Press release
Miliband Urged to Remove UK from UN Conference if Attacks on Jews Are Made
Miliband Urged to Remove UK from UN Conference if Attacks on Jews Are Made
20 April 2009
Denis MacShane MP, former No 2 in the Foreign Office, has written to Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, to urge that Britain withdraws from a UN conference opening in Geneva today if Iran’s president Ahmadinejad and other governments use the event to increase anti-semitic hate in the world.
The United States, Canada and Italy have said they will not participate in the UN conference because of fears it will repeat language attacking Jews and singling out Israel as the only nation in which discrimination takes place. At the first UN conference against racism and discrimination held in Durban in 2002, the event was turned into a festival of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli hate.
MacShane says that FCO officials and FCO minister Mark Malloch Brown have sought to ensure the Durban 2 conference in Geneva does not repeat the anti-semitism of the initial conference but says that Britain should take note of President Obama’s decision to boycott the event.
The MP who will speak in Geneva at side meetings connected with the conference urges Miliband to be ready to pull out the UK delegation if the Iranian president or other speakers use the event to promote antisemitic ideology. "At the first sign of hate against Jews and Israel from the podium or in any manifestations connected with the conference I hope the UK delegation will publicly withdraw and stand in solidarity with our friends in the US and Canada rather than provide cover for the Jew- and Israel-haters in the world whose record of xenophobia, discrimination and contempt for secular democracy are well-known" MacShane writes.
MacShane’s full letter to Miliband is below.
Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Foreign Secretary
19 April 2009
Dear David,
UN Conference (Durban 2) On Racism and Xenophobia Geneva 20-24 April
I am very concerned that Britain may unwittingly find itself taking part in a UN conference due to begin in Geneva tomorrow which will increase the store of hate against Jews and against Israel in the world and aid and comfort those who proclaim jihad against Jews and against the democracies.
As you know the United States as well as the leading Commonwealth nation of Canada and Italy are refusing to participate in the conference because there are no guarantees that anti-semitic attacks on Jews and the singling out of Israel alone of the nations in the world to be accused of racism will be off-limits.
The UN conference is chaired by Cuba where writers and journalists rot in jail and there is wide-spread discrimination against black Cubans and by Libya which is hardly an exemplar nation.
Iran’s President Ahmadinejad will come to the conference. His anti-semitism, hate of Israel and denial of the Holocaust are well known and anti-semites around the world will take heart from his efforts to turn the conference into a festival of anti-Jewish hate.
I know how hard FCO officials and Lord Malloch Brown have worked to try and steer the conference in a more sensible direction. But with the decision of the United States and Canada as well as Italy to draw the conclusion that participation in the conference will encourage those who use the UN to promote anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli hate politics I hope the British delegation will take care to ensure that Britain is not seen as lining up with Iran and all the other Jew-baiting forces in the world.
I will attend to speak at side meetings. I was a Minister at the Foreign Office when the UK participated in the first Durban conference on the same theme. It turned into one of the ugliest manifestations of anti-Jewish hate ever seen. Alas, we were not fully cognisant of the event at the time and I wish we had withdrawn the UK delegation at the time to show our clear determination to combat global antisemitism.
The UK should not make the same mistake this week. At the first sign of hate against Jews and Israel from the podium or in any manifestations connected with the conference I hope the UK delegation will publicly withdraw and stand in solidarity with our friends in the
US and Canada rather than provide cover for the Jew- and Israel-haters in the world whose record of xenophobia, discrimination and contempt for secular democracy are well-known.
Yours sincerely,
Rt Hon Dr Denis MacShane MP
As you know the United States as well as the leading Commonwealth nation of Canada and Italy are refusing to participate in the conference because there are no guarantees that anti-semitic attacks on Jews and the singling out of Israel alone of the nations in the world to be accused of racism will be off-limits.
The UN conference is chaired by Cuba where writers and journalists rot in jail and there is wide-spread discrimination against black Cubans and by Libya which is hardly an exemplar nation.
Iran’s President Ahmadinejad will come to the conference. His anti-semitism, hate of Israel and denial of the Holocaust are well known and anti-semites around the world will take heart from his efforts to turn the conference into a festival of anti-Jewish hate.
I know how hard FCO officials and Lord Malloch Brown have worked to try and steer the conference in a more sensible direction. But with the decision of the United States and Canada as well as Italy to draw the conclusion that participation in the conference will encourage those who use the UN to promote anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli hate politics I hope the British delegation will take care to ensure that Britain is not seen as lining up with Iran and all the other Jew-baiting forces in the world.
I will attend to speak at side meetings. I was a Minister at the Foreign Office when the UK participated in the first Durban conference on the same theme. It turned into one of the ugliest manifestations of anti-Jewish hate ever seen. Alas, we were not fully cognisant of the event at the time and I wish we had withdrawn the UK delegation at the time to show our clear determination to combat global antisemitism.
The UK should not make the same mistake this week. At the first sign of hate against Jews and Israel from the podium or in any manifestations connected with the conference I hope the UK delegation will publicly withdraw and stand in solidarity with our friends in the
US and Canada rather than provide cover for the Jew- and Israel-haters in the world whose record of xenophobia, discrimination and contempt for secular democracy are well-known.
Yours sincerely,
Rt Hon Dr Denis MacShane MP