|
|
NEWS
South African Jews Gear Up for Another UN
Conference
by D. Saks
For the third time in four years, South Africa will host an
important United Nations conference. This year's meeting of
the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of
the Palestinians (CEIRP) will be taking place in Cape Town 29
June-1 July and is expected to be attended by a large number
of foreign delegates and Non-Government Organizations.
Previous UN conferences held in South Africa were the World
Conference Against Racism, held in Durban in 2001, and the
World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg
the following year.
The CEIRP is a permanent UN Committee that meets annually. It
guides the activity of the UN's Department of Information's
Special Program on Palestine as well as the Division of
Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat, within the UN's
Political Division. Because of the overtly anti-Israel nature
of its agenda, the proceedings of the CEIRP are routinely
boycotted by Israel, and South African Jewish organizations
will also not be participating.
Historically, the CEIRP has had comparatively little impact
on international events, and the forthcoming meeting has thus
far generated little concern in international Jewish circles.
However, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD)
has expressed its concern to the government that the
conference might result in a repeat of the Durban 2001 World
Conference Against Racism fiasco, in which overtly
antisemitic literature was distributed and street protests
held. Arab NGOs attending that conference were primarily
responsible for the dissemination of antisemitic material,
and a number of them are expected to attend the CEIRP as
well.
In a brief to the Jewish community, jointly sent out by the
chairmen of the SAJBD and S A Zionist Federation, the
community was advised to take the forthcoming event in their
stride and avoid playing into the hands of extremists by
being drawn into confrontations. In its meeting with senior
government officials, the SAJBD was assured that the South
African government was committed to ensuring that the
conference took place in an orderly atmosphere and that it
shared the Jewish community's concern that it not be derailed
by radical elements. To this end, it was in the process of
making appropriate security arrangements and planning ahead
to defuse possible confrontations.
The Jewish communal leadership has decided to take a low-key
approach to the conference, but is nevertheless making
various preparations in the media and security sphere to
ensure that mechanisms are in place to deal with any
incidents that might arise. The Community Security
organization, a national- based organization that provides
security for all Jews and Jewish institutions in South
Africa, is in close consultation with S A Police Services
regarding this.
|
