|
|
NEWS
South African Jews Gear Up For Racism Conference
by D. Saks
The South African Jewish community, headed by its political
arm, the Jewish Board of Deputies, is at the center of
efforts to coordinate the input of international Jewry to
the forthcoming World Conference Against Racism. Over 20,000
delegates are expected to attend the conference, which
commences in the South African coastal city of Durban on
August 31. Amongst the Jewish organizations expected to
attend are the World Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation
League and the British Board of Deputies.
The central concern of the Jewish world has been that Arab
and Islamic groupings plan to use the conference as a
platform from which to demonize and isolate the State of
Israel. The infamous United Nations resolution equating
Zionism with racism was passed shortly after resolutions
taken at a similar anti-racism conference in the early
1970s.
While the South African government has no power to influence
the conference agenda, the ruling African National Congress
has historically strong ties with the Palestinian Liberation
Organization. The South African media gave comprehensive
coverage to lobbying efforts by the radical Palestinian
Solidarity Committee which called for Israel to be targeted
at the conference. By contrast, a statement by the Jewish
Board of Deputies condemning the attempts by the anti-Israel
lobby to exploit the conference for its own ends and
pointing out the hypocrisy inherent in countries with human
rights records like Iran and Afghanistan leading such a
drive, was ignored by the mainstream press.
The Board of Deputies role in the conference consists mainly
in supervising the logistics of Jewish participation,
including the arrangement of transport, accommodation,
workshops and kosher catering. The Durban Jewish Club,
headquarters of the city's 3000-strong Jewish community, has
been given the status of an official conference venue. The
Board has also lobbied the South African government, meeting
with Foreign Minister Dr. Nkosasana Dlamini Zuma and
strongly protesting the anti-Israel statements made by
representatives of SANGOCO, an umbrella body coordinating
the Non-Government Organization conference. SANGOCO
representatives recently visited the Palestinian territories
on a "fact-finding mission," during which they met with
Palestinian representatives but declined to meet with
Israeli officials.
|
