U.S. won't participate in U.N. racism conference

U.S. won't participate in U.N. racism conference

www.msnbc.msn.com

The United States won't participate in a U.N. conference on racism in April unless the final document is changed to drop all references to Israel and criticism of religion, a senior U.S. official said Friday.

The conference is a follow-up to the contentious 2001 conference in the South African city of Durban, which was dominated by clashes over the Middle East and the legacy of slavery. The U.S. and Israel walked out midway through that eight-day meeting over a draft resolution that singled out Israel for criticism and likened Zionism — the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state — to racism

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Well it sounds like the US will not be attending a U.N. 'racism conference'... I wonder if the Israel criticism mentioned is referring to the attacks on Gaza ? I think I remember articles stating that the U.N. was pretty upset.

But at the same time, not much was done about it and Israel proceeded to attack Gaza AGAIN after a ceasefire. Somehow though, can't help but wonder why the U.S. would refuse to participate in a conference like this. It's not like we do not have related issues here at home, afterall.

Then again, no. Nothing good can come from a resolution offered by the U.N. Don't they use conferences like this, just to squeeze money out of the US -- the taxpayer?

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Would you participate in an event where the main focus was on your best friend and your past......and how horrible they both are?

It's a bit easier to understand it if you look at it like that.

JMO....

Or maybe it could be the fact that the U.N. is trying to "flutter" a binding resolution that would disregard the U.S. people's right to free speech. 2 Sides to every coin.

[edit on 27-2-2009 by djvexd]

reply to post by LostNemesis


One of the most viciously racist countries in the world not attending a conference on racism with Israel doesn't surprise me. I can't even ride a Greyhound bus in America without getting a torture session from the Cleveland Metro KKK Security Guards. My back is still in pain after that, nearly a year later.

This country headed down the toilet.

[edit on 28-2-2009 by MegaCurious]

Or maybe the US isn't participating because of the following:

The Obama administration would reconsider its position if the document improves in a number of areas including dropping references to any specific country, references to defamation of religion which the U.S. views as a free speech issue, and language on reparations for slavery. It also wants a shorter text and does not want the final document for Durban II to reaffirm the final document from the 2001 Durban conference, the U.S. official said.

It's Obama and his administration who have chosen not to participate for the reasons I bolded above. The only one of the three that could arguably have anything to do with racism is the language on reparations.