Durban II: New Site, Same Debacle
October 27, 2008 – 1:38 pmSaturday’s National Post had a hard-hitting front page piece on Durban II by Kevin Libin. Not only does Libin take aim at the 2009 United Nations “World Conference against Racism” for its anti-Israel bias, but he also explores a second disturbing theme – an attack on free speech.
Writes Libin: “Different this time from Durban 1, which concluded only days before the 9/11 attacks, is the conference’s focus on what delegates perceive as worldwide, endemic ‘Islamophobia … and the worsening of the situation of Muslim minorities around the world’ since 2001.
“It labels ‘counterterrorism or national security’ and ‘freedom of expression’ in Western countries as ‘obstacles in hampering progress in the collective struggle against racism.’ The draft demands ‘binding international standards’ to ‘take firm action against negative stereotyping of religions and defamation of religious personalities, holy books, scriptures and symbols’ and wants states to ‘encourage objective and balanced’ portrayals of ‘people, events and history, especially in the media.’ It wants governments to adopt laws ‘preventing and punishing’ intolerance in ‘public and private life.’”
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