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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2001

Upset over the inclusion of language considered "offensive" to Israel, the United States on Monday dropped out of international talks on combatting racism after efforts to strike the controversial topic from the agenda failed.

Citing deep "regret," Secretary of State Colin Powell instructed American delegates to return from the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. He made the decision after a discussion with the mid-level delegation he sent to the conference.

"I know that you do not combat racism by conferences that produce declarations containing hateful language," Powell said, that "singles out only one country in the world -- Israel-- for censure and abuse."

"I wish that it could have turned out more successfully," he added.

The meeting was organized by the United Nations as a means of addressing racism on a global scale. But even before it started last Friday, it quickly turned into a one-issue debate to declare the creation and support of the state of Israel a racist act.

Powell himself declined to attend the conference due the inclusion of the topic, instead sending a lower-level delegation whose sole purpose was to lobby against Zionism as racism. Israel also sent members to strike the language.

Those negotiations failed as Arab countries repeatedly pushed to condemn Israel for "racist" acts committed against Arabs and Palestinians. The issue reached a peak as a group of non-governmental organizations, also called NGOs, adopted a document on Sunday calling Israel an "apartheid state."

The exit of United States and Israel puts the conference on shaky grounds. Canada had also decided not to send a high-level office to the conference but yesterday said its delegation would remain.

A number of indigenous groups and activists have traveled to South Africa to take part in the talks. American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Canadian Aboriginals were among the hundreds of groups who clamored to have their views heard.

Matthew Coon Come, Chief of the Canada's Assembly of First Nations, spoke to delegates last week, criticizing the conference for not addressing indigenous rights. Language included in the conference's draft declaration is biased against indigenous people, he charged.

"There is no place for discriminatory and harmful language of any kind at the World Conference Against Racism, whether it affects indigenous peoples or any other peoples," he said.

Get Powell's Statement:
World Conference Against Racism (9/3)

Relevant Links:
Human Rights Issues, State Department - http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr
World Conference Against Racism, UN - http://www.un.org/WCAR

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