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Dutch boycott UN anti-racism summitSunday 19 April 2009 The Netherlands is to join the US, Australia, Canada and Israel in boycotting this week’s UN anti-racism summit in Geneva. According to foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen, the draft text of the conference’s final declaration is ‘unacceptable’. On the ministry’s website, Verhagen says: ‘The conference against racism is too important to be misused for political ends and attacks on the West. The Netherlands will not take part [in the conference].’ The anti-racism conference has been ‘over-shadowed by political wrangling between western and Muslim nations’ reports the BBC. Missed opportunity Verhagen says the draft declaration is a missed opportunity. ‘A number of countries which themselves have a long way to go when it comes to human rights are abusing the summit to put religion above human rights, unnecessarily limit freedom of expression…. and implicitly put Israel in the dock as the only guilty party [in the Middle East conflict].’ According to the Dutch foreign affairs ministry, the Netherlands submitted a number of alternative texts for the final declaration but the mood remains ‘grim’. As a result the Netherlands has lost its confidence that an acceptable declaration can be agreed and no longer believes that the conference can make a contribution to the fight against racism, says Verhagen. The anti-racism organisation Nederland Bekent Kleur is angry at the Dutch government’s decision to boycott the conference. ‘By not taking part in the conference the Netherlands is sending out a signal that fighting racism is not important,’ chairman René Damen told ANP news service on Sunday. © DutchNews.nl
I am ashamed to have the Dutch Nationality and be part of this boycott. A rose is a rose even under another name. Israel is a racist state and everybody knows it. To pretend it is not true shows the hypocritical position of the Netherlands political machine. By Alex Baldal | April 20, 2009 4:15 PM Funny that! Holland now being one the world leaders in Human Rights abuses while crowing loudly to the rest of teh world about how they are world leaders in Human Rights - Only evidence I see and find is that the people of Holland are not generally Racist but the Government and Government Agencies are! By Gerard | April 20, 2009 4:18 PM On this issue, I support the Dutch government 100%. Ever since muslim nations passed the new law in the UN to make it a crime to critisize Islam. This is a serious threat to free speech. However, I guess it is OK for muslims to critisize Israel. Free speech is a two way street. My opinion is that Islam is the most serious threat to free speech and human rights in our time. Remember Theo Van Gogh. Let us never forget. By Martin | April 20, 2009 6:52 PM Yes, pre-1948 Palestine was multiracial, multicultural and multi-ethnic. Didn't seem to work out too well. By Ron Slade Sr. | April 20, 2009 7:42 PM Speaking of human rights, let me remind you all that Iran regularly hangs homosexuals. In fact most Middle Eastern countries have human rights records that make Israel look positively saintly. The things Israel have done to Palestine absolutely pale to insignificance when compared with what Islamic theocracies do to their OWN people. Oh, and before you all jump on the "aren't western countries dreadful" bandwagon, let me remind you that this boycott is not just about Israel. Iran et al were trying to push through a binding UN resolution to make the criticism of religion, with special reference to Islam, a crime. Under this law Salman Rushdie, Aayan Hirsi Ali, Theo Van Gogh, Richard Dawkins, and all those people who criticise religion or 'religious' crimes such as marital rape, stoning ppl to death, child rape (via the excuse that their prophet's wife was 9), and the murder of homosexuals, will considered criminals by the UN. By Franchesca | April 20, 2009 8:43 PM I see only extremist opinions, which is sad. Israel isn't the only guilty party in the Middle Eastern conflict and Islam is not a religion of oppression and hate... I am an atheist and I wish people were less hateful and more accepting of other people's values. Indeed, the Dutch Gvt should have attended, if only to walk out during Ahmadinejad's electoral speech. (Saying that Israel is racist is as absurd as saying that Holland is gay.) By stingo | April 21, 2009 7:43 AM
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Verhagen is right about one thing: Israel is not the only guilty party in the middle east, the U.S. and all Israel's allies against the oppressed and totally f**ked nation of Palestine, including the Netherlands (a remarkably racist country), are in on this too.
The Dutch are siding with Australia now? The Australians have a leg to stand on when it comes to race-relations? The US? One black president does not a post-racial society make.
I don't know about anyone else, but I reckon a society which divides its citizens into 'Jew' and 'Non-Jew' categories, meting out human rights accordingly, could be considered a threat to peaceful co-existence... Wasn't apartheid the same thing? White vs Non-White? Wasn't that absolutely disgusting? So why should one society with certain criteria for segregation be treated with any less disgust than another society with different rules governing who is fully human and who is not?
How can anyone defend Israel with a straight face and/or a clean conscience? Let's not forget that pre-1948 Palestine was a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural area while now there's a wall and hundreds of checkpoints in the area ensuring such integration is not possible.
Talk about bad neighbours - Israeli occupation is the equivalent of someone moving in next door and then taking over your entire house except for part of the basement and threatening to blow you up if you try to use the bathroom...
By Stephen | April 20, 2009 4:07 PM