Hypocrisy at UN racism conference

The recent United Nations Conference on Racism was boycotted by New Zealand United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Israel and Germany before the conference had even begun. When the conference started, many other western states also left. The reason given was fear of a “rancorous and unproductive debate”, according to our Foreign Minister Murray McCully. The topic that was debated was the racist nature of the Israeli state.

Israel is not an ordinary country. It is an explicitly Jewish state built on Palestinian land. It is a “democracy”, only because most Palestinians were driven out in 1948 and those that remain are second-class citizens restricted even from marrying Palestinians from the Occupied Territories for fear Arabs might once again outnumber Jews within Israel.
Even liberals such as former US Jimmy Carter has recognised this, stating Israel’s policies are worse than Apartheid South Africa’s. In the West Bank, Israel has built a huge wall that divides many Palestinian communities.  Palestinians wait for hours at checkpoints, intimidated and humiliated by Israeli soldiers, while Jewish colonists can drive unimpeded on their own roads to the illegal West Bank settlements. Furthermore, these settlements are growing. Palestinian homes are still being destroyed and replaced with homes for Israelis. Israel has become increasingly brutal in its war with the Palestinians. In December 2008, Israel invaded Gaza and massacred 1400 Palestinians.
While the Palestinians do not have much more than guns, suicide bombs, and ineffective rockets, Israel’s military is one of the most high-tech in the world. Israel has Apache helicopters, Merkava tanks and F16 planes, mainly supplied by the US. President Obama’s policies have not been much different from Bush’s in this regard. This is not because of the power of the Jewish lobby. It is part of a conscious decision of the US Government to arm Israel. The US recognises that by funding Israel, they can keep other nations in the region in check.

The Iranian President Ahmadinejad

Ahmadinejad was accused of hijacking the UN Conference with his own agenda. Socialist Review is no defender of Ahmadinejad's decidedly anti-working class government, nor do we endorse everything he has said about the Holocaust. He uses anti-Semitism to his own advantage. By blaming the Jews for the problems, he can give the unemployed and other discontented people a ‘safe’ way to channel their rage. He can challenge Israeli power, as he knows that Israel is not stronBy blaming the Jews for the problems, Ahmadinejad can give the unemployed and other discontented people a ‘safe’ way to channel their rage.g enough to take out Iran on its own. This allows Ahmadinejad to be seen as anti-imperialist, while avoiding a direct challenge to US imperialism. This is despite the fact that Iraq and Afghanistan, (which both border Iran) have been invaded by the US and the US has directly threatened to attack Iran numerous times over the past five years.
The Alternative to Walking Out
New Zealand and many other Western Nations should have attended the UN conference. They should be prepared to engage in constructive dialogue. New Zealand should not have to agree with everything that is said at the conference. However, it is time that the West grew up, and realised that criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is not necessarily anti-Semitic. Some of Israel’s fiercest critics are Jews, such as Noam Chomsky and Richard Falk. As Mike Marqusee's recently wrote in the Guardian “The Jews of Israel have every right to live safely, to follow (or not) their religious faith, to adhere (or not) to their cultural heritage, to speak Hebrew. What they do not have is the right to continue to dispossess and oppress another people.”
We demand that the New Zealand government denounces Israel’s repression for what it is. Socialist Review condemns all forms of racism, including anti-semitism. We believe in a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - a democratic, secular state with equal rights for Jews and Palestinians.

Reece W