FWD: Durban, a dangerous farce

[KXX4493553 at aol.com]

http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/09/04/Opinion/Opinion.34035.ht
ml - forwarded by a friend of mine

A dangerous farce
By Yossi Olmert

(September 4) - The venue is Durban, the year is 2001, and the
sponsor is the UN, but the spirit is old, belonging to other dark
days. The aura is that of the 1930s, and the Durban conference is
just the mirror image of the Nuremberg rallies, in which the Nazis
propagated their anti-Jewish messages, striving hard to
delegitimize the Jews, as an inevitable step leading to their
eventual liquidation.

In fact, not all the participants in Durban are Nazis, maybe not even
a majority of them, but too many are, and they clearly give this
shameful gathering its true character, that of an unmitigated wild
hatred towards everything Jewish. They say Zionism and mean
Judaism. Surely, where Nazis celebrate, Jews - and definitely
representatives of the Jewish state - should be on the other side of
the barricade. Henceforth, the decision to send a delegation to this
conference was flawed in the first place. The government made the
right decision last night to recall the delegation.

It seems that, as is customary under such circumstances, the
Israeli public and authorities have started an internal debate, and
the typical self-guilt of many Israelis is again in place. It is true , we
should and could do more to explain our positions and values to
those who are ready to listen, but most of those present in Durban
do not want to listen to us - they really want to get rid of us, once
and for all, and this is the naked truth.

The historic, religious and political roots of anti-Semitism are
beyond the scope of this article, and at any rate, there is nothing
original that I can contribute to an intelligent discussion of this
issue. But what about the political implications?

First and foremost, the Palestinian Authority under Chairman
Yasser Arafat has positioned itself as the No. 1 enemy of Israel
and world Jewry. It is beyond me how can that be reconciled
through a meaningful peace process with them. However, not only
do we not rid ourselves completely of this so-called "peace
process," the preparations for a meeting between Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres and Arafat are in full gear.

What exactly are they going to discuss? The Durban resolutions
and its spirit? Our right to exist? The moral and historic justification
of Zionism?

A political process which is not based on a spirit of mutual
recognition and legitimacy is a farce, and a dangerous one. All our
outcries about Palestinian incitement and hateful textbooks lose
their validity if we continue to negotiate with the same Palestinians
in the aftermath of a conference whose resolutions are the product
of this very incitement and hatred.

The conference also sheds light on the real role of the UN and its
stated ambition to play a more active part in brokering and
preserving a peace settlement between us and the Palestinians.
Can any sensible Israeli, even in the Zionist Left, visualize such a
role for the UN in the aftermath of Durban?

The same relates to those European countries which jumped on
the Palestinian bandwagon - Finland, for example, a country which
openly and unashamedly collaborated with the Nazis, and yet her
foreign minister compares Israel to Nazi Germany! Countries such
as Finland lose their ability to participate in any peace-keeping
effort in the Middle East - we do not want them, cannot trust them
and can do without them.

We still have many friends in the world, particularly in western
democracies, but also in Africa, Asia and parts of the Muslim
world, but our enemies are numerous and well-motivated against
us.

There is nothing new about hatred of Israel. It is as old as our
history, so why are we surprised once again? We are strong
enough to stand up to our enemies, but in order to do so, we need
to realize the scope and true objectives of their hatred. Here is the
only advantage of Durban. It enables us, albeit grudgingly, to better
understand the realities of our existence.


Kurt-Werner Pörtner