Commentary and Newsletters

Anne Bayefsky

A Call for Immediate Action to Defeat Anti-semitism and Support Israel

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The following ad appeared in The Washington Times, December 11, 2008.

On November 19, 2008 Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni stated:
 "Israel will not participate and will not legitimize the [Durban] Review Conference, which will be used as a platform for further anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic activity. We call upon the international community not to participate"
The United States Should not Attend Any Aspect
of the Anti-Semitic Durban II Conference
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize Laureate* Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law School William Bennett, Former Secretary of Education R. James Woolsey, Former Director, Central Intelligence Bernard Lewis, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University
Martin Peretz, Editor-in-Chief, The New Republic Michael Steinhardt, The Steinhardt Foundation Sir Harold Evans, Author, The American Century Norman Podhoretz, Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient James Q. Wilson, Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
Herbert I. London, Chairman Governing Council of the American Jewish Congress Ali H. Alyami, Center for Democracy and Human Rights In Saudi Arabia Michael Ledeen, Freedom Scholar Seth Leibsohn, Fellow, Claremont Institute Anne Bayefsky, EYEontheUN.org
Frank Macchiarola, President, St. Francis College Brian T. Kennedy, President, The Claremont Institute Leon Wieseltier, Literary Editor, The New Republic Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institute Father Alexander Karloutsos, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Manda Zand-Ervin, Alliance of Iranian Women Dr. Phyllis Chesler, Author, Emerita Professor, CUNY Shanaveon E. Pious, Ph.D., Chairman of Entrepreneurs University Nina Rosenwald, Human Rights Voices M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D., President, American Islamic Forum for Democracy
* Resigned in protest from the group of eminent personalities before Durban I.

Join us in calling for the United States to say YES to racial and religious equality and freedom from anti-semitism by saying NO to attending the United Nations Durban II Conference. A 2008 U.S. State Department report on global anti-semitism highlighted the malicious role played by the 2001 United Nations Durban I Conference. Durban I was, IN THEORY, intended to be an "anti-racism" conference. It was, in practice, anything but... Durban I ended just three days before 9/11. So deeply disturbed that the conference was hijacked by global harbingers of hate, that the United States and Israeli delegations walked out on principle in protest.


The agenda for Durban II?
 Scheduled for April 2009 the stated purpose of Durban II is to "further the implementation of the (2001) Durban Declaration."

 What does the Durban Declaration declare?
 That ISRAEL, and ONLY ISRAEL, is guilty of racism.

 And who sits on the Planning Committee for the Durban II Conference?



Make no mistake, this conference will not combat racism, but will promote and fuel hatred toward Israel, America and the free world. This conference will not be about the spread of free expression, but how to curb it.

The United States has always been a world leader in the battle against anti-semitism.

 We walked away once inprotest...
let us now stay away onprinciple.

Today, there is an immediate way to act against growing anti-semitism around the world ... say no to Durban II. Declare that the United States will not participate in a dialogue that promotes prejudice. 		The United States has consistently opposed Durban II, its funding and planning. The latest October 2008 documents from the Planning Committee confirm that the Durban II platform will be used to demonize Israel and launch an attack on free speech.

 We ask President-elect Obama and Secretary of State-designate Clinton to take the next step anddeny legitimacy to Durban II.

We urge the United States to join the lead of Canada and Israel by announcing now that the U.S. will not fund or attend Durban II. Please make your views known-Write to the president-elect, secretary of state designate and Others-tell them to say no NOW, that America DECLINES to participate in the upcoming Durban II International Hatefest.


CONTACT INFORMATION:
Secretary of State-Designate
Hillary Clinton:
202-647-4000;
 website 		President-Elect Barack Obama:
202-456-1111;
 email now! 		Congressman Howard
Berman (Chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee):
202-225-5021, 202-225-4695
 website 		Senator John Kerry:
202-224-2742, 202-224-8525;
 website
Sponsored by Lawrence Kadish, Human Rights Voices