US to boycott racism conference

[United States of America]

Eh, racism is just a myth anyway.

[Laerod]

Eh, racism is just a myth anyway.

Wow. Most ill-informed first post I've seen in a long time.

[Outer Chaosmosis]

Eh, racism is just a myth anyway.

Care to elaborate?

[Caras Galadon]

Why is this news? Didn't the US boycott the last conference as well, and for the same reason?

For that matter, on a purely pragmatic note, is there any reason why the US should attend? What exactly does this conference hope to achieve? Is there any rational reason to believe it has a snowball's chance in Tahiti at achieving said objectives? Is there any rational justification for spending taxpayer money on having the US represented at a conference with no point, no achievable goal and no importance/relevance to a single foreign policy interest?

Given that my response to all of the above is a resounding "no," I'd support the decision not to attend anyway, even assuming the conference was balanced and not a forum for antisemitism and Islamic exceptionalism.

[Dumb Ideologies]

Eh, racism is just a myth anyway.

I always thought I'd never stumble across something mysterious.

But to think that I have seen instances of the mythical 'racism' without even knowing how unusual, how impossible it was? Now I feel so foolish.

[Wolfmanne]

From the Herald Sun

THE Obama administration will boycott a world conference against racism being held at UN headquarters in September because of concerns about anti-Semitism.
The UN summit in September marks the 10-year commemoration of the 2001 World Conference Against Racism that was held in the South African city of Durban.

The US and Israel walked out of that meeting over a draft resolution that criticised Israel and equated Zionism with racism.

The United States will not participate in the upcoming conference because the Durban process "included ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism", Joseph E. Macmanus, acting US assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, wrote in a letter to Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today.

Sen Gillibrand welcomed the administration's decision.

"It is an insult to America that the United Nations has decided to hold the Durban III conference in New York just days from the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks," the New York senator said.

"We all witnessed how extreme anti-Semitic and anti-American voices took over" the original gathering in South Africa and a follow up conference, the senator wrote.

The administration's move was also lauded by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella of 52 groups including B'nai B'rith International, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America.

The US and at least seven other countries also boycotted a 2009 follow up event that the UN held in Geneva, citing concerns that Islamic countries would again demand a denunciation of Israel and insist that all criticism of Islam be banned.

I think it will be interesting to see the world's reaction of the United States' decision not to participate in the talks. Personally, this whole conference sounds completely and utterly stupid as virtually every party attending will claim to be the victim of some form of racism and deny having anything to do with perpetuating the cycle.

Disgraceful.

[United States of America]

Eh, racism is just a myth anyway.

I always thought I'd never stumble across something mysterious.

But to think that I have seen instances of the mythical 'racism' without even knowing how unusual, how impossible it was? Now I feel so foolish.

Please tell me you took a picture of it!

[-St George]

Sooo... America wants criticism of Israel banned and boycotts a conference because it isn't... and this is somehow a good thing?

And they say NSG is pro-Palestinian.

[Dumb Ideologies]

I always thought I'd never stumble across something mysterious.

But to think that I have seen instances of the mythical 'racism' without even knowing how unusual, how impossible it was? Now I feel so foolish.

Please tell me you took a picture of it!

For some reason whenever you take a picture of racism or try to video it the focus goes all blurry and indistinct. Luckily, sometimes you're taking a completely different picture and the outline of a racism comes up in the background without you even noticing at the time.

[Laerod]

Sooo... America wants criticism of Israel banned and boycotts a conference because it isn't... and this is somehow a good thing?

And they say NSG is pro-Palestinian. :roll:

It doesn't want it banned. It's afraid that the noble cause of combating racism is being hijacked by people who want to bash Israel without bothering to check if the criticism is warranted, also known as racists. Again.

[Occupied Poland]

Zionism is extremely dangerous. It needs to be addressed in the modern Israeli state by the International Community. This action is simply childish.

[The Black Forrest]

*sighs*

Obama just can't win. He doesn't attend he gets blasted. He attends the cry's of the PC police running a muck, waste of taxes in a bad times, etc. would flow.......

[United States of America]

Please tell me you took a picture of it!

For some reason whenever you take a picture of racism or try to video it the focus goes all blurry and indistinct. Luckily, sometimes you're taking a completely different picture and the outline of a racism comes up in the background without you even noticing at the time.

I know. This guy showed me a picture, told me it was racism. It ended up just being a hose in a lake.

[Angleter]

Zionism is extremely dangerous. It needs to be addressed in the modern Israeli state by the International Community. This action is simply childish.

You do realise that by 'addressing' Zionism you're abolishing the State of Israel?

[Dumb Ideologies]

For some reason whenever you take a picture of racism or try to video it the focus goes all blurry and indistinct. Luckily, sometimes you're taking a completely different picture and the outline of a racism comes up in the background without you even noticing at the time.

