Web Only// Views » April 30, 2009
The Irony of Obama’s Boycott
America’s first black president refused to attend a U.N. conference on racism.
The fear many had that an Obama presidency could lessen governmental attention to crucial issues of race seems to be gathering credibility.
The Obama administration’s boycott of the United Nations’ Durban Review Conference in Geneva this month seems decidedly at odds with his vow of open diplomacy. The four-day conference was convened to evaluate progress toward the goals set by the U.N.’s World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), held in Durban, South Africa in 2001.
That conference ended in controversy, with Israel and the United States objecting to WCAR’s final declaration condemning Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Many human and civil rights activists considered the 2001 conference a significant global event, which for the first time explicitly addressed important issues such as the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism; the intersection of sexism and racism and overt discrimination against Roma and Sinti peoples (so-called “Gypsies”), Dalits (India’s so-called “untouchables”) and Palestinians.
But while many social justice advocates heralded WCAR as a turning point of awareness in the fight against long embedded racial biases, others regarded the conference as a showcase for propaganda against Israel and her allies (i.e., the United States).
Israel announced it would boycott the Durban Review conference months before the event, while the United States withdrew just two days before it convened on April 20. (The Obama administration cited its fear that the conference would become a platform for “hypocritical and counterproductive” antagonism toward Israel.)
Such a contentious venue would seem to have offered the Obama administration an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the less belligerent diplomatic style it touts. Since the Bush administration boycotted WCAR 2001, Obama’s attendance would have marked a clear contrast.
Instead, the United States joined Israel in its early criticism of the conference’s draft statement that concluded, among other things, that Israel’s policy in the occupied Palestinian territories constituted a “violation of international human rights, a crime against humanity and a contemporary form of apartheid.”
The statement said Israel is implementing collective punishment against the Palestinians as well as “torture, economic blockage, severe restriction of movement and arbitrary closure of their territories.”
Several nations joined Israel in denouncing that language and threatened to boycott the conference unless the statement was amended. Ironically, this outrage over language was occurring in the wake of a three-week Israeli military action in Gaza, during which the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights accused it of committing war crimes.
All of the sentences citing Israel were excised from the pre-conference statement. But this radical alteration still failed to stop the boycott by Israel, the United States, Canada, Australia, German, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and New Zealand. The Czech Republic initially attended, but joined the boycott following a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that branded Israel “racist.”
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner criticized the boycotting nations for utilizing the “politics of the empty chair.” Kouchner said it is paradoxical that Washington won’t listen to Iran in Geneva while being ready to talk to the country about nuclear issues.
Many conference participants were angered that the inordinate emphasis on the issue of Israeli racism–which most consider manifest–left little time for issues of at least equal importance.
For example, a large contingent of African-Americans who attended the WCAR 2001 returned inspired by their collective ability to get the transatlantic slave trade listed as a crime against humanity in WCAR’s final declaration. Such crimes have no statute of limitation, thus opening the way for reparations claims.
But fewer African-American groups participated in this month’s conference than in WCAR–ironically, their influence has been diminished by the ascension of an African-American to the White House.
“More than anything else, the symbolism of an African-American president rejecting a world gathering called to help wipe out racism is just stunning,” noted Stan E. Willis, Chicago director of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) and a veteran of the 2001 conference.
“Issues that are very important to African-Americans were on the agenda of the Durban Review conference,” Willis said. “I’m ashamed that the Obama administration simply echoed the Bush administration.”
Others criticized the United States and other boycotting nations for ceding ground to the radicals, rather than using the venue to push for greater press freedoms, women’s rights and increased governmental transparency. Many Muslim groups’ push for international laws prohibiting blasphemy are problematic and should be aggressively resisted.
Near the conference’s end, a coalition of non-governmental organizations representing African diasporan descendants condemned the 10 boycotting nations as “…the principal perpetrators and/or beneficiaries of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery.” The coalition accused the countries of bowing out of the conference to avoid paying reparations and being called out for their own racist behavior.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the boycotting nations to endorse the conference’s anti-racism declaration. “States that boycotted the conference for fear it would foster hatred should be reassured by this declaration and should join the global consensus against racism,” said HRW’s Geneva director, Juliette de Rivero.
The fear many had that an Obama presidency could ironically lessen governmental attention to crucial issues of race seems to be gathering credibility.
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Salim Muwakkil is a senior editor of In These Times, where he has worked since 1983. He is the host of "The Salim Muwakkil" show on WVON, Chicago's historic black radio station, and he wrote the text for the book HAROLD: Photographs from the Harold Washington Years.
