Updated Draft Document

I have included a link (on the right hand side of the page) for the April 15 Draft Outcome Document. This has a few changes (bolded) from the last draft - however, the one I want to draw your attention to is paragraph 7 which now states:

"[T]hat poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion and economic disparities as well as foreign occupation are closely associated with racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and contribute to the persistence of racist attitudes and practices which in turn generate more poverty"

Viewing this change in context, foreign occupation appears to mean Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. This change to the text is - at best - problematic and - most likely - just another attempt to make the conference about Israel instead of focusing on the numerous problems of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other similar intolerances that are occurring around the world.

By declaring that all foreign occupations are "closely associated" with racism - it brings up numerous issues completely unrelated to Israel. As stated by UN Watch on their blog, "Shall we now define the NATO occupation of parts of the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as racist? What about the American, Russian, British and French occupation of post-war Germany?" (See http://blog.unwatch.org/) Such a universal declaration is unproductive and, frankly, incorrect. While some foreign occupations may be racist, others are not. While the point of this conference should not be to argue about the Israel - I will say that the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians is neither racial nor is it religious. Twenty percent of Israeli citizens are Arabs (including both Muslim and Christian Arabs). The dispute between Israel and the territories is a political one between two groups with competing national interests. It is not about race and it is not about religion. It is - fundamentally - about land.

As there are new draft declarations throughout the week, I will post them. Hope everyone is well. If you are interested, check out http://genevasummit.org/ tomorrow.