Preparing for Durban

Thank you for checking out my blog to track my experience at the Durban Review Conference. The Durban Review Conference will be taking place from April 20-24 in Geneva, Switzerland. I will be leaving for Geneva this Friday. I will be leaving for Geneva this Friday.


Many of my friends have asked - What is the Durban Review Conference and why are you going?


The short explanation is I have been selected by American Jewish Committee (http://www.ajc.org/) to serve as a delegate of UN Watch (http://www.unwatch.org/) to the Durban Review Conference to bear witness to what occurs at the conference.


The Durban Review Conference is a United Nations conference and part of the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR). There have been three prior WCAR meetings - 1978, 1983 and 2001.


During the 2001 Conference, instead of focusing on issues of racism around the globe - the conference took a disturbing turn and decided to focus solely on Israel. For a disturbing account of the experience of one student at the Conference, please read the Durban Diaries (http://www.unwatch.org/atf/cf/{6DEB65DA-BE5B-4CAE-8056-8BF0BEDF4D17}/Durban%20Diaries.pdf)


For visual examples of what took place in 2001:






I think the trend of anti-Israel activity - especially at the expensive of focusing on racism and human rights violations around the world - is deeply troubling. That the United Nations would support this anti-Israel activity is appalling. As the US government reevaluates its relationship with United Nations Human Rights Council, I think it is imperative that Americans take the time to learn more about this organization and how it has ignored human rights violations around the world to focus - almost exclusively - on the defamation of Israel.


I look forward to the experience and hope you will check out my blog throughout the week as I update you on my experience at the Durban Review Conference.