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WIESENTHAL CENTER AT BRASILIA PREPARATORY CONFERENCE FOR "DURBAN II"
BRASILIA: A motion by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for NGO’s to express "Solidarity with Latin American victims of Palestinian terrorism, and victims of all terrorism in the Americas, especially mentioning the Buenos Aires AMIA Community Center" was rejected in a subcommittee on refugees at a preparatory conference for Durban II, currently underway in the capital of Brazil.
At the same time a motion put forward by representatives of the Brazilian-Palestinian Federation (FEPAL) condemning Israel for "denying entry to Brazilians of Palestinian origin" was passed.
"Once again, we are witnessing an attempt to hijack the Durban banner of human rights to single out Israel and reject solidarity with Jewish victims of terror. These worrying signs create an important threshold for the Governmental Conference, as many States adopt the language of the most radical NGOs," stated Shimon Samuels, Wiesenthal Center International Relations Director who served as head of the delegation of Jewish organizations during the infamous Durban Conference in 2001.
The Wiesenthal Center also reported on the circulation of an "Open Letter to the Latin American People, its Governments, Movements and Organizations", signed "Steering Committee of the Palestinian National Committee, Campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, June 2, 2008" (http://www.badil.org/Publications/Press/2008/press481-08.htm), which stated in part:
- The process towards 'Durban 2' is already highly contested. The world's imperial powers, with United States and Israel at the forefront, are putting pressure on states, members of the Human Rights Council, and the preparatory committee to dilute the agenda and to silence the principled voices of the victims of racism that shape the agenda of the civil society conference at Durban in 2001...
- ... the US and Israel withdrew... because civil society had identified Israel's regime as a form of apartheid and called a concerted campaign of BDS, and because the US was unwilling to address is [sic] own record of slavery, racism and colonialism...
-The struggle against Israel's colonial apartheid regime is one of the cornerstones of the struggle against state-sponsored racism and ongoing colonial policies worldwide...Knowing that we share a history of struggle against colonialism and racism with the people across Latin America, we have full confidence in your active support of the Palestinian people. In solidarity..."
"We cannot draw definitive conclusions on the ultimate impact of 'Brasilia' in the Durban process. Nevertheless, we have obtained assurances from Brazilian officials that language targeting Jews and Israel have no place in the Brasilia final document," Sergio Widder added.
For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels and Sergio Widder on +5561 9907-4247 or +336 09770158.
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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States and the Latin American Parliament.
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