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PROF. IRWIN COTLER: BEYOND DURBAN The conference against racism that became a racist conference against Jews
 Prof. Irwin Cotler September 11th had a transformational impact on our psyches as well as on our politics. Anti-Terrorism, which was not on the political and public radar screen prior to September 11th, began to dominate Parliamentary and public discourse. But there was little reference to Durban after September 11th though the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in Durban had concluded just two days before. But if September 11th overshadowed Durban, Durban foreshadowed September 11th. It was not only a wake-up call for the Jewish community, but it should be seen as a wake-up call for the World Community. It tells us something not only about the state of Israel and world Jewry among the nations, but the state of the world community inhabited by Israel and world Jewry. I first greeted the announcement of the WCAR with anticipation. It was to be the first international human rights conference of the 21st Century, with anti-racism as its basic theme. However, what happened at Durban was truly Orwellian: a Conference against Racism became a Conference of Racism against Jews. Three questions will be examined: the Road to Durban, Durban as a Festival of Hate and Where do we go from here. The Road to Durban The WCAR was preceded by four Regional Conferences whose task was to draft a composite Declaration against Racism and a Plan of Action. Israel was excluded from the last of these regional conferences in Teheran, which issued the most scurrilous indictment against Israel since the Second World War. There were seven components to the " indictment":
The international community and the Jewish World did not realize the import and resonance of these "indictments" until much later; the indictment also underpinned the atmospherics of the WCAR, and the NGO Conference document. Durban as a Festival of Hate The atmospherics at the WCAR was that of a Festival of Hate - particularly at the NGO Conference. Every "thematic" or "regional" tent, every street march, every demonstration, every communication or information medium, was festooned with or disseminated booklets, placards, leaflets, bumper stickers that proclaimed Israel's "Racism", "criminality", and "illegality", with the notion of Israel as an Apartheid state having particular resonance in South Africa. The clarion call was clear: just as the struggle against racism in the 20th century required the dismantling of South Africa as an apartheid state, so the struggle against racism in the 21st century requires the dismantling of Israel as an apartheid state. Lessons of Durban Lessons may be drawn from Durban regarding Israel, Human Rights, and the Jewish Condition.
Indices of the New Antisemitism The World Community has not yet developed indices to identify, define and eventually combat this new antisemitism. I would like to propose the following set:
For example - and apart from Durban - in December 2001, the contracting parties of the Geneva Convention convened for the first time to criticize Israel. This was the only time in 52 years that any nation was indicted. Similarly the UN Commission on Human Rights has singled out Israel for discriminatory indictment while granting the real human rights violators exculpatory immunity. None of this is intended to suggest that Israel is above the law or is not accountable for any violations of international human rights and humanitarian law like any other state. Quite the contrary. But the problem is not that anyone should seek that Israel be above the law, but that Israel is being systematically denied equality before the law. UN Secretary General Kofi Anan remarked that it cannot be that the entire world is against Israel, yet Israel is right; but history has shown that a minority of one can be right.
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