Durban Review Summary: June 10, 2008
Durban Review Summary
June 10, 2008
A disgrace for the NDP
June 7, National Post
A National Post editorial comments on a letter that Jack Layton’s NDP sent to Canada’s Harper government, suggesting that the Durban Review Conference may be worth attending. According to the editorial, “The move sabotages the NDP’s effort to convince voters that it is a serious political party — as opposed to a pastiche of hard-left interest groups and union interests.” The NDP’s critic for human rights sent a letter to PM Stephen Harper which read that “”In the light of these significant new developments [assurances by the UN that the DRC will not entail anti-Semitism) we believe the government of Canada could now play a helpful role [at the conference].” The author of the editorial maintains that this about face is the result of either two things: a true belief that the DRC will not degenerate into an anti-Israel forum or the desire to appeal to a constituency which shares Iran and Libya’s enmity for Israel.
NDP’s flip-flop on Durban 2 smells like politics
June 6, John Ivison, National Post
This article reports on the NDP (Canada’s liberal party) call for Canada to participate in the DRC. Despite their support for the Conservative’s decision to boycotts the conference, the NDP has changed their position in light of the “assurances” that the UN has provided. “In the light of these significant new developments, we believe the government of Canada could now play a helpful role,” Wayne Marston, the party’s critic for human rights for international affairs, wrote to Jason Kenney, the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism. The article is critical of the NDP flip-flop and maintains that there is no reason to believe the DRC will not target Israel. Jason Kenney, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism said there is no prospect of the Canadian government changing its mind. “The NDP’s flip-flop is disgraceful. Canada’s reasons for not participating are simple … it shows all the signs that it will again degenerate into an openly anti-Semitic hatefest,” he said.
US Durban Process 2009: US Based Civil Society Discuss Strategies to secure Inclusion
June 6, Latin American and Caribbean Community Center blog
According to this blog, over 23 US-based civil society organizations such as the ACLU, Urban Justice Center, National Lawyers guild and Howard University came together to discuss a joint plan of action regarding participation in the Durban review Conference. A conference call with Canadian NGOs, who are exploring ways to participate in the DRC given the Canadian government’s boycott, was also held. According to the blog, “some of the agreements that came out of the conference call meeting was that in the United States there needs to be a centralized and transparent process in which civil society and NGO’s can be plugged into the process in a more substantial way.”
