2009 Durban Review Conference
Durban NGO Alert: The Womens International League for Peace and Freedom
Womens International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has lobbied for an NGO Forum at the Durban Review Conference, erasing the antisemitism and virulent anti-Israel rhetoric of the NGO Forum at the first Durban conference in 2001. In statements to the UN, WILPF falsely accuses Israel of "relentless destruction of Palestinian infrastructure" and maintaining "more than 650 checkpoints where Palestinians are brutalized and die." WILPF is a member of the Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP), a highly politicized Israeli NGO umbrella group funded by NIF and the EU.
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Christian Aid 2008 Update: Promoting Conflict
Christian Aid, a major British NGO and NGO-funder, endorses a highly biased approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict. It dismisses the impact of Palestinian terrorism and focuses disproportionately on alleged Israeli "violations." Christian Aids partners are among the most radical NGOs in the region -- including Sabeel, ICAHD, and the AIC -- which actively promote BDS campaigns. Christian Aid receives substantial funding from the British and Irish governments.
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Israel will not attend Durban II
On November 19, 2008, Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, announced that Israel will not participate in the Durban Review Conference in Geneva in April 2009, joining Canada as the only governments to formally boycott the conference. She noted the Draft Outcome Document, which "singl[es] out and delegitimiz[es] the State of Israel," and "legitimiz[es] hatred and extremism and anti-Semitism under the banner of a fight against racism." The US, the UK, France, and Denmark have threatened to boycott the conference, as well.
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Durban Review Conference Alert: EAFORD - Three decades of Promoting "Zionism equals racism"
EAFORD uses its ECOSOC status to promote campaigns declaring that "Zionism equals racism" and demonization based on "apartheid." They have accused Israel of a "Holocaust" against the Palestinian people and characterized terrorism as "resistance." EAFORD was very active in the framework of the NGO Forum of the 2001 Durban Conference, claiming that Zionism is based on "purity of the race, and distinctiveness from other people" which "seems to bear close resemblance to ...Fascism and Nazism," and is seeking another UN-sponsored NGO Forum at the 2009 Durban Review Conference.
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Durban Review PrepCom: Will NGOs Lead a Repeat of the 2001 Catastrophe?
A Durban Review Conference preparatory meeting was held in Geneva on Oct. 6-17. NGO participation was divided, with some opposing a repetition of the antisemitism of the 2001 conference. Other NGOs pressed the anti-Israel and anti-Western agenda of the "Durban strategy." BADIL and MRAP condemned Israel. Unofficial meetings of NGO representatives about a potential NGO Forum included antisemitic and anti-Israel attacks against Jewish representatives.
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NGO Monitors Submission to the 2009 Durban Conference Preparatory Meeting
As NGO Monitor has reported, the UN will be convening a 2009 follow-up to the 2001 Durban Conference. The Preparatory Committee for the 2009 conference is holding its organizational review session from August 27-31, 2007, in Geneva. The meetings will be chaired by Libya and other members of the committee include Iran, Cuba, Russia, and South Africa. A number of international and Palestinian NGOs are also expected to participate. Many radical Palestinian NGOs such as PNGO and LAW played an active role in the preparatory meetings in Tehran leading up to the 2001 Durban Conference and were largely responsible for shaping the anti-Israel and antisemitic agenda of the NGO Forum at Durban. In advance of the session, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has invited NGOs to contribute reviews and written recommendations. To that end, NGO Monitor has prepared a submission detailing the role of NGOs at the 2001 Durban Conference, the adoption and subsequent promotion of the Durban Strategy in NGO campaigning, and offering recommendations to prevent a repetition of these events in 2009.