U. N. Conference on Racism...

[curmugeon]

It seems that the Israel lobby hit a home run.  There was a conference but we (the United States) decided not to attend. It seems that if racism does not exist in Israel or the United States we should be able to defend ourselves easily, but we decoded to boycott.  Maybe we should be looking at our history and the history of the Middle East in the post-WWII era, when Palestine disappeared from the map and segregation was the norm in the Southern United States.  We may have come some distance in the United States in reversing the racism that was rampant in the South, but in Israel, apartheid still exists with Arabs living in Israel not being allowed to become citizens, and Arabs displaced during the wars that created the present day Israel not having the right of return.

Did we boycott because we couldn't face the truth?

Comments

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Jews were displaced from Arab states at the same time. Malaysia enshrines the rights of the Malays in their constitution. There's the Kurds in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. Lots of racism to go around. Israel has lots of problems, but I don't see this conference as productive. The UN is a talking a shop for getting nations to stop attacking each other, it's not well-designed for anything else.

And note that pretty much the entire First World has walked out:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4193498,00.html?maca=en-en_nr-1893-xml-atom

The States weren't the only ones ...

[myridean.livejournal.com]

Canada who is very much about multiculturalism and multiethnicity also boycotted the conference. Reasons cited by the Canadian press was that the language used in the conference agenda was considered too divisive, aggressive and controversial.

Canada, especially the government, is very sensitive about language issues. I wouldn't be surprised that Obama didn't want to send a representative because he's also one that when it comes to racial issues that he wanted a different more tactful approach to the problem and felt the same as the Canadian government.

A working example is especially in regard to French word for community, there are two terms that can be used, collectivité and communauté. Yet the latter term has the nuance of being considered condescending to mean cliquish. As an Anglophone, I wouldn't know that but to the Québecoise, it's very apparent. I learned this while working in communications some years back.