DURBAN II: JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE. And so it begins...again. Remember The Durban Conference 2001:

The lead-up to Durban in 2001 was hijacked by the 57-strong Organization of the Islamic Conference. A February 2001 preparatory meeting for Asian nations was held in Tehran. (Israelis were a priori excluded.) The preparatory committee adopted a text singling out Israel for "ethnic cleansing" and of a "new kind of apartheid, a crime against humanity."

UN Watch has coverage of the first day of this year's Durban Conference:

In plenary speeches today, Egypt on behalf of the African Group immediately singled out Israel by complaining about "continued occupation of Palestine and violations arising therefrom [which] have been subject of condemnation from international community." Egypt also invoked the "new and dangerous incitement against religion" from the Danish cartoons. The 57-strong Organization of the Islamic Conference announced its intentions from the start: "The Conference should move the spotlight on the continued plight of Palestinian people..." The OIC speech quoted from a Boston Globe op-ed by UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, and complained of a "smear campaign" against the Durban Review Conference. The OIC also introduced new accusations, not appearing in the original Durban program, of "defamation of religions."

Syria today said that 9/11 opened the door to new forms of racism and associated intolerance against “Semitic” people. This brings us right back to the pernicious subversion of language that surrounded Durban I, where the word antisemitism -- the term for hatred or persecution of Jews -- was gutted of all meaning. Recall article 46 of Durban's NGO Declaration: "...Anti-Arab racism is another form of anti-semitism and Islamaphobia." And article 79: "Arabs as a Semitic people have also suffered from alternative forms of anti semitism, manifesting itself as anti-Arab discrimination and for those Arabs who are Muslim, also as Islamophobia."

Activist groups who wish to prevent the anti-discrimination agenda from being hijacked once again must speak out -- immediately, before it is too late, before we are back to the darkest days of Durban I.

I've got news for you: they're baaaaack...

[Hat Tip: The Corner]

Technorati Tag: Israel and UN and Durban Conference.