World Conference Against Racism - An overview

The following is an extract from the DURBAN II RESOURCE GUIDE produced by NGO Monitor. It is reproduced with permission.

The UN’s World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa in late August and early September 2001, was designed to unite nations in the fight against "racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance." In the initial regional sessions held in advance of the conference - in France, Chile, and Senegal - remarkable progress in addressing regional manifestations of racism was achieved, without unfairly focusing on individual countries.

However, the Asian Preparatory Meeting that was convened in Tehran, Iran, in the words of US Congressman Tom Lantos, "marked a sharp departure from the spirit of tolerance that was evident at the first three regional meetings." Israel and Jewish NGOs were effectively excluded from participating by the Iranian government, and in their absence, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in conjunction with Arab and Islamic countries successfully introduced language into the Conference Declaration accusing Israel of perpetrating "holocausts," "ethnic cleansing," and "a new kind of apartheid, a crime against humanity," and declared that Zionism "is based on race superiority."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who was organizing the Durban event, had assured Israel that its representatives could attend the Tehran session, but failed to follow through on her guarantee. After the meeting, fully aware of the anti-Israel agenda, Robinson commended the Asian delegates. As opposed to preventing the racist, antisemitic groups from dominating the conference, Robinson encouraged the focus on "the situation of the Palestinians" who had suffered "the accumulated wounds of displacement and military occupation."

The conference itself consisted of three parallel gatherings: an official diplomatic forum, a "youth summit," and a massive NGO Forum. The diplomatic framework was affected by the direction set in Tehran, the Israeli government was poorly informed and unprepared, and the leaders of the official delegation were unable to respond in a significant manner. Ultimately, official US and Israeli delegations walked out of the government sessions in protest at the language of incitement directed at Israel.

The atmosphere and rhetoric in all three frameworks featured a high level of vitriolic antisemitism, and marked the return of the "Zionism is racism" theme, a decade after the 1975 UN resolution was repealed. However, of these three, the NGO Forum generated most of the publicity and impact from the Durban Conference, focusing on the development of a broad campaign to delegitimize Israel as a sovereign state.

Other articles on WCAR and Durban 2001

For related articles, visit the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) Durban 2001 section of Durban Review or select from the articles below. Other anti-racism themes, conference details, and news are available from the Durban Review home page.

  • World Conference Against Racism - brief introduction
    An introduction to the 2001 World Conference Against Racism
  • Neil Lazarus, The myth of Zionism=Racism After Durban, JAFI Education
    An attempt to include a statement comparing Zionism with Racism in the outcome document from the government forum of the Durban 2001 Conference was narrowly avoided after Israel and the US walked out. The Zionism = Racism equation is itself a tool of racism and was solidly rejected by the UN General Assembly in 1991 (external link)
  • Gil Troy, Zionism, Racism and Durban
    The renewed attack on Zionism overshadowed the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in 2001. Prof Troy explains why Zionism should be seen as a force opposing racism.