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"Arab NGOs voice their concern over deleting
any reference to Palestine in the paper submitted to the United
Nations Durban Review Conference which is a follow-up of the
2001 UN anti-racism conference held in Durban, South Africa in
2001, one month before holding Durban summit 2 this April 20-24,
in Geneva. This step (of deleting any reference to Palestine)
was unfortunately approved by official Arab negotiating
delegations in Geneva including the Permanent Observer Mission
of Palestine at the UN office in Geneva "which wants to bring
the review conference to success" after a campaign of
boycotting spearheaded by Zionist circles and influential
Israeli lobbies. However, this free concession did not make
withdrawing countries, the United States, Canada, Italy and
Israel return. In a stark contrast, the suggested paper calls in
article 64 for "the Holocaust must never be forgotten"
and "urges all UN members to implement -related- UN General
Assembly's resolutions".
Durban 1 Conference article 63 states “We
are concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people under
foreign occupation”, and acknowledged that it ”We
recognize the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to
self-determination and to the establishment of an independent
State”, and article 64 “calls for a just,
comprehensive and lasting peace in the region” and article
65 stated that countries participating in the conference “We
recognize the right of refugees to return voluntarily to their
homes and properties in dignity and safety,
and urge all States to facilitate
such return”, and article
66 affirms that “the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and
religious identity of minorities, where they exist, must be
protected”. All these articles collectively highlight the
strong presence of Palestine in the conference although it
doesn’t include all dimensions of the cause.
The current retreat is unjustified in any
way. The Palestinian plight still exists and is even aggravating
with building a racist separation barrier which is condemned by
the international justice, increasing methods of racial
discrimination and checkpoints and daily war crimes and crimes
against the humanity committed by the Israeli military
occupation forces which reached its peak during the aggression
on Gaza.
There is no any serious indication that there
is a change in the Israeli racial policy through complying with
international legitimacy and ending the suffering of the
Palestinian people. The rise of the far right, the repeated
calls for cleansing the Hebrew State from any non Jewish element
and the talk about dismissing Palestinian Arabs in the
government and Knesset of the occupation country, all these pose
a threat to international security and peace.
Signatory NGOs urge Arab and Muslim
negotiators, African and Latin American countries and freedom
supporters all over the world to rescue Durban II anti-racism
conference through fighting occupation, not satisfying Israel
and its allies. The role of the Arab negotiator is to improve
Declaration and Action Program of Durban 1, not to retreat from
the gains even if they are meager.
The Arab negotiators still have a precious
chance to defend the Arab right in fighting Israeli racism and
support principles of justice, equality and dignity for human
beings. Geneva will host on April, 2ns, consultations over the
document to be followed by a second review meeting next week,
April 6-9 before the last preparatory session on eve of the
Review Conference on April, 15-17".
Arab Commission for Human Rights ACHR
Badil Resource Center for Palestinian
Residency and Refugee Rights
Al Mizane Center for Human Rights, Gaza
Damascus Center for Theoretical and Civil
Rights Studies
Ittijah Union of Arab Community Based
Organizations, Haifa, Palestine
Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights, Gaza
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information,
Cairo
El Nadim Center for Rehabilitation of Victims
of Violence
Egyptian Association Against Torture
Al Khayam Center for the Rehabilitation of
Torture Victims, Lebanon
Hisham Mumbarak Legal Center, Egypt
Hisham Mumbarak Legal Center, Assuan Chapter,
Egypt
Association for Human Rights Legal Aid,
Aswan, Egypt
AMAN Network for the Rehabilitation of the
Victims of Violence and Torture in the Middle East and North
Africa
National Center on Domestic Violence Against
Women and Children
The National Organization For Human Rights in
Syria
Committees for the Defence of Democratic
Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria (CDF)
Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of
Expression
Coordinating Committee for Trade Union and
Workers Rights and Liberties, Egypt
Association des Défenseurs des droits de l’homme
dans le monde arabe, Paris
Egyptian Foundation
for Freedoms
Union of Arab Jurists
Arab Lawyers Union
General Arab Women Union
General Union for Women of Iraq
Arab Lawyers Association, London
Human Rights Network in Iraq
Irada Association for Women
Association of the Victims of the US
occupation
Iraqi Diplomats Association
Torture in Egypt Net
Sada pour les droits et les libertés, Paris
The Women Forum for Research and Training,
Yemen
Voice for the Voiceless Network, Yemen
Association Voix Libre pour les droits de
l’homme
Rencontre culturelle
Euro-Arabe
Justicia Universalis
Bahrain Human Rights Society
Land Center for Human Rights, Egypt
Asharaf for Media and Research
The Gulf Institute Washington
New Woman – Egypt
Nour Institute for Women
Woman and Society Association
The National Cultural Center For Youth
Yemen
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