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Candidly Speaking: Ugly vibes from Europe
Why Italy is Staying Away from Durban II
Durban 2: “draft is anti-Semitic”. Italy recalls delegation
Italy pulls out of “Durban 2” conference
Statement by Fiamma Nirenstein, Vice-president, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Italian Chamber of Deputies
Italy’s decision to pull out of the forthcoming UN conference against racism, which is set to be held in Geneva on April 20-24, fills me with pride and satisfaction. This is in fact a courageous decision. It is the first coming from a European country, after those of Canada, Israel and the USA. We hope this decision will lead the way to a joint European position, against a conference that seeks to elevate anti-democratic and anti-Semitic hatred.
The decision taken by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini not only completes, but also puts into effect the resolution which, under our initiative, was voted on unanimously by the Italian Parliament on December 4, 2008 - the first time a country in Europe has taken such action. The resolution bound the Government to monitor “Durban 2” preparatory process. The documents formulated during this process have confirmed the worst expectations: as for the first Durban conference in 2001, Israel is being again slandered and defined as a racist state of apartheid, while every other effective case of racism and discrimination is being completely ignored.
Italy has kept its promise: it will not take part in an initiative spreading anti-Semitic hatred; and moreover, one that is promoted by the United Nations, which is unable to manage and monitor such hatred adequately. This gesture by the Italian Government is an important contribution in that it attempts to rescue the UN from the hands of those countries that - like in this case Iran, Libya and Cuba, who are among the States involved in the preparatory process of Durban 2 – are holding this institution hostage with their partisan and discriminatory positions.
On March 12, we will hold a conference in the Italian Parliament, promoted by the Italy-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Association, that will host lectures by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini, Prof. Gerald Steinberg (Bar-Ilan University, Director of Ngo-Monitor), Pierluigi Battista (Deputy Director, Corriere della Sera), Piero Ostellino (columnist, Corriere della Sera) and the board of the Italy-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Association (Enrico Pianetta, President, Rossana Boldi and Gianni Vernetti, Vice-presidents and me).
"Israel is us" launching in Jerusalem
Amb. Dore Gold
President,
Natan Sharansky
Chairman, Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies
Ruthie Bloom
Features Editor & Columnist,
on Sunday, February 8, at
at the
"My premise is very simple: Israel, contrary to commonly accepted propaganda, is a positive model, a case study for anyone who finds himself living in a democratic society that must eventually confront a defensive war—one that encompasses the entire universe of Western democracy today."
Fiamma Nirenstein, after many years of journalism, television and essays, was elected in 2008 to the Italian Parliament, where she serves as Vice-president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. She has written for Commentary, Moment, and the New York Sun. She continues to write books and contributes columns to Il Giornale daily, Panorama weekly and Shalom magazine. She gives an annual course in the Middle East at
The book could be purchased through the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (jcpa@netvision.net.il, +972-(0)2-5619281), or on Amazon.
"Israele siamo noi" - ora anche in inglese
Cari amici,
ho il piacere di annunciarvi che il mio ultimo libro, "Israele siamo noi", è stato tradotto e pubblicato in inglese e verrà presentato questa domenica a Gerusalemme al Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, con Dore Gold, Natan Sharansky eRuthie Bloom.Ecco l'invito.P.s.: non ci spero molto, ma per chi di voi dovesse trovarsi da quelle parti, sarò contenta diavervicon me!Perpartecipare è necessario prenotarsi al link: http://events.jcpa.org/viewevent.aspx?id=
Dear friends,
my last book was just translated into italian and published by JCPA. I'm glad to invite you to the presentation, which will be held in Jerusalem this Sunday, February 8,at JCPA, with Dore Gold, Natan Sharansky and Ruthie Bloom. Here is the invitation.