Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- . . [Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] ----- Original Message ----- From: secr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, August 31, 2001 5:59 PM Subject: [mobilize-globally] Thousands rally in Durban against Israel and U.S. Thousands rally in Durban against Israel and U.S. DURBAN, South Africa, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans marched through the centre of Durban on Friday as a world conference against racism got under way. "Israel is an apartheid state" and "Free, Free Palestine" were among banners waved by the protesters, estimated to number 10,000, as they headed for a meeting to be addressed by U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. Another banner read: "George Bush: Palestinian blood is on your hands." Both the United States and Israel have sent only low-level delegations to the United Nations-organised World Conference Against Racism in protest at what they say is an anti-Israel bias in draft texts drawn up for the meeting. Arab states have dropped clauses equating Zionism with Racism but want "foreign occupation" -- a veiled reference to Israeli actions in Palestinian territories -- to be branded as a new kind of apartheid. Armed police looked on as marchers filed through central city streets but there were no immediate reports of any violence. 07:33 08-31-01 U.N. Chief: Racism Summit Can't Afford Failure By Richard Waddington Reuters DURBAN, South Africa (Aug. 31) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday urged delegates to an acrimonious global conference against racism to set aside their differences, saying the meeting could not afford to fail. ''If we leave here without agreement we shall give comfort to the worst elements in every society,'' he told the opening session of the eight-day World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Acknowledging rows that dogged preparations for the United Nations-organised meeting in the South African port of Durban -- Washington has sent only a low-level delegation because of what it says is an anti-Israeli bias -- was a test of the international community's ability to unite on a vital issue. ''Let us not fail that test,'' he said. Annan sought to sound a conciliatory note on the two most contentious issues -- how to deal with, if at all, conflict in the Middle East and how to address the historic ill of slavery. Arab states have been insisting that the conference text contain a specific reference to what it says is racist treatment by Israel of Palestinians in the occupied territories. Describing the Holocaust, in which some six million Jews were killed by the Nazis in World War Two, as ''the ultimate abomination,'' Annan said Israel could not use the tragedy as an excuse never to examine its own behavior. ''We cannot expect Palestinians to accept this (the Holocaust) as a reason why the wrongs done to them -- displacement, occupation, blockage, and now extra-judicial killings -- should be ignored, whatever label one uses to describe them,'' he said. But Annan said the conference was not the place for mutual recriminations and that its aim was to look to the future. He sent the same message on slavery, for which some African states want an explicit apology and possibly financial reparations from former slave-trading nations. ''Our aim must be to banish from this new century the hatred and prejudice that have disfigured previous centuries,'' he said. The emphasis of the conference was on practical measures to combat racism and discrimination against ethnic minorities from which few countries were immune. ''We must not leave this city without agreeing on practical measures which all states should take to fill that pledge,'' he said. European countries and the United States, the main players in the traffic of slaves from Africa to north and south America for some 400 years up to the 19th century, reject any talk of reparations and are wary of any wording in the conference texts that could leave them open to legal action. REUTERS Reut09:05 08-31-01 Jackson: Zionism Criticism to Come Out .c The Associated Press DURBAN, South Africa (AP) - The Palestinian delegation has agreed to drop criticism of Israel and Zionism in a final declaration for the U.N. conference against racism, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Friday. Following a three-hour meeting with Yasser Arafat, Jackson said the Palestinian leader had agreed to oppose efforts to criticize Israel and Zionism, and to recognize the Holocaust as the worst crime of the 20th century. The Palestinians were not immediately available for comment. Jackson presented reporters with a handwritten draft of the document signed by Arafat in which he said he did not want the U.N. conference to derail over criticism of Israel. The racism gathering has been overshadowed in part by anti-Israel language in a draft of the conference document. The United States decided not to send a high-level delegation to the conference because of negative references to Israel and the Zionist movement. Shortly after making the announcement, Jackson spoke to Secretary of State Colin Powell by telephone to explain the statement Arafat had signed. Jackson criticized the Bush administration for not sending Powell, noting that he was able to resolve the controversy simply by talking to the Palestinian leader. To Post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Learn Trading Tips the Professional Traders Use! Free Newsletter from Optionetics.com http://us.click.yahoo.com/q1ufhB/ZR9CAA/ySSFAA/XgSolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
