Moral Victory at Durban II

# DAY THREE AT DURBAN II

Wednesday: in many ways, today could be called victory day for
pro-Israel, pro-human rights forces at Durban II. Students, StandWithUs
fellows, a host of pro-Israel organizations, human rights victims, and
human rights groups from around the world converged in Geneva, countered
the evils of Durban II, and reclaimed the moral high ground.

Yesterday (Tuesday, April 21), Durban II delegates ended the conference
three days early, voting to accept the Durban II document. Perhaps they
ended early because ten important nations had boycotted the conference,
and there was little to debate. Or perhaps the Durban II organizers
simply wanted to hurriedly end an event that had become, in the words of
the BBC, a "UN public relations nightmare." But parallel meetings and
conferences continued to take place. That's where the real human rights
issues were seriously addressed. That's where leading international
figures in human rights advocacy repeatedly denounced the travesty of
Durbans I and II, of Ahmadinejad speaking at the opening session, and of
the anti-Semitic racism that has driven the UN to obsessively condemn
Israel and ignore the suffering and human rights abuses committed by the
very nations leading the charge against Israel. They expressed their
moral outrage that the Human Rights Council has ignored Iran's genocidal
incitement against Israel and Jews-in flagrant violation of the 1949
Genocide Convention, sometimes called the "Never Again" Convention-and
let 6 million die in genocides from Cambodia to Rwanda to Darfur while
they indulged their obsession against Israel.

These speakers knew that standing up for Israel also meant they were
standing up for the rights of all people. They knew they were rescuing
human rights values themselves from racists and human rights abusers who
had hijacked and perverted their meaning.