Europe must go after Italy and pull out of Durban 3
lunedì 25 luglio 2011 English 0 commenti
Statement by Fiamma Nirenstein, Vice-president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Italian Chamber of DeputiesI’m very pleased by the Italian government decision to pull out of “Durban III”, the September 22nd UN initiative commemorating the 10th anniversary of the first Durban conference. Explaining the reasons for our withdrawal, the Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, pointed out that “the Durban Process has been transformed from a forum of debate and coordination of international action against racism, into a tribunal for accusations against Israel”. The paradox indeed is that Durban was promoting racism, particularly against Israel, rather than fighting it.
Until today the decision of pulling out has been taken by Italy, Canada, USA, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Israel. I hope that the same stance will be adopted by all the European Countries, following the Italian example.
A State that counts among its highest institutional ranks Arabs, Bedouins, Druses, Ethiopians, Russians and so on, cannot certainly defined racist as the Durban conferences did with Israel. Those conferences have been loaded with prejudice and with the typical UN double standard against the only democracy in the Middle East.