsworld."We also feel that it is even more unacceptable
at a global conference against racism which was
convened to break down intolerance."Fry said she had to check the transcript of
Arafat's comments before responding because
the language was so explosive. CBC
WebPosted Tue Aug 28 23:18:58 2001Canada's Manley may shun
racism meetingOTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister John
Manley says Canada has "very serious"
concerns about a push to single out Israel for
racism at an upcoming United Nations
summit.A draft document being circulated by some
Arab and Muslim countries says Zionism, the
movement that led to the founding of Israel, is
based on racist notions.Manley says he still
hasn't decided
whether he will
attend the meeting
which begins
Friday in Durban,
South Africa.WebPosted Wed Aug 29 17:44:00 2001Mideast conflict threatens to disrupt UN conferenceLiberal regime's loyalty toward war criminal
Israeli regime and Zionism and propaganda at UN conference !DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - Just days before its
official opening, the explosive politics of the
Middle East is threatening to take over the UN
World Conference on Racism.Verbal disputes over the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict have regularly disrupted meetings of
non-governmental organizations gathered in
South Africa in advance of the official
government-level meeting, which opens on the
weekend.Any participation by the United States hinges on
last minute talks over the wording of a proposed
resolution that criticizes Israel.On the streets, pro-Palestinian protesters have
been handing out pamphlets some say are
intended to incite passions. One booklet shows
the flag of Israel, with a Nazi swastika
superimposed on the Star of David. Inside, it
describes Israel as a state practising apartheid.Cartoons show Jews with hooked noses, blood
dripping from their hands.Marjed al-Zir is a Palestinian from Bethlehem.
He's in Durban, working for an organization that
tries to get Palestinians to return to their
homeland. He was one of the pamphleteers."My message," he told CBC News, "is Zionism
represents racism."Police were finally called in to separate the
factions.The tension between delegates at the
non-governmental gathering reflects a larger
conflict that threatens to spill over into the official
conference which starts this weekend.Rabbi Abraham Cooper is an associate dean of
the Simon Weisenthal Center. He says
Washington has sent a mid-level diplomat to the
pre-conference meetings to try to influence the
discussions. But he says the eventual full
participation of the United States hinges on the
removal of language offensive to Israel."If that's resolved over the next few days there
will be a delegation. If not, this diplomat will get
back on the plane," he said.Cooper says the offensive language in the draft
official text includes references to Israel
conducting ethnic cleansing, and practising new
forms of apartheid.Canadian Foreign
Affairs Minister John
Manley has said
Canada does not
approve of wording
that singles out
Israel. He hasn't
decided if he should
attend.Ottawa has dispatched Secretary of State Heddy
Fry to represent Canada.David Matas, senior counsel for the Canadian
B'nai Brith League of Human rights, says
Canada should downgrade its delegation and
that Fry should return to Ottawa. "I think it would
be appropriate for Heddy Fry to go home before
the conference even starts," he said.Many Jewish delegates say they feel intimidated.
But they say it's the possibility that the United
Nations Agency may be about to adopt a
resolution isolating Israel, and singling out Jews
worldwide, that makes them most nervous.Written by CBC News Online staff
"It was awful," Keith Landy, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said
Thursday in an interview with The Canadian Press. "There were two speakers left
to speak and the session was totally disrupted."There was no violence, he said, but people felt threatened.
"The conference has been hijacked by certain interest groups and the
atmosphere has become oppressive and anti-Semitic," Landy said from Durban. CBC
Landy applauded the decision by Minister of Foreign Affairs John Manley not to
attend the troubled conference. Manley said Thursday that the Canadian
delegation will be led by Hedy Fry, a junior minister responsible for
multiculturalism and the status of women.Canada "will be very ably represented" by Fry and her delegation, Landy said.
"There's no need to reward those who seek to derail the conference by having
high-level members of state attend."Fry will be accompanied by Liberal MPs Irwin Cotler and Jean Augustine, as well
as Paul Heinbecker, Canada's ambassador to the UN.Manley made it clear Thursday he is uncomfortable with the tone of
pre-conference commentary and preliminary documents that equate Zionism, the
ideology behind the founding of Israel, with racism."There's no doubt, at this point, that what we have developing on the ground in
Durban is an unfortunate situation," Manley told a news conference in Ottawa ."We'll do everything we can to get it back on track. But at this moment,
certainly, I'm very concerned with the direction that it's going and somewhat
pessimistic."delegates. They included a T-shirt with a swastika superimposed on a star ofLandy cited several offensive materials distributed by some conference
David, and a booklet of caricatures depicting Jews with hook noses and fangs
dripping blood and wearing helmets with swastikas.He accused one accredited group called the Arab Lawyers Union, based in
Egypt, of distributing some of it.On Thursday, B'nai Brith Canada told its delegation to be prepared to leave the
gathering on short notice because "the environment has become increasingly
poisoned by a deluge of anti-Semitic incidents."Frank Dimant, executive vice-president, said in a release: "The events of the last
few days shame and dishonour the United Nations. . . . It is very difficult to
respect UN decisions relating to Israel when its silence on Jewish human rights
issues is so complete that a UN conference is allowed to degenerate into such a
blatantly anti-Semitic circus."UN meeting on racism in Durban. CBCRights groups split over Zionism outsideDURBAN, South Africa (CP) - Pro-Palestinian
groups scored a victory on the side Sunday when a
forum coinciding with the World Conference Against
Racism equated Zionism with racism and called for
sanctions against Israel.But Jewish, Christian and international human rights
groups rejected the forum's resolution, which was
presented to UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights Mary Robinson to be included in a final
declaration by the UN conference on racismRobinson, who has worked to allay the controversy
over the condemnation of Israel at the world racism
conference, criticized the document, saying she
regretted the language equating Zionism with
racism.Jews. The Jewish caucus walked out after language describing the victimizationJewish delegates said the claim amounted to an incitement for violence against
of Jews was removed from the forum's declaration.inaccurate charges sit in the declaration unanswered and the virulentDavid Matas of B'nai Brith Canada said the deletion meant "those wildly
anti-Semitism which imbues these charges is given free vent."Robinson, who is secretary general of the main UN conference, said Palestinians
have the right to protest their victimization, but "it is not appropriate that text
emerged that revictimizes and is hurtful in itself." CBC
Israeli President Moshe Katsav angrily rejected the criticism as "a palpable
expression of racism and anti-Semitism.""Many of those shouting at the Durban conference in South Africa ought to bow
their heads before the State of Israel because of the punctilious manner in whichracism conference.all its institutions respect human rights," Katsav said. CBC
Many groups have been upset that the Palestinian issue was overshadowing theIn Canada, Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley decided against attending the
conference himself in a show of dismay at the tone of the debate equatingcommitted to working on a solution to the troubling anti-Israel wording.Zionism with racism. CBC
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley said Tuesday that Canada is"We think there's still work to be done there and we'll continue to try to do it until
either we conclude that there can't be a successful result or until there is one,"
Manley said from London, where he was attending a Commonwealth ministerial
meeting."We will accept a statement that tries to establish principles on which countries
can measure themselves in trying to eradicate racism," Manley said. CBC