Cover photo by Maverick Dal. Story 1 photo by Jonathon Ziapour.
International (MNN) ― The United States and eight other Western countries walked out of the five-day United Nations racism conference.
Remarks by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad denounced Israel as a racist regime, prompting the delegates from the United States, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland, New Zealand, Australia, Germany and Italy to shun the proceedings.
Dozens more diplomats from countries including Britain and France left the hall in protest as Ahmedinejad made the remarks concerning Israel.
A previous racism conference in 2001 in Durban, South Africa, was marred by anti-Semitic street protests and attempts to pass a resolution equating Zionism with racism.
Glenn Penner of Voice of the Martyrs-Canada says there are significant concerns raised about the fairness of this conference, dubbed "Durban II." "The conference itself is going to be approving the statements that were made at the last conference in Durban in which Arab countries linked Israel's policies to racism. By participating, that would mean we approve of that statement, and we simply can't do that."
The concerns are not without merit. Just last month, the United Nation's Human Rights Council passed the Religion Defamation Resolution. The non-binding resolution urged countries to provide "protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation of religions and incitement to religious hatred in general." Muslim countries urged its passage to protect religion from criticism, specifically Islam.
However, Penner believes that tying race and faith together is not a well-reasoned approach to solving sectarian trouble. Currently, Islam is the only faith protected under a recent resolution to protect religion from criticism. "Many of these Arab countries are now taking this tact of tying the two together and saying that if you're criticizing Islam, you're being racist. Therefore, 'you're violating my human rights.' That's a very dangerous precedent; the problem then becomes tacit approval to persecute Christians, because they belong to a group that must be intrinsically racist."
Pray that the governments will be open to allowing full rights and protection for non-Muslims. Pray too, for strength for those who come to Christ despite the threats they may face.
