After the first day of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, it seems that there will not be a repeat of the
extensive Israel bashing inside the conference like there was
at last year's Conference Against Racism in Durban, South
Africa.
There were protests and minor clashes outside the Summit on
the first day, but the talks at the Summit remained focused
on the issues it was called to deal with. More protests
outside the Summit are expected.
The Summit is intended to follow up on commitments made at
the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development in Rio de Janeiro. At Rio, countries agreed to
make fundamental policy changes to ensure sustainable
development in the face of population growth. In
Johannesburg, each country will report on its progress toward
that goal. The agenda includes preventing environmental
destruction, the impact of globalization on underdeveloped
economies, desertification, human security, and food
security.
The Summit is being attended by 60,000 delegates from around
the world, about ten times as many as attended last year's
Durban conference.
Israel hopes to keep a low profile at the two-week
conference, but a team of nearly 40 government officials,
experts in many fields, and spokesmen led by three ministry
staffers, who left for South Africa said they were prepared
to counter any anti-Israel propaganda.
Jewish leaders were also cautiously optimistic that there
will be no repeat of last year's Durban fiasco. The 2001
World Conference Against Racism was dominated by the Israeli-
Palestinian issue, and was ultimately completely hijacked by
the anti-Israel lobby. The Jewish world was shocked by the
extent of anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric that surfaced
during the Durban conference, something which has contributed
to there being a far better organized Jewish lobbying effort
at this year's event.
The Middle East conflict rarely surfaced in the South African
media in the days leading up to the event, with most of the
disruption expected to come from anti-globalization and
indigenous peoples lobbies. Nevertheless, some form of attack
on Israel is regarded as being almost inevitable, and there
have been indications that the local Muslim community will
indeed use the Summit as a platform to attack various aspects
of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
In particular, the dispute over water, in which Israel is
alleged to be monopolizing water resources in the West Bank
for the benefit of the settlements as well as within Israel
proper, is expected to be raised. It has been reported that
at least 800 pro-Palestinian demonstrators from Cape Town
will be transported to Johannesburg to take part in a protest
march.
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies has once again
taken the lead in coordinating the efforts of world Jewry at
the conference, including logistical arrangements for the
transport and accommodation of Jewish delegates and the
provision of resource material for use in refuting attacks on
Israel.
In response to accusations that poverty in the Palestinian
territories is a result of the ongoing Israeli occupation,
the Jewish lobby will argue that the real reason for
Palestinian impoverishment has been corruption and
mismanagement by the Palestinian Authority and Yasser
Arafat's decision to jettison the peace process and resort to
terrorism.
In addition to its efforts on behalf of the Jewish caucus,
the Board of Deputies has involved itself in the official
bodies responsible for planning the NGO section of the
Summit. Through constant networking and bridge-building with
conference participants and lobbying of senior government
officials and environmental organizations, the Board has
sought to prevent the Summit from being seized upon by anti-
Israel elements and used as a public relations weapon against
Israel. Mindful of the failure of the Durban conference, in
which African issues were ultimately sidelined by the
constant attention focused on the Palestinian cause,
government officials have publicly concurred that no
hijacking of the Summit be allowed to take place.
The Jewish caucus further hopes to use the Summit as an
opportunity to showcase what Israel is doing for sustainable
development worldwide, particularly in the field of
agriculture and water conservation. Emphasis will be laid on
Israel's outreach and upliftment projects on the African
continent, as well as on regional partnerships regarding
common environmental problems that have been built with her
Arab neighbors, in particular with Jordan.