I know. This guy showed me a picture, told me it was racism. It ended up just being a hose in a lake.

My great-uncle told me he saw a racism once while hiking up a mountain. Police searched the area and found a suspicious large footprint. Just one, in miles of snow. I guess racism can hop pretty far.

[Wanderjar]

I support Obama on this.

I do too. I don't often support him on many issues, but this one in particular strikes a chord with me. I don't like racism, few intelligent individuals do. However! The fact remains that if an individual holds racist feelings, that is his/her right to do so. I'm a strong believer in freedom of expression...and against government legislating thought. (Well...actually I'm against government at all, but thats an argument for another day)

[Southern Patriots]

Zionism is extremely dangerous. It needs to be addressed in the modern Israeli state by the International Community. This action is simply childish.

You do realise that by 'addressing' Zionism you're abolishing the State of Israel?

It was a state created via imperialism for theocratic and racial reasons. Addressing the problems of zionism wouldn't make that state go away, so we shouldn't tip-toe about afraid to deal with it.

[United States of America]

I know. This guy showed me a picture, told me it was racism. It ended up just being a hose in a lake.

My great-uncle told me he saw a racism once while hiking up a mountain. Police searched the area and found a suspicious large footprint. Just one, in miles of snow. I guess racism can hop pretty far.

I think I saw a video of that kind of racism once. But it move in such an awkward way. Who twists their whole body to look at something? I think it was just a man in a racism costume.

[Dumb Ideologies]

My great-uncle told me he saw a racism once while hiking up a mountain. Police searched the area and found a suspicious large footprint. Just one, in miles of snow. I guess racism can hop pretty far.

I think I saw a video of that kind of racism once. But it move in such an awkward way. Who twists their whole body to look at something? I think it was just a man in a racism costume.

What you say? A man disguised as racism? Probably an explorer trying to get into the last racism conference to get conclusive proof. The racisms probably mated with him, killed him and added him to their pool of human forms into which they can shapeshift at will.

[Schlauberger]

Good on the president. These conferences aren't merely criticizing zionism, as some posters seem to believe, they are full blown antisemitic. At the first conference, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion were distributed to all of the attendees, and the old canard that "zionism is racism" was going to be included in the conference's draft document right up until the US, Canada, and Israel withdrew.

The second conference was headlined by Mahmoud Ahmadenijad, where he was given the floor to spout his Holocaust denialism and myriad other antisemitic remarks. It's no wonder that the US, Canada, Israel Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Australia and New Zealand boycotted this travesty.

Canada and Israel have also announced their boycotts of the upcoming conference. Because both of the previous ones devolved into a cesspool of antisemitism, no western democracy should bother attending it. There are much more productive ways of combating racism than going to impotent conferences where known antisemites are given the opportunity to share their insane conspiracy theories.

[Serrland]

Just what's the point of this conference anyway? What's the actual goal in mind? What are we actually losing by not attending? Anything?

It gives smaller countries a pedestal to bitch and moan about past transgressions. That's pretty much it, as far as I'm aware.

[Terrasricas]

Being one of the most racist counties on the planet, the US really has no place at the conference anyway. I can certainly see how Zionism could be considered racist, yet for some reason that's considered unacceptable to say. So if horrible actions are inflicted on a certain group, apparently they can be racist afterward.

[Laerod]

I support Obama on this.

I do too. I don't often support him on many issues, but this one in particular strikes a chord with me. I don't like racism, few intelligent individuals do. However! The fact remains that if an individual holds racist feelings, that is his/her right to do so. I'm a strong believer in freedom of expression...and against government legislating thought. (Well...actually I'm against government at all, but thats an argument for another day)

I think you missed the point of both the conference and the US's boycott thereof...

[Laerod]

Being one of the most racist counties on the planet, the US really has no place at the conference anyway. I can certainly see how Zionism could be considered racist, yet for some reason that's considered unacceptable to say. So if horrible actions are inflicted on a certain group, apparently they can be racist afterward.

One of the most racist? Are you kidding? Have you bothered comparing the US to the rest of the world at all?

[Angleter]

You do realise that by 'addressing' Zionism you're abolishing the State of Israel?

It was a state created via imperialism for theocratic and racial reasons. Addressing the problems of zionism wouldn't make that state go away, so we shouldn't tip-toe about afraid to deal with it.

But Zionism is the belief that the Jews should have a state in Palestine. Thus by definition, anti-Zionism means opposition to the existence of the state of Israel. Indeed, if one looks to the broadest definition of Zionism- the belief in a Jewish national home in Palestine- opposition to that means making Palestine an Arab state and taking measures to de-Judaise Palestine. Ultra-Zionism- the claim that Jews are superior to Arabs and so should annex the whole Eretz and drive the Arabs out- is a problem, but Zionism itself is not.

Good grief, I've just thought. Britain did walk out when the US and Israel did, and isn't attending this time, right? Please tell me it's so.