French “nouveaux philosophes” calls for Boycott of Durban Review Conference
French “nouveaux philosophes” calls for Boycott of Durban Review Conference
Pascal Bruckner, a renowned writer and philosopher in the vein of French “new philosopher”, has called on Europe to boycott the Durban Review Conference scheduled for April 2009. Dissolving the UN Human Rights Council should also be considered.
Bruckner, writing in signandsight.com, describes Durban 2001 as “a re-enactment of the comedy of damned, in the face of the white exploiter.” He goes onto criticize Doudou Diene, UN Special Rapporteur for racism, xenophobia and discrimination, for failing to include anti-Semitism or anti-Western sentiment in Europe in his criticisms of discrimination, “focusing solely on anti-Muslim racism”. He also lambastes Diene for failing to criticize “authoritarian regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America and reserv[ing] his munition for the States of Europe and North America, whom he accuses of fomenting pogroms against their minorities”.
Bruckner concludes by identifying a “new Inquisition” that is taking place in the UN. This “brandishes ‘defamation of religion’ to quash any impulses of doubt, particularly in Islamic countries. And this at a time when millions of Muslims, particularly in Europe, want to distance themselves from bigotry and fundamentalism. In a reversal of values, anti-racism is being propagated by despots in the service of obscurantism and the suppression of women! It is being used to justify precisely the things which it was formulated to fight: suppression, prejudice, inequality.”
On this basis, Bruckner calls on Europe to follow Canada’s lead and boycott Durban 2009.
