It was UNESCO that took the initiative after the Second World War to organize ‘the world conferences against racism.’ The first two rounds were held in Geneva, with a particular emphasis on ‘apartheid’ in South Africa, and the first conference was held in Durban in 2001. The recently held UN Conference on Racism, dubbed Durban II, was supposed to be a review of what have so far been accomplished since Durban I. As was widely publicized, many countries such as the United States boycotted the conference, Iran’s president went on a rant and tirade against Israel, and many country representatives walked out because of his hate-filled speech.

The controversy raged once again simply because some people confuse religion with race. The conference against racism has become the occasion for radicalized expression of issues that have never been uniformly understood by all. Racism has remained to be a blur to most, no matter how much has been spoken or written about it. If Durban I was a fiasco, Durban II was a charade. These UN conferences on racism were just venues for the age-old issues of religion and race that are seemingly irresolvable.

The organizers should have smelled the things to come even before Durban II commenced. When one gets Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the most eager participant to attend an anti-racism conference, one already gets more than an inkling of what is to come. With Ahmadinejad as the virtual poster boy of an anti-racism conference, one can see boycotts and walk-outs a mile ahead. The Holocaust, indeed, casts a long, long shadow.

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Via Montreal Gazette