SAVE 53% OFF
Reader Comments
As long as President Obama opposes Reparations for slave descendants, like previous wicked U.S. Presidents including Bush and Clinton, he is blocking justice for the victims of the worst holocaust in human history. We the Afrodescendants have suffered more than 100 million casualties during more than 400 years of brutal bondage in the western hemisphere. Our oppressors did not liberate us when they ended chattel slavery in 1865. They continued to impose ethnocide and forced assimilation on us. That is why the late Justice Thurgood Marshall publicly declared late in life that “we as a people are still not free.” That is also why the late esteemed historian John Hope Franklin estimated that white America owes slave descendants $10 trillion in Reparations.
However, Reparations means far more than financial restitution for centuries of chattel slavery and subsequent decades of meticulously engineered oppression. As the Honorable Silis Muhammad has repeatedly observed in interventions at the United Nations, Reparations means Restoration for all 250 million Afrodescendants in the West. We demand our Human Rights, including the right to an education in our mother tongue, and complete Reparations.
Sincerely,
Senator Malik Al-Arkam
www.allforreparations.org
Posted by mathrise on Apr 30, 2009 at 10:12 AM
I agree with Mr. Malik Al-Arkam, with one stipulation:
No Reparations without Repatriation.
Upon agreeing to accept a Congressionally-determined sum equivalent to the promised 40 acres and a mule, any current American citizen of proven slave ancestry, who chooses to opt into the Reparations Program, would be issued a check for said amount from the US Treasury Department, along with a one-way plane ticket to the nation of their assumed ancestry—or whatever nation would take them as a citizen. Before boarding the plane they would sign papers formally renouncing their US citizenship once-and-for-all, and be henceforth treated like any other foreign visitor to this country, requiring a visa, passport, and clean criminal record to return.
Or, if they choose to opt out, they can instead live like the rest of us do—going to work, paying our taxes, snitching on killers and thugs, keeping our neighborhoods and streets clean, our homes repaired, our children educated and respectful of others, and politically involved in the life of our country.
Because now we know that anyone who takes responsibility for their own actions, works hard, hits the books, gets an education, and learns how to properly speak the language, can grow up to be the President of the United States of America.
Posted by Gileadite on May 7, 2009 at 1:33 PM
Now, with the development of economy, people’s living standards improved, relative to the people’s consumption level, buying things, but also many women favorite clothes bag, but is now we’ll see those packages are popular, Chanel bag, The greengrocer ‘show’s Jimmy choo handbags, it is women’s favorite, but there is also a popular among ladies from that in order to buyPrada handbags, they can all these packages to splurge, so you don’t flex the charm, the answer is yes.
Posted by wrise on Jul 9, 2010 at 8:27 PM
<a >压力变送器</a> OTYLE.com where you can find thousands of unique and affordable <a >jade jewelry</a> jewelry, <a >fashion accessories</a> and <a >ethnic jewelry</a> from the Orient.<a >货架</a>
<a >管理咨询</a>
<a >干洗机</a>
<a >北京货架</a>
专业的<a >网站优化</a>公司
最值得信赖的<a >GOOGLE优化</a>服务
<a >货架公司</a>
<a >离婚律师</a>
<a >风速仪</a>
<a >自动记录仪</a>
<a >自动气象站</a>
<a >干洗店加盟</a>
<a >风速传感器</a>
<a >真空计</a>
<a >质量流量计</a>
<a >北京律师</a>
<a >模具加工</a>
<a >仓储货架</a>
<a >北京模具</a>
<a >北京工业设计</a>
<a >车库门</a>
<a >车库门</a>
<a >阁楼楼梯</a>
<a >楼梯</a>
<a >车库门</a>
<a >车库门</a>
<a >车库门</a>
<a >车库门</a>
<a >北京模型</a>
<a >手板制作</a>
<a >手板加工</a>
<a >北京手板</a>
<a >货架厂</a>
<a >车库门</a>
<a >流量计</a>
<a >压差开关</a>
<a >变送器</a>
<a >记录仪</a>
<a >差压开关</a>
<a >刑事辩护律师</a>
<a >工程楼梯</a>
<a >楼梯扶手</a>
<a >北京工作服</a>
<a >谷歌优化</a>
<a >北京网站优化</a>
<a >网站优化服务</a>
<a >北京网站优化服务</a>
<a >北京GOOGLE优化</a>
<a >北京GOOGLE优化公司</a>
<a >北京网站优化公司</a>
<a >网站优化公司</a>
<a >GOOGLE优化公司</a>
<a >北京网站排名</a>
<a >北京GOOGLE排名</a>
<a >北京网站优化排名</a>
<a >北京GOOGLE优化排名</a>
<a >排名优化</a>
<a >GOOGLE排名</a>
<a >网站排名</a>
<a >GOOGLE左侧排名服务</a>
<a >GOOGLE左侧排名</a>
<a >GOOGLE优化服务</a>
<a >GOOGLE左侧优化</a>
<a >GOOGLE左侧优化服务</a>
<a >网站优化服务</a>
<a >Google排名服务</a>
<a >网站优化排名</a>
<a >GOOGLE优化排名</a>
<a >北京网站建设</a>
<a >北京网站建设公司</a>
<a >网站建设公司</a>
<a >网站建设</a>
<a >北京网页设计</a>
<a >北京网页设计公司</a>
<a >网页设计公司</a>
<a >网页设计</a>
<a >北京网页制作</a>
<a >网页制作</a>
<a >复式楼梯</a>
<a >别墅楼梯</a>
<a >旋转楼梯</a>
<a >温湿度记录仪</a>
<a >温度记录仪</a>
<a >温湿度计</a>
<a >二氧化碳变送器</a>
<a >便携式气象站</a>
<a >无线自动气象站</a>
<a >电子温湿度计</a>
<a >真空压力计</a>
<a >差压表</a>
<a >气体质量流量计</a>
<a >微压压力变送器</a>
<a >差压变送器</a>
<a >北方大河</a>
<a >二氧化碳记录仪</a>
<a >北京车库门</a>
<a >北京车库门</a>
<a >北京车库门</a>
<a >防火卷帘门</a>
<a >防火卷帘门</a>
<a >防火卷帘门</a>
<a >防火卷帘门</a>
<a >反渗透设备</a>
<a >超纯水设备</a>
<a >软化水设备</a>
<a >去离子水设备</a>
<a >北京离婚律师</a>
<a >北京律师</a>
<a >北京婚姻律师</a>
<a >离婚律师</a>
<a >婚姻律师</a>
<a >北京手板厂</a>
<a >贵州茅台酒</a>
<a >茅台酒</a>
<a >国酒茅台</a>
<a >茅酒</a>
<a >茅台</a>
<b><a >北京钢结构</a>
<b><a >钢结构公司</a>
<a >干洗设备</a>
<a >工作服</a>
<a >北京汇通搬家公司</a>
<a >北京搬家公司</a>
<a >北京在职教育网</a>
<a >北京在职教育</a>
<a >在职教育</a>
Posted by wbaspsqll on Aug 9, 2010 at 6:20 PM
fashion accessories
jade jewelry|ethnic jewelry
[B]货架[/B]
[B]干洗机[/B]是干洗衣物的专业设备, 其生产商家是上海莱洁干洗公司,有需求请点击进站
[B]风速仪[/B]的优点是体积小，适用范围广。不仅可用于气体也可用于液体，在气体的亚声速、跨声速和超声速流动中均可使用,其主要用途是测量平均流动的速度和方向。测量来流的脉动速度及其频谱.
[B]压力变送器[/B]是工业实践中最为常用的一种传感器，广泛应用于各种工业自控环境铁路交通,军工，智能建筑、油井、生产自控、航空航天、石化、电力、船舶、机床、管道等众多行业.
[B]货架[/B]是指专门用于存放成件物品的保管设备。在物流及仓库中货架是占有非常重要的地位.
[B]自动气象站[/B]原理与测量方法,包含了近代地面气象自动化观测的科研、试验、使用等方面的成果，对《地面气象观测规范》(2003年版)和CIMO观测指南(第六版)的相关内容进行较为全面的、深入浅出的诠释，有较高的理论和实用价值，是气象业务管理人员、观测人员、计量维修人员必备之读物，也可作为大专院校师生和有关科技人员的参考书。
[B]自动记录仪[/B]是将温湿度参数进行测量并按照预定的时间间隔将其储存在内部存储器中，在完成记录功能后将其联接到PC机，利用适配软件将存储的数据提出并按其数值、时间进行分析的仪器。利用该仪器可确定储运过程、实验过程等相关过程没有任何危及产品安全的事件发生。
[B]干洗店加盟[/B]是为干洗爱好者提供从业平台.希望有至力于此行业的玩家找我们.
北大纵横是亚太最有影响力的企业[B]管理咨询[/B]公司,我们将业企业提供战略管理,企业信息化,人力资源，市场营销，企业品牌等咨询服务,欢迎你的访问.
[B]北京模型[/B]公司腾信伟创主营[B]手板制作[/B]，[B]手板加工[/B]，是专业的北京模型和[B]北京手板[/B]厂家，如果你需要模型设计，手板加工和手板制作，请您前来考察或来电：13601269353。
[B]流量计[/B]
[B]干洗机[/B]
[B]干洗店加盟[/B]
[B]自动记录仪[/B]
[B]自动气象站[/B]
[B]管理咨询[/B]
[B]风速仪[/B]
[B]压力变送器[/B]
[B]离婚律师[/B]
[B]北京货架[/B]
[B]货架公司[/B]
[B]仓储货架[/B]
Posted by wbaspsqll on Aug 9, 2010 at 6:21 PM
extended discussion >>>Continued...
Discussions with more than 5 comments are continued on our special discussion page to encourage continuity and ease of use. There are currently 8 posts.